Redrawing territorial boundaries

Great Debates
1

Most of the time, territory under the same political control is connected. There are exceptions. For example, Gibraltar is a little territory under the control of the U.K. that is connected to Spain. Now I don’t live in G, nor do I know anyone who does, so it does not upset me to imagine transferring G back to Spain just for purposes of making the map of the U.K. ‘nicer’. If you were given powers to redraw the map of all the world, what would be the least controversial reassignments of territory?

I think the term “least controversial reassignment” is vague and politically charged, so the thread belongs in this forum. However, if I had my druthers, the discussion would be more factual than political: A list of ‘weird territorial areas’.

Here are some I thought of:
I already mentioned Gibraltar. I think it is ironic that Spain has pressured the U.K. to return G, because Spain has some territorial holdings on the mainland of Morocco: Ceuta and Melilla. If only Morocco had some little pieces of land just north of Liverpool, they could do a three-way trade.

There are two small islands near Labrador, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, which belong to France.

Bermuda? (I bet you most Americans don’t care one way or another…Actually, I bet you 90% of Americans have no idea where Bermuda is).

There is a piece of Oman called Khasab that is separated by the UAE from the rest of Oman.

The Kalinigrad portion of Russia is separated by Lithuania and Belarus.

There was a piece of India called Goa that once was under the control of Portugal. I thought P still controlled it, but I find that it was returned in 1961. Macau and Hong Hong are other examples where the type of thing I am considering has actually occured.

The Rio Muni part of Equitorial Guinea is separated from the island of Bioko, where the capital is located.

Closer to home (for me; I’m an American), there are the upper peninsula of Michigan and the eastern boundry of New Mexico. The eastern boundry of NM is not a straight line south from Colorado, it makes a westward jog after passing Ok. See this link for some info. on how this happened. Jigsaw puzzles of the United States would be more accurate if the eastern border of NM was the 103rd meridian :slight_smile:

2

Though there are exceptions, often historically or politically motivated, it has a great deal to do with what the inhabitants want. The days are long gone when monarchs and diplomats could trade around pieces of land like streets in Monopoly, without regard for the wishes of their inhabitants. The Gibraltarese are very much content with being a territory of the U.K., and while Spain would like it back, no British administration wants to give away British subjects just to please a foreign country. AFAIK the same goes for Ceuta and Melilla, which Spain kept when she gave independence to Spanish Morocco at the same time as France did to French Morocco, with which it united, in 1956.

I don’t know about St. Pierre et Miquelon, but I presume they’re happy staying French. What’s your problem about Bermuda? It’s a self-governing British colony about 1,000 miles from anywhere else – who’s it supposed to go to, and why?

Kaliningrad oblast is the northern half of what used to be East Prussia, which was given to the U.S.S.R. (and incorporated into the R.S.F.S.R.) in 1945 while Poland got the south half. When the Soviet Union broke up, it went with Russia. Stalin got it to have a warm-water port on the Baltic other than Leningrad, which had just gone through a three-year-long siege.

As for Equatorial Guinea, are you suggesting they give up their mainland part to Gabon or Cameroon, or should they build a gigantic bridge to connect the two parts?

The Musandam Peninsula has quite a bit of strategic and mineral value, and Oman is not interested in losing it. (I believe one of the sheiks in what is now the U.A.E. (Ajman? Fujairah?) tried to take it early in the 20th Century, long before unification of the U.A.E., and lost badly.

Essentially, it’s fun to look at a map and say, “Why the heck is that part of them instead of what it borders?” But there’s generally a good reason why it’s the case.

One place where territorial realignment would make sense is along the Oder, where there are several cities divided between Poland and Germany, with a largely German population in both halves, simply because the Big Three agreed on the Oder-Neisse line as the German-Polish boundary (or more accurately, on it as the interim dividing line pending a peace treaty) and nobody’s willing to push for a change. While it would make sense to guarantee Poland free passage along the river and include the whole of each of those cities in Germany, the German government is very loath to even think of saying something that even looks like territorial expansion at the expense of a neighboring state.

Within the U.S., boundary rectification might make more sense. I know there are regular interstate dealings going on along the lower Mississippi as the channel shifts, putting a piece of Mississippi state on the west bank or a piece of Arkansas on the east. But my impression is that it’s not a big deal to anybody whatsoever. And certainly you don’t transfer land simply to make jigsaw puzzles or maps easier.

3

The important element ignored in the OP is the opinion of the residents of the territory in question. Gibraltans almost exclusively want to remain British. Bermuda rejected indenendence, let alone American involvelemtn, in a referendum in 1995.

4

I’ll take my gloves off before I post again :smack:

5

What? Like latitude and longitude? I think most Americans know that it’s near the equator and in the Atlantic Ocean. It’s also a popular tourist attraction for Americans. It’s not like freakin Guam or anything.
Oh and by the way, you didn’t even mention Alaska. It’s not connected to the rest of the US.

6

Most people here think it’s in the Caribbean. I’m sure Merkins are no different. (After all, there’s already at least two places beginning with B in the tropics, how confusing do you want to make it? :rolleyes: )