How to Log Trips to Countries That No Longer Exist
Updated November 10, 2026
Mark the present-day country whose territory you were in. A 1985 visit to Leningrad is a visit to Russia, Prague in 1988 is Czechia, and Dubrovnik in 1989 is Croatia. Maps and country lists describe today's borders, so the place you stood in decides, not the passport stamp you were given.
The main changes since 1990
| Former state | Ended | Present-day countries |
|---|---|---|
| East Germany | 3 October 1990 | Germany |
| Soviet Union | December 1991 | 15 countries, listed below |
| Yugoslavia | 1991 to 1992, then 2006 and 2008 | 7 countries, listed below |
| Czechoslovakia | 1 January 1993 | Czechia and Slovakia |
| Serbia and Montenegro | June 2006 | Serbia and Montenegro, now separate |
| Sudan before 2011 | 9 July 2011 | Sudan and South Sudan |
The fifteen successors of the Soviet Union
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. A Soviet-era trip that took in Moscow, Kyiv and Tbilisi therefore counts as three countries today: Russia, Ukraine and Georgia.
The successors of Yugoslavia
Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and North Macedonia are UN members. Kosovo declared independence in 2008 and is recognised by about half of UN members; on this map it appears when you choose the rule that includes all countries and territories. A coastal holiday in the 1980s usually means Croatia, and sometimes Montenegro or Slovenia.
How to work out where you were
- List the towns you remember, not the country name on the ticket.
- Look each town up on a current map. The stop search on this site returns the present-day country for every city.
- Add the trip with those towns as stops. Each stop marks its present-day country as visited.
- Put the old name in the trip title or the note, for example Yugoslavia 1987, so the record still says what the journey was at the time.
Cases that need a decision
- Berlin before 1990: East and West Berlin are both in today's Germany. One country, whichever side you were on.
- Hong Kong before 1997 and Macau before 1999: both are now special administrative regions of China with their own ISO codes. They count separately only under the rule that includes territories.
- A country that changed its name: Burma is Myanmar, Zaire is the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Swaziland is Eswatini, and Czechia is the short name of the Czech Republic. These are the same countries under new names.
- A place that changed hands: count the country that holds it in the dataset the map uses, and record your own view in the note if it differs.
Should a dissolved country raise your count?
Some travellers keep a separate list of countries visited at the time, which can include states that are gone. That is a fine personal record, but it cannot be compared with anyone else's number, and it has no place on a map of present-day borders. The consistent approach is one rule for everyone: today's countries, counted by where you actually were. If you visited both Prague and Bratislava in 1988, you gain a country compared with the stamp in your passport. If you only saw Moscow, you do not gain fourteen.
Dates still matter
Enter the real dates of the trip. The by-year table then shows the visit in the year it happened, and the trip title carries the historical name. A map built this way stays correct however borders are drawn in future, because it is built from places and dates, not from the names of states.
Try it on your own map
Questions and answers
- I visited the USSR once. How many countries is that?
- As many present-day countries as you actually set foot in. Moscow and Leningrad alone are one country, Russia. A tour through Moscow, Kyiv, Tallinn and Tbilisi is four: Russia, Ukraine, Estonia and Georgia.
- Does Czechoslovakia count as one country or two?
- It depends on where you went. Prague only is Czechia. Bratislava only is Slovakia. If you visited both parts, mark both.
- Can I add a country that is not on the list?
- No. The list follows present-day ISO country codes. Use the trip name and the notes to record the historical name of the place.