This is a list of extant territorial disputes around the world. Bold indicates one claimant's full control; italics, one or more claimants' partial control;
| Territory | Claimants | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Not specified | Bolivia claims and demands sovereign sea access, lost during the War of the Pacific 1879. | |
| Ankoko Island/Isla de Anacoco | ||
| Arroyo de la Invernada or Rincón de Artigas and Albornoz Village |
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| Southern half of Belize | Guatemala formerly claiming all Belize. | |
| Bajo Nuevo Bank (Petrel Islands) | Honduras has recognized the sovereignty of Colombia; other claimants have not | |
| Conejo Island | ||
| Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)[1] | Argentina invaded the Falklands, resulting in the Falklands War | |
| French Guiana west of the Marouini River | ||
| Guantánamo Bay[1] | The United States is the territory's lease-holder, but Cuba retains de jure sovereignty. | |
| Guaira Falls/Sete Quedas | The disputed islands were submerged by the reservoir of Itaipú. | |
| Guyana east of the Upper Courantyne River | ||
| Guyana west of the Essequibo River (Guayana Esequiba) | ||
| Hans Island | Claimed by both Canada and Denmark (on behalf of Greenland). | |
| Isla Aves (Bird Island) | Dominica abandoned the claim in 2006. Continue the fight for the sea adjacent to the island. | |
| Isla Brasilera/Ilha Brasileira | Uruguay argues that the tripartite point with Argentina and Brazil is not defined, but those countries do not accept it. | |
| Isla Suárez/Ilha de Guajará-mirim | ||
| Los Monjes archipelago[1] | Colombia no longer claims the islands, only the surrounding waters. | |
| Area near Mejito De La Cruz | ||
| Navassa Island[1] | ||
| Quita Sueño Bank | ||
| Pacific Ocean Sea border | This arguably covers 19,000-35,000 square metres of land near border marker number one. | |
| Land around the Rio San Juan (approximately 300 square kilometres) |
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| San Andrés and Providencia | Honduras de facto recognizes Colombian claim. | |
| Sapodilla Cay | Guatemala formerly claiming all Belize. | |
| Serranilla Bank | Honduras has recognized the sovereignty of Colombia; other claimants have not | |
| South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands[1] | Including Shag Rocks. | |
| Southern Patagonian Ice Field between Mount Fitzroy and Cerro Daudet |
Parts of the border still officially undefined. |
Main article: List of areas disputed by Canada and the United States
| Territory | ||
|---|---|---|
| Machias Seal Island | ||
| North Rock | ||
| Strait of Juan de Fuca | ||
| Dixon Entrance | ||
| Portland Canal | ||
| Beaufort Sea | ||
| Northwest Passage and some other Arctic waters | Canadian territorial waters | U.S. claims navigation rights |
| Territory | Claimants | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aasal, Al-Qaa, Al-Qasr, Deir Al-Aashayer, Kfar Kouq and Tufail | |||
| Abu Musa | |||
| Aksai Chin | [1] possibly also Taiwan[8] |
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| Northern part of the Baekdu Mountain | Territory's Chinese name is Changbai Mountain Not claimed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The DPRK has recognized the northern part of the Baekdu Mountain as territory of the PRC in 1962. possibly also Taiwan[8] |
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| Bhutanese enclaves in Tibet, namely Cherkip Gompa, Dho, Dungmar, Gesur, Gezon, Itse Gompa, Khochar, Nyanri, Ringung, Sanmar, Tarchen and Zuthulphuk | possibly also Taiwan[8] | ||
| Boraibari | Boraibari falls under the adverse possession category with the map suggesting that it should be within India but it was being controlled by Bangladesh authority since 1971. | ||
| Chumbi and Dobta | |||
| Daikhata-Dumabari | |||
| Various areas: Dak Jerman/Dak Duyt, Dak Dang/Dak Huyt, the La Drang area and the islands of Baie/Koh Ta Kiev, Milieu/Koh Thmey, Eau/Koh Ses, Pic/Koh Tonsay and the Northern Pirates/Koh Po | |||
| Doi Lang | |||
| Fasht Ad Dibal and Qit'at Jaradeh | These were not included in the 2001 International Court of Justice judgement, as low-tide elevations. | ||
| several areas in the Fergana Valley | |||
| Greater and Lesser Tunbs | |||
| Hibernia Reef | |||
| Ieodo Island/Suyan Rock (aka Socotra Rock) | Also possibly claimed by: |
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| Indo-Bangladesh enclaves | |||
| Isfara Valley | |||
| Kachatheevu Island | |||
| Karang Unarang | |||
| Jammu & Kashmir | [1] A small area is also claimed by Some areas are controlled by the People's Republic of China (see "Aksai Chin" above and "Trans-Karakoram Tract" below). |
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| Kalapani region (Kalapani River), also Susta region (part), and Antudanda area | |||
| Khuriya Muriya Islands | |||
| Korea | The Democratic People's Republic of Korea administers North Korea, but Article 1 of the Constitution of North Korea reads: "The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is an independent socialist State representing the interests of all the Korean people." The Republic of Korea administers South Korea, but Article 3 of the Constitution of South Korea reads : "The territory of the Republic of Korea shall consist of the Korean peninsula and its adjacent islands." | ||
| Kula Kangri | possibly also Taiwan[8] | ||
| South Kuril Islands | [1] | ||
| Lathitila | |||
| Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo in Korean, Takeshima in Japanese) | [1][9][10] | ||
| Ligitan and Sipadan | The 2002 International Court of Justice ruling awarded both islands to Malaysia, but left unsettled the maritime boundary immediately southwest and west of the islands between Malaysia and Indonesia. | ||
| Limbang area | |||
| Macclesfield Bank | |||
| Matthew and Hunter Islands | [1] | ||
| Minerva Reefs | Fiji disputes not Tonga's claim to the reefs but any maritime EEZ claim by Tonga based on the reefs under the rules of UNCLOS. | ||
| Minicoy Island | |||
| Muhurichar river island | |||
| certain islands in the Naf River | |||
| Nawalparasi region | |||
| Parts of North West Frontier Province, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Balochistan | |||
| Small areas of Oecussi-Ambeno | |||
| Okinotorishima | The PRC does not claim ownership of the islet; rather, it argues that it is not large enough to entitle Japan to the EEZ of the surrounding ocean. | ||
| Paracel Islands | [1] | ||
| "Point 20"; a small area of reclaimed land in Singapore | |||
| part of Poipet commune | |||
| Prachin Buri area | |||
| Preah Vihear Temple (Khao Phra Wihan) | Temple complex awarded to Cambodia by an International Court of Justice ruling in 1962, but ongoing dispute over adjacent areas. | ||
| Pulau Batek/Fatu Sinai | |||
| Pyrdiwah | |||
| Qarooh and Umm Al Maradim | |||
| Sabah (North Borneo) | |||
| Sakhalin (southern) | |||
| Scarborough Reef | Philippines defends the atoll with naval activity; tensions continue over sovereignty of the atoll, fishing rights in surrounding waters, placement of a survey marker by China, etc.
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| Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu Tai) | [1] | ||
| Shaksgam Valley | possibly also Taiwan[8] | ||
| Shatt Al-Arab | |||
| Siachen Glacier and Saltoro Ridge area | |||
| Sir Creek | |||
| South Talpatti/New Moore/Purbasha Island | |||
| South Tibet (most of Arunachal Pradesh) | |||
| Spratly Islands | has released a law that proclaims the islands as a "regime of islands".[1] |
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| Swains Island | [1] This claim doesn't hold a de jure status as |
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| 48 square miles (124 km²) of territory[citation needed] | |||
| Exclusive Economic Zone near the Tasman Sea | Japan continues to do whaling operations in the area. For more info see Whaling in Japan | ||
| Parts of Three Pagodas Pass | |||
| Trans-Karakoram Tract | |||
| Tumen River (disputed sovereignty of certain islands) | [1][9] possibly also Taiwan[8] |
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| The islands of Ukatny, Zhestky and the disputed 'island' of Malozhemchuzny | |||
| Vozrozhdeniya Island (now a peninsula) | |||
| Wake Island | [1] | ||
| a small part of Xinjiang | |||
| Yalu River (disputed sovereignty of certain islands) | The allocation to North Korea of all of the large islands in the lower Yalu River, including Pidan and Sindo at the mouth, is now clear.[11] The river's maritime rights remain shared between the two nations. | ||
| Zarrara oilfield and Khor al-Odaid areas | [1] |
| Territory | Claimants | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Part of Akrotiri Sovereign Base Area | ||
| Barents Sea boundary dispute | ||
| Baltic Sea boundary dispute near Bornholm | ||
| Carlingford Lough boundary dispute | ||
| David Gareja monastery complex boundary dispute | ||
| Some areas by the Danube Parts of Osijek and Sombor districts |
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| Kosovo | ||
| Eastern coast of Narva river and Petseri County | ||
| Part of Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area | ||
| Eastern Anatolia | ||
| Javakheti | ||
| Ems estuary and Dollart Bay (western part) | Settled in 1960s (agreeing to disagree) | |
| Gibraltar | Spain claims territory under the Treaty of Utrecht conditions. | |
| Gulf of Piran | An agreement was signed (and ratified by Croatia's parliament on Nov. 20, 2009) to pursue binding arbitration to both the land and maritime portions of this ongoing dispute | |
| Isthmus between Gibraltar and Spain | Spain claims territory as illegally occupied since it was not included into the Treaty of Utrecht. | |
| Imia/Kardak | ||
| Kosa Tuzla Island | ||
| Lake Constance | ||
| Lough Foyle boundary dispute | ||
| Mont Blanc | ||
| An area near Montalmus peak | ||
| Olivenza (including the municipality of Taliga) | ||
| Pichvni | ||
| Prevlaka | ||
| Maritime border in the Adriatic | ||
| Rockall | Only the UK claims the rock itself. Ireland and Britain have agreed upon a demarcation of the surrounding sea-bed. Denmark and Iceland claim that the Rockall trough limits the Irish and British claims to the waters surround the rock and to the Rockall Bank. | |
| Sastavci | ||
| Šarengradska Ada | ||
| Sarych | ||
| Snake Island | the dispute was solved on February 3, 2009 by the International Court of Justice | |
| Military complex near Sveta Gera, in the area of Žumberak/Gorjanci | ||
| 400 hectares in and around the vicinity of Tesin | ||
| Small 3m-by-60m strip along the Passetto di Borgo in the vicinity of the Vatican City | ||
| Veliki Školj and Mali Školj (near Neum) | ||
| Island of Vukovar |
| Territory | Claimants | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abkhazia | |||
| Eastern part of Bhutan | |||
| North Cyprus | |||
| Mainland China (including Tibet and Xinjiang) | |||
| Moldovan-controlled area of Dubasari district | |||
| East Jerusalem | |||
| Northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret). | Israeli territory occupied by Syria between 1950 and 1967. In the Six day war it was recaptured by Israel. Still claimed by Syria. | ||
| Golan Heights | |||
| A small area of Gilgit-Baltistan | |||
| Kokkina/Erenköy exclave | This area is separated from the rest of the land controlled by North Cyprus by land controlled by the Republic of Cyprus. | ||
| Heixiazi / Bolshoy Ussuriyskiy (eastern half) |
Split by the People's Republic of China and Russia in 2004 | ||
| Heixiazi / Bolshoy Ussuriyskiy (western half) |
Split by the People's Republic of China and Russia in 2004 | ||
| Israel | Hamas currently has de facto control of the Gaza Strip. Most Palestinian parties and factions recognized Israel Proper following the Oslo Accord. | ||
| Kachin State | North part west of Gaoligong Mountain (高黎貢山) in western Yunnan, China, and the Division of Sagaing: Jiangxinpo (江心坡) and Nankan (南坎). | ||
| 106.40 square kilometres of formerly Chinese territory in Kazakhstan | |||
| Kosovo | |||
| Kutsuzov island | |||
| Lachin corridor | |||
| Nagorno-Karabakh | |||
| Pamir Mountains (west of Xinjiang)[8][14] (Northern and central parts) |
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| Pamir Mountains (west of Xinjiang)[8][14] (Southern part) |
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| Part of the Rasŏn administrative division | |||
| Shebaa Farms | |||
| Sixty-Four Villages East of the Heilongjiang River | |||
| Somaliland | |||
| South Ossetia |
See also: 2008 South Ossetia war
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| Northern and eastern Sri Lanka | |||
| 'Border' checkpoint near Strovilia | UK's claim in regard to its Sovereign Base Areas Technically, of course, this also involves |
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| Taiwan Penghu Jinmen Matsu Islands Pratas Islands |
See also: Anti-Secession Law Legal status of Taiwan |
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| Transnistria | |||
| Tuva | |||
| Varnita, Copanca and Bendery (also known as Tighina or Bender) | |||
| The West Bank (called Judea and Samaria in Israel) | See Israeli–Palestinian conflict | ||
| Western Sahara | The United Nations considers the sovereignty issue as unresolved pending a final solution, and to that end, has a mission in the territory to oversee a referendum on self-determination. Sovereignty was relinquished by Spain in 1976. |
The Antarctic Treaty System, formed on 1 December 1959 and entered into force on 23 June 1961, establishes the legal framework for the management of Antarctica and provides administration for the continent, which is carried out through consultative member meetings. It freezes the territorial claims of all signatories (all claimants have acceded) for as long as the treaty is in force. However, it is not a final settlement; parties can choose to withdraw from the System at any time. Furthermore, only a minority of states have signed it, and it is not formally sanctioned by the United Nations. Thus, Antarctica remains the only part of the planet any (non-signatory) state can still lay claim to as terra nullius (on the grounds of it not having been part of any existing state's legal and effective territory).
Redirecting to List of territorial disputes
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