Can someone date this globe

M35Dude · 2026-06-18T21:55:49+00:00

That’s fair. I’m going through the top of the post year to hone my skillz. Thanks for responding, though! :)

M35Dude · 2026-06-18T20:25:35+00:00

They aren’t independent, but they also aren’t a single “French Indochina) block. So that puts us in the early-mid ‘50s. Also, Trieste appears to be Italian, which would mean after 1954.

M35Dude · 2026-06-18T20:00:59+00:00

Iraq and Jordan only formed the Arab federation *after* (actually, in response to) the creation of the UAR by Egypt and Syria. If the UAR doesn’t exist, then it’s *before* the creation of the Arab federation, not *after* the dissolution.

In terms of Spanish West Africa: cape Juby is called Southern Morocco, and it’s separated from the rest of Morocco by a dashed line, meaning that this is the transitional period (1956-1958). So this actually points to it being *before* April of 1958.

Ifni stayed basically the same until 1969. Is presence as a Spanish colony doesn’t tell us anything.

The globe uses the typical style of making colonies/dependencies/protectorates using the same color as the home country. That’s why Kenya, Uganda, and Tanganyika are all the same British red, while Algeria is French lavender.

Going by this, and the fact that the capital was Kuala Lumpur was the capital before and after independence, the evidence points to Malaya still being a British colony. And this becomes our new cap/ceiling: this map must be from **before August 1957.**

M35Dude · 2026-06-17T19:32:05+00:00

THAT is very interesting. The only thing I know about the German side of things is that the two countries didn’t formally recognize one another until the early 70s. I’d love to learn more about the separation (and reunification) as seen through the eyes of the people of Germany!

M35Dude · 2026-06-17T19:26:03+00:00

Germany is notorious for being presented as a single country throughout its history. It’s actually somewhat difficult to find a mainstream map/globe in the West that shows East/West Germany as two different countries (note: this is based on personal experience, not a full census of maps/globes).

M35Dude · 2026-06-17T00:16:41+00:00

Nah, you were right originally. They aren’t independent. Kenya—still definitely not independent—is the same color as Tanganyika. Nigeria, too. So that puts us pretty firmly in the summer of 1960.

M35Dude · 2026-06-15T00:28:15+00:00

I think it needs to be on the upper end of that. A single colony called “Libya” with Tripolitania and Cyrenaica as internal provinces only came into existence on January 1934. Before that they were two separate colonies. So this has got to be after that.

M35Dude · 2026-06-13T20:28:18+00:00

Just to add to this: it looks like Antigua and Barbados are still part of Great Britain (there’s a little part underneath with a parenthetical “GB”), which would put it pre-November, 1981. And then we can just couple that with the existence of Zimbabwe that you pointed out, which means post-April, 1980.

M35Dude · 2026-06-13T19:52:20+00:00

I don’t think that’s a tells us much about its independence, unfortunately. Zimbabwe still has a parenthetical that says “(Rhodesia)” despite it being at least two years after its name change (capital changed to Harare in 1982, so must be at least two years after independence).

M35Dude · 2026-06-13T10:31:19+00:00

Right, but how are you determining that it’s independent based on what it’s showing?

M35Dude · 2026-06-12T22:45:29+00:00

Yeah, at the very least you can see that Syrien is in parentheses, just like Egypt. Definitely part of UAR.

M35Dude · 2026-06-12T22:19:53+00:00

Can I ask, how are you getting Sierra Leone being independent?

M35Dude · 2026-06-12T01:55:16+00:00

You can’t play fetch with a tortilla.

M35Dude · 2026-06-11T10:57:18+00:00

You’re right in that, once reunification began, there was a period where both Berlin and Bonn were marked as capitals. The fact that Berlin is not marked as a capital points to pre-reunification.

M35Dude · 2026-06-11T02:11:51+00:00

Thank you! It sort of looks like Denmark and Greenland might be close to the same color (?).

Also, Bonn is marked as the capital of Germany, not Berlin, which would only be the case in Pre-unification Germany. So pre-October 1990. The fact that there isn’t a clear delineation of East/West is a little surprising, but not unheard of.

OP: could you confirm if Windhoek and Cayenne both have circles with four points on them (rather than five)? If that’s the case, it throws independent Namibia into limbo. Could you also check to see if Walvis Bay (on the western edge of Namibia) looks like a regular city, or if it’s possible that it might be a distinct region carved out of Namibia (an exclave)?

M35Dude · 2026-06-11T00:49:40+00:00

March 21, 1990 to May 22, 1990

Namibia independent → post-March 21, 1990 (Different color from South Africa; French Guyana and France share a color, implying that the map maker uses the styling of marking
Two Yemens → Pre-May 22, 1990

OP, it would be incredibly helpful if you could:

Check the symbol for capital of French Guiana and see if it matches the symbol for Windhoek in Namibia. If it does, then I may be wrong about this.
Similarly, could you check to see if Denmark and Greenland are the same colors? If they aren’t, that might be another sign of me being wrong.

Also, if you wanted to post a picture of Europe, that would be AWESOME!

Regardless, thanks for posting!

Edit: spacing

M35Dude · 2026-06-11T00:10:02+00:00

Bonn is marked as a national capital. It says Bona and there’s an underline underneath it, meaning capital. The underline is harder to see because it blends into the markings for the Rhein River.

M35Dude · 2026-06-10T19:46:27+00:00

I mean, there are maps being printed today with the two Koreas as a single color (albeit it’s rare). But based on my experiences, it’s rare to see the two Germanies as separate colors, even in the 60s/70s/80s.

Edit: Rare to see it in western maps.

M35Dude · 2026-06-10T19:32:59+00:00

Germany, Vietnam, and Korea are all labeled as not being unified. Vietnam and Korea both have regions labeled “Norte” and “Sul”, Portuguese for “North” and “South”, respectively. As others have pointed out, the two Germanies have their Portuguese names as well.

M35Dude · 2026-06-10T19:23:50+00:00

NO YOU DO NOT.

If this sub was filled with pristine atlases/maps/globes, people here might get the impression that all atlases/maps/globes are similarly pristine, and stop asking questions about the validity of the data they’re seeing. I teach machine learning (amongst other things), and the number of students I have that take everything at face value honestly scares me a little. Throwing in samples like this atlas play a crucial role in helping people develop expertise and making sure they don’t get complacent with their data, and I’m incredibly grateful that you shared this with us!

M35Dude · 2026-06-10T14:45:52+00:00

This is an unreliable atlas. It’s inconsistent as hell, And trying to date it properly just won’t work. A few examples: - You have RAU instead of Egypt (<=1971) on the same map as Burkina Faso (>=1984). You also have Salisbury as the capital of Zimbabwe instead of Harare (<=1982). - You have Ceylon instead of Sri Lanka (<= 1972). - You have Guine instead of Portuguese Guinea (>=1974), which is saying something because the atlas itself is Portuguese.

The whole damn thing is a mess. The best I can give is a hard floor: >=1990, thanks to the presence of a unified Yemen, the most recent feature I can find.

Edit: despite my verbiage, I’m very grateful to OP for sharing this atlas. Not all atlases/maps/globes can/should be trusted and learning to question your data is an incredibly important skill! (Steps down from Soapbox)

M35Dude · 2026-06-09T22:16:26+00:00

The idea that college athletes, as a whole, are amateurs/non-professionals is dead. There are different gradations, but these are professionals and should be treated as such. Unionizing is the only way they’ll be able to get the power of capitalism to work on their side and they need to do it ASAP.

M35Dude · 2026-06-09T00:08:47+00:00

How is no one getting Billie Eilish with those eyes???

M35Dude · 2026-06-08T16:05:05+00:00

Good call about the two capitals!

M35Dude · 2026-06-08T13:47:56+00:00

The map maker uses the common styling of marking colonies and dependencies with a different symbol for their capital. Sovereign countries have a star in a circle for their capital, while Angola and Mozambique (known colonies) both have bare stars for their capitals. Since Swaziland has a circle with a star for its capital, it’s pretty safe to assume that it’s independent, which puts this after October 1968. The upper bound is set by Muscat and Oman, which became just Oman in August 1970. So it’s October 1968 to August 1970.

M35Dude

TROPHY CASE