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The Year in Territorial Control Changes
For the past three years, PolGeoNow has published a "
Year in Review" article to summarize all the political geography news that's happened in the past 12 months. The
2014 and
2015 articles included news about changing territorial control in conflict zones, but because this is a major topic of its own, we've chosen to split these events into a separate article for 2016. So read on for a concise summary of last year's rebel control changes...
See Also: 2016 Year in Review: Country & Border Changes
Syria, Iraq, and the "Islamic State"
The
Syrian Civil War
continued to be the biggest armed conflict in the world through 2016,
as well as a prominent example of a country whose territory isn't all
controlled by the recognized government. During the past year,
pro-government forces scored some major victories against the rebels,
recapturing the country's second largest city and gradually increasing
control in areas around the capital.