List of proposed state mergers

This is a list of proposed state mergers, including both current and historical proposals originating from sovereign states or organizations. The entities listed below differ from separatist movements in that they would form as a merger or union of two or more existing states, territories, colonies or other regions, becoming either a federation, confederation or other type of unified sovereign state.

Historic

Early modern period

Proposed state	Components	Time period	Successful?	Notes
Swiss Confederation	Uri Schwyz Unterwalden	1307	Yes (1307-1798)	Three cantons formed the initial Confederation in the 1307 Rütlischwur, followed by the 1315 Pact of Brunnen; ten more cantons joined over the life of the Confederacy.
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth	Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569) Grand Duchy of Lithuania	1569	Yes (1569–1795)	See Union of Lublin
Polish–Lithuanian–Muscovite Commonwealth	Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Tsardom of Russia	1574–1658	No
Iberian Union	Crown of Portugal Crown of Castille Crown of Aragon	1580–1640	Yes	Portugal became part of the realms of the Spanish Habsburg (Casa de Austria) following the death of Henry I of Portugal but resumed its independence 60 years later.
Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth	Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Cossack Hetmanate	1658–1659	No	Treaty of Hadiach
Kingdom of Great Britain	Kingdom of England  Kingdom of Scotland	1707	Yes	Though having been ruled since 1603 in Personal Union when James VI succeeded both the English and Scottish crowns both countries remained separate sovereign nations states until 1706 when the Treaty of Union unified them into a single entity.
United States of America	Vermont Republic United States of America	1777–1791	Yes
United States of America	Connecticut  Delaware  Georgia  Maryland  Massachusetts  New Hampshire  New Jersey  New York  North Carolina  Pennsylvania  Rhode Island  South Carolina  Virginia	1786–1788	Yes (1788–1861)	United States Constitution is ratified by the Thirteen Original Colonies, replacing the Articles of Confederation and thereby forming a Federal government, ending the individual sovereignty of the States.

19th century

Proposed state	Components	Time period	Successful?	Notes
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland	Kingdom of Great Britain  Kingdom of Ireland	1800	Yes (1801–1922)	Created by the Acts of Union 1800. Most of Ireland left the union as the Irish Free State in 1922, while Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom.
Gran Colombia	United Provinces of New Granada Second Republic of Venezuela Free Province of Guayaquil	1819–1830	Yes (1819–1830)
First Mexican Empire	Mexico Captaincy General of Guatemala	1821	Yes (1821–1823)	Central America was annexed into the First Mexican Empire. After the dissolution of the Empire only Chiapas choose to remain part of Mexico, the rest became the Federal Republic of Central America. Costa Rica in particular was split between inner factions in favor and against the annexation ending in a Civil War. The pro-Mexican provinces declared membership but was not recognized by the pro-independence provinces.
Federal Republic of Central America	El Salvador Honduras Nicaragua Guatemala Los Altos Costa Rica	1823	Yes (1823–1839)
Costa Rica	Costa Rica Nicoya	1824	Yes	The old "Partido de Nicoya" currently encompasses most of the 21st-century Guanacaste Province. See Annexation of Nicoya.
Peru–Bolivian Confederation	Bolivia Peru	1829–1839	Yes (1836–1839)
United States of America	United States of America Upper Canada	1830s	No	Republicans in Upper Canada pursued annexation by the United States.[1] See Rebellions of 1837–1838.
United States of America	United States of America Republic of Texas	1845	Yes	Texas annexation
Kingdom of Italy	Kingdom of Sardinia Papal States Grand Duchy of Tuscany Duchy of Parma Duchy of Modena and Reggio Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia (Part of Austrian Empire)	1848–1870	Yes	Although the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in 1861, the Italian Unification is generally considered to have been incomplete until after the integration of Venetia in 1866 and the capture of Rome in 1870. See Italian Unification and Expedition of the Thousand.
Federation of Central America	El Salvador Honduras Nicaragua	1852	Yes	Second attempt at unification that lasted for less than a month.
Liberia	Republic of Liberia Republic of Maryland	1854–1857	Yes	Republic of Maryland was officially named Maryland in Liberia during its independence referendum on 29 May 1854.
Confederate States of America	State of South Carolina State of Mississippi State of Florida State of Alabama State of Georgia State of Louisiana State of Texas Commonwealth of Virginia State of Arkansas State of North Carolina State of Tennessee	1861	Yes (1861–1865)	American Civil War
United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia	Principality of Wallachia Principality of Moldavia	1862	Yes	Becomes Kingdom of Romania in 1881.
Kingdom of Greece	Kingdom of Greece United States of the Ionian Islands	1864	Yes	Treaty of London (1864)
North German Confederation	Kingdom of Prussia  Kingdom of Saxony  Grand Duchy of Hesse  Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin  Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz  Grand Duchy of Oldenburg  Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach  Duchy of Anhalt  Duchy of Brunswick  Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg  Saxe-Coburg-Gotha  Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen Various other small principalities and free cities	1866	Yes (1867–1871)	Following the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the annexation by Prussia of Austria's northern German ally states, Otto von Bismarck proposed to unify Prussia and its own German ally states into a single Federation. Consequently, the North German Constitution was adopted, with the provision that the southern German minor states could enter into the union when politically feasible.
Dominion of Canada	Province of Canada  Province of New Brunswick  Province of Nova Scotia	1867	Yes	Canadian Confederation
Antillean Confederation	Captaincy General of Cuba Captaincy General of Puerto Rico  Dominican Republic	1869–1870	No	Proposed by Ramón Emeterio Betances.
German Empire	North German Confederation Kingdom of Bavaria Kingdom of Württemberg Grand Duchy of Baden Grand Duchy of Hesse Alsace-Lorraine Austrian Empire	1871	Partial (1871–1918)	Unification of Germany (excluding Austria) after German victory over the French in the Franco-Prussian War. See also, the German Question regarding the competing ideas of "Greater Germany" and "Lesser Germany" (whether or not a united Germany should include the Austrian Empire). The matter was settled with the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, in which Prussia assumed leadership of the various minor German nation states.
Bulgaria–Romania	Bulgaria Romania	1878–1879	No	Proposed personal union, German prince Alexander of Battenberg is elected instead.[2]
Principality of Bulgaria	Bulgaria Autonomous Province of East Rumelia (part of the Ottoman Empire)	1885–1886	Yes	After Bulgaria crushed Serbia in the Serbo-Bulgarian War of 1885, Bulgaria nearly doubled in size when East Rumelia was incorporated within its borders. Bulgaria officially annexed it from the Ottoman Empire in 1885.
Bulgaria–Romania	Bulgaria Romania	1886–1887	No	Proposed personal union, rejected by Carol I of Romania due to Russian pressure.[2]
Greater Republic of Central America	El Salvador Honduras Nicaragua Considered joining: Costa Rica  Guatemala	1895–1898	Yes (1896–1898)
United States of America	United States of America Republic of Hawaii	1898	Yes	United States annexation of the Territory of Hawaii

20th century

Proposed state	Components	Time period	Successful?	Notes
Commonwealth of Australia	New South Wales  Queensland South Australia  Tasmania  Victoria  Western Australia Also invited: Colony of Fiji Colony of New Zealand	1901	Yes	Federation of Australia
Franco-British Union	United Kingdom  France	1904–1956	No	A Franco-British Union is a concept for a union between the two independent sovereign states of the United Kingdom and France. Such a union was proposed during certain crises of the 20th century; it has some historical precedents. In April 1904 the United Kingdom and the Third French Republic signed a series of agreements, known as the Entente Cordiale, which marked the end of centuries of intermittent conflict between the two powers, and the start of a period of peaceful co-existence. Nationalist political leaders from both sides were uncomfortable with the idea of such a merging.
Union of South Africa	Cape Colony  Colony of Natal  Orange River Colony  Transvaal Colony	1909	Yes	Union of South Africa
Balkan Socialist Federation	Principality of Albania  Kingdom of Bulgaria  Kingdom of Yugoslavia	1910–1916	No
Kingdom of Yugoslavia	Kingdom of Montenegro Kingdom of Serbia State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs	1918	Yes (1918–1992)	Creation of Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Romania	Kingdom of Romania Moldavian Democratic Republic	1918	Yes (1918)	See Union of Bessarabia with Romania, Treaty of Bucharest
Kingdom of Romania	Kingdom of Romania Transylvania Crișana Maramureș Banat Bessarabia Bukovina	1918-1920	Partial (1920–1947)	Unification of Greater Romania, in 1918 Bessarabia and Bukovina fully included, while in 1920 Banat, Crișana and Maramureș partially, while Transylvania fully included
Międzymorze	Belarusian People's Republic  Czechoslovak Republic  Estonia  Finland Hungarian People's Republic  Latvia  Lithuania  Polish Republic  Kingdom of Romania  Ukrainian People's Republic  Kingdom of Yugoslavia  Kingdom of Bulgaria	November or December 1918	No	Also called "Intermarium". Suggested shortly after World War I to combat the influences of Germany and Russia.
Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic	Democratic Republic of Armenia  Azerbaijan Democratic Republic  Democratic Republic of Georgia	1918	Yes (1918)	A short-lived South Caucasian state that extended across what are now the modern-day countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, plus parts of Eastern Turkey as well as Russian border areas. The state only lasted for a month before Georgia declared independence, followed shortly by Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Weimar Republic	Weimar Republic Republic of German-Austria	1918–1919	No	Following the disintegration of Austria-Hungary in the final days of World War I, the German-speaking territories of the former Austria-Hungary attempted to begin a process of integration into Weimar Germany. The Allies did not favor the idea, and forced the Austrian rump state to sign the Treaty of Saint Germain, which prohibited Austria from uniting with Germany.
Hungary–Romania	Kingdom of Romania Republic and Kingdom of Hungary	1917–1920	No	Federation or personal union between the Kingdom of Romania and the Kingdom/Republic of Hungary under one monarch. Proposals were mostly enhanced in 1919 and 1920, but they continued to exist up to the Second World War.[3][4][5][6]
Ukrainian People's Republic	Ukrainian People's Republic West Ukrainian People's Republic	1919	Yes (1919)	Act Zluky
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics	Byelorussian SSR Russian SFSR Transcaucasian SFSR Ukrainian SSR	1922	Yes (1922–1991)	Treaty on the Creation of the USSR
Greater German Reich	German Reich Federal State of Austria	1938	Yes (1938–1945)	Anschluss
Republic of Turkey	Republic of Turkey  Hatay State	1939	Yes	On 2 September 1938 the Sanjak of Alexandretta declared itself separate from the French Mandate of Syria, becoming the Hatay State. On 29 June 1939, the legislature voted to merge with Turkey.
Polish-Czechoslovak confederation	Czechoslovak Republic  Polish Republic	1939–1948	No	Proposed by Władysław Sikorski.
Greek-Yugoslav confederation	Strictest definition:  Kingdom of Greece  Kingdom of Yugoslavia Loosest definition also includes:  Albanian Kingdom  Kingdom of Bulgaria  Kingdom of Romania	1942–1944	No	The Greek-Yugoslav confederation or federation, was a political concept during World War II, sponsored by the United Kingdom and involving the Yugoslav government-in-exile and the Greek government-in-exile. The two governments signed an agreement pushing the proposal ahead, but it never got beyond the planning stage because of opposition from within the Yugoslav and the Greek governments, real world events, and the opposition of the Soviet Union. The proposal envisioned the creation of a confederation of Greece and Yugoslavia.
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia	Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia People's Socialist Republic of Albania People's Republic of Bulgaria	1946–1948	No	Josip Broz Tito came extremely close to persuading Albania to accept integration into Yugoslavia, but relations cooled in 1948 over fears that Yugoslavia only intended to use Albania for raw materials, subsequently resulting in the expulsion of Yugoslav diplomats. Yugoslav/Bulgarian negotiations fell through when Moscow attempted to force both countries into accepting Soviet control over the merge, which caused Yugoslavia to withdraw from negotiations and precipitated the Tito–Stalin split.
Dominion of India	India Junagadh State Other states	1947–1948	Yes	Political integration of India, Annexation of Junagadh
United States of Indonesia	Bangka Banjar Biliton Central Java East Borneo East Indonesia East Java East Sumatra Great Dayak Indonesia Madura Pasundan South Sumatra Southeast Borneo Riouw West Borneo	1946–1949	Yes (1949–1950)	Following discussions between Dutch authorities and Indonesian nationalist leaders, the Linggadjati Agreement was signed on 15 November 1946, in which the unilaterally declared Republic of Indonesia agreed to the principle of a federal Indonesia including the territory controlled by the Republic and other territory in the region which the Dutch controlled at that point. The Dutch then organised the December 1946 Denpasar Conference, which led to the establishment of the State of East Indonesia, followed by a state in West Borneo. Further states were set up in former territory of the Republic after they were conquered by the Dutch in 1947. Further Dutch military action faced increasing resistance from governments of the states they had established, and this combined with international pressure caused the Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference to take place in The Hague from August to November 1949. This Conference resulted in the Dutch agreeing to hand over sovereignty to a federal union of these states, which officially became the Republic of the United States of Indonesia. This federation lasted only a year, as its member states agreed to dissolve themselves into a unitary state, the last stage of which took place on 17 August 1950.
European Union federation	Austria  Belgium  Bulgaria  Croatia  Republic of Cyprus  Czechia  Denmark  Estonia  Finland  France  Germany  Greece  Hungary  Ireland  Italy  Latvia  Lithuania  Luxembourg  Malta  Netherlands  Poland  Portugal  Romania  Slovakia  Slovenia  Spain  Sweden Former countries:  United Kingdom	1951–2021	No	The federalisation of the European Union describes processes and proposals by which the European Union (EU) is transformed from an informal confederation (a union of sovereign states) towards a federation (a single federal state with a central government, consisting of a number of partially self-governing federated states). There is ongoing discussion about the extent to which the EU has already become a federation over the course of decades, and more importantly, to what degree it should continue to evolve into a federalist direction. As of 2021, the EU has no formal plans to become a federation. One of the first practical and successful proposals for European cooperation came in 1951 with the European Coal and Steel Community. Since then, the European Community has gradually evolved to Union in which a whole range of policy areas where its member states hope to benefit from working together.
Dominion of India	India Princely states	1947–1950	Yes	Instrument of Accession
Dominion of Pakistan	Pakistan Princely states	1947–1950	Yes	Instrument of Accession
Dominion of India	India Hyderabad	1948	Yes	Annexation of Hyderabad
Dominion of Canada	Dominion of Canada Dominion of Newfoundland	1948–1949	Yes	In two rounds of referendums in 1948, the Dominion of Newfoundland had the choice of becoming an independent state, merging with the Dominion of Canada, or remaining as a British dominion. The Newfoundland Act of 1949, an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, confirmed and gave effect to the Terms of Union agreed to between the then-separate Dominions of Canada and Newfoundland on 23 March 1949.
Indonesia	Indonesia Netherlands New Guinea	1950–1969	Yes	Following Dutch recognition of Indonesian Independence, Indonesia continued to claim the remaining Dutch territory in the region, Netherlands New Guinea, as its rightful territory. The dispute escalated into low-level conflict in 1962 following Dutch moves in 1961 to establish a New Guinea Council. Facing diplomatic pressure from the United States, fading domestic support and continual Indonesian threats to invade the territory, the Netherlands decided to relinquish control of the disputed territory in August 1962. Following a short period of UN administration, the territory was transferred to Indonesia on 1 May 1963.
Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland	Protectorate of Nyasaland  Protectorate of Northern Rhodesia  Colony of Southern Rhodesia	1953	Yes (1953–1963)	A semi-independent state.
West Germany	West Germany  Saar Protectorate	1955–1957	Yes	1955 Saar Statute referendum, Saarland became a New State of Germany and exited France's economic union
United Kingdom	United Kingdom Crown Colony of Malta	1956	No	See 1956 Maltese United Kingdom integration referendum.
Ghana	Ghana British Togoland	1956–1957	Yes	In the 1956 British Togoland status plebiscite, 58% of voters supported a union with Ghana, whereas 42% voted in favor of remaining a United Nations Trust Territory under British control until neighbouring French Togoland had decided its future.
North Borneo Federation	Crown Colony of North Borneo Crown Colony of Sarawak  Protectorate of Brunei	1956–1960	No	Sarawak and North Borneo merged with the independent Federation of Malaya several years later, forming Malaysia, while Brunei later became an independent state on its own.
United States of Latin Africa	Angola DRC Rwanda Burundi Republic of Congo Central African Republic Chad Cameroon Gabon Equatorial Guinea	1957–1959	No	proposed union of Romance-language-speaking Central African countries envisioned by Barthélémy Boganda. Boganda first called for it in May 1957.[7] The idea's implementation was cut short by Boganda's death in a plane crash on March 29, 1959.[8] Boganda viewed this entity to be a counterweight to the powerful British-influenced southern bloc of South Africa and the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.[7]
Cameroon	Cameroon  Equatorial Guinea	1958–1963	No	The Equatoguinean independence leader Enrique Nvo and the first formal Equatoguinean political party, IPGE, advocated for independence from Spain and a political union between Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.[9] The idea of a union was deemed unfeasible after the 1963 Equatorial Guinean autonomy referendum.[9]
West Indies Federation	British Barbados British Jamaica British Leeward Islands (except the Virgin Islands) British Trinidad and Tobago British Windward Islands Also invited: Crown Colony of the Bahama Islands British Guiana British Honduras British Virgin Islands	1958	Yes (1958–1962)	The expressed intention of the Federation was to create a political unit that would become independent from Britain as a single state. However, before that could happen, the Federation collapsed due to internal political conflicts.
United Arab Republic	Republic of Egypt Syrian Republic	1958	Yes (1958–1961)	A short-lived Pan-Arab state.
United Arab States	United Arab Republic  Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen	1958	Yes (1958–1961)	Loose confederation between the United Arab Republic and North Yemen.
Arab Federation	Kingdom of Iraq  Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan	1958	Yes (14 February – 2 August 1958)	An attempt to unify the two Hashemite kingdoms of Iraq and Jordan. While successful, the short-lived union was disestablished after a military coup deposed King Faisal II of Iraq.
Somali Republic	Trust Territory of Somalia State of Somaliland	1960	Yes (1960–1991)	On 26 June 1960, the former British Somaliland protectorate briefly obtained independence as the State of Somaliland, with the Trust Territory of Somaliland following suit five days later.[10][11] The following day, on 27 June 1960, the newly convened Somaliland Legislative Assembly approved a bill that would formally allow for the union of the State of Somaliland with the Trust Territory of Somaliland on 1 July 1960.[12] Following the collapse of Barre's government in early 1991, local authorities, led by the SNM, unilaterally declared independence from Somalia on 18 May of the same year and reinstated the borders of the former short-lived independent State of Somaliland.
East African Federation	Kenya Colony Tanganyika Territory Uganda Protectorate Sultanate of Zanzibar	1960–1964	No	Proposed political union between the four territories (one colony, two protectorates and one League of Nations mandated territory) under British rule in East Africa in the 1960s. Tanganyika proposed to delay its imminent independence in 1960 so that the four territories might achieve independence together as one federation. In 1963 the leaders of all of the territories (some now independent) pledged to work towards a federation by 1964, but ultimately disputes over the nature of the federation and concerns about sharing power led to the collapse of effort to federate. Only Tanganyika and Zanzibar eventually united in 1964.
Cameroon	Cameroon British Cameroon	1961	Partial (Southern Cameroons)	In the 1961 British Cameroons referendum, the Christian majority in the south of British Cameroon voted to integrate with Cameroon, whereas the Muslim-majority Northern areas voted to integrate with Nigeria.
Nigeria	Nigeria British Cameroon		Partial (Northern Cameroons)
Republic of India	India  Portuguese State of India	1961	Yes	Annexation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Annexation of Goa
Republic of India	India  French Settlements in India	1962	Yes	Causes of the merger of the territories of French India with India
Federation of the Emirates of the South	Fadhli  Audhali  Beihan  Dhala  Lower Yafa  Upper Aulaqi Sheikhdom  Alawi  Aqrabi  Dathina  Haushabi  Lahej  Lower Aulaqi  Maflahi  Shaib  Wahidi	1962	Yes	The Federation of the Emirates of the South (Arabic: اتحاد إمارات الجنوب العربي‎ Ittiḥād ʾImārāt al-Janūb al-ʿArabiyy) was an organization of states within the British Aden Protectorate in what would become South Yemen. The Federation of six states was inaugurated in the British Colony of Aden on 11 February 1959, and the Federation and Britain signed a “Treaty of Friendship and Protection,” which detailed plans for British financial and military assistance. It subsequently added nine states and, on 4 April 1962, became known as the Federation of South Arabia. This was joined by the Aden Colony on 18 January 1963.
Maphilindo	Indonesia  Malaya  Philippines	1963	No	Proposals to create a union of the people of the Malay race and deal with the continued decolonisation of Southeast Asia led to leaders of the three countries signing the Manila Accord on 5 August 1963. However, cooperation quickly broke down following the formation of Malaysia by Malaya and other former British colonies in the region, which was opposed by Indonesia and the Philippines.[13]
Malaysia	Federation of Malaya Crown Colony of North Borneo Crown Colony of Sarawak  Republic of Singapore Also invited:  Nation of Brunei	1963	Yes	Singapore was expelled from the federation on 9 August 1965.
United Republic of Tanzania	Republic of Tanganyika People's Republic of Zanzibar	1964	Yes
Australia	Australia  Nauru	1964–1965	No	In 1963, the Australian Government proposed that the citizens of Nauru, a United Nations trust territory under Australian administration, would move to Curtis Island and become Australian citizens.[14][15] By that time, Nauru had been extensively mined for phosphate by companies from Australia, Britain and New Zealand damaging the landscape so much that it was thought the island would be uninhabitable by the 1990s. The cost of resettling the Nauruans on Curtis Island was estimated to be £10 million, which included housing and infrastructure and the establishment of pastoral, agricultural, and fishing industries.[16] However, the Nauruan people did not wish to become Australian citizens and wanted to be given sovereignty over Curtis Island to establish themselves as an independent nation, which Australia would not agree to.[17] Nauru rejected the proposal to move to Curtis Island, instead choosing to become an independent nation operating their mines in Nauru.[18] Nauru became self-governing in January 1966, and following a two-year constitutional convention, it became independent in 1968 under founding president Hammer DeRoburt.[19]
Territory of the Marianas	Territory of Guam  Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands	1969	No	1958 Saipan integration referendum 1961 Northern Mariana Islands status referendum 1963 Northern Mariana Islands integration referendum 1969 Guamanian Northern Mariana Islands union referendum 1969 Northern Mariana Islands status referendum
United Arab Emirates	Abu Dhabi Dubai  Sharjah  Ajman Umm al-Qaiwain Fujairah  Ras Al Khaimah Also invited: Bahrain Qatar	1971	Yes	Six independent emirates formed the United Arab Emirates on 2 December 1971. Ras Al Khaimah later joined the federation.
Federation of Arab Republics	Libya  Egypt  Syria Also invited:  Iraq  Sudan	1972–1977	Yes (1972–1977)	An attempt by Muammar Gaddafi to build a Pan-Arab state.
Arab Islamic Republic	Libya  Tunisia	1974	No	Proposed by Muammar Gaddafi.
India	India Sikkim	1975	Yes	After independence in 1947, joining the new Indian Union was rejected by popular vote. Sikkim grew closer to India over time, becoming a protectorate and later a suzerainty of India. With Indian pressure and support, Sikkim voted to join India in 1975.[20][21]
Guinea and Cape Verde	Cape Verde  Guinea-Bissau	1975	No	The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) advocated for the independence of the colonies of Portuguese Guinea and Portuguese Cape Verde, and governed both countries immediately after independence (1974 for Guinea-Bissau, and 1975 for Cape Verde) with the goal of unifying the two. However, following a 1980 coup in Guinea-Bissau, the Cape Verde branch of the party separated to form the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV), ending plans for a union.[22]
Indonesia	Indonesia Portuguese Timor	1975–1976	Yes (1976–1999)	Indonesian invasion of East Timor
Socialist Republic of Vietnam	Democratic Republic of Vietnam  Republic of Vietnam	1976	Yes	Unified due to military conquest. See Reunification Day and the Fall of Saigon.
Senegambia Confederation	The Gambia  Senegal	1982–1989	Yes (1982–1989)	A loose confederation was formed, but ended due to the Gambia's lack of interest in integration.
Republic of Yemen	Yemen Arab Republic People's Democratic Republic of Yemen	1990	Yes	Yemeni unification
Federal Republic of Germany	German Democratic Republic  Federal Republic of Germany	1990	Yes	German reunification
Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics	Russian SFSR  Ukrainian SSR  Byelorussian SSR  Azerbaijan SSR  Kazakh SSR  Kirghiz SSR  Tajik SSR  Turkmen SSR  Uzbek SSR	1990–1991	No	An attempt by Mikhail Gorbachev to avert the collapse of the Soviet Union and reorganize the union into a new confederated entity (see 1991 Soviet Union referendum).
FR Yugoslavia	SR Serbia  Montenegro  Bosnia and Herzegovina	1991	No	Zulfikarpašić–Karadžić agreement
South Africa	Bophuthatswana  Ciskei  South Africa  Transkei  Venda	1994	Yes	During apartheid, the South African Government granted nominal independence to four autonomous bantustans within it. While no external country recognized these states, South Africa strongly promoted their independence, and the four mutually recognized each other. As South Africa moved to end apartheid, the African National Congress (ANC) party advocated reintegration of all bantustans, including the nominally independent ones, into a unitary South African state. Resistance to integration by leaders of some bantustans led to violence, such as in the Bisho massacre and the Bophuthatswana crisis. Nonetheless, inhabitants of all four independent bantustans participated in the 1994 South African general election, during which a new constitution came into effect which reintegrated all bantustans into South Africa.

21st century

Proposed state	Components	Time period	Successful?	Notes
United Republic of Cyprus	Cyprus  Northern Cyprus	2004	No	A referendum was held in Cyprus on 24 April 2004.[23] The two communities were asked whether they approved of the fifth revision of the United Nations proposal for reuniting the island, which had been divided since 1974. While it was approved by 65% of Turkish Cypriots, it was rejected by 76% of Greek Cypriots.[24]
Lucayan Federation	Bahamas  Turks and Caicos Islands	2010	No	The Lucayan Archipelago (named for the original native Lucayan people), also known as the Bahama Archipelago, is an island group comprising the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and the British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands. The archipelago is in the western North Atlantic Ocean, north of Cuba along with the other Antilles, and east and southeast of Florida. In 2010 the leaders of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands discussed the possibility of forming a federation.[25]
Peru–Bolivian Confederation	Bolivia  Peru	2011	No	President Ollanta Humala of Peru proposed Bolivian president Evo Morales to reunite the countries in a confederation.[26][27] The Cabinets of the two countries have held joint meetings.[28]
Russia	Russia Crimea	2014	Yes	Crimea seceded from Ukraine and later conducted a referendum to join the Russian Federation and was later annexed by Russia. The referendum was extremely controversial and most countries continue to recognize Crimea as part of Ukraine.
Novorossiya	Donetsk People's Republic  Luhansk People's Republic	2014	No	Novorossiya (Full name: Federal State of Novorossiya) was a proposed confederation between the two self-declared nations of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic. The Confederation was declared on 22 May 2014. On 20 May 2015 the constituent members announced the freezing of the Novorossiya project.
Malorossiya	Donetsk People's Republic  Ukraine	2017	No	On 18 July 2017 the Donetsk People's Republic announced a new project which included all of Ukraine, though with the name changed to "Malorossiya" (Little Russia). The Luhansk People's Republic stated, however, that they would not be involved in the project. The project was widely condemned by other nations, including Russia, who pointed to the Minsk II protocol.

Current proposals

Proposed state	Component states	First proposed	Notes
United States	Greenland  United States	1867	The idea for the United States to buy Greenland was first proposed during the administration of President Andrew Johnson, when, in 1867, Secretary of State William H. Seward unsuccessfully proposed buying Greenland and Iceland from the Danish Kingdom. A post-World War II bid was also declined by Denmark.[29] In 2018 and 2019, President Donald Trump spoke to aides about acquiring the island; Greenlandic and Danish officials firmly rebuffed the suggestion that the island could be sold.[30][31]
Canada	Canada  Turks and Caicos Islands	1917	The proposed Canadian annexation of the Turks and Caicos Islands has been an ongoing political discussion between the two nations since Canadian Prime Minister Robert Borden first supported the idea in 1917.[32]
Unified China	People's Republic of China  Republic of China	1949	Unification of the territories of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China is the nominal goal of both governments, which both operate under the One-China policy.[33][34][35] However, within the free area of the Republic of China, there is a sizeable movement to formally declare a Taiwanese state, led by the Democratic Progressive Party,[36] which is currently in government.
Reunified India	Bangladesh  India  Pakistan	1953	Since the Partition of India, there have been multiple calls to reunite the territories by the remerger of successor states.[37]
Unified Korea	North Korea  South Korea	1953	Korean reunification has been a goal for both Koreas since the 1953 armistice agreement. However, proposed strategies vary between the two Koreas, with both proposing unification under one sociopolitical system while abandoning the other, similar to German reunification.[38]
Romania	Moldova  Romania	1991	Due to the revolutions of the Russian Empire, Bessarabia Governorate declared secession in 1917 as the Moldavian Democratic Republic and united unconditionally with the Kingdom of Romania in 1918, before the Soviet occupation in 1940. After Moldova gained independence following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, unification with Romania has been proposed which is supported by the Moldovan minorities according to polls and the Romanian Government. In 2018, Moldovan PM Pavel Filip ruled out reunification with Romania, despite growing calls from Moldovans for unification.[39] See also Greater Romania.
Union State	Belarus  Russia	1999	Belarus and Russia signed an agreement to form the Union State in 1999, aiming to continue deeper integration, possibly until unification.[40][41]
East African Federation	Burundi  Kenya  Rwanda  South Sudan  Tanzania  Uganda	2004	Proposed political union between the six member states of the East African Community.[42] Federation was proposed in 2004, but in 2016 it was decided that confederation would be the short-term goal. South Sudan is not as integrated as the other five members, having only gained independence from Sudan in 2011.[43]
Greater Albania	Albania  Kosovo	2008	Since Kosovo's Independence from Serbia talks have been made for Albania and Kosovo to unite into a Greater Albania due to Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanian population.[44][45][46]
Central American reunification	Costa Rica  El Salvador  Guatemala  Honduras  Nicaragua  Panama	2018	Although several historical efforts to reunite the countries that belonged to the United Provinces of Central America and later Federal Republic of Central America into one sigle state, the first major political figure to suggest it and the first time including Panama was that of then nominee later President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele.[47][48][49]

See also

• Arab Union
• Independence referendum
• Irredentism
• List of irredentist claims or disputes
• Lists of active separatist movements
• North American Union
• Pan-nationalism
• Political union
• Supranational union
• United States of Africa
• United States of Europe

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