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Countries That Changed Their Location
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Mar 31, 2025
Get NordVPN 2Y plan + 4 months free here ➼ https://nordvpn.com/knowledge It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee! In this video I talk about a few countries that have, throughout history, changed the location in which they exist. Starting with Bulgaria which previously existed in Crimea as "Great Old Bulgaria" then moving to the First Bulgarian Empire (where they now are) and the old Volga Bulgaria in Russia. Then talking about Ghana's connection (or lack thereof) with the Ghana Empire, something that also happens with Modern Benin and the Kingdom of Benin - although one is named in honor of its historic namesake, while the other simply has the same Etymology, respectively. Also taking a look at perhaps the greatest example of countries that moved their location: The Sovereign (Hospitaller Knights) Military Order of Malta; first established in Jerusalem, then moving to Cyprus, Rhodes, Malta and finally existing without territory today, only operationg through a building in Rhodes. Hungary is another example of a European country that technically moved its location, through the migration of the Magyars from Magna Hungaria in the Asian steppes into the Carpathian Basin. And finally taking a look at a few other states, countries or Empires throughout history that could arguably be said moved: such as the Mughal Empire, the Huns, the Angles, the Saxons, the Franks, or even Poland - should you expand the definition of "a country that moved" to location changes along a continuous territory. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 00:47 Bulgaria 02:28 Ghana 04:49 Sovereign Military Order of Malta 06:55 Benin 08:10 Hungary 09:17 Mughal Empire 10:25 Poland 11:38 Huns 11:47 Angles & Franks 12:07 Summary Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GKonYoutube Join the Discord Server: https://discord.com/invite/f4neAVWZfF
View Video Transcript
0:00
Whenever we think of a country, one of the main things we think about is where it is
0:04
what its borders are shaped like, and what region of the world it is a part of
0:09
If you think of France, you think of Europe. If you think of Brazil, you think of South America
0:14
Our concept of countries are definitely connected to their locations. However, throughout history, some countries have seemingly done the impossible move where
0:24
they exist. Either by choice or being forced by circumstances, various nations throughout time have been
0:29
picked up and simply moved to another location, re-establishing their country in another region
0:36
In this video, we're going to list out a few of those examples, understanding which countries moved, when, from where to where, and why
0:48
First, Bulgaria. It is said the first Bulgarian people originated somewhere in Asia. It's uncertain
0:53
where, but historians have at least determined that in around the 7th century that settled in
0:58
in what is today Ukraine and Crimea. The old country of Great Bulgaria existed between
1:03
632 and 668. They were eventually defeated by the Avads and the Khazars and the destruction
1:12
of this early country led to the migration of Bulgarians to various regions. Places like
1:18
Italy, Greece, the Danube basin or even Anatolia saw small Bulgarian communities move there
1:25
And there were two real successor states to this ancient Bulgarian country
1:29
First, Volga Bulgaria, which as its name indicates established itself along the Volga River north
1:36
of where they existed before, and second, the first Bulgarian empire which migrated to
1:41
where modern Bulgaria is, although also stretching into Romania, Ukraine and the rest of the Balkans
1:48
Volga Bulgaria lasted quite a long time, up to the 1240s when they were destroyed by the
1:53
Mongol invasions of Russia. But the Balkan Bulgarians were able to endure. Sure, the empire
1:58
itself didn't last, being replaced by other entities and sometimes even being occupied by
2:03
other empires, but the Bulgarians themselves remained the main ethnic group of people in this
2:08
region. The second Bulgarian empire was also tremendously successful and after Ottoman
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occupation, Bulgaria recovered its independence, lasting as a country until today. A perfect
2:18
example of a set of people that initially established their country in one region, but
2:23
were forced by circumstances to move and move it somewhere else. Next we move to Africa to take a look at Ghana
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It's important to note that unlike Bulgaria, ancient Ghana and modern Ghana are not connected
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They can only be viewed as a country that moved in the sense that there was a country
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called Ghana in one place, it disappeared, and now there's a country called Ghana in
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another place. The Ghana Empire existed in what is today Mauritania and Mali from 300 to around 1100 AD
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They eventually went into decay and became a vassal of the neighboring Mali Empire
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Hundreds of years later, in 1957, the British colony of the Gold Coast renamed itself as
3:02
Ghana upon independence, in honor and remembrance of the historic African empire, although their
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geographic boundaries never overlapped. Not only was their territory different but the people themselves might have been as well It is thought that after the collapse of the empire some people may have migrated south with a few making it as far south as present Ghana However there is very little evidence to prove this claim Before we continue
3:26
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And now, back to the video. One country that did move locations though, and actually a lot of times, was the Order of Malta
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also known as the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta
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And the reason why it has all these names is precisely because of those location changes
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The Order of Malta is a very interesting case of a country that today has no territory but still exists
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If you want, I can make a full video on it. It was founded in 1048 when Italian merchants obtained permission from the Muslims
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to establish a monastic community in Jerusalem. When Jerusalem was retaken by the Muslims in 1291
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after being held by the Crusaders, they moved to Cyprus. But they could not deal with the local politics well enough to establish themselves permanently
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So in 1310, they moved to the island of Rhodes to attempt to establish their own sovereign nation
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They remained there until 1522 when the Ottoman Empire took the island
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After this, they kept island hopping in the Mediterranean, remaining without territory for a while
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But in 1530, they reached Malta from where they get their modern name
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The current flag of Malta is still inspired by them as well. an island gifted to them by Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire in Spain
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Oh, and also from 1651 to 1665, the order bought four islands in the Caribbean from the French
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attempting to establish their own colonial empire, St. Barthelmy, St. Christopher, St. Croix
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and St. Martin, then selling them back to the French. Napoleon eventually conquered the island
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in 1798, forcing the order to leave and having them find refuge in Russia, in St. Petersburg
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In 1806 the Swedish government offered the sovereignty of the island of Gotland to the order but they rejected it because they would have had to renounce their claim to Malta in order to accept However this renouncing ended up
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happening in 1815, so they might as well have taken Gotland. They returned to Italy, residing
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in various towns, until they made their way to Rome, where they remain up to today, an official
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sovereign country that moved around so many times, existing today in only a palace in Rome
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Back in Africa is Benin, which has an almost identical situation to that of Ghana
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The modern state of Benin is here, while the ancient kingdom of Benin was here, and the
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two have almost no connection other than its regional proximity and name
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The kingdom of Benin is in modern day Nigeria, although its old capital of Edo is now known
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as Benin City, it was annexed by the British in 1897, becoming a part of the Nigerian colony
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and then becoming independent as a part of modern Nigeria. The people of the Kingdom of Benin were the Edo and the Ogisu, none of which make up the
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various ethnic groups of modern day Benin. Because modern Benin was actually named Dahomey before, after the Kingdom of Dahomey that existed
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there from 1600 to 1904, by the way having some of the coolest flags and coat of arms ever
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They became a French colony and eventually got independence back in 1958, but still used
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this name. In 1975 though, the country was renamed to Benin after the Bight of Benin, this ocean
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area right here, which was in turn named after the ancient Benin empire
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Not necessarily a country that moved in itself, but a name that moved being only connected
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through sharing the same region and perhaps also in homage of the ancient kingdom
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Next is another European country, Magyar, Hungary. The establishment of modern Hungary can trace its history back to the migration of the Magyar
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people into Europe. The Magyar conquest of the Carpathian Basin took place in the 9th and 10th centuries
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The Hungarian soldiers were familiar with the areas as they were often hired as mercenaries
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to fight there for other European powers, namely that first Bulgarian empire we saw
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After being attacked by the Peshnegs and the Bulgarians themselves in their eastern hometowns
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they migrated to Europe and eventually established themselves permanently in this region
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In this map, we can see the process of these migrations from an initial state called Magna
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Hungaria, near the Ural Mountains, to the Black Sea coast, Ukraine, and finally into
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the Carpathian Basin where modern-day Hungary partially is. In this other map of Europe from the year 900, we can see how the region is still labeled
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as Magyars, with the Peschnegs controlling the regions east of there where the Hungarians
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were pushed from. Another example of a country or at least a nation and people that were forced to move from one region to another
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We can also take a look at the Mughal Empire. The Mughal Empire was established by a leader called Babur in the 16th century
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He was a warrior ruler in what is today Uzbekistan. With military aid from the Ottomans, which provided them with cannons and guns
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they managed to conquer vast territories, reaching into what is today Afghanistan, northern India and Pakistan
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especially after the defeat of the Sultan of Delhi in 1526. After that they moved further south and at one point controlled almost all of the Indian subcontinent The Mughals eventually lost their ancestral lands in Uzbekistan remaining in the south until they were destroyed and effectively seeing their territory move from one place
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to the other over the course of time, a consequence of both their military successes and conquests
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in the south and their military defeats in the north. However, when we think about it, the Mughal example is simply one of conquest
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Sure, they lost the entire territory where they began as a country, but there wasn't a break from location A to location C, ignoring B along the way
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There was a continuous expansion that was then taken away on one side
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Poland, for instance, is also a great example of this, and a country that, if we assume this additional criteria, could also be described as having moved locations
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Polish borders have changed tremendously throughout history, to the point of the country actually not existing a few times
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This is also a fascinating subject I want to do a full video on, leave a comment to let me know if you'd be interested in it
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This map shows us an overlay of the different borders that Polish states have had throughout history
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From arguably the first Polish state under Bolzlau I, moving to the gigantic Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
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to the second Polish republic that was much smaller, losing eastern territory
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This Polish Republic was then occupied by Germany and the USSR, losing its eastern territory to the Soviets even after being reformed, but gaining in compensation some old German territory to the west, being more closely related to the year 1000 kingdom
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I have to admit I didn't know about this territorial similarity between the kingdom and the modern day state
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But the point is that, as we can see, these border changes meant great movement of the location of the country, although always along contiguous territory
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One more country that, according to this criteria, moved locations. Not to mention the various peoples throughout times, especially nomadic ones such as the Huns
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which moved their nation's location all the time, not settling in one place
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Or the various Germanic people that moved into Western Europe and established in new locations
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forming the predecessors of what would eventually become European kingdoms and modern states
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Such as the migration of the Angles from Denmark to England, or the Franks from Germany to France, where each of them established the countries that became known
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as such. So, that is a brief list of a few countries that move locations throughout history
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some truly moving like Bulgaria, Hungary or the sovereign military order of Malta
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while others moved in a less true sense of the word, with the moving having to be described
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simply as two different countries sharing the same name, existing in two different regions
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at two different times. In addition to others that could also be categorized as having moved
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if we expand the definition to include extreme border changes along a contiguous territory
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as Poland is such a good example of. Do you agree that these countries moved or not? And are there
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any other moving countries that I didn't mention? Let me know in the comments. Thanks so much for
12:50
watching this video, subscribe if you want, and I will see you next time for more general knowledge
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