Since the year 1990, 34 new countries have been created. The dissolution of the USSR and Yugoslavia in the early 1990s lead to the creation of most of the newly independent states.
Most of these countries declared independence a few months preceding the fall of the Soviet Union in late 1991:
| 1. | Armenia | 2. | Azerbaijan | 3. | Belarus |
| 4. | Estonia | 5. | Georgia | 6. | Kazakhstan |
| 7. | Kyrgyzstan | 8. | Latvia | 9. | Lithuania |
| 10. | Moldova | 11. | Russia | 12. | Tajikistan |
| 13. | Turkmenistan | 14. | Ukraine | 15. | Uzbekistan |
Former Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia dissolved in the early 1990s into five independent countries:
| June 25, 1991 | Croatia | Slovenia |
| September 8, 1991 | Macedonia |
(officially The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) declared independence on this date, but wasn’t recognized by the United Nations until 1993 and the United States and Russia in February of 1994.
| February 29, 1992 | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| April 17, 1992 | Serbia and Montenegro |
Other New Countries
Thirteen other countries became independent through a variety of circumstances:
March 21, 1990
Namibia became independent of South Africa. Previously, Namibia was known as South West Africa when it was a German territory.
May 22, 1990
North and South Yemen merged to form a unified Yemen.
October 3, 1990
East Germany and West Germany merged to form a unified Germany after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
September 17, 1991
The Marshall Islands was part of the Trust Territory of Pacific Islands (administered by the United States) and gained independence as a former colony. On this date, Micronesia, previously known as the Caroline Islands, also became independent from the United States.
January 1, 1993
The Czech Republic and Slovakia became independent nations when Czechoslovakia dissolved.
May 25, 1993
Eritrea was a part of Ethiopia but seceded and gained independence.
October 1, 1994
Palau was part of the Trust Territory of Pacific Islands (administered by the United States) and gained independence as a former colony.
May 20, 2002
East Timor (Timor-Leste) declared independence from Portugal in 1975 but did not become independent from Indonesia until 2002.
June 3, 2006
Montenegro was part of Serbia and Montenegro (also known as Yugoslavia) but gained independence after a referendum. Two days later, Serbia became its own entity after Montenegro split.
February 17, 2008
Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia. The representatives of the Kosovo people unanimously agreed the country would be independent of Serbia despite eleven of the Serbia minority boycotting this.
July 9, 2011
South Sudan peacefully seceded from Sudan following a January 2011 referendum. Sudan itself was the first to recognize South Sudan and did so one day early.
