Somalia Control Map & Timeline - December 2019 (Subscription)

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

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Since August, pro-federal forces have chipped away a bit at Al Shabaab's still-significant territory in Somalia, while disputes have raged between the federal government and the state administrations of Jubaland and Galmudug. Meanwhile, Al Shabaab claims to have captured a town in northern Somaliland.

See all this and more on the latest update to PolGeoNow's concise, professional Somalia control map, which includes a timeline of changes since our previous Somalia map report of August 2019, with sources cited.

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 Somalia, color-coded for the federal government coalition (including AMISOM peacekeepers), autonomous unionist forces, separatist Somaliland, Al Qaeda affiliate Al Shabaab, and fighters aligned to the so-called "Islamic State" (ISIS/ISIL). Areas of lawlessness or unclear control indicated separately. Colorblind accessible.
• Boundaries and labels for Somalia's official regions and states, including the autonomous administrations of Somaliland, Puntland, and Galmudug as well as the federally-supported Jubaland, South West, and Hirshabelle states.
• Detailed indication of city-by-city control, including many relevant smaller towns and villages.
• Locations of recent fighting and other important events, including Bal'ad, Qayib, Amara, Ga'an Marodi, and more.
• Detailed timeline of territorial control changes and key political developments since August 13, 2019, with sources cited. 
• Brief summary of the conflict situation and changes to the map over the past four and a half months.

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Libyan Civil War Map & Timeline - December 2019 (Subscription)

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(To see other maps in this series, view all Libya updates.)

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

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Since November, forces loyal to Libya's eastern-based government have moved closer to Tripoli's center, where they hope to unseat the country's rival western-based government, even as Turkey prepares a military intervention to defend the government in Tripoli.

See all this and more on the latest update to PolGeoNow's concise, professional Libyan Civil War control map, which comes with a timeline of changes since our previous Libya control map report of November 19, 2019.

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 current territorial control in Libya, color-coded for the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), the rival Tobruk parliament and Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA), the so-called "Islamic State" (ISIS/ISIL), and Toubou and Tuareg militias in the south. Colorblind accessible.
• Detailed indication of city-by-city control, including key towns and other locations important to current events.
• Locations of recent fighting and changes of control, including Yarmouk Camp, Tripoli International Airport, El Feel Oilfield, Tummo border crossing, and more.
• Detailed timeline of important events and changes to territorial control since November 19, 2019, with links to sources.

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Ethiopia's Sidama Zone Votes to Become Regional State

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Ethiopia's regional states, with the Sidama Zone highlighted in darker purple within the SNNPR (click for full-size map)

Sidama Referendum Passes

Last week, we reported on a status referendum in southern Ethiopia, where the Sidama Zone was voting on whether to secede from the country's Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR).

Over the weekend, the Ethiopian government announced that the referendum had passed by a very large margin: According to preliminary results, an enormous 98.5% of voters chose increased self-rule. (Voter turnout was also reported to be extremely high, at 99.8%.)

Ethiopia's government has signaled that it plans to respect the result, making the Sidama Zone into the country's tenth self-governing "regional state". This comes despite warnings that Sidama's promotion will supercharge campaigns for statehood in other regions, which could lead to a cascade of mini-secessions that would shake up Ethiopia's administrative structure and politics.

But the Sidama Zone won't become a state immediately - there will likely be a long, contentious process, which requires an amendment to Ethiopia's constitution. One major issue is that the SNNPR's capital city, Hawassa, is located inside the Sidama Zone. If it's going to become the capital of the Sidama Region instead, then the SNNPR will have to find a new capital and move all its government institutions there.

Sidama will become the second-smallest of the Ethiopia's regional states, after the Harari People's National Regional State (the cities of Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa aren't considered regional states, even though they stand separately from the other regions). Its promotion will also create a new state-level exclave - a part of a state that's not connected to the rest of the state - by cutting off the Gedeo Zone to its south from the rest of the SNNPR.

Want to know when these changes actually happen? You'll hear about it here on PolGeoNow!

Libya Civil War Map & Timeline - November 2019

There are newer versions of this map available. To see them, view all Libya updates.

Base map by Koen Adams of onestopmap.com, with territorial control by Evan Centanni and Djordje Djukic.
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Timeline by Djordje Djukic

Map of Libya: Current Situation

In the time since our previous Libya control map update at the end of September, fighting has raged on around the country's capital city of Tripoli between forces loyal to the two main competing governments. The eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) has continued to consolidate footholds around the capital, but still hasn't managed to turn the tables enough to capture the city itself from the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA). Meanwhile, forces of the so-called "Islamic State" (IS; formerly ISIS/ISIL) are still present in the Libyan desert despite the death of their organization's leader in Syria last month.

Ethiopia's Sidama Zone Voting on Autonomy (Map)

Update: Check out our follow-up article for results of the referendum!

Ethiopia's regional states, with the Sidama Zone highlighted in darker purple within the SNNPR

(Modified from this Wikimedia map by SUM1 and NordNordWest; CC BY-SA)

Fact Check: Is the AfCFTA the World's Second Biggest Free Trade Area?

The AfCFTA is planned to cover almost all of Africa, but doesn't yet.

The recently-created African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) now has 28 full member countries, with 26 more signed on to the project as future members.

That's a lot of members for a free trade area, and everyone seems to be calling it the "world's biggest free trade area since the WTO". But is that label really accurate?

(If you don't want to read the whole article, scroll down to the conclusion for a short summary.)

Mauritius Becomes Full Member of AfCFTA (Map)

Map by Evan Centanni, from blank map by Eric Gaba. License: CC BY-SA

Mauritius Ratifies AfCFTA Treaty

Two months ago, we reported on this year's creation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), an African Union (AU) project to increase trade within Africa. Almost all of Africa's countries have signed on to the AfCFTA, but they only become full members once they've ratified its founding treaty (adopted it into their national laws) and formally registered their ratification with the AU.

Libyan Civil War Map & Timeline - September 2019 (Subscription)

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

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Since July, fighting for control of capital city Tripoli has largely remained at a stalemate, with each of the country's rival governments losing and the recapturing territory, though there have been some small net changes in control.

See all this and more on the latest update to PolGeoNow's concise, professional Libyan Civil War control map, which comes with a timeline of changes since our previous Libya control map report of July 21, 2019.

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 current territorial control in Libya, color-coded for the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), the rival Tobruk parliament and Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA), the so-called "Islamic State" (ISIS/ISIL), and Toubou and Tuareg militias in the south. Colorblind accessible.
• Detailed indication of city-by-city control, including key towns and other locations important to current events.
• Locations of recent fighting and changes of control, including Murzuq, Ain Zara, Gharyan, Tripoli International Airport, and more.
• Detailed timeline of important events and changes to territorial control since July 21, 2019, with links to sources.

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Map: What is the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)?

There are newer versions of this map available. To see them, view all AfCFTA updates.

Map by Evan Centanni, from blank map by Eric Gaba. License: CC BY-SA

New Trade Bloc: What is the AfCFTA Agreement?

Despite being neighbors, most countries in Africa trade more with other continents than with each other - a peculiar leftover of colonialism that the African Union (AU) has long been looking to change. Last year, the organization's member countries finally came together and agreed on the creation of one of the world's most expansive "free trade areas". The new zone, called the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), officially came into being on May 30, 2019, after a minimum threshold of 22 countries confirmed that they had copied its 2018 founding treaty into their national laws (a process called "ratification").

Somalia Control Map & Timeline - August 2019

There are newer versions of this map available. To see them, view all Somalia articles on PolGeoNow.

Base map by Koen Adams of onestopmap.com, with territorial control by Evan Centanni and Djordje Djukic.
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(Subscribers click here to view this article in the member area)

Timeline by Evan Centanni

Mapping Al Shabaab Control

In the nine months since our previous Somalia control map report, the front lines in southern and central Somalia have changed only subtly: Al Shabaab, Somalia's Al Qaeda-affiliated religious hardline movement, has expanded its governance in some rural areas of the country's southwest, but at the same time has been driven out of two more important towns in the densely-populated Shabelle River valley west of Mogadishu. Scroll down for a full timeline of territorial changes and other major military and political events since last November.
 

Libyan Civil War Map & Timeline - July 2019 (Subscription)

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

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Since June, direct fighting between Libya's two biggest rival governments has continued in the Tripoli area, each with their own international backers, with the western government achieving a notable victory along the road south from Tripoli.

See all this and more on the latest update to PolGeoNow's concise, professional Libyan Civil War control map, which comes with a timeline of changes since our previous Libya control map report of June 4, 2019.

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

Want to see before you subscribe? Check out our most recent FREE SAMPLE Libya map!

Exclusive report includes:

• Up-to-date map of current territorial control in Libya, color-coded for the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), the rival Tobruk parliament and Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA), the so-called "Islamic State" (ISIS/ISIL), and Toubou and Tuareg militias in the south. Colorblind accessible.
• Detailed indication of city-by-city control, including key towns and other locations important to current events.
• Locations of recent fighting and changes of control, including Gharyan, Murzuq, Tripoli International Airport, and more.
• Detailed timeline of important events and changes to territorial control since June 4, 2019, with links to sources.

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African Union Map Update: Sudan Suspended

Map by Evan Centanni, from blank map by Eric Gaba. License: CC BY-SA

Sudan Suspended from African Union

On June 6, the African Union (AU) suspended Sudan from membership in the continental organization. This is the first time any country has been suspended from the AU since 2016, when the Central African Republic (CAR) was reinstated after a three-year suspension.

Map: Which Countries are in the African Union?

This map and explainer will be updated whenever there's a change in AU membership, including suspensions and reinstatements. News about each change will be published in separate articles, which you can find listed below, or by viewing all African Union content on PolGeoNow.

Map by Evan Centanni, from this blank map by Eric Gaba. License: CC BY-SA

(Subscribers click here to view this article in the members area.)

Article by Evan Centanni

What is the African Union?

Launched in 2002 as a replacement for the earlier Organization of African Unity (OAU), the African Union (AU) is an intergovernmental organization that works on increasing cooperation, stability, and development within the continent of Africa. The organization is headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (Ethiopia is the only African country that the European empires never colonized, and is also the second most populous country on the continent.)

Libyan Civil War Map & Timeline - June 2019 (Subscription)

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

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Over the past month and a half, fighting in Libya has focused in on the southern suburbs of Tripoli, where the country's two rival governments are jockeying for the upper hand in the capital city. Meanwhile, the so-called "Islamic State" (ISIS/ISIL) continues to launch attacks in southern towns.

See all this and more on the latest update to PolGeoNow's concise, professional Libyan Civil War control map, which comes with a timeline of changes since our previous Libya control map report in April 14, 2019.

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

Want to see before you subscribe? Check out our most recent FREE SAMPLE Libya map!

Exclusive report includes:

• Up-to-date map of current territorial control in Libya, color-coded for the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), the rival Tobruk parliament and Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA), the so-called "Islamic State" (ISIS/ISIL), and Toubou and Tuareg militias in the south. Colorblind accessible.
• Detailed indication of city-by-city control, including key towns and other locations important to current events.
• Locations of recent fighting and changes of control, including Aziziya, Ain Zara, Tripoli International Airport, and more.
• Detailed timeline of important events and changes to territorial control since April 14, 2019, with links to sources.

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Libyan Civil War Map & Timeline: Battle for Tripoli Begins - April 14, 2019 (Subscription)

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

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After years of proxy fighting in central and southern Libya, forces allied to the country's two rival governments are finally facing off directly around capital city Tripoli. In just the past two weeks, there have already been many changes to territorial control - mostly gains for the eastern-allied Libyan National Army (LNA).

See all this and more on the latest update to PolGeoNow's concise, professional Libyan Civil War control map, which comes with a timeline of changes since our previous Libya control map report in April 1, 2019.

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

Want to see before you subscribe? Check out our most recent FREE SAMPLE Libya map!

Exclusive report includes:

• Up-to-date map of current territorial control in Libya, color-coded for the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), the rival Tobruk parliament and Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA), the so-called "Islamic State" (ISIS/ISIL), and Toubou and Tuareg militias in the south. Colorblind accessible.
• Detailed indication of city-by-city control, including key towns and other locations important to current events.
• Locations of recent fighting and changes of control, including Aziziya, Ain Zara, Tripoli International Airport, and more.
• Detailed timeline of important events and changes to territorial control since April 1, 2019, with links to sources.

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Libyan Civil War Map & Timeline - April 1, 2019 (Subscription)

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

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Over the past month, the eastern Libyan National Army (LNA) has continued its rapid advances across the south, seizing control of several towns and oil fields previously controlled by independent Toubou and Tuareg militias. Meanwhile, Libya's two major rival governments continue vying for power in the north, and the so-called "Islamic State" (ISIS/ISIL) is still present in some desert areas.

See all this and more on the latest update to PolGeoNow's concise, professional Libyan Civil War control map, which comes with a timeline of changes since our previous Libya control map report in February 2019.

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

Want to see before you subscribe? Check out our most recent FREE SAMPLE Libya map!

Exclusive report includes:

• Up-to-date map of current territorial control in Libya, color-coded for the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), the rival Tobruk parliament and Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA), the so-called "Islamic State" (ISIS/ISIL), and Toubou and Tuareg militias in the south. Colorblind accessible.
• Detailed indication of city-by-city control, including key towns and other locations important to current events.
• Locations of recent fighting and changes of control, including Murzuq, Ghadduwah, Qatrun, Uwaynat, and more.
• Detailed timeline of important events and changes to territorial control since February 24, 2019, with links to sources.

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Libyan Civil War Map & Timeline - February 2019 (Subscription)

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

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Since last month, the Libyan National Army (LNA) of General Khalifa Haftar has rapidly expanded its control of major towns and oil fields in Libya's southwest, clashing with regional Toubou militias and threatening Tuareg militia control as well. Meanwhile, the so-called "Islamic State" (ISIS/ISIL) is still active in some parts of the Libyan desert, despite its leadership facing defeat in Syria.

See all this and more on the latest update to PolGeoNow's concise, professional Libyan Civil War control map, which comes with a timeline of changes since our previous Libya control map report in July 2018.

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

Want to see before you subscribe? Check out our most recent FREE SAMPLE Libya map!

Exclusive report includes:

• Up-to-date map of current territorial control in Libya, color-coded for the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), the rival Tobruk parliament and Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA), the so-called "Islamic State" (ISIS/ISIL), and Toubou and Tuareg militias in the south. Colorblind accessible.
• Detailed indication of city-by-city control, including key towns and other locations important to current events.
• Locations of recent fighting and military operations, including Murzuq, Ghadduwah, the El Sharara and El Feel oil fields, and more.
• Detailed timeline of important events and changes to territorial control since July 19, 2018, with links to sources.

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Swaziland's New Name in All Six UN Languages

Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland. Based on this map by Htonl and NordNordWest.

"Eswatini" Not Only For English

Last year, we told you about the small African Kingdom of Swaziland's name change to "Kingdom of Eswatini", which it turns out has caught on more quickly than usual in the media. Unlike Côte d'Ivoire, Cabo Verde, Timor-Leste, and Czechia, whose previous English names are still arguably dominant today, Wikipedia editors have found that most sources switched rapidly from Swaziland to Eswatini after the name change.

In our first article, we promised to let you know when the new name came through in the other official languages of the United Nations (since the UN acts as a sort of formal registry for countries' official names). Well, here they are:

Somalia Control Map & Timeline - November 2018 (Subscription)

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

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Since our last update in June, Somalia's civil war has continued at its usual pace, with both Al Qaeda affiliate Al Shabaab and the Mogadishu-based government coalition capturing towns from each other. Meanwhile, the armies of Somaliland and Puntland in the north are still facing off over their disputed border.

See all this and more on the latest update to PolGeoNow's concise, professional Somalia control map, which includes a timeline of changes since our previous Somalia map report of June 2018, with sources cited.

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

Want to see before you subscribe? Check out our most recent FREE SAMPLE Somalia map!

Exclusive map report includes:

• Up-to-date illustration of current territorial control in Somalia, color-coded for the federal government coalition (including AMISOM peacekeepers), autonomous unionist forces, separatist Somaliland, Al Qaeda affiliate Al Shabaab, and fighters aligned to the so-called "Islamic State" (ISIS/ISIL). Areas of lawlessness or unclear control indicated separately. Colorblind accessible.
• Boundaries and labels for Somalia's official regions, plus control lines for the autonomous administrations of Somaliland, Puntland, Galmudug, and Khatumo.
• Detailed indication of city-by-city control, including many relevant smaller towns and villages.
• Locations of recent fighting and other important events, including Tukaraq, Bar Sanguni, Basra, and more.
• Detailed timeline of territorial control changes and key political developments since June 2, 2018, with sources indicated. 
• Brief summary of the conflict situation, as well as major changes to the alignment of autonomous administrations, over the past five and a half months.

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Taiwan Loses Recognition from Dominican Republic, Burkina Faso (Map)

You can always find the latest version of this map, and a list of all related articles, on our Which Countries Recognize Taiwan? page.

Click to enlarge. By Evan Centanni, modified from public domain blank world map.