It's the 21st century, and the entire planet is divided into nations.
Well, almost the entire planet.
Believe it or not, there are still regions of the world that have yet to be claimed by
any nation.
The first of these regions in known as Bir Tawil, a tiny area of land between Egypt and
Sudan.
The second of these regions is known as Marie Byrd Land, an area of land that makes up 11%
of Antarctica’s total area.
In order to understand how these regions remain unclaimed, we need to look at their history.
It’s the year 1899, and Egypt and Sudan are united as Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, a condominium
of the United Kingdom and Egypt.
As part of the British Empire, it was the British who would decide the border between
Sudan and Egypt.
As a result, the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium Agreement was created, placing the border
along the 22nd parallel.
However, placing a border along something as arbitrary as a line on a map has its problems.
The main issue was between the tribes surrounding the border, as many used land on either side.
For example, Bir Tawil was being used as grazing land by the Ababda tribe, based in Aswan,
Egypt.
On the other hand, the Hala’ib triangle was inhabited by Sudanese people.
As a result, a new administrative border was created in 1902, giving Bir Tawil to Egypt
and the Hala’ib triangle to Sudan.
So, problem solved, right?
Not so much.
Our issue arises 54 years later, when Sudan gains independence from the British.
The newly formed government of Sudan followed the national borders defined by the 1902 administrative
boundary, as the Hala’ib triangle has more value than Bir Tawil.
Egypt did not take this lightly.
The Egyptian government argued that the border created in 1902 was a mere temporary fix rather
than a permanent solution and the 1899 border along the 22nd parallel was the true border,
leading Egypt to believe it controlled the Hala’ib triangle.
And that’s where we are today.
Bir Tawil remains No Man’s Land and the Hala’ib triangle is coveted by two nations.
Antarctica was humanity's last resort for imperialism, so was quickly claimed by world
powers.
The first of these was made by Argentina and Chile, who believed the Spanish Empire, which
they had previously been a part of, held legitimate claims on Antarctic land.
According to the nations, a grant that had previously been issued entitled them to the
lands South of the Strait of Magellan.
The nations believe their claims are legitimate to this day.
The second nation to claim Antarctic land was the United Kingdom.
This claim was made in 1908, when the British government extended its territorial claim
of the Falkland Islands to include South Georgia, the South Orkneys, the South Shetlands, the
Sandwich Islands, and Graham land, a portion of the Antarctic peninsula.
The claim was once again modified in 1917 to include all the territory south of the
50th parallel of South latitude and lying between the 20th and 80th degrees of West
longitude, thus encompassing the entire British antarctic territory.
While sections of this territory would later be transferred to British territories (namely
New Zealand and Australia), the U.K. backs it’s claims to this day.
The French claimed Antarctic land in 1924 on the basis of the discovery of it’s coastline
by Frenchman Jules Dumont d’Urville in 1840.
This claim is the smallest any nation has made on Antarctica.
Norwegian whaling interests, wishing to avoid British taxation, would first claim territory
in the Southern Ocean in 1929, and would later be expanded to include continental territory.
In addition to these claims, there is one claim that no longer exists, made by Nazi
Germany in 1939.
However, looking at all these claims still doesn’t explain Marie Byrd Land’s status.
The region has simply yet to be claimed by any legitimate power.
This makes it the largest area on the planet not part of any nation.
So those are the only remaining unclaimed regions of the world, and who knows, maybe
a new nation will arise in these areas sometime in the future.
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This is Morrethy.
Thanks for watching.