Since my childhood I have been interested in
international politics and geography. For many years I have also studied enclave
and exclave topics. They are usually small land areas outside their home
countries, totally surrounded by the neighbouring country. (As enclaves are not
counted territories of embassies, foreign military forces etc.)
In Europe there are several enclaves. At earlier times they were many, but most
disappeared after amicable settlements between the countries involved. Lithuania
had e.g. from the beginning of the 1990s until 1996 one exclave, Pagiriai, inside
Byelorussia. It disappeared during the demarcation between the two countries and
was the shortest ever known existing enclave. Another exclave which has
disappeared is Barak in Kyrgyzstan.
To live inside an
enclave is usually combined with several practical inconveniences, e.g. one
often need double set of telephone lines and currencies and has everyday to
maintain contact with the authorities both countries. At the same
time most inhabitants proudly express their area's peculiarity and history.
In these pages you may find a list of all
TRUE ENCLAVES (type 2.1)(see below under "Categories"), which are both enclaves and exclaves that I know of, arranged alphabetically
according to the part of world and country to which they are politically
attached.
Under «Other» I have listed a small
number of today's areas of other types.
List of International Enclaves and Exclaves –
True Enclaves
It
is measured shortest air distance from the exclave to its mainland (or
fragment of mainland) or its territorial waters.
Status
N =
De jure and de facto enclave(s)/exclave(s).
X = De jure exclave(s), but is/are occupied by the
surrounding country.
Y = De jure exclave(s), but surrounding area is occupied by the principal part of the state.
Categories
According
to Evgeny Vinokurov's Principal Typology of Enclaves and Exclaves
the True Enclaves are those International Enclaves which also are
international exclaves and at the same time completely isolated from
international sea.
International Enclaves and Exclaves
Definitions
Type
1.1
Enclaved States. This
term refers to the classic form of a sovereign enclave state in
international law, which represents a state entirely enclosed within
another state. Examples: Lesotho, San Marino and Vatican State.
Type
1.2
Semi-enclaved States. This term describes a sovereign
state surrounded by another state on land but in possession of a coast. Examples: Bangladesh, Gambia and Monaco.
Type
2.1
True Enclaves (non-sovereign enclaves/exclaves). A true enclave is a territory
separated from the principal part of the state by the territory of another state or states. Examples: (See above.)
Type
2.2
Coastal Enclaves(a.k.a. fragments). A semi-enclave is a part of a state enclosed within the land
territory of
another state, yet in possession of a sea border (that is, not fully surrounded). Enclaves of this
type are also called ‘coastal enclaves’. Both terms distinguish them from true enclaves as
possessing the availability of sea access. Examples: Ceuta (Spain), Melilla (Spain) and Oecusse
(East Timor).
Type
2.3
Mere Exclaves(a.k.a. fragments). A mere exclave is a non-sovereign region separated from the
mainland and surrounded by more than one state (that is, an entity of this type is not an enclave). Examples: Cabinda (Angola) and Kaliningrad (Russia).
Type
2.4
Pene-Enclaves. A
pene-enclave is an area that is for
practical purposes an enclave, but does not meet the strict definition:
an area that is not completely surrounded by another, but can only in
practice be reached by passing through another area. For instance, a
region of a country that is not connected by road to the main part of
the country without passing through another country. Examples: Dubki (Russia) and Point Roberts (USA).
True
Enclaves Sub-groups
Type
2.1A
True Dry Enclaves. A
True Enclave which is completely surrounded
by land territory of a neighbouring state.
Type
2.1A1
True Dry Single-Point Enclaves. A
True Enclave which is
completely surrounded by land territory of a neighbouring state, but
which still is connected to its principal part of the state by
one single point.
Type
2.1A2
True Dry Twin Enclaves. A
True Dry Enclave which is connected to
another True Dry Enclave only by a single geographical point.
Type
2.1B
True
River and Island Enclaves. A True Enclave
which is completely surrounded by water territory of a
neighbouring state.
Type
2.1B1
True
River Enclaves. A True Enclave, yet in possession of a
river border.
Type
2.1B2
True
River Enclaves Without Their Own Waters. A True Dry Enclave
surrounded by foreign territorial waters.
Type
2.1B3
True
Island Enclaves. A True Enclave completely surrounded by own territorial
waters and which is completely
surrounded by inland lake territory of the neighbouring state.
Type
2.1B4
True
Island Enclaves Without Their Own Waters. A True Dry Enclave
surrounded by foreign inland lake territory.
Type
2.1B5
True
Sea Enclaves. A True Enclave completely surrounded by own territorial
waters and which is completely
surrounded by the territorial waters of the neighbouring state.
Type
2.1B6
True
Sea Enclaves Without Their Own Waters. A True Enclave
without own territorial waters and which is surrounded by foreign territorial waters.
Definitions
Base Area: Sovereign military territory
belonging to a country which only creates jurisdictional, not territorial
enclaves (see below).
Fragment: An incomplete or isolated
portion of land belonging to a country situated with a territorial boundary to a
neighbouring politically alien territory. As a fragment can not be counted an
exclave or a territory under the jurisdiction of a state of which it does not
form an integral part (a colony, dependency (e.g. British
Overseas Territories), crown land, biland, base
area or embassy
territory). The government of the state decides
if the territory is an integral part of the state or not. Sea; i.e. International Waters: A country's custom zone,
fishery zone, economical zone and other zones which are not a part of its
territorial waters. No Man's Land: A territory which does not belong to any government.