Here’s an interesting visualization of the expansion and contraction of colonial powers from the 19th century through the present day. I assume the shapes include the actual countries of Britain, Spain, France and Portugal and that their size in the end reflects, in part, their land mass. The description accompanying the video notes, “The data refers to the evolution of the top 4 maritime empires of the XIX and XX centuries by extent.” But each of these countries still occupies some overseas territory that is in dispute. One is certainly aware of this living in the north of Morocco where there are two Spanish enclaves.

Visualizing empires decline from Pedro M Cruz on Vimeo.

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