Countries That No Longer Exist!

 

What country gained independence from Mexico just to join another country?

 Which nation used to consist of nearly a third of South America?

 Find out as we take a look at Countries That No Longer Exist.

 #8 Newfoundland

 Heavily populated by indigenous Dorset culture tribes and immigrants from the United Kingdom throughout time, the island state of Newfoundland held out for centuries before finally joining Canada in 1949.

 Before then, the current easternmost part of Canada had been the site of the first Norse settlement in North America as early as the 11th century!

 After this brief excavation, the next batch of settlers would come from Western Europe and establish Newfoundland as a fishing-based society, building connections with port cities across the Atlantic.

 Through its severe isolation and unique culture, Newfoundland’s residents developed unique customs, traditions and even dialects, essentially crafting a new identity for those who called the island home.

 And so when the question of joining Canada arose in a referendum campaign in 1948, the people were split down the middle with 52.3 percent voting in favor and 47.7 percent voting against becoming a province.

 While many show content with their now Canadian citizenship, the vast majority of residents still consider themselves Newfoundlanders first.

 #7 Texas

 The Lone Star State wasn’t always a state and actually has some bit of justification in the extreme independent sentiments Texans often exhibit.

 Before it became a part of the United States of America, the largest state in the continental US was actually a province of Mexico known as Tejas.

 Loosely populated by Spanish & Mexican Tejanos, along with Native American tribes, the region opened its borders to southern U.S. immigrants around the time of the Mexican campaign for Independence.

 But as ideals clashed and tensions rose between the growing immigrant population and the local tejanos, it was Texas that was soon seeking independence.

 A short but intense few months of battle commenced between the Mexican Army and the declared Republic of Texas that resulted in the capture of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.

 With the general and leader contained and travel conditions worsening for soldiers, the conflict was resolved with the Treaties of Velasco which guaranteed Mexican troops would remain south of the Rio Grande.

 The newly established Republic would then go on for nine years as a sovereign ruling body with a loosely organized government and constant skirmishes at the Mexican border.

 As relations were inflamed with Mexico, Texas would eventually turn to the United States for assistance and finally agreed to annexation as the 28th state in March of 1845.

 #6 Champa

 Flourishing throughout the modern regions of southern and central Vietnam more than fifteen hundred years ago was the kingdom of Champa.

 Formed in the year 192 AD in the aftermath of the splintering Chinese Han dynasty, the nation was formed around the current city of Hue.

 Indian culture permeated the burgeoning kingdom and would become the major influence throughout the nation, despite the region’s native Chinese tribal population.

 The country was divided into four states, each named after a different Indian region: Amaravati, Vijaya, Kauthara, and Panduranga.

 By 400 AD, Champa was united under King Bhadravarman who commanded a powerful fleet that was utilized for commerce as well as piracy...one of the kingdoms specialties.

 Over the course of the following millenium, the nation would remain in constant conflict thanks to its marauding tendencies at sea.

 Pressure came from the isle of Java, the Khmer Empire, various Chinese provinces, and the kingdom of Dai Viet as Champa’s various conflicts would continue to bubble in quick succession.

 Things finally started to crumble when the Khmers conquered Champa briefly from 1145 to 1147 when a new king of Champa outed the invaders and reclaimed the kingdom.

 Another 30 years later, the kingdom would even extend its rule to the Khmer capital of Angkor.

 But this would be the extent of the Champa reign as subsequent attacks and occupancies from the Khmer of Cambodia, Vietnam’s Tran Kings, and the ruthless Mongol Empire would see them fall to ruin.

 Their provinces would be absorbed one by one until the 17th century when the Kingdom of Champa was all but erased.

 #5 Bengal

 In South Asia, near the world’s largest delta formation in the Ganges-Brahmaputra, lies the shadow of the once powerful independent kingdom of Bengal.

 Now split between the modern country of Bangladesh and the Indian regions of Tripura, West Bengal and the Barak Valley of Assam, Bengal was one of many nations that splintered post-colonial rule.

 But long before this time, the Bengali people called this region home with evidence of human settlements in the area tracing back thousands of years.

 Thanks to its location near so many rivers and estuaries on the Bay of Bengal, the region was a natural haven for commerce and travel.

 Ancient Bengal, which was divided among a handful of smaller regions, prospered along the Ganges delta and gained prominence among other growing empires.

 The Bengalis, which were known as the Gangaridai to ancient Greeks and Romans, actually staved off the invasion of Alexander the Great in 325 BC!

 Over the next millennium, the Bengal territory became hotly contested by Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist regimes.

 The regions of the Bengal kingdom finally united by 1352 under the Muslim leadership of Ilyas Shah, Bengal’s first sultan.

 It remained independent for nearly 200 years until the Mughal Empire, which drew lineage from the famed rulers Genghis Khan and Timur, conquered Bengal between the 16th and 18th centuries.

 Under this rule, the nation would become the worldwide leader in the pearl and silk trade as merchants from Europe began trickling further and further east.

 In 1757, the British East India Company emerged as the dominant military force in the region and seized power in Bengal along with other nearby countries.

 Various rebellions, famines, and natural disasters plummeted the people of Bengal into nearly 200 years of strife, with more than 10 million Bengali casualties arising from these events.

 So when India sought independence in 1947, the Bengali people fought alongside the Indian National Army with the hope of sovereignty.

 But religious divisions between the Bengal population failed to unite and thus the country went on to split into the various Indian provinces and the nation of Bangladesh we know today.

 #4 Gran Colombia

 The super-nation of Gran Colombia existed between 1819 and 1831 and consisted of modern nations like Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela.

 Easily the most prestigious nation in Spanish-controlled South America during this period, Gran Colombia earned praise from foreign diplomats like John Quincy Adams who claimed the country to be one of the most powerful on the planet.

 Conversely, though, there was outspoken disapproval of the new nation with countries like France and Russia refusing to recognize the independence of these American states without a European monarch overseeing them.

 The nation was led by Simon Bolivar, a Venezuelan leader that earned his nickname of “El Libertador” for his part in freeing many of the nations that comprised Gran Colombia from the Spanish Empire.

 This surge of freedom fighting and struggle for sovereignty piqued the interest of other independent movements like those in Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

 This of course only worsened relations with European nations with the potential threat of a united South American power looming.

 Within the country, however, the people seemed split between those who supported a strong centralist government and those who sought a federalist, decentralized government.

 The debate caused a rift to form between Bolivar and his vice-president Francisco de Paula Santander as a schism grew between the people of the various regions within the South American super power.

 By 1831, the nation had disbanded and spawned the equatorial nations of modern South America.

 #3 Tanganyika and Zanzibar The modern African nation of Tanzania wasn’t always a single nation as it gained official sovereignty after the unification of Tanganyika and Zanzibar.

 Prior to this combination, Tanganyika existed for years as a region divided among many different kingdoms and only came to be known by this name during a period of Imperial colonialism.

 The region passed from German to British control in the late 19th century and its people incurred a variety of misfortunes as a result of the European conflict.

 Infrastructure installed from German occupants was torn down as part of the military’s scorched earth policy, meaning natives were forced to acclimate to new living standards before seeing it stripped away within decades.

 Meanwhile, Zanzibar would be taken first by Portugal in the 16th century before being taken by Arab forces in the 18th century.

 In addition to some more heinous industries, Zanzibar was known around the world for its rare spices and came to be known as the Spice Islands in conjunction with the neighboring isle of Pemba.

 After surviving foreign control for centuries, the two nations both gained independence around the same time in the early 1960s and in the face of rebellions and revolutions decided to unite by 1964 as the United Republic of Tanzania— a compound name derived from the countries predecessors.

 #2 Sikkim

 Known by many names among many cultures, sometimes called “the hidden valley of rice”, “paradise”, or the garden of the god Indra, Sikkim is now a state in India.

 But long before it joined the nation of India, Sikkim was an independent kingdom beginning as early as the 17th century under the Namgyal dynasty.

 The country was ruled by a Buddhist “dharma king” known as the Chogyal, a tradition that carried on until its shift to Indian statehood.

 The first of these kings was Phuntsog Namgyal, a fifth-generation descendent of a Tibetan prince who supposedly received divine instruction to venture south to seek riches.

 While his ancestor didn’t get to cash in on his prophecy, Namgyal certainly did and began a tradition that would carry on for years.

 Tibetan rule over the kingdom was under threat often with Bhutanese forces applying pressure in the east and Nepalese troops raiding in the west.

 By the early 18th century, the Sikkim capital of Rabdentse was destroyed in combat.

 But with the help of Chinese soldiers, the Tibetan people of Sikkim drove out invaders...before the Chinese Qing dynasty seized control over the kingdom themselves.

 Sikkim would then ally themselves with British forces when their Indian neighbors fell under colonial rule.

 They assisted in conflicts with Nepal and helped secure territory previously within Sikkim’s borders.

 But relations with British India were strained when an unannounced excursion of British researchers led to their capture by Sikkim authorities in 1853.

 The resulting diplomatic settlement from this event was the establishment of the Chogyal as subordinate to the British governor.

 Over time, Sikkim would grow to be more and more integrated into Indian politics and when that nation gained its independence in the late 1940s, the people of Sikkim would become unruly in the face of old ways.

 Fighting dissension against royal rule, despite boasting the highest literacy rate and per capita income in the region, the Chogyal would eventually buckle and the Prime Minister of Sikkim would establish their status as a state of India by 1975.

 #1 Hawaii

 Prior to its status as the Aloha State of America, Hawai’i was a kingdom that derived from the union of the islands of Hawai’i, Lana’i, Maui, Moloka’i, and O’ahu in 1795.

 Fifteen years later, the islands of Kaua’i and Ni’ihau were voluntarily annexed and the entirety of the Hawaiian islands were under one roof.

 The kingdom was ran jointly by the House of Kamehameha and the House of Kalakaua, but the monarchies’ reign lasted less than a century.

 While Hawai’i established the US as a major trade partner, they also attained recognition from European nations which subsequently drew the ire of America who worried another nation may try to colonize the kingdom.

 Influenced by foreign bodies, the popular elite of the kingdom ratified a constitution in 1887 that forced the royal leaders out of power and established a constitutional government.

 Despite some resistance from the royal houses, Hawaii finally became a republic in 1893 with the overthrowing of Queen Lili’uokalani, leading to the archipelago’s addition to the US by Congress as an official territory.

 Which of these countries do you wish you could have visited during its height of progress?

 Let us know which one and why in the comments section below!