Boundaries, names and disputed territories
Where the lines come from, why, how contested places are shown, and how names are chosen.
Disclaimer
The designations employed and the presentation of material on this map do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Where They Went adopts this wording: boundaries are drawn from Natural Earth (public domain) for display only, and country names follow the data source being cited (UNHCR unless noted).
Where the boundaries come from
Natural Earth, 1:50 million scale (via the world-atlas package). Natural Earth is public domain and is the de-facto standard for small-scale thematic world maps. The geometry is simplified (Visvalingam, 20 % of vertices kept, islands under 5 km² dropped) to about 165 KB so the map loads fast; it is a display layer, not a legal instrument. Statistics are joined to polygons on ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 codes, never on names.
Alternatives considered
| Option | Decision |
|---|---|
| OCHA/HDX "COD-AB global" | Rejected: it contains administrative levels 1–4 only (no country outlines), covers 111 countries, and is a 1 GB geodatabase. |
| UN Geospatial "UNmap" feature service | Candidate for a future "boundary set" switch. Licence restricted to the UN Secretariat; data frozen in 2019; colours Taiwan with China by rule. |
| FieldMaps / USGS international boundaries (UN Clear Map style) | Candidate for a future switch (public domain), requires a 357 MB GIS conversion. |
| UN Clear Map raster tiles | Possible alternative basemap later (free, CORS-enabled). |
How names are chosen
Names follow the data source being cited — UNHCR's country list — so that a citation from this site matches the upstream record. A short override table improves readability (e.g. "Syrian Arab Rep." is shown as "Syria"; "Serbia and Kosovo: S/RES/1244 (1999)" is shown as "Serbia"); wherever an override applies, the original name is displayed next to it ("Name as used by UNHCR: …"). The UNHCR name is always kept in the name field of every download.
Contested places, one by one
For each area below we state how it is drawn, what statistics (if any) attach to it, and how each source names it.
Western Sahara ESH
How it is shown: Drawn as a separate Natural Earth feature with its own fill; data is joined on ISO3 ESH.
Source naming: UNHCR: "Western Sahara" (code WSH, iso ESH). UN: Non-Self-Governing Territory.
Kashmir (Jammu and Kashmir / Aksai Chin / Siachen)
How it is shown: Natural Earth draws de facto control lines; the "Siachen Glacier" feature is removed. No statistics are attached to disputed segments.
Source naming: UNHCR reports figures for India and Pakistan as countries; no separate entity for Kashmir.
Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) PSE
How it is shown: Drawn as a separate feature (NE id 275 → PSE) and filled with UNHCR data. A caveat notes that UNRWA-registered Palestine refugees (~6 million) are excluded from UNHCR figures.
Source naming: UNHCR: "State of Palestine" (code GAZ, iso PSE). World Bank: "West Bank and Gaza". UN WPP: "State of Palestine".
Crimea
How it is shown: Natural Earth 50m (world-atlas 2.0.2) draws Crimea as part of Ukraine. Data is joined to UKR.
Source naming: UNHCR reports Ukraine (UKR) as a whole.
Kosovo XKX
How it is shown: Drawn as a separate Natural Earth feature (id −99 → XKX). UNHCR has no separate figures (included in "Serbia and Kosovo: S/RES/1244 (1999)"), so Kosovo is shown in "no data" grey with a note; Serbia's figures include Kosovo.
Source naming: UNHCR: "Serbia and Kosovo: S/RES/1244 (1999)" (iso SRB). UN WPP lists Kosovo separately (XKX).
Northern Cyprus
How it is shown: Boundary drawn (Natural Earth feature "N. Cyprus") but never filled; data for Cyprus is joined to CYP.
Source naming: UNHCR reports Cyprus (CYP) only.
Somaliland
How it is shown: Boundary drawn (Natural Earth feature "Somaliland") but never filled; data for Somalia is joined to SOM.
Source naming: UNHCR reports Somalia (SOM) only.
Taiwan TWN
How it is shown: Drawn as a separate Natural Earth feature (id 158 → TWN) and labelled "Taiwan". UNHCR statistics do not list Taiwan at all (no figures and no merge note), so it is shown in "no data" grey with the tooltip "Not separately reported by UNHCR". Population comes from UN WPP, which lists it as "China, Taiwan Province of China".
Source naming: UNHCR: absent. World Bank: absent. UN WPP: "China, Taiwan Province of China" (id 158, iso3 TWN). Natural Earth: "Taiwan".
What "no data" means
Grey on the map means not reported for that year and metric — not zero, and not "no displaced people". Some drawn territories are not UNHCR reporting entities at all (Taiwan, Kosovo, Greenland, several dependencies): they show a tooltip "Not separately reported by UNHCR". Conversely, a few UNHCR entities have no polygon here (Martinique, Gibraltar, Tuvalu, the pseudo-entities "Stateless" and "Unknown"): they are listed in the legend's "cannot be shown on the map" chip and included in every total, table and download. The validation step guarantees mapped total + unmappable total = global total every day.
Report an issue with a boundary or name
Write to [email protected] with the area, what you see, and (if relevant) the source naming you think should apply. Changes are recorded in the repository history.