This shapefile represents 1st-level administrative divisions of sovereign states for Europe for the year 1500. 1st level divisions are sub-parts of sovereign states but do not exist for all states. Depending on the year, existing 1st level divisions may include: Roman or civil dioceses, the Ottoman eyalets, the autonomous communities of Spain or the regions of France and Italy. Some states are composed of divisions of their own. For instance, the United Kingdom is divided into England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Austria-Hungary is divided into Austrian Lands and Hungary while Bosnia was under common administration. For consistency reasons, these situations have been treated as if the state was divided in 1st level administrative divisions. This layer is part of the Euratlas Georeferenced Vector Data collection that is composed of 21 maps, one for each century from year 1 to year 2000. These maps depict the detailed political situation of Europe at the first day of each centennial year C.E. from year 1 to 2000. Each map is composed of two kinds of layers: physical features layers, such as seas and rivers, and political features layers, such as states and cities. Some layers also cover adjacent portions of North Africa and the Middle East.This layer is intended for researchers, students, and policy makers for reference and mapping purposes, and may be used for basic applications such as viewing, querying, and map output production, or to provide a basemap to support graphical overlays and analysis with other spatial data.