Enclaves Of The World

Bangladesh’s northern Cooch Behar region on the border with India has nearly 200 enclaves – the biggest such cluster in the world. 

There are reported to be 106 Indian enclaves within Bangladesh covering a total of 69.7 km² with a population of about 30,000. Three of the Indian enclaves are embodied within Bangladeshi exclaves.

The largest Indian exclave, Balapara Khagrabari, embodies one Bangladeshi exclave, Upanchowki Bhajni, which itself embodies an Indian exclave called Dahala Khagrabari. This is the world’s only known counter-counter enclave. The second largest Indian exclave is called Shalbari and comprises five villages and embodies four Bangladeshi exclaves.

There are 92 Bangladeshi enclaves within India covering a total of 49.7 km² with a population of about 25,000. 21 of these are embodied within Indian exclaves.

One of the Bangladeshi enclaves is Dahagram-Angarpota, which is no doubt the world's only part-time enclave. The villages in the enclave are connected with the rest of Bangladesh through the Tin Bigha Corridor, a tiny area leased by Bangladesh but controlled by India. The corridor is open daily during daylight hours, but only every second hour.

The enclaves have had a varied history having survived a succession of states. These have ranged from the Kingdom of Cooch Behar and the Mughal Empire in the 1700s to Pakistani, Bangladeshi and the Republic of India issues of more recent times.

Their existence till 1947 within the states of British India was peaceful although administratively inconvenient. Their escalation to international level enclaves has presented a focal point for political disputes between Bangladesh and India. Each steadfastly refuses to allow the other to administer its enclaves. A 1974 treaty to exchange the enclaves remained unsigned by India.

The nearly 200 Cooch Behar enclaves represent 80 percent of the total number that have existed in the world since the 1950s. These include about two dozen counter-enclaves and the world’s only counter-counter-enclave. Given this, it seems surprising that there seems to have been so little research and discussion about this extremely complex geo-political situation till recent times. (From Whyte: ‘Waiting for the Esquimo’ 2002)

Map of Bangladesh showing the location of the Cooch Behar enclaves

Map showing Cooch Behar enclaves

Cooch Behar detail

The Tin Bigha Corridor – a crossroads for two nations      (Source: Whyte)

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