List of territorial disputes

This is a list of territorial disputes over lands around the world, both past and in modern times. Bold indicates one claimant's full control; italics indicates 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. Controlled by Sudan after taking the area in May 2011.
Badme	Ethiopia  Eritrea[1]	Basis of the Eritrean-Ethiopian War which began in 1998. Currently controlled by Ethiopia.
Bakassi	Cameroon  Nigeria	This area was handed over by Nigeria to Cameroon following an International Court of Justice ruling and the Greentree Agreement.
Banc du Geyser	Madagascar  Comoros  France	France claims the reef as part of the Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean, a district of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.
Bassas da India, Europa Island and Juan de Nova Island	France  Madagascar[1]	De facto part of the French territory of French Southern and Antarctic Lands.
Bir Tawil	None  Egypt-administered	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]
Ceuta[3]	Spain  Morocco	Administered by Spain as the Autonomous City of Ceuta
Chagos Archipelago	United Kingdom  Mauritius	United Kingdom administers the archipelago as part of the British Indian Ocean Territory
Glorioso Islands	France  Madagascar  Seychelles  Comoros	De facto part of the French territory of French Southern and Antarctic Lands.
Hala'ib Triangle	Egypt  Sudan[4]	Previously under joint administration; Egypt now maintains full de facto control
Heglig	Sudan  South Sudan	Both Sudan and South Sudan claim the area. Controlled by South Sudan in mid-April 2012 (but retaken). Internationally viewed as part of Sudan.
Ilemi Triangle	Ethiopia  Kenya  South Sudan
Islas Chafarinas	Spain  Morocco
Jodha	South Sudan  Sudan	Both Sudan and South Sudan claim the area.
Part of Kabale District	Uganda  Rwanda
Kafia Kingi	South Sudan  Sudan	Both Sudan and South Sudan claim the area.
Kaka	South Sudan  Sudan	Both Sudan and South Sudan claim the area.
KaNgwane	South Africa  Swaziland	Swaziland claims territories which it states were confiscated during colonial times.[5] The area claimed by Swaziland is the former bantustan of KaNgwane, which now forms the northern parts of Jozini and uMhlabuyalingana local municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal, and the southern part of Nkomazi, the southeastern part of Umjindi and the far eastern part of Albert Luthuli local municipalities in Mpumalanga.
Part of the Kahemba region	Angola  Democratic Republic of Congo	Following a March 2007 report on the disputed area on the joint border in the Kahemba region, the Congolese interior minister admitted the territory was in fact part of Angola and agreed to send a technical team to demarcate the border along colonial era lines.[6] The countries agreed to end the dispute in July 2007.[7]
Koualou village	Burkina Faso  Benin
Kpeaba village area (near Sipilou (Siquita))	Ivory Coast  Guinea	[8]
Area near Logoba/Moyo District	South Sudan  Uganda
Lunchinda-Pweto Province	Zambia  Democratic Republic of 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.
Islands in Mbamba Bay, Lake Nyasa	Tanzania  Malawi	Lundo Is. and Mbambo Is. are claimed as part of the lake, as Malawi claims to the shore based on 1890 Anglo-German treaty. See Lake Malawi#Tanzania–Malawi dispute
Mbañie Island, Cocotiers, and Congas Island	Gabon  Equatorial Guinea[9]
Melilla[3]	Spain  Morocco	Administered by Spain as the Autonomous City of Melilla
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
Ogaden	Ethiopia  Somalia	Ogaden or West Somalia as referred to by locals, is exclusively inhabited by ethnic Somalis. Somalia claims the region as part of Greater Somalia and as a result have gone to war with Ethiopia twice in 1962 and 1977 see Ogaden War. The area is currently administered by Ethiopia.
Several islands in the Congo River	Republic of the Congo  Democratic Republic of Congo
Several islands in the Ntem River	Cameroon  Equatorial Guinea
Several villages near the Okpara River	Benin  Nigeria
Orange River border line	Namibia  South Africa	Namibia claims the border lies along the middle of the river, while South Africa claims it lies along the north bank.
Peñón de Alhucemas	Spain  Morocco
Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera	Spain  Morocco
Perejil Island	Spain  Morocco	After the 2002 incident, both countries agreed to return to the status quo previous to the incident.[10]
Ras Doumeira and Doumeira Island	Eritrea  Djibouti
The Rufunzo Valley and Sabanerwa	Rwanda  Burundi
Rukwanzi Island and the Semliki River valley	Democratic Republic of Congo  Uganda
Sindabezi Island	Zambia  Zimbabwe
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).[11]
South East Algeria	Algeria  Libya
Tiran Island and Sanafir Island	Egypt  Saudi Arabia
Tromelin Island	France  Mauritius  Seychelles	De facto part of the French territory of French Southern and Antarctic Lands.
Tsorona-Zalambessa	Ethiopia  Eritrea[2]
Wadi Halfa Salient	Egypt  Sudan

Asia and the Pacific

Territory	Claimants	Notes
Aarsal, Deir El Aachayer, Kfar Qouq, Qaa, Qasr and Tuffah	Lebanon  Syria
Abu Musa	Iran  United Arab Emirates
See Nagorno-Karabakh war	Nagorno-Karabakh Republic  Armenia  Azerbaijan	Soviet Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, largely de facto controlled by the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic supported by Armenia.
Azad Kashmir	Pakistan India	Administered by Pakistan claimed by India, it is part of Kashmir conflict
Baekdu Mountain	North Korea People's Republic of China	Also possibly claimed by the Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1] and South Korea.[note 2]
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 Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1]
Gilgit Baltistan	Pakistan India	Administrated by Pakistan and claimed by India. It's part of Kashmir conflict.
Jammu and Kashmir	Pakistan India	Part of the Kashmir conflict. Both India and Pakistan claim the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, leading to the Indo-Pakistani war of 1947. A UN-mediated ceasefire put a halt to the conflict in January 1949. The UN resolution called for both the countries to demilitarise the region, following which a plebiscite would be held. However, no demilitarisation plan acceptable to both the countries could be agreed. The countries fought two further wars in 1965 and 1971. Following the latter war, the countries reached the Simla Agreement, agreeing on a Line of Control between their respective regions and committing to a peaceful resolution of the dispute through bilateral negotiations. An armed insurgency broke out in 1989 in the Indian administered part of Kashmir, demanding "independence". Pakistan is believed to provide arms and training to the insurgents.[12][13][14][15]
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	Cambodia  Vietnam
David Gareja monastery complex boundary dispute	Georgia  Azerbaijan
Demchok, Chumar, Kaurik, Shipki Pass, Jadh, and Lapthal	India People's Republic of China Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1]	Disputed areas located between Aksai Chin and Nepal, all administered by the PRC.
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	Kyrgyzstan: A tiny Kyrgyz village, Barak, in the Fergana Valley region (where Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan meet) is bordered on the north, west and south by Uzbekistan. Tajikistan: There are three Tajik exclaves, all of them in the Fergana Valley. One of them, the village of Sarvan, is surrounded by Uzbek territory, whereas the remaining two, the village of Vorukh and a small settlement near the Kyrgyz railway station of Kairagach, are each surrounded by Kyrgyz territory. Uzbekistan: There are four Uzbek exclaves, all inside Kyrgyz territory in the Fergana Valley. Two of them are the towns of Sokh and Shakhimardan and the other two the tiny territories of Chong-Kara and Dzhangail. There may be a fifth Uzbek exclave inside of Kyrgyzstan.[16] Most of the border in the area is still not demarcated.
Golan Heights	Israel  Syria	Syrian territory captured by Israel in 1967 (the Six-Day War), and annexed by Israel in 1981 (In 2008, a plenary session of the United Nations General Assembly voted by 161–1 in favor of a motion on the "occupied Syrian Golan" that reaffirmed support for UN Resolution 497; United Nations, December 5, 2008).
Greater and Lesser Tunbs	Iran  United Arab Emirates
Hong Kong	People's Republic of China  Republic of China[note 1]	Then-Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui claimed that Hong Kong should have returned to the ROC instead of the PRC because the ROC government had the original manuscript of the Treaty of Nanking. It is now controlled by the PRC.[17]。
Isfara Valley	Kyrgyzstan  Tajikistan
Jiandao	People's Republic of China  North Korea  South Korea[note 2]	Also possibly claimed by the Republic of China.[note 1]
Ambalat	Indonesia  Malaysia
Kalapani region, the smaller Susta River dispute and the smaller still Antudanda and Nawalparasi disputes	India Nepal	All administered by India. See Territorial disputes of India and Nepal.
Artsvashen exclave of Gegharkunik province, de jure part of Armenia; Karki exclave of Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic, Yukhari Askipara and Barkhudarli, both exclaves of Qazakh Rayon de jure part of Azerbaijan; "Yaradullu" is controlled by Azerbaijan along with occupying the much larger de jure Armenian territory surrounding it.	Armenia  Azerbaijan	Azerbaijan and Armenia have controlled these areas as part of the wider Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict.
Khuriya Muriya Islands	Oman  Yemen
Korean Peninsula (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
Liancourt Rocks	South Korea  Japan	Controlled by South Korea since 1954 but claimed by Japan
Macclesfield Bank	People's Republic of China Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1]  Vietnam
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.
Mongolia	Republic of China[note 1] Mongolia	The Taiwanese government does not recognize Mongolia's independence and claims it part of the Republic of China.
Muhurichar river island	India  Bangladesh	Controlled by India but claimed by Bangladesh.
Certain islands in the Naf River	Bangladesh  Burma
Paracel Islands[1]	People's Republic of China Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1]  Vietnam	Entirely controlled by China but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan
"Pedra Branca"; several islets at the eastern entrance to the Singapore Strait	Singapore  Malaysia	The International Court of Justice rendered its decision on 23 May 2008 that sovereignty over Pedra Branca belongs to Singapore; sovereignty over Middle Rocks belongs to Malaysia. It said sovereignty over South Ledge would remain disputed until the states could determine the ownership of the territorial waters in which it is located.[18]
"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 area (Khao Phra Wihan)	Thailand  Cambodia	Temple complex awarded to Cambodia by an International Court of Justice ruling in 1962; "promontory" measuring 0.3 km2 immediately adjacent to temple awarded to Cambodia by ICJ ruling in 2013; both countries acknowledge continuing dispute over an additional 4.3 km2 immediately northwest of the 2013 ruling's area.
Qarooh and Umm Al Maradim	Kuwait  Saudi Arabia
Sabah (North Borneo)	Malaysia  Philippines	The Philippines retains a claim on the eastern part of Sabah on the basis that it is a historical part of the Sultanate of Sulu, to which the Philippines is the successor state (see North Borneo dispute).[1]
Saudi Arabia–United Arab Emirates border dispute	United Arab Emirates  Saudi Arabia
Scarborough Shoal	People's Republic of China Philippines Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1]	Controlled by the PRC since the 2012 Scarborough Shoal standoff.
Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu Tai or Diaoyu Dao)[1]	Japan People's Republic of China Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1]	Controlled by Japan But claimed by the PRC and ROC
Shaksgam Valley	India People's Republic of China	Possibly also the ROC.[note 1] Currently controlled by the PRC.
Shatt al-Arab	Iran  Iraq
Shebaa Farms	Israel  Lebanon  Syria
Siachen Glacier and Saltoro Ridge area	India  Pakistan	Taken over by India in 1984 and currently controlled by India but claimed by Pakistan.
Sir Creek	India  Pakistan	A dispute over where in the estuary the line falls; only small areas of marsh land are disputed, but significant maritime territory is involved. Entirely controlled by India and disputed by Pakistan.
Arunachal Pradesh	India People's Republic of China Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1]	Controlled by India but claimed by the PRC and ROC who dispute the validity of the McMahon Line
Spratly Islands	Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1] People's Republic of China  Vietnam  Philippines (part)  Malaysia (part)  Brunei (part)	Each of the claimant countries except Brunei controls one or more of the individual islands.
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.[19]
Taiwan	Republic of China People's Republic of China	The government of the People's Republic of China claims the entire island of Taiwan, as well as a number of minor islands, such as Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu, that are controlled by the Republic of China).
Parts of Three Pagodas Pass	Burma  Thailand
The islands of Ukatny, Zhestky and the disputed 'island' of Malozhemchuzny[20]	Russia  Kazakhstan
Vozrozhdeniya Island (now a peninsula)	Kazakhstan  Uzbekistan
Wake Island[1]	United States  Marshall Islands
Kirkuk	Iraq  Kurdistan[1]	The city had a mainly Kurdish population, but the Baath-Regime had settle and immigrate many Arabs in this city. It was controlled by Iraq. 2015 Kurdish Peshmerge (helped by Pkk-fighters) are controlling 80% of Kirkuk governorate and the city it-self. Kurdistan, Iraq and the Turkmen population are claiming the region.

Europe

Territory	Claimants	Notes
Sea of Azov	Russia  Ukraine	("Mutual jurisdiction")[21]
Aegean dispute, Imia/Kardak	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
Crimean Peninsula	Russia  Ukraine	See also 2014 Crimean crisis and political status of Crimea
Gibraltar	United Kingdom  Spain[1]	Dispute over the interpretation of the Treaty of Utrecht and the location of the border.
Russia-Ukraine border	Russia  Ukraine	Russia delays establishment of border with Ukraine.[22]
Tuzla Island and Strait of Kerch; Sarych	Russia  Ukraine	The conflict arose in 2003 when the Russian authorities started to build a dam towards the island. Since then Ukraine established a border garrison on the island for a closer surveillance. The reason for the conflict is the fact that Tuzla island strategic location gives Ukraine full rights over the main channel in the Strait of Kerch and, thus, the access to the Sea of Azov. The conflict is based on the division of the Black Sea Fleet and a lease agreement of the Sevastopol Naval facilities.
Lake Constance	Austria  Germany   Switzerland	There is no actual dispute or conflict, but there isn't a defined border.
Lough Foyle boundary dispute	Ireland  United Kingdom
An area near Montmalús peak	Andorra  Spain
Olivenza and Vila Real (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). During the Treaty of Vienna (1815), the signatory powers (including Spain) agreed with the Portuguese arguments concerning its claim on Olivença but Spain never fulfilled its duty of giving the city of Olivença and its territory back to Portugal.
Croatia-Serbia border dispute	Croatia  Serbia	Limited areas along the Danube Parts of Osijek-Baranja and Vukovar-Syrmia Counties and West and South Bačka Districts
Gulf of Piran	Slovenia  Croatia	An agreement was signed (and ratified by Croatia's parliament on 20 November 2009) to pursue binding arbitration to both the land and maritime portions of this continuing dispute
Prevlaka	Croatia  Montenegro
Sastavci	Serbia  Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sutorina	Bosnia and Herzegovina  Montenegro	See Sutorina dispute.
Island of Šarengrad	Serbia  Croatia
Military complex near Sveta Gera, in the area of Žumberak/Gorjanci	Slovenia  Croatia
Veliki Školj and Mali Školj (near Neum)	Croatia  Bosnia and Herzegovina
Island of Vukovar	Croatia  Serbia
Macedonia (region)	Macedonia  Greece  Bulgaria  Albania	See United Macedonia

North 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 (370 km)	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.)[23]

Territory disputed between 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	Northwest Territories, 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, as do some neighboring states.
Bajo Nuevo Bank	Colombia  Nicaragua  Jamaica  United States	Honduras has recognized the sovereignty of Colombia; other claimants have not.
Southern half of Belize	Belize  Guatemala	Guatemala formerly claimed all of Belize.
Calero Island's northernmost part	Costa Rica  Nicaragua
Conejo Island	Honduras  El Salvador
Navassa Island [1]	United States  Haiti
Sapodilla Cay	Belize  Guatemala  Honduras	Guatemala formerly claimed all of Belize.
Serranilla Bank	Colombia  Honduras  Nicaragua  United States	Jamaica has recognized the sovereignty of Colombia; other claimants have not.
Guanacaste	Costa Rica  Nicaragua

South America

Territory	Claimants	Notes
Guayana Esequiba (Guyana west of the Essequibo River)	Guyana  Venezuela	Venezuela and Guyana have overlapping maritime area claims as well. Barbados and Guyana have since signed joint cooperation agreement over this area.
Ankoko Island/Isla de Anacoco	Venezuela  Guyana
Arroyo de la Invernada or Rincón de Artigas and Vila Albornoz	Brazil  Uruguay	Dispute in the 237 km2 (92 sq mi) Invernada River region near Masoller, over which tributary represents the legitimate source of the Quaraí River/Cuareim River
Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands [1]	United Kingdom  Argentina	Including Shag Rocks.See Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute, South Georgia and South Sandwich 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
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
Gulf of Venezuela Sea Border	Venezuela  Colombia	Colombia claims it has right to waters in this Gulf.
Southern Patagonian Ice Field between Monte Fitz Roy and Cerro Murallón[24]	Argentina  Chile	Parts of the border still officially undefined.

Disputes between UN-recognized states and others

Territory	Claimants	Notes
Abkhazia	Republic of Abkhazia  Georgia	Main article: Georgian–Abkhazian conflict
Village of Aibga and surrounding area[25][26]	Republic of Abkhazia  Russia
Eastern part of Bhutan	Bhutan  Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1]
North Cyprus	Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus  Cyprus	Republic of Cyprus claims the whole island. Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (self declared state) claims the northern part of the island
Mainland China, Hainan, and other islands controlled by the PRC.	People's Republic of China  Republic of China[note 1]	Main article: Cross-Strait relations
Moldovan-controlled area of Dubăsari district	Moldova  Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic
A small area of Gilgit-Baltistan	Pakistan  Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1][note 3]
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.
Gaza Strip	Palestine Hamas Government of Gaza
Heixiazi / Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island (eastern half)	Russia  Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1][note 3]	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]	Split by the People's Republic of China and Russia in 2004
Kachin State	Myanmar  Republic of China (Taiwan)[note 1][note 3]	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	Republic of Kosovo  Serbia	Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Serbia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo. The latter declared independence on 17 February 2008, while Serbia claims it as part of its own sovereign territory. Its independence is recognised by 108 UN member states.
Kutuzov Island	Russia  Republic of China (Taiwan)
Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts	Nagorno-Karabakh  Azerbaijan	Much of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast and some surrounding territory is under the control of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which is claimed by Azerbaijan.[1]
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.
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 3]
Somaliland	Somaliland  Somalia
South Ossetia	Republic of South Ossetia  Georgia	Main article: Georgian–Ossetian conflict
'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[27]  People's Republic of China[28]	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 and eastern Jerusalem	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. De iure is of Spain

Disputes within a state by internal entities

Territory	Country	Internal Claimants	Notes
Belgaum	India	Karnataka  Maharashtra	Disputed since 1956 when Belgaum district was not transferred to Maharashtra.
As much as a 2821 km2-wide area in and around the Ibiapaba mountain range	Brazil	Ceará  Piauí	This dispute originated in an 1880 imperial decree. In 1920 a solution to the dispute was arbitrated but in practice it was never carried out. In 2008 there were new attempted negotiations, but they broke down in 2011, and as of 2013 it is pending either a supreme court decision, a referendum or a possible mutual agreement.[29]
Hogenakkal	India	Tamil Nadu  Karnataka	Currently administered by Tamil Nadu
Disputed territories of Northern Iraq	Iraq	Iraq proper  Iraqi Kurdistan	Iraq's autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan claims and controls parts of the governorates of Nineveh, Arbil, Kirkuk and Diyala.
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.
Songling District and Jiagedaqi District	People's Republic of China	Inner Mongolia  Heilongjiang	The two districts are owned by Inner Mongolia, but Jiagedaqi District(urban) was established as capital of Daxinganling Prefecture, Heilongjiang Province, resulting it and adjacent Songling District under effective control of Heilongjiang Province. Hulunbuir City(Prefecture), Inner Mongolia actively disputes these two districts, as they formerly belongs to Oroqen Autonomous Banner, Hulunbuir.
Belén de Bajirá	Colombia	Antioquia  Chocó	Disputed since 2000, both Departments of Antioquia and Chocó have claimed the corregimiento as part of their own respective municipalities. In 2014, amidst a rise of tensions between the claimants, the National Government under the Geographic Institute Agustín Codazzi formally started a process to find a solution for the dispute.[30]
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.[31] See Tennessee River#Water rights and border dispute with Georgia.
parts of Fort Bonifacio	Philippines	Makati  Taguig  Pateros	Disputed since 1983. Taguig claims more than 729 hectares of land in Fort Bonifacio, an area administered by Makati. On August 5, 2013, the Court of Appeals Sixth Division ruled that Makati has legal jurisdiction over the area, thus invalidating Taguig's claim.[32] Taguig has not abandoned its claims and will petition the Court of Appeals to have the decision revoked.[33] Pateros also claims the area and has filed a petition before the Taguig Regional Court Branch 271 in 2012 concerning its claim. Pateros reiterated its claims in 2013 following the decision of the Court of Appeals awarding Makati jurisdiction over the area.[34][35]
Fiat Auto Poland factory and nearest areas	Poland	Tychy  Bieruń	The territory has historically been a part of the town of Bieruń. In years 1975–1991 Bieruń was a part of Tychy. The Fiat Auto Poland (formerly FSM factory remaining in Tychy was a condition of Bieruń’s separation. In the 90s, Bieruń has regained the Homera osiedle which was part of the disputed area.[36]

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).

Territory	Claimants	Antarctic territory
Area between 25°W and 53°W	United Kingdom  Argentina	British Antarctic Territory  Argentine Antarctica
Area between 53°W and 74°W	United Kingdom  Argentina  Chile	British Antarctic Territory  Argentine Antarctica  Antártica Chilena Province
Area between 74°W and 80°W	United Kingdom  Chile	British Antarctic Territory  Antártica Chilena Province

Historical disputes, subsequently settled

Africa

Territory	Former claimants	Dispute started	Dispute settled	Notes
Aouzou Strip	Chad Libya	c. 1973	1994	In 1994 International Court of Justice decision found in favour of Chad sovereignty over the Aouzou strip, and ended the Libyan claim.
Yenga (border hamlet), and left bank of the Makona and Moa rivers	Sierra Leone  Guinea	c. 1995	2013	The two heads of state settled this dispute in 2013.[37]

Asia and Pacific

Territory	Former claimants	Dispute started	Dispute settled	Notes
Bay of Bengal Maritime Boundary between Bangladesh and India	India Bangladesh	1974	2014	India and Bangladesh had engaged in eight rounds of bilateral negotiations starting 1974 but it remained inconclusive till 2009. In October 2009, Bangladesh served India with notice of arbitration proceedings under the UNCLOS . The Arbitration Tribunal delivered the ruling on 7 July 2014 and settled the dispute.[38]
Indo-Bangladesh enclaves, adverse possessions and undemarcated land boundaries	India Bangladesh	1947	2015	Following Partition of Bengal (1947), the issues of adverse possessions, enclaves and unmarked boundary arose. Inside the main part of Bangladesh, there were 111 Indian enclaves (17,160.63 acres), while inside the main part of India, there were 51 Bangladeshi enclaves (7,110.02 acres). In 1974 Bangladesh approved a proposed treaty, Land Boundary Agreement, to exchange all enclaves within each other's territories, but India did not ratified it. Another agreement was agreed upon in 2011 to exchange enclaves and adverse possessions. In respect of adverse possessions, India received 2,777.038 acres of land and transferred 2,267.682 acres to Bangladesh. India ratified the agreement by constitutional amendment in May 2015.[39]
South Talpatti/New Moore/Purbasha Island	India  Bangladesh	c. 1975	2010	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, likely due to climate change,[40] in the first decade of the 2000s. Though land disputes no longer exist, the maritime boundary was not settled until 2014.[38][41][42][43]
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 1875 by the Treaty of Saint Petersburg, Japan agreed to give up its claims on Sakhalin in exchange for undisputed ownership of the Kuril Islands. In 1905 under the Treaty of Portsmouth Japan gained Sakhalin to the 60th parallel, but lost it again in 1945.
Pamir Mountains	Tajikistan  People's Republic of China	1877	2011	The Tajik Government relinquished its claim over this territory in January 2011 with final ratification of a treaty ceding 1,158 square kilometres (447 sq mi) to the PRC.[44]
Palmas Island (modern day Miangas Island)	Philippine Islands  Dutch East Indies	1906	1928	Dispute between the United States and the Netherlands over the Palmas island located south of the Philippines, which was then American territory. The Netherlands believed that the islands were part of the Dutch East Indies. The territorial dispute was solved through the Island of Palmas case which decided that the Palmas Island belongs to the Netherlands. Palmas Island, now Miangas Island, is currently a part of modern Indonesia.
Hatay Province	Turkey  Syria	1938	2004	Territory ceded from Syria to Turkey during the French Mandate of Syria, never formally recognized by Syria, but gave it up in 2004.
Yalu River (disputed sovereignty of certain islands)[1][note 2]	People's Republic of China  North Korea  South Korea	1949	2005	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.[45] The river's maritime rights remain shared between the two nations.
Shaksgam Valley	Pakistan (still claimed by:  India  People's Republic of China)	1947	1963	Pakistan relinquished its claim to China; India did not.
Sinai Peninsula	Israel  Egypt	1967	1982	During the Six-Day War Israel claimed Sinai. It was returned in 1982 under the terms of the 1979 Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty.
Taba	Israel  Egypt	1979	1989	When Egypt and Israel were negotiating the exact position of the border in preparation for the 1979 peace treaty, Israel claimed that Taba had been on the Ottoman side of a border agreed between the Ottomans and British Egypt in 1906 and had, therefore, been in error in its two previous agreements. Although most of Sinai was returned to Egypt in 1982, Taba was the last portion to be returned. The issue was submitted to an international commission. In 1988, the commission ruled in Egypt's favour, and Israel returned Taba to Egypt in 1989.
Turtle Islands	Philippine Islands  North Borneo		1930	Dispute between the United States and the United Kingdom over the Turtle Islands located south of the Philippines, which was then American territory. In a 1930 treaty the United Kingdom acknowledge American sovereignty over the islands and was agreed upon that the British would remain administering the island until the United States express interest to take over control over the islands after a one-year notice. When the Philippines gained full independence from the United States in 1946, the Philippines invoked the treaty and the British turned over the islands to the Philippines in 1947.
West Bank, including East Jerusalem	Israel  Jordan	1967	1988	During the Six-Day War Israel conquered these territories from Jordan. Jordan later renounced the claim on the territory, supporting instead its inclusion in a future Palestine.
Ligitan and Sipadan	Malaysia  Indonesia	1969	2002	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.
Hawar Islands	Qatar  Bahrain	1971	2001	Formerly 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.
Pulau Batek/Fatu Sinai	Indonesia  East Timor	2002	2004	Ceded by Timor-Leste to Indonesia in August 2004.
Saudi Arabia–United Arab Emirates border dispute	Saudi Arabia  Yemen	1934	2000	Settled by the Treaty of Jeddah (2000).

Americas

Territory	Former Claimants	Dispute Started	Dispute Settled	Notes
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.
Aroostook War	United States British North America	1838	1842	Disputed border between the state of Maine and the provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec.
Atacama border dispute	Bolivia  Chile	1879	1904
Chamizal dispute	United States  Mexico	1898	1963	Disputed border within the El Paso/Ciudad Juárez region.
Delaware Wedge	Delaware  Maryland  Pennsylvania	1750s	1921	A gore created when the borders of the colonies Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania were defined. Dispute over the borders between the three colonies dates to the foundation of each during the middle 17th century. A series of defined lines and arcs were laid out by statute to settle the disputes, the most famous of which was the Mason–Dixon line. The Wedge was left out of all three colonies (and later U.S. states), and remained a matter of dispute until it was formally resolved to assign the Wedge to Delaware in 1921.
Eastern shore of the Narragansett Bay	Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Plymouth Colony (to 1691) Province of Massachusetts Bay (from 1691)	1636	1898	Claimed by both Rhode Island and Plymouth Colony. Plymouth's claim was inherited by the newly created Province of Massachusetts Bay when the latter was created in 1691 from the merger of earlier Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth Colonies. A royal decree in 1746 assigned the land to Rhode Island, but Massachusetts continued to press its claim until 1898.
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 formally established by the Treaty of Río de la Plata between Uruguay and Argentina on November 19, 1973.
Cordillera del Cóndor-Cenepa River	Peru  Ecuador	1828	1998
Cordillera of the Andes Boundary Case	Argentina  Chile	1881	1902	After the signature of the Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina differing interpretations on whether the highest Andean peaks (favouring Argentina) or the continental divide (favouring Chile) was to be considered the boundary.
Puna de Atacama dispute	Argentina  Chile	1889	1898
Clipperton Island	Mexico  France	1897	1931	Disputed between France and Mexico. On January 28, 1931, King Victor Emanuel, selected as a neutral arbitrator, finally declared Clipperton to be a French possession, and it has remained relatively undisputed ever since.
Beagle conflict	Argentina  Chile	1898	1982
Río Encuentro-Alto Palena dispute	Argentina  Chile	1913	1966
Laguna del Desierto	Argentina  Chile	1949	1994
Border of New Hampshire and Canada	United States  United Kingdom	1783	1842	Ill-defined terms of the Treaty of Paris at the end of the Revolutionary War left the boundary of the state of New Hampshire and Canada in doubt. The lack of a precise definition of the "northwesternmost head of the Connecticut River" as defined by the Treaty of Paris left a tract of land in what is now the town of Pittsburg, New Hampshire outside of the jurisdiction of both the United States and Canada. In the 1830s, land speculators established a short-lived independent republic in the area; the minuscule population of the putative nation never exceeded about 300. The boundary was finally settled definitively by the Webster–Ashburton Treaty of 1842.
San Andrés and Providencia	Colombia  Nicaragua	1928	2012[46]
Tacna–Arica compromise	Chile  Peru	1883	1929
Pacific Ocean Sea border	Chile  Peru	1985	2014[47]
Erik the Red's Land	Denmark  Norway	1931	1933[48]

Europe

Territory	Former Claimants	Dispute Started	Dispute Settled	Notes
Bregovo	Bulgaria  Kingdom of Serbia	1885	1886	Bulgaria And Serbia briefly had a war over a small border village called Bregovo and this has been the recognized border ever since then.
Åland Islands	Finland  Sweden	1917	1920	Sweden and Finland argued over the control of the Åland Islands (located between Sweden and Finland). The Åland movement (Ålandsrörelsen) wanted Åland to reunite with its old mother country Sweden (Finland and Åland belonged to Sweden before 1809). The movement gathered signatures from over 7000 inhabitants of legal age at the Åland Islands in 1917 (that was about 96% of the population) - they all supported a union with Sweden. When Finland became independent (December 6, 1917) Sweden wanted a plebiscite about the future of the Åland Islands to solve the problem. Finland refused and argued that the Åland Islands had always been a natural part of Finland - even when Finland was under Swedish rule. Sweden appealed to the League of Nations referring to the right of the population to determine which country they should belong to. After studying the matter closely the League of Nations decided Finland should retain sovereignty over the province but that the Åland Islands should be made an autonomous territory. The Swedish Prime Minister said he didn’t accept the verdict but he also said that Sweden was not going to use military force to get their claims.[49]
Graham Island	Two Sicilies Malta  France  Spain	1831	1831	A dispute between the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the British Crown Colony of Malta, the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of Spain occurred after the volcanic island appeared in 1831. The British were the first to claim the island as part of Malta, and they were followed by the Two Sicilies and France, while Spain expressed their ambitions to control the island. The island disappeared by December 1831 and the dispute stopped. A Sicilian flag was lowered over the now submerged island in 2000 to show Italian claims to the area. It is no longer disputed by Britain, France, Spain or Malta.
Lampedusa	Sicily Malta	1800	1814	The island was controlled by British troops as a de facto part of Malta Protectorate from 1800 onwards. After a British royal commission was sent there in 1812, the new Governor of Malta Sir Thomas Maitland withdrew British troops and the island was returned to Sicily.
Tenedos	Turkey  Greece	1920	1923	On 11 August 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.
Northern Ireland	United Kingdom  Ireland	1920	1999	Formerly disputed between Ireland and the United Kingdom since partition on 23 December 1920, it was settled by the Good Friday Agreement in 1999, when Ireland amended its constitutional claim. 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.
Pytalovo (Abrene in Latvia)	Russia  Latvia	1991	2007	Pytalovo was part of independent Latvia as Abrene until Latvia was occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union and Abrene was attached to Russian SSR in 1948. Latvia disputed Russian jurisdiction over the region until giving it up in a border treaty with Russia in 2007.
Ivangorod and Pechorsky District	Russia  Estonia	1991	2007	Russia recognized them as a part of Estonia with Treaty of Tartu, 1920. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia continued administering it. Some sources argue Estonia has claims in the area.[50][51]
Sevastopol	Russia  Ukraine	1993	1997	On July 28, 1993, one of the leaders of the Russian Society of Crimea, Viktor Prusakov, stated that his organisation was ready for an armed mutiny and establishment of the Russian administration in Sevastopol. In May 1997, Russia and Ukraine signed the Peace and Friendship Treaty, ruling out Moscow's territorial claims to Ukraine.[52]
Black Sea and Snake Island	Ukraine  Romania	2004	2009	In 2004 Romania filed a case to International Court of Justice claiming that Ukraine's Snake Island was an uninhabitable rock under UNCLOS standards and thus not eligible to carry influence over determination of the maritime boundary between the two states. During the Soviet times the island was a small naval station with a lighthouse. In 2007 the Ukrainian parliament approved an establishment of a small hamlet (settlement) there, Bile, as part of Vylkove city Odessa Region. The maritime boundary issue was settled by the International Court of Justice in 2009.
Vilnius Region	Lithuania  Poland	1920	1945	During the Polish-Soviet War Polish armies entered the Vilnius Region which was at the time part of the Soviet Lithuanian-Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1920, Polish General Lucjan Zeligowski led a coup and established the Republic of Central Lithuania which was annexed to the Second Polish Republic after the war as part of the historic Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and due to ethnic Poles in the region. Lithuania moved its capital to Kaunas while never giving up its claim to Vilnius. The Lithuanians found support in the Soviet Union for their cause signing the Soviet-Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty in 1939. Following the Soviet invasion of Poland, the region came under Soviet control and became part of the Lithuanian SSR after World War II which was followed by a large number of ethnic Poles being deported two times. Following the fall of the Soviet Union and Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania the Vilnius region became part of Lithuania again.
Passetto di Borgo in the vicinity of the Vatican City	Italy  Holy See	1870	1991	Pope John Paul II recognized the sovereignty of Italy over the Passetto on May 18, 1991.[53][54]
Ems estuary and Dollart Bay (western part)	Netherlands  Germany	15th century[55]	2014	Settled in the 1960s (agreeing to disagree). Finally solved in 2014.[56]

Antarctica

Territory	Former Claimants	Dispute Started	Dispute Settled	Notes
Bouvet Island	Norway  United Kingdom	1927	1929	The United Kingdom claimed this Antarctic island as Lindsay/Liverpool Island based on sightings going back to 1808, but Norway landed there in 1927. In November 1929, Britain renounced its claim to the island.[57]

Notes

See also

References

External links

• "Government Statistics: Transnational Issues: Disputes: International (most recent) by country". Nation Master.