
India and Bangladesh have begun the exchange of over 160 enclaves - CPLX
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/08/01/say-goodbye-to-the-weirdest-border-dispute-in-the-world/?tid=HP_more?tid=HP_more
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phaemon
Surely not as weird as the Bir Tawil border dispute between Egypt and Sudan.
Both argue that it should be part of the _other_ country!

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bir_Tawil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bir_Tawil)

~~~
Moto7451
That one seems pretty straightforward. Each country's preferrence nets them
more land. Bir Tawil is far less valuable than the larger disputed landmass
(being baren rather than bordering a navigable body of water) so neither party
seems to care to fight over it.

~~~
rectangletangle
Still strange when a country actively rejects a stretch of land.

~~~
Tuna-Fish
Accepting it would mean legitimizing the border treaty that costs them the
larger stretch of land. Stranger things have happened.

~~~
trentmb
Could I murder someone there, and no nation/state 'could' prosecute me?

Not an actual plan, mind you, just curious if there's some form of
international law that ultimately covers these places.

~~~
EliRivers
Some truly awful crimes go on at sea and the criminal simply walks away. If
you can arrange to do it there, you could try your luck.

In theory, at the very least, the flag state of the vessel should do something
about it. In practice, if you pick the right flag state, the right ship, you
could get away with it. Some very suspicious deaths go essentially unnoticed
on merchant ships, and I know a security chief on a cruise ship who has
arrested people for serious sexual assault and the flag state just doesn't
care and/or just doesn't have the capability to investigate; they get put
ashore at the next port and walk away scot-free. It happens, regularly enough
that it's not an unusual thing.

~~~
dghughes
>and the criminal simply walks away..

I think 'sails away' would be more apt.

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plorkyeran
Were the borders actually disputed, or just really weird? The article made it
sound like while the borders were odd, both countries agreed on where they
were.

~~~
lucb1e
The way I got it, they were just weird.

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JadeNB
The article discusses enclaves extensively, and then refers at the end to
"exclave residents". Wikipedia
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclave_and_exclave](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclave_and_exclave))
says:

> An enclave is any portion of a state that is entirely surrounded by the
> territory of one other state. An exclave is a portion of a state
> geographically separated from the main part by surrounding alien territory.
> Many enclaves are also exclaves.

If I understand this correctly, the WaPo article really means to refer
specifically to exclaves, not just to enclaves, throughout.

~~~
teraflop
I think "Many enclaves are also exclaves" is backwards. By Wikipedia's
definition, _all_ enclaves are exclaves, but only some exclaves are enclaves.

The territories described in the article are enclaves, not just exclaves,
because India and Bangladesh are the only two countries involved.

EDIT: Ah, never mind, I was only considering the case where a country is
partitioned into multiple disconnected components.

~~~
alextgordon
Not _all_. Look at D. If the entire territory of a state is an enclave, then
it's not an exclave of anywhere.

e.g. the Vatican City.

~~~
Turing_Machine
Lesotho and San Marino are the only other two, I think.

~~~
joeyo
Well, there's the Republic of Kugelmugel.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kugelmugel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kugelmugel)

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js2
Even within the US, state borders are still not a settled matter.

[http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/08/24/opinion/sunday/how-
the-...](http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/08/24/opinion/sunday/how-the-
carolinas-fixed-their-blurred-lines.html?referrer=&_r=0)

~~~
Stratoscope
Thank you, that is a great article! Recommended for any map geeks.

I love these two bits in particular:

> In another segment, researchers found a stone boundary monument that had
> been set as part of a 1928 resurvey, except it now stood near a tee on a
> golf course. Officials at the course had moved it years before so duffers
> could brag about their two-state tee shot. Using the original 1928 maps,
> advanced mathematics and some informed guesswork, the joint survey teams
> navigated to the exact spot where the monument had been uprooted, and even
> found its broken-off base.

> But an obvious fix is not in sight for Lewis Efird, who bought a gas station
> just south of what he thought was the state line in the early 1990s to take
> advantage of South Carolina’s significantly lower gas tax, as well as the
> ability to sell beer and fireworks. Unfortunately, the survey work showed
> conclusively that his pumps were in a part of North Carolina where gas is
> more expensive, beer sales are not allowed and fireworks are illegal. As he
> told commissioners in a public meeting, “Our business is going to be
> destroyed.”

~~~
js2
That gas station is likely to get an exemption as part of the border
resolution: [http://www.wcnc.com/story/news/politics/2015/03/27/state-
lin...](http://www.wcnc.com/story/news/politics/2015/03/27/state-line-debate-
nears-end-for-north-carolina-and-south-carolina/70568322/)

------
Rexxar
An other very strange case: This isle is managed by both France and Spain
which control the island for alternating periods of six months:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pheasant_Island](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pheasant_Island)

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TimFogarty
For a great explanation of the enclaves and exclaves described in the article,
you might like to check out this youtube video:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtLxZiiuaXs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtLxZiiuaXs)

The visual aids definitely help.

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smikhanov
And here's an example of a tiny exclave that was not only completely separated
from a "mainland", but also surrounded by the country extremely hostile to it:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steinst%C3%BCcken](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steinst%C3%BCcken)

Between 1949 and early 1970s the only way to get there was with a helicopter
(they even later installed a monument to it in there).

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S4M
I wonder how was life for people living in one of those enclaves. Were there
actually passport controls at the frontiers? My guess is that the Indians
living there were actually living just as if they were citizen from
Bangladesh, but I could be wrong.

~~~
redwood
you are almost certainly correct but there's a possibility that folks could be
hassled etcetera: taken advantage of basically.this is a part of the world
where the basic things we rely on don't exist institutions rights etcetera

~~~
witty_username
Aside: > we

everyone isn't in a developed region

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kw71
Here is the detailed area containing the third order enclave on google maps:
[https://www.google.com/maps/@26.1474499,88.7641825,16z](https://www.google.com/maps/@26.1474499,88.7641825,16z)

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leoc
So this must be the Cooch Behar from the Threepenny Opera's "Kanonensong"
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi433VgJ5bc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi433VgJ5bc)
, right?

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nsajko
Also, this:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclave_and_exclave#Enclaves_w...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclave_and_exclave#Enclaves_within_enclaves)

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geuis
What kind of extremely screwed up design for mobile is on that site? A left
and right column that scroll independently of each other. Can't resize the
text. Can't enable the reader mode either.

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smcl
Reminds me of Baarle-Nassau : [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baarle-
Nassau](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baarle-Nassau)

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dark_knight3141
wired

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comrade1
There's at least one piece of Germany inside of Switzerland:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%BCsingen_am_Hochrhein](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%BCsingen_am_Hochrhein)

There are a few others:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_enclaves_and_exclaves](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_enclaves_and_exclaves)

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comrade1
I don't mean to derail the discussion, but the Indian Nepalese and Bhutanese
people are so beautiful.

I know that they're discriminated against in India. One would hope India would
have a higher regard for all of their citizens (not just based on beauty of
course).

