What nation was divided into two separate states in 1949?

Germany was divided into two separate states in 1949: West Germany and East Germany.

The division followed Germany’s defeat in World War II. The United States, United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union occupied different zones of the country, and growing tensions between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union made a single postwar government increasingly difficult. On May 23, 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany, commonly called West Germany, was established in the western occupation zones.

On October 7, 1949, the Soviet occupation zone became the German Democratic Republic, commonly called East Germany. Berlin was also divided, although the city lay inside the Soviet occupation zone. West Berlin was politically aligned with West Germany, while East Berlin served as the East German capital.

The two states remained separate during the Cold War. The Berlin Wall, built in 1961, became the most famous symbol of the division. Germany reunified on October 3, 1990, after the wall opened and East Germany joined the Federal Republic.