Political
States and provinces
First-order internal divisions (states, provinces, oblasts…): administrative lines inside countries, not another sovereign-border atlas and not EEZ.
Read the card →Political
World countries and borders
A public-domain political base: who administers which polygon, with the usual disputed-border caveats.
Natural Earth publishes public-domain cultural and physical vectors at several scales, including admin-0 countries. Cartographers use it because the license is clear and the generalization is designed for small-scale world maps.
Source
Natural Earth
Vintage: 2024
https://www.naturalearthdata.com/
License
Natural Earth is public domain. The preview is a recolored render of Wikimedia’s public-domain BlankMap-World, a similar small-scale country outline.
How to read it
This is a reference outline, not a court. Disputed areas are drawn one way so the map can be drawn at all. For a legal claim, read a treaty or a court, not a 1:110 million shapefile.
Caveats
Borders move, names change, and some lines are violently contested. Natural Earth documents its disputed-boundary choices. A blank political map is still a political act.
Open source map →Related maps
Political
Disputed and breakaway areas
Polygons Natural Earth flags as breakaway or disputed, a cartographer’s working set for contested land, not a court ruling and not a second world-countries layer.
Read the card →Source: Natural Earth 10m Admin 0: Breakaway, disputed areas
Political
Land boundary lines
International land borders as line geometries, the edge between polygons, not a filled countries map and not maritime EEZ limits.
Read the card →
Political
Exclusive economic zones
Maritime EEZ polygons: who claims which ocean band. Complements land borders; not a second countries layer.
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Fix Planet overview Conflicts
Political violence events
Where armed conflict and protest events were recorded, not a verdict on who is right.
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Conflicts
Battle-related deaths
UCDP counts of people killed in organized armed conflict, compiled for comparison over time.
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Fix Planet overview Conflicts
Global Peace Index
Country ranking of peacefulness from the Institute for Economics & Peace: a composite score, not ACLED event pins and not a verdict on who is right.
Read the card →Source: Institute for Economics & Peace / Vision of Humanity: Global Peace Index
Fix Planet overview Conflicts
Fragile States Index
Country scores of state fragility across pressure and cohesion indicators, fragility risk, not battle deaths and not a peace ranking.
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Conflicts
Military expenditure (SIPRI)
Comparable country series of military spending from SIPRI, budgets and burden, not event pins and not a catalog of weapon systems.
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Fix Planet overview Conflicts
Conflict Barometer (HIIK)
Annual conflict intensity by country and region from Heidelberg’s Conflict Barometer, intensity classes, not event pins and not battle-death totals.
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