Quirky International Borders

[marinyork]

There are some fantastic border videos on youtube, a lot of examples already and ones people know and some they might not. Some of the borders that were weird as a kid they have now tidied up a bit e.g. India/Bangladesh the last few years.

I discovered recently (5th video made recently) there are 16 islands (knew most of them) that are split between two countries. One that had me really puzzling as I'd not heard of it until I found out that it's an artificial island lol.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3Ysh6IQ6dc


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6tJ-mvhznU


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrJSdYCkoWk


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdAmSfBnQaE


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63xqKDe3JTU

 

[Glow worm]

Bir Tawil is unclaimed, does this count as quirky?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bir_Tawil
(mind, if they found oil, gold or diamonds there, I'd bet it would become very popular)

New one to me that- thanks!

Reminds me of a curious, fairly large diamond shaped piece of land, I think between Iraq and Saudi, marked on an old globe I had as a kid as 'Neutral Zone'. It seems to have disappeared from modern maps, so presumably, whatever issue the bun fight was about, has been sorted out!

 

[marinyork]

The most nuts one between Morocco/Spain is what in English we call Parsley Island where a small war was fought over it in recent times.

It has... goats.

 

[Glow worm]

There are some fantastic border videos on youtube, a lot of examples already and ones people know and some they might not. Some of the borders that were weird as a kid they have now tidied up a bit e.g. India/Bangladesh the last few years.

I discovered recently (5th video made recently) there are 16 islands (knew most of them) that are split between two countries. One that had me really puzzling as I'd not heard of it until I found out that it's an artificial island lol.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3Ysh6IQ6dc


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6tJ-mvhznU


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrJSdYCkoWk


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdAmSfBnQaE


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63xqKDe3JTU

Oh well- I wasn't getting much work done anyway, so that's my morning sorted!

That last one- Märket Island, in the Baltic is split between Finland and Sweden. Seems the Swedes decided that wasn't complicated enough, so split their part of the island again, into two counties (or rather shared by two existing counties).

 

[marinyork]

Oh well- I wasn't getting much work done anyway, so that's my morning sorted!

That last one- Märket Island, in the Baltic is split between Finland and Sweden. Seems the Swedes decided that wasn't complicated enough, so split their part of the island again, into two counties (or rather shared by two existing counties).

There's another lot on youtube not by reallifelore by wonderwhy


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtLxZiiuaXs


and they like things I know less about and less interested in such as timezones


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW6QqcmCfm8


sort of related to this there are some good animated videos of how empires/countries' borders change over time which is interesting in itself.

For clarity things that people may find of note and not made the connection. Pheasant Island famous in the Thirty Years war, but that doesn't tend to be taught/interest in the UK. I knew it as a kid and anyone interested in it would know. England also received Dunkirk. Saint Martin was also divided/agreed during the thirty years war (an example people found interesting/not interesting above).

 

[Glow worm]

Bristol and Wales share a land border. The south-easternmost tip of Flat Holm Island/ Ynys Echni, Wales, which lies in the Bristol Channel, is, for some reason best known to the cartographers, a part of Bristol.

 

[marinyork]

One of my favourite little enclaves is Campione d'Italia on the shores of Lake Lugano, opposite the town of Lugano and entirely within Switzerland. Now the site of a casino and very little else, it must have been an interesting place in WW2, being part of an Axis country inside a neutral one. I seem to recall there is also a tiny part of Germany on the banks of the Rhine near Schaffhausen in Switzerland that must have been in the same political position in the war.

I know some Italian regions have enclaves. Tuscany has an enclave into Emilia-Romagnia which I discovered going past. Umbria has an enclave in Marche as well. No idea why, I never found out.

I know Lombardy and Piemonte swap bits of land, but always assumed that was to do with the course of the River Po over the years, which is a theme in enclaves in some US states and other bits of the world.

 

[Glow worm]

and they like things I know less about and less interested in such as timezones


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW6QqcmCfm8


sort of related to this there are some good animated videos of how empires/countries' borders change over time which is interesting in itself.

The time zone boundaries are interesting. There is a 3.5 hour time difference between Afghanistan and China. The two countries share a narrow border. I've never been a morning person and decided as a kid, my perfect situation when I grew up would have been to live on the Afghan side, and work on the Chinese side. I could comfortably lie-in until midday, but still make it into work well before 9am- perfect!

 

[Mr Celine]

There are some bars and restaurants where the Dutch /Belgian border runs through. They have different rules regarding opening hours. I believe at 9 o'clock in the evening all patrons must move to the Belgian side of the restaurant to remain within the law.

When licensing laws were first introduced in Scotland it was down to the local council to set the opening hours. At the time Leith was a separate burgh from Edinburgh and pubs in Leith shut half an hour later.
The 'border' between Edinburgh and Leith was at Pilrig and was straddled by the Boundary Bar.

There was a line painted across the floor marking the actual boundary. At 10:00pm everyone had to go and stand at the Leith side of the line. This was a popular pub for a quick pint as the two burghs used different traction for their tram cars. Leith was electric hauled, Edinburgh was cable. All passengers had to change trams at Pilrig.
Unfortunately Leith was annexed by Edinburgh in the 1920s and these quirks disappeared.

 

[Blue Hills]

I know some Italian regions have enclaves. Tuscany has an enclave into Emilia-Romagnia which I discovered going past. Umbria has an enclave in Marche as well. No idea why, I never found out.

I know Lombardy and Piemonte swap bits of land, but always assumed that was to do with the course of the River Po over the years, which is a theme in enclaves in some US states and other bits of the world.

some italian towns/municipal authorities as well. I know one in sardinia. Miles away from the town with the name cycling up the coast I to my surprise re-entered it. Don't know the reason - I suspect basically small-minded campanilsmo/feuds going back 500 years. Not rare in those parts.

 

[matticus]

Here's one I discovered only the other week. Pheasant Island is located on the Bidosa River between France and Spain. Every 6 months the island changes sovereignty. Between February 1st and July 31st, it forms a part of Spanish Territory, and from August 1st until January 31st, it is France. Here's a Google Earth pic showing it as Spanish (I must check on Aug 1st to see if they move the line!).

There's some great stuff on this thread, but so far Pheasant Island is my clear leader. Bonkers!

 

[MichaelW2]

The border between Republic of Georgia and it's northern neighbour Russia is a bit fraught. Russia invaded and created 2 Russian occupied "Independent " states: Republic of Abkhazia and the Republic of South Ossetia. Russian soldiers keep moving the border fence so overnight some Georgian farmer can wake up not in Georgia.
The Turkish border has a fairly quiet disputed zone. On the Armenian border there are some disputed churches occupied by Georgian priests. On the Azerbaijan border there is a disputed ancient religious retreat.

 

[The Crofted Crest]

Back in Holland, the southern border with Belgium ran down the middle of the River Maas. Over time the river moved and borders being the static things they are meant bits of Belgium became Dutch. One peninsula became a completely lawless haven for criminals, drug dealers and sex traffickers. The Dutch couldn't intervene because it was technically in Belgium, and the Belgians couldn't access the peninsula without a great deal of difficulty. The outcome was a land swap, with the peninsula becoming Dutch and the Belgians getting some land in compensation.

 

[Mr Celine]

Here's one I discovered only the other week. Pheasant Island ....

If only they'd called it Peachblossom Island.

 

[Glow worm]

Jungholz, is an Austrian valley and village only accessible via Germany. It is a 'pene-enclave' - connected to the rest of Austria solely by a single point and it has no road links with it (only to Germany). (Come to think of it, almost like Newmarket and the rest of Suffolk).

Although in Austria, they used to use the German Mark in Jungholz until the Euro came about, and have both country's post-codes.

Wikipedia map:

And the border (from Google Earth):