A specific part of the earth's surface under national sovereignty, as well as its subsoil and sky. Territory is the space for a country to exercise its sovereignty.
Territory is one of the elements of a country, and a country, big or small, must have a certain territory. Nomadic tribes living on aquatic plants do not constitute a country in international law. However, the territory of a country does not need to be absolutely determined. Some borders are not delineated or disputed, which does not prevent it from being a country.
Part of the reason for wars in history is to fight for territory. Just like the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shihuang launched a war to unify the six countries, which was to annex other countries to achieve the goal of reunification!
Someone gets territory, someone loses territory. Next, Bian Xiao takes you to see the five countries with the biggest territorial losses in history!
First place: Germany
Before World War I, the territory of Germany was 540,000 square kilometers, which was the largest country in Europe except Russia. After World War I and World War II, a large area of territory was lost. At present, the area of Germany is 357,000 square kilometers, and the rate of territorial loss is 5 1%.
Second place: Turkey
The Ottoman Empire was once a great empire, with its territory spanning three continents, namely, Asia, Africa and Europe, including the Balkans, Asia Minor, Caspian Sea, Middle East and North Africa. When it is strong, it will deter the whole of Europe. 1680 reached its peak, with a territory of 5.5 million square kilometers. At present, Turkey has only a little territory in Asia Minor Peninsula and Black Sea Strait in Europe, covering an area of 780,000 square kilometers. The territorial loss rate is 605%.
Third place: Mexico
1846 years ago, Mexico's territorial area was 4.34 million square kilometers. After the continuous occupation and plunder by the United States, it was1970,000 square kilometers, and the loss rate of its territorial area was 1 16%.
Fourth place: Russia
At its peak, the territory of the Russian Empire was larger than that of the former Soviet Union, including Alaska and Finland, covering an area of 24.3 million square kilometers. The United States bought Alaska from Russia for 7.2 million dollars. During the cold war, the United States built a missile base in Alaska to deter the Soviet Union, which made the Soviet people regret it. Now the area of Russia is17.075 million square kilometers. The proportion of territorial losses is 42%.
Fifth place: China.
Everyone knows the loss of land in China. These include 6,543,800 square kilometers occupied by Russia, 440,000 square kilometers occupied by the northwest, 6,543,800 square kilometers occupied by Mongolia, 6,543,800 square kilometers occupied by Tangnuriang Sea, 50,000 square kilometers occupied by Ladakh, 67,000 square kilometers occupied by southern Tibet, 28,000 square kilometers occupied by Pamir and 70,000 square kilometers occupied by Jiangxinpo. 1755, the territory of the Qing dynasty reached130,000 square kilometers. So far, the territory of China is 9.6 million square kilometers. China lost about 3.4 million square kilometers of territory, accounting for 35% of the lost territory.