In 1945 European states governed roughly a third of the world’s population. By 1975 almost none of it was left. Drag the year, or press play, and watch the empires drain away — then click any territory to find out why it left by negotiation, by war, or by collapse, and what the superpower rivalry did to it on the way out.
1945
19451960 — Year of Africa1976
negotiatedwarabrupt collapsestill ruled from Europe
The territories
Still ruled from Europe
733m people
Independent since 1945
0m people
0% of the 1945 colonial population is free
Why did the empires go, and go so fast?
Pick a cause to see which territories it explains — the tiles it fits will be ringed in gold. No single reason covers the map, which is the honest answer to the exam question.