Administrative lines became international borders
When colonies gained independence, existing administrative boundaries often became the starting point for international borders. Keeping them could reduce the immediate risk of opening every territorial dispute at once, even when those lines divided communities or grouped very different regions together.
Straight lines are only part of the story
Some colonial boundaries follow latitude, longitude, or negotiated geometric lines, especially across sparsely mapped areas. Others follow rivers, watersheds, older political frontiers, trade routes, or negotiated zones of control. A map that looks simple at continental scale can be much more complicated on the ground.
Colonial rule was not geographically uniform
Empires governed territories differently. Some relied heavily on existing political institutions; others reorganized administration, settlement, land ownership, or infrastructure. Those differences help explain why the legacy of colonialism varies significantly from one country to another.
Independence did not freeze history
Post-independence states have fought wars, created federations, separated, unified, negotiated boundaries, and built national identities around inherited territories. Modern borders are therefore historical outcomes in their own right, not merely leftovers from the colonial period.
How to study colonization responsibly
A useful geography game should treat colonization as historical context rather than a one-word label for a country. Ask which power controlled which territory, during what period, through what form of rule, and what existed before and after. Carte Blanche Geo’s Colonizer mode is a starting point for that larger history.