Ukraine: Map of Russian Control on April 18, 2022

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Map by Evan Centanni and Djordje Djukic. Contact us for permission to use this map.

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Timeline by Djordje Djukic

Russia Completes Withdrawal from Northern Ukraine

In the more than two weeks since PolGeoNow's previous Ukraine control map report, Russian forces have completed their withdrawal from north-central Ukraine, and are now beginning a new push to complete their control of the eastern Donbass (Donetsk and Luhansk) region. Fighting this month has largely been focused on the southeastern city of Mariupol, which is now thought to be under full Russian control except for one industrial area. If Russia completes its control there, Mariupol will be the largest city captured since the start of the 2022 invasion.

Yemen Control Map & Report: Truce Pauses Fighting - April 2022

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Map by Evan Centanni and Djordje Djukic, from base map by Koen Adams of onestopmap.com.
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Timeline by Djordje Djukic, with additional reporting by Evan Centanni

Yemen's New Truce: Who Controls What?

Since our previous Yemen control map report of three months ago, forces of Yemen's unrecognized, Iran-backed Houthi government have rolled back their rivals' recent gains, but still haven't been able to move on the central city of Marib. Amid this stalemate, a surprise UN-brokered truce, alongside the resignation of the country's weak internationally-recognized president, has opened up new possibilities for an end to the war.

Ukraine: Map of Russian Control on April 2, 2022 (Subscription)

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Research by Djordje Djukic. Map by Evan Centanni and Djordje Djukic

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In the past week, Russian forces have largely withdrawn from the area of capital city Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine's north. But Russia has by no means given up on its invasion, and is now shifting its military focus to consolidating control of Ukraine's east, alongside its allies in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics.

See all this and more on the latest update to PolGeoNow's concise, professional Ukraine war control map, which includes a timeline of changes since our previous Ukraine map report of March 24, with sources cited.

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Exclusive map report includes:

• Up-to-date illustration of current territorial control in Ukraine, color-coded for the Ukrainian government on one side and the Russian military and allied rebels on the other side, with areas of uncertainty indicated. Colorblind accessible.
• Darker color indicating which areas were already under Russian or allied control before the 2022 invasion began
  
• Claimed borders of the Russia-backed, self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republic in the eastern Donbass region.
  
• 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 Irpin, Vil'khivka, Rubizhne, Trostianets, Marinka, and more
  
• Detailed timeline of important events and changes to territorial control since March 24, 2022, with links to sources.

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Recognition of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics

Areas controlled by the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics just before the Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. For approximate changes that have happened since, check out our Ukraine control map. (Map by Evan Centanni and Djordje Djukic. Contact us for permission to use this map.)

Donetsk and Lugansk: Unrecognized "Republics"

Though now overshadowed by the war, an important political geography event took place in the days leading up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, changing some versions of the world's list of countries.

Back in April 2014, the month after Russia-backed separatists in the peninsula of Crimea declared their independence from Ukraine, Russia-backed rebels in Ukraine's eastern provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk also announced that they were forming independent countries: the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Lugansk People's Republic (LPR). ("Luhansk" is the Ukrainian-language spelling of the place name, while "Lugansk" is the Russian-language version.)

But unlike Crimea, which had already been secured by Russia's military, and was quickly absorbed into Russia with the permission of its supposed independent government, Donetsk and Lugansk would remain unrecognized for the next eight years - not officially treated as independent countries by any other country, even Russia.*

How Many Countries Were There in the World in 2022?

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This article, originally from 2011, has been revised and updated to March 2022. You can view older versions of the article in our archives. The main update from last year is the promotion of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics from unrecognized to partially-recognized "de facto states".

A world political map published by the US government.

One of the most basic questions for 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: