Timeline of geopolitical changes (before 1500)

This is a timeline of geopolitical changes around the world prior to 1500. It includes dates of declarations of independence, changes in country name, changes of capital city or name, and changes in territorial ownership such as the annexation, occupation, cession, concession, or secession of land. Territorial conquests as a result of war are included on the timeline at the conclusion of major military campaigns, but changes in the course of specific battles and day-to-day operations are generally not included.

Fourth Millennium BCE
From the 4th Millennium BCE to the 2nd Millennium BCE, hundreds of proto-cities in the Near East, Egypt, and the Indus Valley transition into city-states. Records of those geopolitical changes are complicated by mythologization, historical revisionism, missing information, lack of corroborating primary sources, and lack of archeological evidence. Consequently, the tables in that range are not comprehensive.