Year
The world in 1879
In 1879 the atlas holds 470 states standing across 6 regions. 42 things began that year - Scandium, Samarium and Erbium among them - and 4 ended; 86 people were born and 32 died.
Only what Wikidata dates to the year is counted here; a thing dated to its decade is on the 1870s page, and to its century on the 19th century.
What began in 1879
By kind, the best known first; a war or a state is listed in the year it began.
States 1
- International Association of the Congo · state · 1879 – 1885
Wars and battles 14
- War of the Pacific · war · 1879 – 1884
- Anglo-Zulu War · war · 1879
- Battle of Rorke's Drift · battle · 1879
- Battle of Isandlwana · battle · 1879
- Little War · war · 1879 – 1880
- Battle of Iquique · battle · 1879
- Urabi revolt · battle · 1879 – 1882
- Battle of Angamos · battle · 1879
- Battle of Ulundi · battle · 1879
- Battle of Kambula · battle · 1879
and 4 more in the atlas.
Unrest and atrocity 1
- Putumayo genocide · atrocity · 1879 – 1930
Treaties 2
- Treaty of Gandamak · treaty · 1879
- Treaty of Livadia · treaty · 1879
Works and ideas 24
- Scandium · discovery · 1879
- Samarium · discovery · 1879
- Erbium · discovery · 1879
- Thulium · discovery · 1879
- Incandescent light bulb · discovery · 1879
- Cyrus Cylinder · discovery · 1879
- 211 Isolda · discovery · 1879
- 206 Hersilia · discovery · 1879
- 209 Dido · discovery · 1879
- 210 Isabella · discovery · 1879
and 14 more in the atlas.
What ended in 1879
States that fell or were replaced, and wars and other things that ran past the year they began.
States 3
- Ryukyu Kingdom · state · 1429 – 1879
- Cayor · state · 1549 – 1879
- Griqualand East · state · 1862 – 1879
Wars and battles 1
- Xhosa Wars · war · 1779 – 1879
Born and died
By how many Wikipedias write about them.
Born in 1879 86
- Albert Einstein · inventor · 1879 – 1955
- Leon Trotsky · revolutionary · 1879 – 1940
- Emiliano Zapata · revolutionary · 1879 – 1919
- Paul Klee · painter · 1879 – 1940
- Otto Hahn · physicist · 1879 – 1968
- Max von Laue · physicist · 1879 – 1960
- E. M. Forster · writer · 1879 – 1970
- Owen Richardson · physicist · 1879 – 1959
- Franz von Papen · politician · 1879 – 1969
- Emperor Taishō · monarch · 1879 – 1926
- Sarojini Naidu · politician · 1879 – 1949
- Symon Petliura · politician · 1879 – 1926
- Hans Luther · politician · 1879 – 1962
- Patrick Pearse · revolutionary · 1879 – 1916
- Chen Duxiu · philosopher · 1879 – 1942
- Pál Teleki · politician · 1879 – 1941
and 70 more in the atlas.
Died in 1879 32
- James Clerk Maxwell · inventor · 1831 – 1879
- William Lloyd Garrison · writer · 1805 – 1879
- Louis-Napoléon, Prince Imperial · politician · 1856 – 1879
- Baldomero Espartero · politician · 1793 – 1879
- Begum Hazrat Mahal · politician · 1820 – 1879
- Sergey Solovyov · poet · 1820 – 1879
- Sher Ali Khan · military personnel · 1823 – 1879
- Joseph Hooker · military officer · 1814 – 1879
- John Bell Hood · military personnel · 1831 – 1879
- Maurycy Gottlieb · painter · 1856 – 1879
- Epameinondas Deligeorgis · politician · 1829 – 1879
- Miguel Grau · politician · 1834 – 1879
- Jakob Dubs · politician · 1822 – 1879
- Jakob Stämpfli · politician · 1820 – 1879
- Aleksandr Baryatinsky · politician · 1815 – 1879
- Arturo Prat · military personnel · 1848 – 1879
and 16 more in the atlas.
Standing in 1879
The states the atlas holds as standing that year, by region, the best known first, with who held the highest office where the record dates it.
Europe92 states
- France · 481 – present · Patrice de MacMahon, President of the French Republic since 1873 and Jules Grévy, President of the French Republic since 1879
- Spain · 1516 – present · Alfonso XII, Monarch of Spain since 1874
- Switzerland · 1848 – present · Emil Welti, Member of the Swiss Federal Council since 1867 and Louis Ruchonnet, Member of the Swiss Federal Council since 1875
- Belgium · 1830 – present · Leopold II of Belgium, King of the Belgians since 1865
- Sweden · 900 – present · Oscar II, Monarch of Sweden since 1872
- Denmark · 800 – present · Christian IX, Monarch of Denmark since 1863
- Luxembourg · 1815 – present · William III of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg since 1849
- Andorra · 1278 – present · Josep Caixal i Estradé, Episcopal Co-Prince since 1852 and Patrice de MacMahon, French co-prince of Andorra since 1873
- Monaco · 1297 – present · Charles III of Monaco, Prince of Monaco since 1856
- Liechtenstein · 1806 – present · Johann II of Liechtenstein, Prince of Lichtenstein since 1858
and 82 more; every state of Europe.
Middle East and North Africa60 states
- Morocco · 1549 – present
- Qatar · 1870 – present · Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar since 1878
- Ottoman Empire · 1302 – 1922 · Abdul Hamid II, sultan of the Ottoman Empire since 1876
- Persian Empire · 550 BCE – 1979 CE
- Ethiopian Empire · 1270 – 1975 · Yohannes IV, Emperor of Ethiopia since 1871
- Qajar dynasty · 1785 – 1925 · Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, shah since 1848
- Khanate of Khiva · 1511 – 1920
- French Algeria · 1832 – 1962
- Khedivate of Egypt · 1867 – 1914 · Isma'il Pasha of Egypt, Khedive of Egypt and Sudan since 1863 and Tewfik Pasha, Khedive of Egypt and Sudan since 1879
- Sokoto Caliphate · 1804 – 1903
and 50 more; every state of Middle East and North Africa.
Sub-Saharan Africa48 states
- Liberia · 1822 – present · Anthony W. Gardner, President of Liberia since 1878
- Dahomey · 1600 – 1894
- Orange Free State · 1854 – 1902
- South African Republic · 1852 – 1902
- Kingdom of Kongo · 1395 – 1888 · Pedro V of Kongo, Manikongo since 1859
- Sultanate of Zanzibar · 1861 – 1890 · Barghash bin Said of Zanzibar, Sultan of Zanzibar since 1870
- Asante Empire · 1670 – 1902
- Cape Colony · 1795 – 1910 · Queen Victoria, King/Queen since 1837
- Gold Coast · 1821 – 1957 · Queen Victoria, Monarch since 1837
- Kingdom of Benin · 1170 – 1897
and 38 more; every state of Sub-Saharan Africa.
South Asia153 states
- British Raj · 1858 – 1947 · Queen Victoria, Emperor of India since 1876
- Kingdom of Mysore · 1399 – 1950 · Chamarajendra Wadiyar X, Maharaja of Mysore since 1868
- Emirate of Bukhara · 1785 – 1920 · Muzaffar bin Nasrullah, Amir since 1860
- Hyderabad State · 1724 – 1948 · Asaf Jah VI of Hyderabad, 1st Nizam of Hyderabad since 1869
- Emirate of Afghanistan · 1823 – 1926 · Mohammad Yaqub Khan, Emir of Afghanistan since 1879
- French India · 1668 – 1954
- Travancore · 1729 – 1949 · Ayilyam Thirunal, Maharaja of Travancore since 1860
- Kingdom of Nepal · 1768 – 2008 · Surendra Bikram Shah, King of Nepal since 1847
- Jammu and Kashmir (princely state) · 1846 – 1947 · Ranbir Singh of Jammu and Kashmir, Raja since 1856
- Kingdom of Sikkim · 1642 – 1975 · Thutob Namgyal, Chogyal since 1874
and 143 more; every state of South Asia.
East and Southeast Asia60 states
- Brunei · 1368 – present · Abdul Momin, Sultan of Brunei Darussalam since 1852
- Qing dynasty · 1616 – 1912 · Guangxu Emperor, Emperor of China since 1875
- Empire of Japan · 1868 – 1947 · Emperor Meiji, Emperor of Japan since 1867
- Chiang Mai · 1775 – 1884 · Inthawichayanon, Prince of Chiang Mai since 1870
- Dutch East Indies · 1800 – 1949
- Joseon · 1392 – 1897 · Gojong of Korea, king of Joseon Dynasty since 1863
- Kelantan · 1762 – 1904
- Negeri Sembilan · 1775 – 1894 · Antah of Negeri Sembilan, Yamtuan Besar since 1869
- Perlis · 1842 – 1910 · Syed Ahmad ibni Syed Hussain Jamalullail, King of Perlis since 1873
- Ryukyu Kingdom · 1429 – 1879
and 50 more; every state of East and Southeast Asia.
Americas and Oceania35 states
- United States · 1776 – present · Rutherford B. Hayes, President of the United States since 1877
- Mexico · 1821 – present
- Canada · 1867 – present · Queen Victoria, monarch of Canada since 1867
- Chile · 1810 – present · Aníbal Pinto, President of Chile since 1876
- Argentina · 1861 – present · Nicolás Avellaneda, President of Argentina since 1874
- Colombia · 1810 – present · Julián Trujillo Largacha, President of Colombia since 1878
- New Zealand · 1841 – present
- Peru · 1822 – present · Mariano Ignacio Prado, President of Peru since 1876 and Nicolás de Piérola, President of Peru since 1879
- Uruguay · 1825 – present · Lorenzo Latorre, President of Uruguay since 1876
- Ecuador · 1830 – present
and 25 more; every state of Americas and Oceania.
Location unknown22 states
- Kuba Kingdom · 1625 – 1900
- Unfederated Malay States · 1826 – 1946
- Wituland · 1858 – 1890
- Kingdom of Kakongo · 1500 – 1885
- Ngoyo · 1500 – 1885
- Imamate of Futa Jallon · 1725 – 1912
- Kingdom of Sine · 1350 – 1969
- Yeke Kingdom · 1856 – 1891 · M'siri, | since 1856
- Gaekwad dynasty · 1721 – 1947
- Kazembe · 1740 – 1899
and 12 more; every state of Location unknown.
Open in the atlas
- On the timeline, 1854 – 1904: every state, war and life of 1879 and the years either side, region by region.
- On the map in 1879: the borders of the year, its cities under their names of the year, and what happened where.
Wikidata (CC0) · data built 2026-10-07 · Pastlas v2.13.1, by Oleh Voronko. The published atlas and its data are for non-commercial use.