List of territorial disputes

This is a list of ongoing territorial disputes around the world. Bold indicates one claimant's full control; italics, one or more claimants' partial control;

Disputes between recognized sovereign states

Africa

Territory	Claimants	Notes
Abyei	Sudan  South Sudan	Both Sudan and South Sudan claim the area. Takeover by north May 2011
Bassas da India, Europa Island and Juan de Nova Island	France  Madagascar[1]
Badme	Ethiopia  Eritrea[1]
Bakassi	Cameroon  Nigeria	This area was handed over by Nigeria to Cameroon following an International Court of Justice ruling, but the Senate of Nigeria has decreed the handover of territory was illegal.
Banc du Geyser	Madagascar  Comoros  France
Bir Tawil	None  Egypt administrated	De jure no man's land. Egypt and Sudan both claim different borders in which they would have the Hala'ib Triangle, leaving the Bir Tawil to the other. As both claim the Hala'ib Triangle, neither claims Bir Tawil.
Bure	Ethiopia  Eritrea[2]
Caprivi Strip boundary tripoints/quadripoint	Botswana  Namibia  Zambia  Zimbabwe
Ceuta[3]	Spain  Morocco
Chagos Archipelago	United Kingdom  Mauritius  Seychelles	United Kingdom administers as part of British Indian Ocean Territory
Part of Gicumbi District, Northern Province	Rwanda  Uganda
Glorioso Islands	France  Madagascar  Seychelles  Comoros
Hala'ib Triangle	Egypt  Sudan[4]	Previously under joint administration; Egypt now maintains full de facto control
Perejil Island	Spain  Morocco	After the 2002 incident, both countries agreed to return to the status quo previous to the incident.[5]
Islas Chafarinas	Spain  Morocco
Ilemi Triangle	Kenya  South Sudan
Part of Kabale District	Uganda  Rwanda
Kafia Kingi	South Sudan  Sudan	Both Sudan and South Sudan claim the area. [6]
Kangawane Swazi homelands in parts of Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal	South Africa  Swaziland
Sindabezi Island	Zambia  Zimbabwe[citation needed]
Part of the Katemba region	Angola  Democratic Republic of the Congo
Koualou village	Burkina Faso  Benin
Area near Logoba/Moyo District	South Sudan  Uganda
Lunchinda-Pweto province	Zambia  Democratic Republic of the Congo
Mayotte	France  Comoros[1]	Under the 2009 referendum, the population supported becoming an overseas department of France, and so became one on March 31, 2011.
Mbañie Island, Cocotiers, and Congas Island	Gabon  Equatorial Guinea[7]
Islands in Mbamba Bay, Lake Nyasa	Tanzania  Malawi
Melilla[3]	Spain  Morocco
Migingo Island vicinity, and, farther north, the vicinity of the islands of Lolwe, Oyasi, Remba, Ringiti and Sigulu, all a maritime rights dispute in Lake Victoria.	Kenya  Uganda
Several islands in the Ntem River	Cameroon  Equatorial Guinea
Several villages near the Okpara River	Benin  Niger
Peñón de Alhucemas	Spain  Morocco
Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera	Spain  Morocco
Ras Doumeira and Doumeira Island	Eritrea  Djibouti
Rukwanzi Island and the Semliki River valley	Democratic Republic of the Congo  Uganda
the Rufunzo Valley and Sabererwa	Rwanda  Burundi
Exclusive Economic Zone surrounding the Savage Islands	Portugal  Spain
Socotran Archipelago	Yemen  Somalia	Somalia, while not formally claiming the archipelago, asked for the United Nations to look into "the status" of the Socotran archipelago (i.e., whether or not it "should" belong to Yemen or rather Somalia).[8]
South East Algeria	Algeria  Libya
Tromelin Island	France  Mauritius  Seychelles
Tsorona-Zalambessa	Ethiopia  Eritrea[2]
Wadi Halfa Salient	Egypt  Sudan
Yenga (border hamlet), and left bank of the Makona and Moa rivers	Sierra Leone  Guinea

Asia and the Pacific

Further information: Territorial disputes in the South China Sea

Territory	Claimants	Notes
Aasal, Al-Qaa, Al-Qasr, Deir Al-Aashayer, Kfar Kouq and Tufail	Lebanon  Syria
Abu Musa	Iran  United Arab Emirates
Part of Akrotiri Sovereign Base Area	United Kingdom  Cyprus
Aksai Chin (part of Jammu and Kashmir, see below)[1]	People's Republic of China  India	Possibly also the ROC.[note 1]
South Tibet	People's Republic of China  India  Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1]
Bhutanese enclaves in Tibet, namely Cherkip Gompa, Dho, Dungmar, Gesur, Gezon, Itse Gompa, Khochar, Nyanri, Ringung, Sanmar, Tarchen and Zuthulphuk	People's Republic of China  Bhutan	Possibly also the ROC.[note 1]
Boraibari	Bangladesh  India	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.
Daikhata-Dumabari	India  Bangladesh
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 Thonsáy and the Northern Pirates/Koh Po	Cambodia  Vietnam
David Gareja monastery complex boundary dispute	Georgia  Azerbaijan
Demchok, Chumar, Kaurik, Shipki Pass, Jadh, and Lapthal	People's Republic of China  India  Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1]	Disputed areas located between Aksai Chin and Nepal, all occupied by India except for most of the Demchok parcel.
Part of Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area	United Kingdom  Cyprus
Doi Lang	Burma  Thailand
Fasht Ad Dibal and Qit'at Jaradeh	Bahrain  Qatar	These were not included, in the 2001 International Court of Justice judgement, as low-tide elevations.
several areas in the Fergana Valley	Kyrgyzstan  Tajikistan  Uzbekistan
Greater and Lesser Tunbs	Iran  United Arab Emirates
Hibernia Reef	Australia  Indonesia
Ieodo Island/Suyan Rock (aka Socotra Rock)	South Korea  People's Republic of China	Also possibly claimed by:  Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1]  North Korea[note 2]
Imia/Kardak	Greece  Turkey
Indo-Bangladesh enclaves	India  Bangladesh
Isfara Valley	Kyrgyzstan  Tajikistan
Kachatheevu Island	India  Sri Lanka	Given to Sri Lanka by India in 1974.
Karang Unarang	Indonesia  Malaysia
Jammu and Kashmir[1]	India  Pakistan	Some areas are controlled by the People's Republic of China (see "Aksai Chin" above and "Trans-Karakoram Tract" below).
Kalapani region, the smaller Susta River dispute and the smaller still Antudanda and Nawalparasi disputes	India  Nepal
Khuriya Muriya Islands	Oman  Yemen
Korea	North Korea  South 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 and mountainous areas to the west of this peak, plus the western Haa District of Bhutan	People's Republic of China  Bhutan	Possibly also the ROC.[note 1]
South Kuril Islands (Northern Territories)[1]	Russia  Japan
Lathitila	India  Bangladesh
Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo in Korean, Takeshima in Japanese)[1][note 2][note 3]	South Korea  North Korea  Japan
Ligitan and Sipadan	Malaysia  Indonesia	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.
Macclesfield Bank	People's Republic of China  Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1]  Vietnam  Philippines
Matthew and Hunter Islands[1]	Vanuatu  France
Minerva Reefs	Tonga  Fiji	Fiji claims that the entire reef is submerged at high tide, negating use of Minerva as a basis for any sovereignty or maritime EEZ claim by Tonga under the rules of UNCLOS.
Muhurichar river island	India  Bangladesh
Certain islands in the Naf River	Bangladesh  Burma
Small areas of Oecusse District	East Timor  Indonesia
Okinotorishima	Japan  People's Republic of China	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]	People's Republic of China  Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1]  Vietnam
"Point 20"; a small area of land reclaimed from the sea by Singapore	Singapore  Malaysia	Malaysia claims the land was reclaimed in its territorial waters
Part of Poipet commune	Thailand  Cambodia
Prachinburi area	Thailand  Cambodia
Preah Vihear Temple (Khao Phra Wihan) and adjacent ruins	Thailand  Cambodia	Temple complex awarded to Cambodia by an International Court of Justice ruling in 1962, but Cambodian–Thai border dispute continues over areas immediately adjacent to the temple.
Pulau Batek/Fatu Sinai	Indonesia  East Timor	Ceded by Timor-Leste to Indonesia in August 2004.
Pyrdiwah	India  Bangladesh
Qarooh and Umm Al Maradim	Kuwait  Saudi Arabia
Sabah (North Borneo)	Malaysia  Philippines	Philippines lays a dormant claim on Sabah on the basis that it is a historical part of the Sulu Sultanate (see North Borneo dispute).
Scarborough Shoal	Philippines  People's Republic of China  Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1]	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.  Philippines has released a law that proclaims the islands as a "regime of islands".
Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu Tai)[1]	Japan  People's Republic of China  Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1]
Shaksgam Valley	People's Republic of China  India	Possibly also the ROC.[note 1]
Shatt al-Arab	Iran  Iraq
Siachen Glacier and Saltoro Ridge area	India  Pakistan
Sir Creek	India  Pakistan
South Talpatti/New Moore/Purbasha Island	India  Bangladesh	This former dispute over a small island never more than two meters above sea level was contested from the island's appearance in the 1970s to its disappearance in the first decade of the 2000s. While land disputes here no longer exist, the maritime boundary is yet to be defined.[9]
Spratly Islands	Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1]  People's Republic of China  Vietnam  Philippines (part)  Malaysia (part)  Brunei (part)	Philippines has released a law that proclaims the islands as a "regime of islands".[1]
Swains Island[1]	United States  Tokelau	This claim is unsupported by  New Zealand, of whom Tokelau is a dependency. New Zealand formally recognises the USA's sovereignty over Swains Island.[10]
Exclusive Economic Zone near the Tasman Sea	Australia  Japan	Japan continues to do whaling operations in the area. For more info see Whaling in Japan
Parts of Three Pagodas Pass	Burma  Thailand
Trans-Karakoram Tract	People's Republic of China  India
Tumen River (disputed sovereignty of certain islands)[1][note 2] Possibly also the ROC.[note 1]	People's Republic of China  North Korea  South Korea
The islands of Ukatny, Zhestky and the disputed 'island' of Malozhemchuzny[11]	Russia  Kazakhstan
Vozrozhdeniya Island (now a peninsula)	Kazakhstan  Uzbekistan
Wake Island[1]	United States  Marshall Islands
Yalu River (disputed sovereignty of certain islands)[1][note 2]	People's Republic of China  North Korea  South Korea	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.[12] The river's maritime rights remain shared between the two nations.
Golan Heights	Israel  Syria	Syrian territory occupied by Israel since 1967 (the Six-Day War.) This includes a 10 mi wide strip along the northeast side of the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret).
Shebaa Farms	Israel  Lebanon
Saudi Arabia – United Arab Emirates border dispute	United Arab Emirates  Saudi Arabia

Europe

Territory	Claimants	Notes
Aegean dispute	Greece  Turkey	Broad number of delimitation disputes about a.o. national airspace, territorial waters and exclusive economic zones. Includes Imia/Kardak dispute.
Mont Blanc summit dispute	France  Italy
Carlingford Lough boundary dispute	Ireland  United Kingdom
Some areas by the Danube Parts of Osijek and Sombor districts	Croatia  Serbia
Eastern coast of Narva river and Petseri County	Russia  Estonia	Russia recognized them as a part of Estonia with Treaty of Tartu, 1920. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia continued administering it.
Ems estuary and Dollart Bay (western part)	Netherlands  Germany	Settled in 1960s (agreeing to disagree)
Gibraltar	United Kingdom  Spain[1]	Spain claims territory under the Treaty of Utrecht conditions.
Gulf of Piran	Slovenia  Croatia	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	United Kingdom  Spain	Spain claims territory as illegally occupied since it was not included into the Treaty of Utrecht.
Imia/Kardak	Greece  Turkey	Part of Aegean dispute
Kosa Tuzla Island	Ukraine  Russia
Karki exclave of Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan	Armenia  Azerbaijan	Armenia occupied this Azerbaijani exclave in January 1990 as part of the wider Nagorno-Karabakh (NK) conflict, although Karki is not in the vicinity of the NK.
Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts	Armenia  Azerbaijan	The Azerbaijani districts adjacent to NK that are also occupied by Armenia are: Aghdam, Fizuli, Lachin, Kelbajar, Qubatli, Jabrayil and Zangilan. Armenian land border with Turkey remains closed over this occupation since 1993[1]
Lake Constance	Austria  Germany  Switzerland
Lough Foyle boundary dispute	Ireland  United Kingdom
An area near Montalmus peak	Andorra  Spain[citation needed]
Olivenza (including the municipality of Táliga)	Spain  Portugal	In 1801, during the War of the Oranges, Spain, with French military support, occupied the territory of Olivenza (in Portuguese Olivença). By the Treaty of Vienna (1815), Spain should return the territory to Portugal but, until today, it never complied with the terms of the agreement.
Pichvni [13]	Georgia  Russia
Prevlaka	Croatia  Montenegro
Maritime border in the Adriatic[citation needed]	Croatia  Montenegro
Rockall	United Kingdom  Ireland  Denmark  Iceland	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 surrounding the rock and to the Rockall Bank.
Sastavci	Serbia  Bosnia and Herzegovina
Island of Šarengrad	Serbia  Croatia
Military complex near Sveta Gera, in the area of Žumberak/Gorjanci	Slovenia  Croatia
Maritime border with Poland Foreign relations of Denmark#International disputes	Denmark  Poland
Small 3m-by-60m strip along the Passetto di Borgo in the vicinity of the Vatican City	Holy See  Italy
Veliki Školj and Mali Školj (near Neum)	Croatia  Bosnia and Herzegovina
Island of Vukovar	Croatia  Serbia

Northern America

Territory	Claimants	Notes
Hans Island	Canada  Denmark	Claimed by both Canada and Denmark (on behalf of Greenland).
Continental shelf in the eastern Gulf of Mexico beyond 200 nautical miles	Cuba  Mexico  United States	Overlap on the eastern gap of the Gulf of Mexico between an area of continental shelf extending beyond 200 nautical miles from Cuba, an area of continental shelf extending beyond 200 nautical miles from Mexico and an area of continental shelf extending beyond 200 nautical miles from the United States. (The case of the western gap was solved by a treaty between Mexico and the United States of America on the delimitation of the continental shelf in the western Gulf of Mexico beyond 200 nautical miles, of June 9, 2000.)[14]

Territory disputed between Canada and the United States

Main article: List of areas disputed by Canada and the United States

Territory	Canadian Claimant	U.S. Claimant
Machias Seal Island	New Brunswick	Maine
North Rock	New Brunswick	Maine
Strait of Juan de Fuca	British Columbia	Washington
Dixon Entrance	British Columbia	Alaska
Portland Canal	British Columbia	Alaska
Beaufort Sea	Yukon	Alaska
Northwest Passage and some other Arctic waters	Canadian territorial waters	U.S. claims navigation rights

Central America and the Caribbean

Territory	Claimants	Notes
Isla Aves	Venezuela  Dominica	Dominica abandoned the claim to the island in 2006, but continues to claim the adjacent seas.
Southern half of Belize	Belize  Guatemala	Guatemala formerly claiming all Belize.
Bajo Nuevo Bank	Colombia  Nicaragua  United States  Jamaica	Honduras has recognised the sovereignty of Colombia; other claimants have not.
Calero Island	Costa Rica  Nicaragua
Conejo Island	Honduras  El Salvador
Navassa Island [1]	United States  Haiti
San Andrés and Providencia	Colombia  Nicaragua	Honduras de facto recognises Colombian claim.
Sapodilla Cay	Belize  Guatemala  Honduras	Guatemala formerly claiming all Belize.
Serranilla Bank	Colombia  Honduras  Nicaragua  United States	Jamaica has recognised the sovereignty of Colombia; other claimants have not.

South America

Territory	Claimants	Notes
Not specified	Chile  Bolivia	Bolivia claims and demands sovereign sea access, lost during the War of the Pacific 1879.
Ankoko Island/Isla de Anacoco	Venezuela  Guyana
Arroyo de la Invernada or Rincón de Artigas and Vila Albornoz	Brazil  Uruguay	Dispute in the 235 km2 (91 sq mi) Invernada River region near Masoller, over which tributary represents the legitimate source of the Quaraí River/Cuareim River
Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)[1]	United Kingdom  Argentina	See Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute
French Guiana west of the Marouini River	France  Suriname
Guaíra Falls/Sete Quedas	Brazil  Paraguay	The disputed islands were submerged by the reservoir of Itaipú.
Guyana east of the Upper Courantyne River	Guyana  Suriname
Guyana west of the Essequibo River (Guayana Esequiba)	Guyana  Venezuela
Isla Brasilera/Ilha Brasileira	Brazil  Uruguay	Uruguayan officials claim that the island falls under their Artigas Department
Isla Suárez/Ilha de Guajará-mirim	Bolivia  Brazil
Los Monjes Archipelago[1]	Venezuela  Colombia	Colombia no longer claims the islands, only the surrounding waters.
Pacific Ocean Sea border	Chile  Peru	This arguably covers 19,000–35,000 square metres of sea near border marker number one.
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands[1]	United Kingdom  Argentina	Including Shag Rocks. See South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands sovereignty dispute
Southern Patagonian Ice Field between Monte Fitz Roy and Cerro Daudet	Argentina  Chile	Parts of the border still officially undefined.

Disputes between recognized sovereign states and other states

See also: List of states with limited recognition and 2008 South Ossetia war

Territory	Claimants	Notes
Abkhazia	Republic of Abkhazia  Georgia
Village of Aigba and surrounding area[15][16]	Republic of Abkhazia  Russia
Eastern part of Bhutan	Bhutan  Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1]
North Cyprus	Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus  Cyprus
Mainland China, Hainan, and other islands controlled by the PRC.	People's Republic of China  Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1]
Moldovan-controlled area of Dubăsari district	Moldova  Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic
East Jerusalem	Israel  Palestinian Authority
A small area of Gilgit-Baltistan	Pakistan  Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1][note 4]
Kokkina/Erenköy exclave	Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus  Cyprus	This area is separated from the rest of the land controlled by North Cyprus by land controlled by the Republic of Cyprus.
Heixiazi / Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island (eastern half)	Russia  Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1][note 4]	Split by the People's Republic of China and Russia in 2004
Heixiazi / Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island (western half)	People's Republic of China  Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1][note 4]	Split by the People's Republic of China and Russia in 2004
Kachin State	Myanmar  Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1][note 4]	North part west of the Gaoligong Mountains (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	Kazakhstan  Republic of China (Taiwan)
Kosovo	Serbia  Kosovo	Pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, Kosovo is formally under the administration of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo.
Kutuzov Island	Russia  Republic of China (Taiwan)
Outer Mongolia	Mongolia  Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1]	Outer Mongolia has been excluded from Enforcement Rules for the Act Governing Relations between Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area since 2002. However, Outer Mongolia remains part of the ROC in the Constitution of the Republic of China.
Pamir Mountains (west of Xinjiang)[note 1][note 4] (Northern and central parts)	Tajikistan  Republic of China (Taiwan)
Pamir Mountains (west of Xinjiang)[note 1][note 4] (Southern part)	Afghanistan  Republic of China (Taiwan)
Part of the Rasŏn administrative division	North Korea  Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1]
Sixty-Four Villages East of the Heilongjiang River	Russia  Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 4]
Somaliland	Somaliland  Somalia
South Ossetia	Republic of South Ossetia  Georgia
'Border' checkpoint near Strovilia	United Kingdom  Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus	UK's claim in regard to its Sovereign Base Areas Technically, of course, this also involves  Cyprus; the checkpoint is partially on UN-administered land, and Cyprus claims all of the island. (See: Europe)
Taiwan Penghu Jinmen Matsu Islands Pratas Islands	Republic of China (Taiwan)[17]  People's Republic of China[18]	See also: Anti-Secession Law Legal status of Taiwan
Transnistria	Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic  Moldova
Tuva	Russia  Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1]
Varnita, Copanca and Bendery (also known as Tighina or Bender)	Moldova  Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic
The West Bank (called Judea and Samaria in Israel)	Israel  Palestinian Authority	See Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Western Sahara	Morocco  Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic	The United Nations keeps the Western Sahara in its list of Non-Self-Governing Territories and considers the sovereignty issue as unresolved pending a final solution. To that end, the UN sent a mission in the territory to oversee a referendum on self-determination in 1991, but it never happened. Administration was relinquished by Spain in 1976.

Disputes between a state and its subnational entities, or between subnational entities

Territory	Country	Internal Claimants	Notes
Belgaum	India	Karnataka  Maharashtra
Kasaragod	India	Kerala  Karnataka
Lubicon traditional territory between the Peace River and Athabasca River and north of Lesser Slave Lake	Canada	Alberta  Lubicon Lake Indian Nation (Cree)	Northern Alberta
Southern edge of Labrador	Canada	Newfoundland and Labrador  Quebec	This was formerly an international dispute between Canada, which includes Quebec, and the Dominion of Newfoundland, at the time a separate country. Although Canada accepted the current border, Quebec never did.
A wide section from the 35th parallel north to one-mile south.	United States	Tennessee  Georgia	Due to an inaccurate measurement in 1818, Georgia claims the correct 35th latitude north, and does so in a chance of a drought, it would have access to the Tennessee River.[19][dead link][20]

Antarctica

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).

Historical Disputes, since been settled

Territory	Former Claimants	Dispute Started	Dispute Settled	Notes
Sakhalin Island	Russian Empire  Empire of Japan	1845	1875	Japan unilaterally proclaimed sovereignty over the whole island in 1845, but its claims were ignored by the Russian Empire. The 1855 Treaty of Shimoda acknowledged that both Russia and Japan had joint rights of occupation to Sakhalin, without setting a definite territorial demarcation. As the island became settled in the 1860s and 1870s, this ambiguity led to increasing friction between settlers. Attempts by the Tokugawa shogunate to purchase the entire island from the Russian Empire failed, and the new Meiji government was unable to negotiate a partition of the island into separate territories. In the Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1875), Japan agreed to give up its claims on Sakhalin in exchange for undisputed ownership of the Kuril Islands.
Alaska Boundary Dispute	United States  Canada	1821	1903	Disputed between the United States and Canada (then a British Dominion with its foreign affairs controlled from London). The dispute had been going on between the Russian and British Empires since 1821, and was inherited by the United States as a consequence of the Alaska Purchase in 1867. It was resolved by arbitration in 1903 with a delegation that included 3 Americans, 2 Canadians, and 1 British delegate that became the swing vote. By a 4 to 2 vote, the final resolution favored the American position. Canada did not get an outlet from the Yukon gold fields to the sea. The disappointment and anger in Canada was directed less at the United States, and more at the British government for betraying Canadian interests in pursuit of a friendly relationship between Britain and the United States.
Isla Martín García	Argentina  Uruguay	1879	1973	After the Conquest of the Desert was formally launched in 1879, many indigenous leaders captured were confined there. The island was transferred to Argentine Navy jurisdiction in 1886. The island's distance from the Uruguayan territory is less than two miles, and its jurisdictional status was formallty established by the Treaty of Río de la Plata between Uruguay and Argentina on November 19, 1973.
Tenedos	Greece  Turkey	1920	1923	In 1920, following World War I, the Treaty of Sèvres with the defeated Ottoman Empire granted the island to Greece, who joined the war in Allies' side in May 1917. The new Turkish Government of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, based in Ankara, which was not party to the treaty, overthrew the Ottoman government, which signed but did not ratify the treaty. After the Turkish War of Independence ended in Greek defeat in Anatolia, and the fall of Lloyd George and his Middle Eastern policies, the western powers agreed to the Treaty of Lausanne with the new Turkish Republic, in 1923. This treaty made Tenedos and Imbros part of Turkey, and it guaranteed a special autonomous administrative status there to accommodate the Greeks.
Clipperton Island	Mexico  France	1897	1931	Disputed between France and Mexico. On January 28, 1931, King Victor Emanuel finally declared Clipperton to be a French possession, and has remained relatively undisputed ever since.
Shaksgam Valley	Pakistan (still claimed by:  India  People's Republic of China)	1947	1963	Pakistan gave its claim to China (PRC), and possibly claimed by the ROC.
Northern Ireland	Ireland  United Kingdom	1920	1999	Formerly disputed between Ireland and the United Kingdom since partition in 1920, it was settled by the Good Friday Agreement in 1999, when Ireland renounced its claim. However, both countries acknowledged that the territory can rejoin the rest of Ireland if separate referendums in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland approve of the former's cession.
Hawar Islands	Qatar  Bahrain	1971	2001	Formely disputed between Qatar and Bahrain, it was settled by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. In the June 2001 decision, Bahrain kept the Hawar Islands and Qit'at Jaradah but dropped claims to Janan Island and Zubarah on mainland Qatar, while Qatar retained significant maritime areas and their resources. The agreement has furthered the goal of definitively establishing the border with Saudi Arabia and Saudi-led mediation efforts continue.
Pytalovo (Abrene in Latvia)	Latvia  Russia	1991	2007	Pytalovo was part of independent Latvia as Abrene until Latvia was occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union. Latvia disputed Russian jurisdiction over the region until signing a border treaty with Russia in 2007.

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x} The Republic of China (ROC), now based in Taiwan, is involved in territorial disputes with many governments bordering China. Due to the One-China policy, it has no formal diplomatic relations with any of these states. The ROC recognises neither the People's Republic of China (PRC) nor its border agreements or treaties with any other countries. Article 4 of the Constitution of the Republic of China states that "The territory of the Republic of China according to its existing national boundaries shall not be altered except by resolution of the National Assembly." Section 5 of Article 4 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China now overrides this provision.
2. ^ ^{a b c d} The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) do not recognize each other.
3. ^ Japan does not recognize the statehood of North Korea.
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} . Relinquished by the People's Republic of China but still claimed by the Republic of China.

See also

• Demilitarized zone
• Dependent territory
• List of active autonomist and secessionist movements
• List of sovereign states
• Neutral territory
• Table of administrative divisions by country
• Territorial claims in the Arctic
• Territorial disputes in the Persian Gulf
• List of countries and territories by land and maritime borders

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u} Field Listing - Disputes - international, The World Factbook
2. ^ ^{a b} African Affairs - Sign In Page
3. ^ ^{a b} Zapatero stirs anger of Morocco - International Herald Tribune
4. ^ "Why are Egypt and Sudan in dispute over the Hala'ib Triangle?(Quizzical)(Brief Article)". http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb3120/is_200407/ai_n7779206. ^{[dead link]}
5. ^ Comunicados y notas de prensa de la OID
6. ^ Google Earth
7. ^ Compte rendu du déplacement d'une délégation du groupe interparlementaire France-Afrique centrale au Gabon, en Guinée équatoriale et à Sao Tomé-et-Principe, parliamentary report of the Senate of France, 2003.
8. ^ http://www.hiiraan.com/news2/2010/oct/for_first_time_in_history_somalia_claims_socotra_as_its_own.aspx
9. ^ "Bay of Bengal island 'disappears'". BBC News. 2010-03-24. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8584665.stm. 
10. ^ "Treaty on the delimitation of the maritime boundary between Tokelau and the United States of America (with map). Signed at Atafu on 2 December 1980. Authentic texts: English and Tokelauan. Registered by the United States of America on 25 July 1991." (in English and Tokelauan) (PDF). July 25, 1991. http://untreaty.un.org/unts/60001_120000/28/17/00054814.pdf. Retrieved August 28, 2011. 
11. ^ КАСПИЙСКИЙ САММИТ НЕ СОСТОЯЛСЯ
12. ^ Even official Chinese maps award these islands to North Korea, such as the provincial map on p. 41 in the 2005 Chinese atlas “Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Jiaotong Dituji” ISBN 7-80104-652-8, (www.starmap.com.cn)
13. ^ The Globe and Mail, Geoffrey York, 29 May 2000, Tension mounts in Georgia as Chechen war spills over Russia's capture
14. ^ "Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf". http://www.un.org/depts/los/clcs_new/submissions_files/submission_cub_51_2009.htm
15. ^ "Moscow, Sokhumi Dispute Village in 'Border Talks'". Civil.ge. 2 April 2011. http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=23306. 
16. ^ "Russia e Abkhazia litigano per i confini". AgoraVox Italia. 23 May 2011. http://www.agoravox.it/Russia-e-Abkhazia-litigano-per-i.html. 
17. ^ Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China, Article 9, Section 2
18. ^ Constitution of the People's Republic of China, Preamble
19. ^ "Lawmakers Say Part Of Tenn. Belongs To Ga.", WSMV-TV, February 11, 2008
20. ^ Shaila Dewan, Georgia Claims a Sliver of the Tennessee River, The New York Times, February 22, 2008