ENCLAVES OF THE WORLD ENCLAVES OF THE WORLD
Page maintained by Rolf Palmberg;
information last updated on November 12, 2011.
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An enclave is a geographical territory which is completely surrounded by foreign territory [including foreign territorial waters]. Such a territory is called an enclave in respect to the surrounding foreign territory and an exclave in respect to the territory to which it is politically attached.
All current enclaves and exclaves that I know of have been listed below, arranged alphabetically according to the country to which they are politically attached.
Excluded from the list are thus:
Click here for Jan Krogh's and Peter Smaardijk's visual categorisation of different types of enclaves.
Argentina
The Argentinian islands of Isla Apipé and Isla Entre Rios are located within Paraguayan territorial waters in Rio Paraná. Likewise, the Argentinian island of Isla Martin Garcia is located within Uruguayan territorial waters in the estuary of Rio de la Plata.
Austria
Apart from a single-point connection to the rest of Austria [which, in fact, makes it an pene-enclave], the Austrian municipality of Jungholz is completely surrounded by German territory.
Armenia
There is an Armenian village, Bashkend [aka Artzvashen], in Azerbaijan. The present status of the exclave has been undetermined since the Armenian-Azerbaijani dispute in 1992-94 over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijan
There are five Azerbaijani exclaves in Armenia. Three of them are the villages of Yukhari Askipara [aka Verin Voskepar], Barkhudarly [aka Sofulu] and Kiarky [aka Tigranashen]. The two remaining exclaves are tiny [unnamed] pieces of farmland. The present status of the five exclaves has been undetermined since the Armenian-Azerbaijani dispute in 1992-94 over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh has declared itself an independent republic. The Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan, an autonomous region, is landlocked by Armenian, Iranian and Turkish territory and therefore not an enclave.
Bangladesh
There are 92 [ninety-two] Bangladeshi exclaves in India, mostly in the district of Cooch Behar but also in the district of Jalpaiguri. 21 [twenty-one] of these are embodied in Indian exclaves in Bangladesh. The largest Bangladeshi exclave, Dahagram-Angarpota, is connected to the rest of Bangladesh through the Tin Bigha Corridor, a tiny Indian territory leased by Bangladesh.
[The number of existing enclaves in Bangladesh and India varies from source to source. The present figures derive from Brendan Whyte's PhD thesis on Indo-Bangladeshi enclaves. There is a 1974 agreement between Bangladesh and India proposing exchange of lands, which, when ratified by India, will largely decrease the number of enclaves in both countries. The agreement was ratified by Bangladesh in 1974.]
Belgium
The town of Baarle is located in the Netherlands. Parts of the town are Belgian and form the municipality of Baarle-Hertog; parts are Dutch and form the municipality of Baarle-Nassau. Baarle-Hertog comprises 22 [twenty-two] different enclaves that are all surrounded by Dutch territory. Two of these exclaves, the so-called central enclave and an enclave near Reth, have a single-point connection to each other.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
A Bosnian exclave comprising the villages of Medjurecje and [a small part of] Sastavci is located in Serbia.
Croatia
There appears to exist a [tiny part of a] Croatian village, Brezovica Zumberacka, that is completely surrounded by Slovenian territory.
Cyprus
The two Cypriot villages of Ormidhia and Xylotimbou are each surrounded by territory that belongs to the British Sovereign Base Area of Dhekelia. A British road divides the Cypriot territory of Dhekelia Power Station into a northern part [that lies completely within the boundaries of the British Sovereign Base Area of Dhekelia] and a southern part [that is surrounded by British land as well as British territorial waters], thus creating a third and a fourth Cypriot exclave.
Germany
There are six German exclaves. One of them is the town of Büsingen in Switzerland. The five remaining exclaves are Munsterbildchen, Rötgener Wald [which comprises the southern parts of Rötgen town], Rückschlag, Mützenich and Ruitzhof. These exclaves are created by a former Belgian railway track [the Vennbahn] that cuts into German territory around and between the German towns of Rötgen and Monschau.
India
There are 106 [one hundred and six] Indian exclaves in the Bangladeshi districts of Panchagarh, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat and Kurigram, which all border the Indian district of Cooch Behar. Three of these exclaves are embodied in Bangladeshi exclaves. The largest Indian exclave, Balapara Khagrabari [which comprises three villages], embodies ten Bangladeshi exclaves. One of these Bangladeshi exclaves, [part of] Upanchowki Bhajni, embodies an Indian exclave, [part of] Dahala Khagrabari, which is the world's only enclave within an enclave within an enclave. The second largest Indian exclave is called Shalbari. Shalbari comprises five villages and embodies four Bangladeshi exclaves.
[The number of existing enclaves in India and Bangladesh varies from source to source. The present figures derive from Brendan Whyte's PhD thesis on Indo-Bangladeshi enclaves. There is a 1974 agreement between India and Bangladesh proposing exchange of lands, which, when ratified by India, will largely decrease the number of enclaves in both countries. The agreement was ratified by Bangladesh in 1974.]
Italy
The Italian town of Campione d'Italia is located in Switzerland.
Kyrgyzstan
There is a tiny Kyrgyz village, Barak, in the Ferghana Valley region where Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan meet. The village is surrounded by Uzbek territory.
Malawi
The two Malawian islands of Chisamula Island and Likoma Island are both located within Mozambican territorial waters in Lake Nyasa.
Netherlands
The town of Baarle is located in the Netherlands. Parts of the town are Dutch [forming the municipality of Baarle-Nassau] and parts are Belgian [forming the municipality of Baarle-Hertog]. Baarle-Nassau comprises eight different enclaves, six of which are embodied in the central Baarle-Hertog enclave. The seventh enclave is embodied in the Oordeel exclave in Baarle-Hertog, whereas the eighth enclave, Vossenberg, is located in Belgium proper.
Oman
The Omani territory of Madha is located in the United Arab Emirates.
Russia
The two-village Russian exclave of San'kovo-Medvezh'e is located in Belarus.
Slovenia
The easternmost part of Slovenia, a[n unnamed] tiny piece of land on the Mura river, appears to be an exclave sandwiched between Croatian and Hungarian territory. If the exclave exists it is not an enclave as it is surrounded by two countries.
Spain
The Spanish town of Llivia is located in France.
Tajikistan
There are three Tajik exclaves, all located in the Ferghana Valley region where Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan meet. The village of Saravaksoi is surrounded by Uzbek territory, whereas the villages of Vorukh and Kairagach are each surrounded by Kyrgyz territory.
United Arab Emirates
There is a tiny Emirati village, Nahwa, inside the Omani exclave of Madha in the United Arab Emirates. Nahwa, in other words, is an enclave within an enclave.
Uzbekistan
There are four Uzbek exclaves, all surrounded by Kyrgyz territory in the Ferghana Valley region where Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan meet. Two of them are the towns of Sox and Shaximardon; the other two are the tiny territories of Qalacha and Dzhangail'.
Acknowledgements
I am very
grateful to a number of people who have commented on and/or
provided me with updated information on various
enclaves/exclaves, particularly Christian Berghänel, Nicky
Gardner (editor of hidden europe), Diego González, Peter Hering, Grant
Hutchison, Magnus Härviden, Jan Krogh, Len Nadybal, Jesper Nielsen, Longueville Rudi, Arif Samad, Chris Schulz,
Peter Smaardijk, Evgeny Vinokurov, and Brendan Whyte.
Written sources of
information include
o Amar Roy Pradhan: Rule of Jungle
[Calcutta 1995].
o Brady Kiesling: Rediscovering Armenia
[Yerevan/Washington DC 2000].
o Nick Megoran: The Borders of Eternal Friendship? The politics and pain of nationalism
and identity along the Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan Ferghana Valley boundary, 1999-2000
[Cambridge 2002].
o Brendan R Whyte: Waiting for the Esquimo:
the Cooch Behar enclaves of India and Bangladesh
[Melbourne 2002].
o Brendan R Whyte: "En Territoire Belge
et à Quarante Centrimètres de la Frontière": the Belgian
and Dutch enclaves of Baarle-Hertog and Baarle-Nassau
[Melbourne 2004].
o Longueville Rudi: International Enclaves
[Maldegem 2007].
o Evgeny Vinokurov: A Theory of Enclaves
[Lanham 2007].
Links to related sites
Jan Krogh's enclave site [a site with additional
detailed information and many maps]
Chris Schulz's enclave site [a German site with a lot of
information and many maps]
Wikipedia's definition of
'enclave'
[an elaborative listing of various types of enclaves]