Kosovo Becomes an Olympic Nation

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Kosovo controversially claims independence from Serbia (Northern Kosovo is under partial pro-Serbian control). Map by Evan Centanni, based on these two blank maps by Nord-NordWest. License: CC BY-SA

By Evan Centanni

Next Stop: Rio 2016
Disputed country Kosovo has become the 205th member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), making it an official Olympic Nation and allowing it to field a team at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. Its full acceptance came at an IOC meeting in Monaco on December 9, after being granted "provisional recognition" in October.

Kosovo's admission process has been ongoing for five years, and the self-proclaimed country was denied the chance to participate in the London Olympics of 2012. However, one Kosovan athlete attended the games with the team from Albania, a neighboring country with close cultural ties to Kosovo.

Disputed Status
Located in southeastern Europe, Kosovo controversially declared independence from Serbia in 2008, while under the control of UN peacekeepers. Since then, it has been recognized as independent by over half of the world's countries, including the US and most of the European Union. However, Russia, China and many other countries still consider it to be rightfully part of Serbia.

Ukraine War Rebel Control Map: December 2014 (Premium)

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Research by Djordje Djukic, with additional reporting by Evan Centanni

Control lines have begun to solidify in Ukraine's civil war, with government forces on one side and the fighters of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Lugansk People's Republic, and Federation of Novorossiya on the other side. 

PolGeoNow presents our district-by-district map of control in eastern Ukraine, updated for December 2014, including a timeline of major events and changes to territorial control since our previous Ukraine map update in September.

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Map: Which Countries Recognize Palestine in 2014?

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Countries recognizing the State of Palestine in green, with most recent addition highlighted. Palestine in magenta (circled). Click to enlarge. Map by Evan Centanni, modified from public domain graphic (source).

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Syria Civil War Map: December 2014 (Premium)

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Research by T.H., with additional reporting by Evan Centanni

Our popular map of territorial control in the Syrian Civil War has been updated for December 2014, showing changes to the situation since the previous Syria map report in October. 

The map and accompanying report show largely unreported advances by the Islamic State, as well as important gains for both the government and rebels.

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• Up-to-date map of current territorial control in Syria, color-coded for the Assad government, rebel groups, Islamic State (ISIS) extremists, and Kurdish self-protection forces
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• Recent areas of fighting, including Kobani (Ayn al-Arab), Morek, Nawa, and many others
• Timeline of events since early October, with focus on changes to territorial control

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Nigeria War Update: Map of Boko Haram Control (November 2014) (Premium)

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Reporting by T.H. and Evan Centanni

Despite short-lived claims of a ceasefire, Nigeria's northern insurgency has continued unabated since late September, when we published our free map of Boko Haram control in Nigeria.

This premium report and map update detail the many changes since then, which have seen Boko Haram's "Islamic Caliphate" grow to control an area the size of Belgium.

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