A new kit for Ukraine’s football team, showing a map including Russian-annexed Crimea, has provoked anger in Moscow.

De facto states have been a constant presence in the postwar international order. Some survive for a long period of time. Others are forcefully reintegrated into their parent states, or disappear as a result of peacemaking. Only a few successfully transition to full statehood. What explains these very different outcomes? Adrian Florea of the University of Glasgow pinpoints four crucial factors.

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 number isn’t telling the whole truth. It actually depends a lot on how you define a ‘country’.

An interview with Laura Steward, curator of public art at the University of Chicago, who organized an exhibition at the 2020 Outsider Art Fair in New York of stamps from micronations and other dubiously defined places.

The Silicon Valley firm alters maps under political pressure and the inscrutable whims of tech executives.

In the effort to elucidate and understand de facto states, the University of Tartu (Estonia) recently founded the De Facto State Research Unit. From Somaliland to Transnistria and everywhere in between, their goal is to uncover these hidden spots that may turn out unexpectedly influential in world politics.

George Pendle gives an insightful overview of a number of micronations. What do these new founded lands signify and why are they erected?

What do you need to start your own country? Citizens, a flag, a national anthem? British comedian Danny Wallace tried to find out, and started his own micronation in his flat in London. His series was aired at the BBC in 2005.

Roman Mars is obsessed with flags—and after you watch this talk, you might be, too. These ubiquitous symbols of civic pride are often designed, well, pretty terribly. But they don’t have to be. In this surprising and hilarious talk about vexillology —the study of flags—Mars reveals the five basic principles of flag design and shows why he believes they can be applied to just about anything.

What about an European Republic? Ulrike Guerót, founder of the European Democracy Lab, believes passionately in this political utopia. Listen to her TED-talk, in which she argues that the current European system fails, and that we need to rearrange our national borders along regional levels.

What if you want to play football, but your territory is not recognized by FIFA? You can join CONIFA, the Confederation of Independent Football Associations, which has 58 members up to now. The next CONIFA World Foodball Cup will take place in 2020, but the location is still unknown after Somaliland was striped of hosting rights in August 2019.

The contested nature of de facto states and their acceptance of dual citizenship results in the overlap of multiple citizenship regimes, leading to individuals living in de facto states possessing multiple citizenship statuses. Ramesh Ganohariti of Dublin City University explores the factors that influence the divergent citizenship regimes of Abkhazia and Transnistria.

How the best-selling author is making complex matters of geography accessible for the next generation. An interview with Tim Marshall, the author of ‘Prisoners of Geography’.