Syria One Year On: Conflict Timeline & Map of Control after Kurdish Retreat - March 2026 (Subscription)

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Research by Djordje Djukic and Evan Centanni. Map by onestopmap.com, Djordje Djukic, and Evan Centanni  

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In the 14 months since our last report, waves of violence have punctuated the new Syrian government's mostly-successful consolidation of power. Most recently, Kurdish-led SDF forces have retreated - in the face of a government offensive and widespread defection of non-Kurdish units - from most of the independently-governed zone they've long guarded across north and east Syria.

Before that, major campaigns included a brief but bloody rebellion in Syria's coastal provinces, then a small war over Suwayda province in the south. In both cases, government and allied forces carried out apparently genocidal massacres of civilians from religious minority communities: first targeting Alawite people near the coast, then Druze people in Suwayda. 

Meanwhile, the so-called "Islamic State" (ISIS/ISIL) has renewed its insurgency in Syria, while some of its fighters - and tens of thousands of their family members - are believed to be free after the messy transition of detention camps from SDF to Syrian government control. Elsewhere, Israel has expanded its occupation in the southwest, Russia has maintained its bases in the country, and the US military is in the process of withdrawing.

All your questions are answered in the detailed, carefully-researched timeline included with this report, covering events since our previous report of January 9, 2025 (more than one year ago), with sources cited. The report also includes fuller summaries of major trends, and of course an update to PolGeoNow's concise, professionally-designed overview map of territorial control in Syria.

This map and report are premium content, available to paid subscribers of the PolGeoNow Conflict Mapping Service.

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Exclusive map report includes:

• Up-to-date illustration of current territorial control in Syria (excluding the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights), color-coded for the new Syrian Transitional Government (STG), formed from former rebel groups led by Ahmed al-Sharaa; the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and affiliated Asayish police; resurgent forces of the so-called "Islamic State" (ISIS/ISIL); the Israeli military (IDF), and the newly-unified, government-resistant Druze paramilitary group known as the National Guard.
• Markers showing the location of Russian and US military bases 
• Illustration of major 2026 active zones for "Islamic State" (ISIS/ISIL) operatives in areas outside the group's control, approximated from ACLED data on incidents both targeting them and perpetrated by them.
• Detailed indication of city-by-city control, including key towns and other locations important to current events
• Locations of recent control changes and other important events, including Shadadi, Al-Hol, Rmeilan, Qasrak base, Kobani, the Tishrin Dam, Sarrin, Qatana, Jableh, Baniyas, Hmeimim airbase, Mount Hermon, Qalaat al-Jandal, the Bishri Mountains, the Safa lava fields, and many more
• Concise, beginner-friendly summary of the current situation and key events from early 2025 to present, covering major developments and trends for each of Syria's major armed parties
• Detailed timeline of changes to territorial control, major military events, and civilian mass casualty incidents since January 9, 2025, with explanations of the political background and links to sources.

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Yemen Supplement: Who controls Socotra after UAE Pullout?

This article is mostly adapted from excerpts of the conflict timeline in our recent Yemen control map report of February 8, 2026, organized into a stand-alone article for readers curious about the situation in the Socotra Archipelago specifically. Continuing research up to February 18, 2026 has not resulted in any changes to our control assessment from that report, though some additional sources have been referenced.

Map adapted from an excerpt of PolGeoNow's February 2026 map of control in Yemen. By Evan Centanni and Djordje Djukic, from base map by Koen Adams of onestopmap.com.

Current Situation in the Socotra Islands

Article by Evan Centanni

The last two and a half months have seen rapid changes to the political and territorial situation in the Arabia region's Republic of Yemen, as covered in PolGeoNow's Yemen control map reports for December 30, 2025 and February 8, 2026. These events have seen large swaths of the country's mainland switch control between southern separatists and a coalition of anti-separatist forces, each side backed by a wealthy neighboring country of the Arabian Peninsula. 

However, Yemen's island province of Socotra, far offshore to the southeast, has been spared any major fighting, and there's now some confusion about which side controls even the main island, not to mention the smaller islands to its west. At PolGeoNow we don't like to leave big questions unanswered, so here we've done a deep-dive into the available reporting and other sources in search of a little more clarity. 

Yemen Control Map & Report: Collapse of Separatist Control - Feb. 8, 2026 (Subscription)

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Note: Though published on February 8, the map in this report is still current as of February 18, the date of publication of our supplementary article summarizing the situation in Socotra - no changes to territorial control have been reported between those two dates.

(To see other maps in this series, view all Yemen articles on PolGeoNow.) 

Map and timeline by Djordje Djukic and Evan Centanni.

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Just weeks after Yemen's separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) swept victoriously across the country's eastern provinces, the tables turned dramatically. With their foreign backer, the United Arab Emirates, agreeing to withdraw from Yemen under pressure from Saudi Arabia, the separatists were forced in the first days of 2026 to beat a hasty retreat, even from parts of the southwest that they'd controlled for years prior.

Though the leaders of Yemen's Saudi-backed internationally-recognized government remain in exile in Riyadh, forces loyal to them now dominate most of southern and eastern Yemen. This newfound unity raises the prospect of a return to all-out war with the internationally-unrecognized "Houthi" government, which still governs more than half the country's population from its headquarters in official national capital Sana'a. Meanwhile, STC holdouts have withdrawn to their bastions of greatest support, and the local Al Qaeda chapter is flexing its muscles in some remote areas of the country.

This map and report are premium content available to paid subscribers of the PolGeoNow Conflict Mapping Service.

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Exclusive report includes:

• Up-to-date map of territorial control in the Yemeni Civil War, color-coded for the internationally-recognized government (IRG) and allies, led by the Saudi Arabia-backed Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) and including Islah, the Yemeni Emergency Forces, and the National/Homeland Shield Force, and now the Southern Giants Brigades; remaining holdouts of the UAE-backed separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC); forces of the unrecognized "Houthi" government; and estimated area of presence of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) 
• Detailed indication of town-by-town control, including provincial boundaries, all major cities, and many smaller locations
• Markers for places recently appearing in the news, including Seiyun, Khasha'a, Rumah, Adwas, Houta, the Socotra Airport, and many more
• Concise, beginner-friendly summary of the current situation and key events from the end of 2025 to present, covering the entire period of the STC retreat and beyond
• Detailed timeline of changes to control and other major events since December 30, 2025, with links to sources

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How Many Countries Are There in the World in 2026?

This article, originally from 2011, has been revised and updated to January 2026. You can view older versions of the article in our archives. Since last year's update, Somaliland has become a "state with at least partial recognition", after previously being only a "de facto sovereign state".

A world political map published by the US government.

One of the most basic questions for many map-lovers is "How many countries are there in the world?" But anyone who just gives you a simple number isn't telling the whole truth. It actually depends a lot on how you define a "country". Here are six of the most common answers, each correct in its own way:

Yemen Control Map & Report: Height of Southern Separatist Control - Dec. 30, 2025 (Subscription)

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Map and timeline by Djordje Djukic and Evan Centanni.

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Yemen's separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) recently upended more than two years of territorial stability in Yemen's simmering civil war, sweeping across the east in a matter of days and nearly completing its control of all territories once governed by independent South Yemen. 

This map shows Yemen at the height of STC control near the end of 2025, while the similarly-massive reversals of early 2026 will be covered in a later edition. 

Included in this report is a timeline chronicling key conflict events in the years since our March 2023 Yemen control map report, including the 2023-2025 war waged by northern Yemen's internationally-unrecognized "Houthi" government against Israel and the US.

This map and report are premium content available to paid subscribers of the PolGeoNow Conflict Mapping Service.

Want to see before you buy? Check out our most recent FREE SAMPLE Yemen map report!

Exclusive report includes:

• Up-to-date map of territorial control in the Yemeni Civil War, color-coded for the UAE-backed separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) and allies; Saudi-aligned factions of the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) government (includes Islah and National/Homeland Shield Force); forces of the unrecognized "Houthi" government; and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) 
• Detailed indication of town-by-town control, including provincial boundaries, all major cities, and many smaller locations
• Markers for places recently appearing in the news, including Seiyun, Tarim, the PetroMasila oil facilities, and Khasha'a in Hadramawt province; Nishtun, Ghaydah, and Shahan in Mahra province; Perim Island and Ras Issa on the Red Sea; and many more
• Concise, beginner-friendly summary of the current situation and key events and trends from mid-2023 to almost the end of 2025
• Detailed timeline of changes to control and other major events since March 6, 2023, with links to sources. Includes extensive coverage the Houthis' conflict with Israel, the US, and the UK.

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Can I purchase just this map?
This map and report are not available for automated purchase to non-subscribers. If you need access or republication rights for only this map report, contact service@polgeonow.com for options.