Enclaves Of The World

In political geography, the term enclave refers to a territory that is completely surrounded by a foreign country but is part of another detached country. Büsingen, for example, is a small piece of Germany surrounded by Switzerland near their border near Schaffhausen. 

The term exclave refers to a territory that belongs to another country but is not connected to it by land and is surrounded by another country or countries. Nakhichevan, for example, is a large territory that is separated from Azerbaijan by Armenia and Iran.

The meanings seem similar but an exclave is not necessarily an enclave. Büsingen, for example, is an exclave of Germany and an enclave within Switzerland. But Nakhichevan, on the other hand, is surrounded by two Armenia and Iran. It is therefore an exclave of Azerbaijan but is not an enclave of any one country. 
  

C is A's exclave, and B's enclave    

C is A's exclave, but is not an enclave of B or D

The word enclave comes from the Latin word inclavatus meaning 'shut in’ or ‘locked up’ and has been used in a general sense for many centuries. It seems, however, to only have appeared in the jargon of diplomacy during 1868. The term exclave is a comparatively modern word that complements its alternative aspect of enclaves.
Enclaves may be created for a variety of historical, political or geographical reasons:

• In many cases they represent a legacy of property rights that existed prior to the development of the modern nation state.
• Others have been created when borders have been applied to a region where there are ethnic divisions that cannot be resolved in other ways.
• Enclaves can also arise (less frequently) due to physical changes in the landscape such as when the course of a border river alters over time.

The definition of enclave used above most accurately refers to what are termed “true enclaves” where an outlying territory is completely surrounded by land of another state. There are more than 260 true enclaves in the world today. 

In popular parlance, however, the term enclave is often used more loosely to describe any small piece of land surrounded in whole or in part by another country. In this way many small territories have been described as enclaves. These include Gibraltar, Ceuta, Hong Kong, Macao and Kaliningrad.

There are, of course, many different combinations of border and land configurations around the world that may prompt the use of the word. The following diagram helps to identify examples of most types.

Examples of Enclaves and Other Border Situations

Diagram Showing Enclaves and Various Border Situations                        (adapted from Jan Krogh’s Geosite) 

Enclave Type, Example and Description

Counter Enclaves and Counter-Counter Enclaves

Even more curious than the concept of enclaves are counter enclaves and counter-counter enclaves. These occur when pieces of the host country exist within the enclaves themselves.

There are 32 counter enclaves (Baarle, Cooch Behar and Nahwa) and 1 counter-counter enclave (Cooch Behar) in the world today adding complexity to the lives of their residents and respective governments. These situations typically develop when traditional land ownership rights are elevated to the status of national boundary matters.

     
D is B's counter enclave                             

                                                                                                               E is B’s counter-counter enclave

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In many ways the study of enclaves helps us understand elements of international relations, geopolitics and history in microcosm. veral examples below help to convince that issues relating to enclaves are long-standing and mainstream rather than ephemeral and deserve closer attention. Although these examples relate to large and well-known situations, the questions and issues that they raise are valid for other, smaller enclaves.

Gibraltar
Why does Gibraltar remain staunchly British after more than 300 years despite it being the focus of long standing tension with neighbouring Spain? It may in part be because of political pressure as demonstrated by the 2002 referendum that saw more than 99 per cent of the population expressed their wish to remain British. But will this be respected by both governments in the long term or will it be sacrificed on the altar of international relations within the European Union? Or will the territory be let go for economic reasons as the port continues to decline in military significance?

Other perhaps philosophical questions also arise. Does Gibraltar’s 1,700 km of separation matter? Why can’t a fragment of territory be considered to have the same status as a piece directly connected to its homeland? Do host countries have any intrinsic rights to territories within their borders? Is Spain’s territorial claim strong when one considers that it has only held the territory for 200 years since 711? 

Ceuta and Melilla
A similar puzzling situation exists across the Straits of Gibraltar with the Spanish ports of Ceuta and Melilla. These have been Spanish beachheads on the North African coast since 1668 but will they ever become Moroccan? It doesn’t seem likely in the near future given the events of 2002. This saw Spain sending its navy to defend their tiny uninhabited island of Perejil that lies just 250 metres off the Moroccan coast. But will ethnic Moroccan numbers grow in the territories due to the slow withdrawal of Europeans and the unwelcome influx of North African immigrants? Will this tire the Spanish desire to retain these last European colonies on the African continent?

Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea comprises much of the former German province of East Prussia. It has been Russian since 1945 despite being separated from the rest of that country by more than 350 km. In the post Cold War situation, these factors might suggest a drift towards Germany or to independence. Yet the economic, political, social, and cultural ties with the homeland are strong, and there seems to be no sign of separatism.
This is in no small part due to soviet policies that disenfranchised ethnic Germans and subsidised Russians to relocate there and to eventually assume the majority of the population.  

Hong Kong and Macao
In contrast to many other enclaves, Hong Kong was transferred back to China in 1997 (as was Macao two years later) in a fairly ordered fashion after centuries of colonial rule. Should this be regarded as a good outcome for the nearly seven million people involved, or for the respective governments, or for both? Were the views of people considered and do they matter?

Political and Social
Living in an enclave can be very inconvenient for the residents and governments of both countries.  Feelings of isolation from their homeland can be strong but more practical matters such as mail and telephone services, power supply and passage rights need to be resolved if a reasonable quality of life is to be achieved. This is only often at great cost which are even higher in some situations where border security matters are of major importance.

As such, governments are often motivated to remove enclaves. This is relatively easily done if the residents are in support. More often, however, the residents of enclaves remain very patriotic to their homeland due to shared ethnic heritage and entrenched property rights. In these situations the removal of enclaves is very difficult and has been rarely achieved.

Enclaves influence the bilateral relations between their homelands and surrounding states disproportionate to their smallness of territory and population. The importance of enclaves in international relations is far beyond their relative weight in terms of population and land.

The enclaves in Western Europe (Baarle, Llívia, Vennbahn, Campione D’itàlia and Büsingen) have previously suffered the range of problems associated with enclaves. Today they are comparatively peaceful places and create no serious political or administrative problems for their homelands and surrounding states. In most cases they have been in existence for very long periods of time and this has allowed most issues to be resolved. This has been helped by post WWII Europe where counties have worked collectively to resolve conflicts and progress political and economic development.

Enclaves elsewhere are often newer and can suffer significant issues usually related to an inability for governments to agree about border treaties. This causes their inhabitants to be at worst enclosed inside, at best seriously impaired in their usual life.

The five Uzbekistan enclaves within Kyrgyzstan were created in 1991 when the Soviet Union disintegrated. They contain more than 40,000 people and are separated from their homeland by just a few kilometres. But the political relations between the two countries appears to be deteriorating as they embark on programs to increase border security and lay minefields to deal with possible military incursions. Access between the residents of the enclave and their homrland seems destined to be more restricted.

Even more critical is the plight of the more than 60,000 people who live in the Cooch Behar enclaves (106 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh and 92 Bangladeshi enclaves in India). These were created when British India was partitioned during 1947 but decades of dialogue between the countries since this time have provided few benefits to the residents. In addition to the expected obstacles, the enclaves suffer from a lack of law enforcement, electricity and other public services leading to poverty, violence and social malaise.

Economy and Trade
Being detached from the rest of its country, an enclave finds itself subject to a range of potential economic problems such as restricted access to markets, tariffs and time delays that can affect its development and trade. Despite this, enclaves have managed to prosper. Hong Kong, for example, became a doyen of free trade; and small enclaves in Western Europe, such as Baarle-Hertog, Llívia and Campione have benefited from tourism and tax advantages.

On the other hand, almost 200 enclaves in Cooch Behar remain poorer than their non enclave counterparts and have few basic services such as electricity. Even central Asia’s fertile and populous Fergana valley enclaves are doing worse that their immediate neighbours. Spanish Ceuta and Melilla and Russian Kaliningrad appear to be struggling along but perhaps only with the substantial federal subsidies and preferential treatment that they receive. Efficient transit to markets in their homelands is usually a major factor influencing economic development within the enclaves. Kaliningrad’s 350 km distance from the rest of Russia via two or three other counties’ tariffs and border controls, for example, has been difficult to resolve. So too has the separation that Nakhichevan and its 200,000 residents endure from the rest of Azerbaijan.

Are Enclaves Unusual?
Perhaps – when considering that the territory can only be reached crossing another state. Or that they have so many obvious inconveniences for governance and economic life. But perhaps not when considering that there are more than 260 true enclaves in the world and an even greater number of other enclave types and sub national situations.

One would think that governments would be happy to get rid of them by exchanging or selling them, or simply give them up. Yet this is often not the case and many enclaves prove to be extremely resilient, even in the face of war, changing borders, or economic systems. Moreover, one might assume that governments would at least avoid creating new enclaves. Yet even this is the not always true. They might not like it, but new enclaves and exclaves were growing in numbers during the 1990s. The break up of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia brought into existence more than twenty enclaves in Europe and Asia when sub national borders suddenly became international. This has often led to considerable tension as the newly independent states try to consolidate their national security, identity and economy.

And more enclaves seem likely in Palestine.

Other Factors
The geo-political intricacies of the world’s enclaves and complex border situations provide interest, even amusement, for many. This is often manifested by a growing number of people visiting enclaves to experience their quaintness and sometimes to enjoy shopping or tax advantages.

But they also prompt study by the more serious minded - not least to understand the circumstances that enclave residents and governments face and perhaps to identify means of improving matters. Questions that need further investigation include:

• Is there anything intrinsically wrong with enclaves?
• Do host countries have any intrinsic rights to territories within their external borders or is it merely the organised human mind that desires such tidiness? 
• Why can’t a fragment of territory be considered to have the same status as a piece directly connected to its homeland? Is Gibraltar any less British simply because of its 1,700 km of separation from the rest of its homeland? 
• Does the length of time that the homeland has held the enclave matter? Is Spain’s 350 year tenure over Ceuta a more valid territorial claim than Britain’s 200 years over Gibraltar?
• Do the wishes of the residents of enclaves matter in determining nationality? Should these be considered in the wider context of international relations? In the end, did it matter what the populations of Hong Kong and Macao thought about unification with the People’s Republic of China?
• What if native enclave residents are no longer in the majority? Does the now minority German population in Kaliningrad have a right to determine the enclave’s nationality despite 60 years of disenfranchisement and Russian immigration?  
• Does the disruption caused when ‘clean’ borders are established outweigh the inconvenience of enclaves? In retrospect, was the great migration of peoples into Pakistan and India following partition in 1947 a calamity or a necessary evil? 

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The following is a list of all the true enclaves in the world known at the time of writing. Each is presented with the best available information to describe the enclave’s location, area, population, economy, history and current issues. This compilation unashamedly seeks to provide good maps to enable the reader to locate the enclave, understand their proximity to the homeland and to show detail within the territory. Where available, photographs are provided to assist the reader appreciate the nature of the enclave.

4.1 Island Enclaves

Island enclaves occur when islands are completely surrounded by the territorial waters of a surrounding country. Three examples are known:

• Isla Martin Garcia - part of Argentina located within Uruguay’s territorial waters in the estuary of the Rio de la Plata.
• Isla Apipé - part of Argentina within Paraguayan inland waters of the Rio Paraná.
• Chisamula and Likoma Islands - part of Malawi within Mozambique’s territorial waters in Lake Nyasa.
  The islands of St Pierre and Miquelon near the Canadian coast were French island enclaves till 1992 when an international tribunal established a 20 km wide access channel that stretches 375 km from the islands to international waters.

4.2 Near Enclaves

There are many examples of territory that nearly form enclaves and by definition these could include most of the types of enclaves and border situations that occur over the next few pages.  A unique example, however, is:

• The Austrian municipality of Jungholz - surrounded by Germany except at one geographical point on the top of a mountain.

4.3 Exclaves

The term exclave refers to a territory that belongs to another country but is not connected to it by land and is surrounded by another country or countries. Examples include:

• Nakhichevan - a large territory separated from the rest of Azerbaijan by Armenia and Iran. It is not an enclave of any one country.
• All true enclaves - by definition these are all exclaves from their homeland.

4.4 Coastal Fragments

Some territories cannot be reached from the country to which they belong except by traversing international waters. These are fragments of their homeland rather than enclaves as they are not surrounded on all sides by a foreign country. Examples include:

• Oeccusi - a fragment of East Timor in Indonesian West Timor.
• Cabinda - a fragment of Angola between Democratic Republic of the Congo and Congo.
• Dubrovnik - a fragment of Croatia separated by Bosnia and bordering Montenegro.

4.5 Enclaved Countries

Some countries are completely surrounded by a single other country and can be called enclaved countries. They cannot be exclaves because they are not fragments of anywhere else. Three examples exist:

• San Marino within Italy
• Vatican City within Italy 
• Lesotho within South Africa

4.6 Countries that are Nearly Enclaves

Some countries are almost enclaves within a surrounding country but have a small coastal section. Examples include:

• Gambia – surrounded by Senegal except for a 50 km coastal strip. 
• Monaco – surrounded by France except for its coastline.
• Brunei – surrounded by Malaysia except for its coastline.

Although Portugal, South Korea and Ireland border just one other country, their coastlines are long enough not to be considered near-enclaves.

4.7 Shared Enclaves

It is possible that enclaves can be shared between two or more countries though there has only been one known example in modern times:

• Schmalkalden/Suhl – a sub national shared enclave that existed after WW1. This enclave existed within Thuringia and was divided between the two Prussian provinces of Saxony and Hesse-Nassau. Together they were an enclave of Thuringia, and separately they were exclaves of the respective provinces.

4.8 Practical Enclaves

Practical enclaves are those parts of a country that cannot be easily reached from the rest of that country by road due to obstructions like mountains, lakes or watercourses. Though not detached from their homeland, they are more easily reached by entering the neighbouring country. These situations are more common where borders are not heavily defended. Examples include:

• Kleinwalsertal - a valley part of Vorarlberg, Austria that can only be reached by road from Oberstdorf in Germany. 
• Some villages in eastern Estonia can only be reached by a road that goes through Russia. No Russian visa is required but stopping is not allowed.

4.9 Neutral Territory

Neutral territories belong in part or whole to neighbouring countries who keep full sovereignty over their respective parts. Special regimes are often applied by the countries concerned or by another party (such as the United Nations). Neutral territories are typically demilitarized zones in areas of potential conflict. Examples include:

• Saudi Arabia and Iraq – established in 1922 and divided by treaty by Saudi Arabia and Iraq in 1981. The United Nations, however, was not notified and the US government continues to show the diamond-shaped neutral zone with a provisional boundary running through its middle.
• Saudi Arabia and Kuwait (formerly) – from 1922 till 1981 and covering 5,770 km².

4.10 Condominiums

Condominiums are territories governed jointly by two or more states. Examples have included:

• Sudan – administered jointly by the United Kingdom and Egypt during the early part of the 20th century.
• New Caledonia – administered jointly by the United Kingdom and France till independence.

4.11 Extraterritoriality

Extraterritoriality occurs when areas such as embassies and military bases are made exempt from the jurisdiction of the host country. They are not true enclaves as they remain a sovereign part of the host country. Examples of extraterritoriality other than embassies and bases include:

• Pavillon de Breteuil in France - used by the General Conference on Weights and Measures.
• United Nations headquarters in the United States. 
• The headquarters of Sovereign Oder of the Knights of Malta in Rome. 
• Thirteen buildings in Rome outside of the Vatican City - used by the Vatican City.

4.12 Land Owned by a Foreign Country

Some areas of land in a country are owned by another country. The host nation’s laws apply within these areas so they do not have territoriality. Nonetheless, some do have special privileges such as being exempt from taxes. Examples include:

• Napoleon’s original grave at Longwood on the isle of St Helena - ceded to France 
• World War I Vimy Memorial in France - ceded to Canada. 
• World War ll American Cemetery in Normandy in France - ceded to USA. 
• John F Kennedy memorial at Runnymede in the United Kingdom - ceded to USA.

 4.13 Sub national Enclaves

Sometimes historical or practical reasons have caused the internal administrative divisions to become enclaves. Examples include:

• France – Valréas is an exclave of the Department of Vaucluse within Drôme. 
• Germany - The city of Bremerhaven is an exclave of the state of Bremen. 
• India – The city of Dadra is an exclave of the territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli within the state of Gujarat. 
• South Africa – The town of Umzimkulu is an exclave of Eastern Cape Province within KwaZulu-Natal province.

4.14 Ethnic Enclaves

Ethnic enclaves are communities of an ethnic group inside an area where another ethnic group predominates. These areas may have a separate language, culture and economic system but remain legal parts of the surrounding area. Examples include:

• Jewish ghettos and Chinatowns in many cities of the world.
• A Hungarian ethnic enclave in Transylvania in Romania.
• A Jewish settlement within Kaifeng in China dating back to the 12th century.
• Native American reservations in the USA that have some territorial rights.

4.15  Notable Former Enclaves

Many examples have existed in the past. Examples include: 

• West Berlin, before the reunification of Germany, was a West Germany exclave within East Germany, and thus an East German enclave 
• Many small West Berlin land areas, such as Steinstôcken, were separated from the main area and therefore also enclaves within East Germany.

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1. APA, (14.02.2005) “Russia has special plans within its enclaves in Khachmaz” http://www.apa-az.info/en/view.php?d=632
2. Biger, Gideon (1995) (Editor-in-Chief): “The Encyclopaedia of International Boundaries, 
   Facts On File”, The Jerusalem Publishing House Ltd., ISBN 0-8160-3233-5.
3. CIA, 2005: “World Factbook”, 2005
4. Ekspress: http://www.ekspress.com.az/, 27 May 2006  
5. Hering, Peter: “Border Pictures”, www.geocities.com/mafiapetedk/enclaves.html
6. Krogh, Jan: “Geosite”, http://geosite.jankrogh.com/exclaves.htm
7. Kyrgystan Development Gateway: http://eng.gateway.kg/cgi-bin/page.pl?id=258&light=enclaves#firstsearch0
8. Nadybal, Len: “The Encyclopaedia of Exclaves and Enclaves”, http://exclave.info/
9. Palmberg, Rolf: “Enclaves of the World”, www.vasa.abo.fi/users/rpalmber/enclaves.htm
10. Robinson, G.W.S. (1958) “Ceuta and Melilla: Spain’s Plazas de Saberaniá”, Geography, 43: 266-269.
11. Robinson, G.W.S. (1959) “Exclaves”, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 49 (September): 283-95.
12. Schultz, Chris Arne: “Alles zu Enklaven und Exklaven”, http://www.enklave.de.vu/
13. Vinokurov, Evgeny: (2005) “Theory of Enclaves”, www.vinokurov.info/enclaves.htm evgeny@vinokurov.info
14. Vorobyov, Anatoly (2002) “Sankovo-Medvezhye”, Rossija (Russian weekly) http://www.russianews.ru/index.php?body=pub&id=103
15. Whyte, Brendan (2002) “Bordering on the Ridiculous? A Comparison of the Baarle and Cooch Behar Enclaves”, The Globe, 53:43-61
16. Whyte, Brendan (2002) “Waiting for the Esquimo, an historical and documentary study of the Cooch Behar enclaves of India and Bangladesh”, Research Paper 8, School of Anthropology, Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Melbourne. PhD thesis.
17. Wikipedia: “Enclaves”, http://www.wikipedia.com/

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Footnotes

*         Unconfirmed at time of writing

**        Enclaves by way of being entirely surrounded by the territorial waters of another country

E        Enclaves

CE      Counter-Enclaves

CCE    Counter-Counter-Enclaves