Country ranking for field: disputes international 2003

Other rankings:

This entry includes a wide variety of situations that range from traditional bilateral boundary disputes to unilateral claims of one sort or another. Information regarding disputes over international terrestrial and maritime boundaries has been reviewed by the US Department of State. References to other situations involving borders or frontiers may also be included, such as resource disputes, geopolitical questions, or irredentist issues; however, inclusion does not necessarily constitute official acceptance or recognition by the US Government.

	World	Globally there are over 250000 km of international land boundaries that separate the world's 192 independent states along with 70 dependencies areas of special sovereignty and other miscellaneous entities	. Maritime states have claimed limits and have so far established over 130 maritime boundaries and joint development zones to allocate ocean resources and to provide for their national security at sea
1	Belarus	1997
2	Ukraine	1997 boundary treaty with Belarus remains unratified over unresolved financial claims preventing demarcation and encouraging illegal cross-border activities; land delimitation of boundary with Russia is complete but maritime regime of the Sea of Azov and Kerch Strait remains unresolved; difficulties in the Transnistria region of Moldova complicate border crossing and customs facilitating smuggling arms transfers and other illegal activities; has not resolved Romanian claims to Ukrainian-administered Zmiyinyy
3	Norfolk Island	none
4	Pacific Ocean	some maritime disputes
5	Oman	boundary agreement signed and ratified with UAE in 2003 for entire border including Oman's Musandam Peninsula and Al Madhah enclaves
6	Norway	Norway asserts a territorial claim in Antarctica
7	Northern Mariana Islands	none
8	North Korea	with China certain islands in Yalu and Tumen rivers are in uncontested dispute; a section of boundary around Paektu-san
9	Afghanistan	thousands of Afghan refugees still reside in Iran and Pakistan; isolating terrain and close ties among Pashtuns in Pakistan make cross-border activities difficult to control; prolonged regional drought strains water-sharing arrangements for Amu Darya and Helmand River states
10	Pakistan	thousands of Afghan refugees still reside in Pakistan; isolating terrain and close ties among Pashtuns in Pakistan make cross-border activities difficult to control; armed stand-off with India over the status and sovereignty of Kashmir continues - India objects to Pakistan ceding lands to China in 1965 boundary agreement that India believes are part of disputed Kashmir; disputes with India over Indus River water sharing and the terminus of the Rann of Kutch which prevents maritime boundary delimitation
11	Nigeria	ICJ ruled in 2002 on the Cameroon-Nigeria land and maritime boundary by awarding the potentially petroleum-rich Bakassi Peninsula and offshore region to Cameroon; Nigeria rejected the cession of the peninsula but the parties formed a Joint Border Commission to peaceably resolve the dispute and commence with demarcation in other less-contested sections of the boundary; several villages along the Okpara River are in dispute with Benin; Lake Chad Commission continues to urge signatories Cameroon Chad Niger and Nigeria to ratify delimitation treaty over lake region which remains the site of armed clashes among local populations and militias; Nigeria agreed to ratify the treaty and relinquish sovereignty of disputed lands to Cameroon by December 2003
12	Niger	Libya claims about 25000 km² in a currently dormant dispute; much of Benin-Niger boundary including tripoint with Nigeria remains undemarcated but states accept 2001 arbitration over disputed Niger River islands; Lake Chad Commission continues to urge signatories Cameroon Chad Niger and Nigeria to ratify delimitation treaty over the lake region which remains the site of armed clashes among local populations and militias
13	Nicaragua	territorial disputes with Colombia over the Archipelago de San Andres y Providencia and Quita Sueno Bank region; with respect to the maritime boundary question in the Golfo de Fonseca the ICJ referred to the line determined by the 1900 Honduras-Nicaragua Mixed Boundary Commission and advised that some tripartite resolution among El Salvador Honduras and Nicaragua likely would be required; legal dispute over navigational rights of San Juan River on border with Costa Rica
14	New Zealand	territorial claim in Antarctica
15	New Caledonia	Matthew and Hunter Islands east of New Caledonia claimed by France and Vanuatu
16	Netherlands Antilles	none
17	Niue	none
18	Palau	none
19	Navassa Island	claimed by Haiti
20	Palmyra Atoll	none
21	Panama	none
22	Papua New Guinea	Indonesian secessionists squatters and illegal migrants create repatriation problems for Papua New Guinea
23	Paracel Islands	occupied by China but claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam
24	Paraguay	unruly region at convergence of Argentina-Brazil-Paraguay borders is locus of money laundering smuggling arms and drug trafficking and harbors Islamist militants
25	Peru	Bolivia continues to press Chile and Peru to restore the Atacama corridor ceded to Chile in 1884
26	Philippines	involved in complex dispute over Spratly Islands with China Malaysia Taiwan Vietnam and possibly Brunei; claimants in November 2002 signed the 'Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea' a mechanism to ease tension but which fell short of a legally binding 'code of conduct'; Sultanate of Sulu granted Philippines Government power of attorney to pursue its sovereignty claim over Malaysia's Sabah State but Malaysia rejects claim
27	Pitcairn Islands	none
28	Poland	small boundary changes made with Slovakia in 2003
29	Portugal	Portugal has periodically reasserted claims to territories around the town of Olivenza Spain
30	Puerto Rico	none
31	Qatar	none
32	Romania	has not resolved claims to Ukrainian-administered Zmyinyy
33	Russia	China continues to seek a mutually acceptable solution to the disputed alluvial islands at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri rivers and a small island on the Argun River as part of the 2001 Treaty of Good Neighborliness Friendship and Cooperation; the islands of Etorofu Kunashiri Shikotan and the Habomai group identified by the Russians as the 'Southern Kurils' and by Japan as the 'Northern Territories' occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945 now administered by Russia claimed by Japan; boundary with Georgia has been largely delimited but not demarcated with several small strategic segments remaining in dispute and OSCE observers monitoring volatile areas such as the Pankisi Gorge in the Akhmeti region and the Argun Gorge in Abkhazia; equidistant seabed treaties have been signed with Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan in the Caspian Sea but no resolution on dividing the water column among any of the littoral states; Russia and Norway dispute their maritime limits in the Barents Sea and Russia's fishing rights beyond Svalbard's territorial limits within the Svalbard Treaty zone; Russia continues to reject signing and ratifying the joint 1996 technical border agreement with Estonia; the Russian Parliament refuses to consider ratification of the boundary treaties with Estonia and Latvia but in May 2003 ratified land and maritime boundary treaty with Lithuania which ratified the 1997 treaty in 1999 legalizing limits of former Soviet republic borders; discussions are still ongoing among Russia Lithuania and the EU concerning a simplified transit document for residents of the Kaliningrad coastal exclave to transit through Lithuania to Russia; land delimitation with Ukraine is ratified but maritime regime of the Sea of Azov and Kerch Strait is unresolved; delimitation with Kazakhstan is scheduled for completion in 2003; Russian Duma has not yet ratified 1990 Maritime Boundary Agreement with the US in the Bering Sea
34	Nepal	joint border commission continues to work on small disputed sections of boundary with India; India has instituted a stricter border regime to restrict transit of Maoist insurgents
35	Namibia	commission established with Botswana to resolve small residual disputes along the Caprivi Strip including the Situngu marshlands along the Linyanti River; Botswana residents protest Namibia's planned construction of the Okavango hydroelectric dam on Popa Falls; managed dispute with South Africa over the location of the boundary in the Orange River; dormant dispute remains where Botswana Namibia Zambia and Zimbabwe boundaries converge; Angolan rebels and refugees still reside in Namibia
36	Nauru	none
37	Mali	armed bandits based in Mali attack southern Algerian towns
38	Lebanon	Syrian troops in central and eastern Lebanon since October 1976; Lebanese Government claims Shab'a Farms area of Israeli-occupied Golan Heights
39	Lesotho	none
40	Liberia	rebels and refugees contribute to border instabilities with Sierra Leone Cote d'Ivoire and Guinea; the Ivorian Government accuses Liberia of supporting Ivorian rebels
41	Libya	Libya has claimed more than 32000 km² in southeastern Algeria and about 25000 km² in Niger in currently dormant disputes; various Chadian rebels from the Aozou region reside in southern Libya
42	Liechtenstein	Liechtenstein's royal family claims restitution for 1600 km² of land in the Czech Republic confiscated in 1918
43	Lithuania	in May 2003 the Russian Parliament ratified a 1997 land and maritime boundary treaty with Lithuania which had ratified the treaty in 1999 legalizing limits of former Soviet republic borders; the Latvian Parliament has not ratified its 1998 maritime boundary treaty with Lithuania primarily due to concerns over oil exploration rights; discussions are still ongoing among Russia Lithuania and the EU concerning a simplified transit document for residents of the Kaliningrad coastal exclave to transit through Lithuania to Russia
44	Luxembourg	none
45	Macau	none
46	Macedonia	the Albanian government calls for the protection of the rights of ethnic Albanians in F	.Y
47	Madagascar	claims Bassas da India Europa Island Glorioso Islands and Juan de Nova Island
48	Malawi	dispute with Tanzania over the boundary in Lake Nyasa
49	Malaysia	involved in complex dispute over Spratly Islands with China Philippines Taiwan Vietnam and possibly Brunei; claimants in November 2002 signed the 'Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea' a mechanism to ease tension but which fell short of a legally binding 'code of conduct'; disputes over deliveries of fresh water to Singapore Singapore's land reclamation on Johor maritime boundaries and Singapore-occupied Pedra Branca Island/Pulau Batu Putih persist - parties agree to ICJ arbitration on island dispute within three years; ICJ awarded Ligitan and Sipadan islands off the coast of Sabah also claimed by Indonesia and Philippines to Malaysia; a small section of the Malaysia-Thailand boundary in the Kolok River remains in dispute
50	Maldives	none
51	Malta	none
52	Réunion	none
53	Marshall Islands	claims US territory of Wake Island
54	Martinique	none
55	Mauritania	Mauritanian claims to Western Sahara have been dormant in recent years
56	Mauritius	Mauritius claims the Chagos Archipelago
57	Mayotte	claimed by Comoros
58	Mexico	prolonged regional drought in the border region with the US has strained water-sharing arrangements
59	Midway Islands	none
60	Moldova	difficulties with the Transnistria region complicate border crossing and customs with Ukraine facilitating smuggling arms transfers and other illegal activities
61	Monaco	none
62	Mongolia	none
63	Montserrat	none
64	Morocco	claims and administers Western Sahara but sovereignty remains unresolved - UN-administered cease-fire has remained in effect since September 1991 but attempts to hold a referendum have failed and parties thus far have rejected other proposals; Morocco protests Spain's control over the coastal enclaves of Ceuta Melilla and Penon de Velez de la Gomera the islands of Penon de Alhucemas and Islas Chafarinas and surrounding waters; Morocco also rejected Spain's unilateral designation of a median line from the Canary Islands in 2002 to set limits to undersea resource exploration and refugee interdiction; Morocco allowed Spanish fishermen to fish temporarily off the coast of Western Sahara after an oil spill soiled Spanish fishing grounds
65	Mozambique	none
66	Myanmar	despite continuing border committee talks significant differences remain with Thailand over boundary alignment and the handling of ethnic rebels refugees and illegal cross-border activities
67	Rwanda	Tutsi Hutu and other conflicting ethnic groups associated political rebels armed gangs and various government forces continue fighting in Great Lakes region transcending the boundaries of Burundi Democratic Republic of the Congo Rwanda and Uganda to gain control over populated areas and natural resources - government heads pledge to end conflicts but localized violence continues despite UN peacekeeping efforts
68	Saint Kitts and Nevis	protests Venezuela's claim to give full effect to Aves Island which creates a Venezuelan EEZ/continental shelf extending over a large portion of the Caribbean Sea
69	Saint Helena	none
70	U.S. Virgin Islands	none
71	The Bahamas	have not been able to agree on a maritime boundary with the US
72	The Gambia	none
73	The Netherlands	none
74	Togo	in 2001 Benin claimed Togo moved boundary monuments - joint commission presently resurveying the boundary
75	Tokelau	none
76	Tonga	none
77	Trinidad and Tobago	none
78	Tromelin Island	claimed by Mauritius
79	Tunisia	none
80	Turkey	complex maritime air and territorial disputes with Greece in the Aegean Sea; Cyprus question remains with Greece; Syria and Iraq protest Turkish hydrological projects to control upper Euphrates waters; Turkey is quick to rebuff any perceived Syrian claim to Hatay province; border with Armenia remains closed over Nagorno-Karabakh
81	Turkmenistan	prolonged regional drought creates water-sharing difficulties for Amu Darya river states; Turkmenistan has not committed to follow either Iran or the other littoral states in the division of the Caspian Sea seabed and water column; ICJ decision expected to resolve dispute with Azerbaijan over sovereignty over Caspian oilfields; demarcation of land boundary with Kazakhstan is underway - maritime boundary not resolved
82	Turks and Caicos Islands	none
83	Tuvalu	none
84	Uganda	Tutsi Hutu and other ethnic groups associated political rebels armed gangs and various government forces continue fighting in the Great Lakes region transcending the boundaries of Burundi Democratic Republic of the Congo Rwanda and Uganda to gain control over populated areas and natural resources; government heads pledge to end conflict but localized violence continues despite UN peacekeeping efforts; conflict in Sudan has extended rebel forces and refugees into Uganda
85	Tanzania	disputes with Malawi over the boundary in Lake Nyasa
86	United Arab Emirates	because the treaties have not been made public the exact alignment of the boundary with Saudi Arabia is still unknown and labeled approximate; boundary agreement signed and ratified with Oman in 2003 for entire border including Oman's Musandam Peninsula and Al Madhah enclaves; UAE engage in direct talks and solicit Arab League support to resolve disputes over Iran's occupation of Lesser and Greater Tunb Islands and Abu Musa Island
87	United Kingdom	Gibraltar residents vote overwhelmingly in referendum against 'total shared sovereignty' arrangement worked out between Spain and UK to change 300-year rule over colony; Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago
88	United States	prolonged drought in the Mexico border region has strained water-sharing arrangements; 1990 Maritime Boundary Agreement in the Bering Sea awaits Russian Duma ratification; maritime boundary disputes with Canada at Dixon Entrance Beaufort Sea Strait of Juan de Fuca and around the disputed Machias Seal Island and North Rock; The Bahamas have not been able to agree on a maritime boundary; US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay is leased from Cuba and only mutual agreement or US abandonment of the area can terminate the lease; Haiti claims Navassa Island; US has made no territorial claim in Antarctica
89	Uruguay	uncontested dispute with Brazil over certain islands in the Quarai/Cuareim and Invernada streams and the resulting tripoint with Argentina
90	Uzbekistan	prolonged regional drought creates water-sharing difficulties for Amu Darya river states; delimitation with Kazakhstan complete with demarcation underway; serious disputes with Kyrgyzstan around Uzbek enclaves mar progress on delimitation efforts; talks have begun with Tajikistan to determine and delimit border
91	Vanuatu	Matthew and Hunter Islands east of New Caledonia claimed by Vanuatu and France
92	Venezuela	claims all of Guyana west of the Essequibo River; maritime boundary dispute with Colombia in the Gulf of Venezuela and the Caribbean Sea; US France and the Netherlands recognize Venezuela's claim to give full effect to Aves Island which creates a Venezuelan EEZ/continental shelf extending over a large portion of the Caribbean Sea; Dominica Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines protest the claim and other states' recognition of it
93	Vietnam	demarcation of the land boundary with China continues but maritime boundary and joint fishing zone agreement remains unratified; Cambodia and Laos protest Vietnamese squatters and armed encroachments along border; China occupies Paracel Islands also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; involved in a complex dispute over Spratly Islands with China Malaysia Philippines Taiwan and possibly Brunei; claimants in November 2002 signed the 'Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea' a mechanism to ease tension but which fell short of a legally binding 'code of conduct'
94	Wake Island	claimed by Marshall Islands
95	Wallis and Futuna	none
96	West Bank	West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation
97	Western Sahara	Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara but sovereignty remains unresolved; UN-administered cease-fire has remained in effect since September 1991 but attempts to hold a referendum have failed and parties have rejected other proposals; Mauritanian claims to Western Sahara have been dormant in recent years; Morocco allowed Spanish fishermen to fish temporarily off the coast of Western Sahara after an oil spill soiled Spanish fishing grounds
98	Yemen	Eritrea protests Yemeni fishing around the Hanish islands awarded to Eritrea by the ICJ in 1999; nomadic groups in border region with Saudi Arabia resist demarcation of boundary
99	Zambia	dormant dispute remains where Botswana Namibia Zambia and Zimbabwe boundaries converge
100	Thailand	completion of boundary demarcation with Cambodia hampered by accusations of moving and destroying boundary markers encroachments initiating border incidents and sealing off Preah Vihear temple ruins awarded to Cambodia by ICJ decision in 1962; demarcation complete except for a 1 kilometer segment at the mouth of the Kolok River in dispute with Malaysia; demarcation with Laos complete except for certain Mekong River islets and complaints of Thai squatters; despite continuing border committee talks significant differences remain with Burma over boundary alignment and the handling of ethnic rebels refugees and illegal cross-border activities
101	Tajikistan	prolonged regional drought creates water-sharing difficulties for Amu Darya river states; boundary agreements signed in 2002 cede 1000 km² of Pamir Mountain range to China in return for China relinquishing claims to 28000 km² of Tajikistani lands; negotiations with China resolved the longstanding boundary dispute; talks have begun with Uzbekistan to demine and delimit border; disputes in Isfara Valley delay completion of delimitation with Kyrgyzstan
102	Laos	demarcation of boundaries with Cambodia Thailand and Vietnam is nearing completion but with Thailand several areas including Mekong River islets remain in dispute; ongoing disputes with Thailand and Vietnam over squatters
103	Somalia	'Somaliland' secessionists provide port facilities to land-locked Ethiopia and establish commercial ties with regional states; 'Puntland' secessionists clash with 'Somaliland' secessionists to establish territorial limits and clan loyalties each seeking support from neighboring states; Ethiopia maintains only an administrative line with the Oromo region of southern Somalia and maintains alliances with local Somali clans opposed to the unrecognized Transitional National Government in Mogadishu
104	Saint Lucia	protests Venezuela's claim to give full effect to Aves Island which creates a Venezuelan EEZ/continental shelf extending over a large portion of the Caribbean Sea
105	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	protests Venezuela's claim to give full effect to Aves Island which creates a Venezuelan EEZ/continental shelf extending over a large portion of the Caribbean Sea
106	Saint-Pierre and Miquelon	none
107	Samoa	none; note - some EEZ demarcations including the one with American Samoa are undefined
108	San Marino	none
109	Saudi Arabia	nomadic groups on border region with Yemen resist demarcation of boundary; Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have been negotiating a long-contested maritime boundary with Iran; because the treaties have not been made public the exact alignment of the boundary with the UAE is still unknown and labeled approximate
110	Senegal	separatist war in Casamance region results in refugees and cross-border raids arms smuggling other illegal activities and political instability in Guinea-Bissau
111	Seychelles	claims the Chagos Archipelago
112	Sierra Leone	large UN peacekeeping presence ended civil war but rebel gang fighting ethnic rivalries illegal diamond trading corruption and refugees spill over into neighboring states beset with their own civil disorder refugees and violence
113	Singapore	disputes with Malaysia over deliveries of fresh water to Singapore Singapore's land reclamation works on Johor maritime boundaries and Singapore-occupied Pedra Branca Island/Pulau Batu Putih persist - parties agree to ICJ arbitration on island dispute within three years
114	Slovakia	small boundary changes made with Poland in 2003; Hungary has yet to amend status law extending special social and cultural benefits to ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia who protest the law
115	Slovenia	parliamentarians are far from ratifying the Croatia-Slovenia land and maritime boundary agreement which would have ceded most of Piran Bay and maritime access to Slovenia and several villages to Croatia
116	Solomon Islands	none
117	South Africa	managed dispute with Namibia over the location of the boundary in the Orange River
118	Taiwan	involved in complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with China Malaysia Philippines Vietnam and possibly Brunei; claimants in November 2002 signed the 'Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea' a mechanism to ease tension but which fell short of a legally binding 'code of conduct'; Paracel Islands occupied by China but claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam; claims Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto
119	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	briefly occupied by military force in 1982 - claimed by Argentina in constitution but declares it will no longer seek settlement by force
120	South Korea	Military Demarcation Line within the 4-km wide Demilitarized Zone has separated North from South Korea since 1953; Liancourt Rocks
121	Southern Ocean	Antarctic Treaty defers claims
122	Spain	Gibraltar residents vote overwhelmingly in referendum against 'total shared sovereignty' arrangement worked out between Spain and UK to change 300-year rule over colony; Morocco protests Spain's control over the coastal enclaves of Ceuta Melilla and Penon de Velez de la Gomera the islands of Penon de Alhucemas and Islas Chafarinas and surrounding waters; Morocco also rejected Spain's unilateral designation of a median line from the Canary Islands in 2002 to set limits to undersea resource exploration and refugee interdiction; Morocco allowed Spanish fishermen to fish temporarily off the coast of Western Sahara after an oil spill soiled Spanish fishing grounds; Portugal has periodically reasserted claims to territories around the town of Olivenza Spain
123	Spratly Islands	all of the Spratly Islands are claimed by China Taiwan and Vietnam; parts of them are claimed by Malaysia and the Philippines; in 1984 Brunei established an exclusive fishing zone that encompasses Louisa Reef in the southern Spratly Islands but has not publicly claimed the island; claimants in November 2002 signed the 'Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea' a mechanism to ease tension but which fell short of a legally binding 'code of conduct'
124	Sri Lanka	none
125	Sudan	the north-south civil war has drawn Sudan's neighbors into the fighting sheltering refugees and infiltration by rebel groups - Kenya and Uganda have acted as mediators; Sudan accuses Eritrea of supporting Sudanese rebel groups; efforts to demarcate the porous boundary with Ethiopia have been delayed by fighting in Sudan; Kenya's administrative boundary still extends into the Sudan creating the 'Ilemi triangle'; Egypt and Sudan retain claims to administer the triangular areas that extend north and south of the 1899 Treaty boundary along the 22nd Parallel but have withdrawn their military presence; Egypt is economically developing the 'Hala'ib triangle'
126	Suriname	area disputed by French Guiana between Riviere Litani and Riviere Marouini
127	Svalbard	despite recent discussions Russia and Norway dispute their maritime limits in the Barents Sea and Russia's fishing rights beyond Svalbard's territorial limits within the Svalbard Treaty zone
128	Swaziland	none
129	Sweden	none
130	Switzerland	none
131	Syria	Golan Heights is Israeli-occupied; Lebanon claims Shaba'a farms in Golan Heights; Syrian troops have been stationed in Lebanon since October 1976; Syria protests Turkish hydrological projects regulating upper Euphrates waters; Turkey is quick to rebuff any perceived Syrian claim to Hatay province
132	São Tomé and Príncipe	none
133	Latvia	the Russian Duma refuses to ratify boundary delimitation treaty with Latvia; the Latvian Parliament has not ratified its 1998 maritime boundary treaty with Lithuania primarily due to concerns over oil exploration rights
134	Kyrgyzstan	Kyrgyzstan's constitutional court has ruled that 1270 km² ceded to China in a 2000 delimitation agreement were legally transferred; delimitation with Kazakhstan is largely complete with only minor disputed areas; disputes in Isfara Valley delay completion of delimitation with Tajikistan; serious disputes with Uzbekistan around Uzbek enclaves mar progress on delimitation efforts
135	Albania	the Albanian Government calls for the protection of the rights of ethnic Albanians outside its borders in the Kosovo region of Serbia and Montenegro and in the northern Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia while continuing to seek regional cooperation; some outside ethnic Albanian groups voice union with Albania
136	Christmas Island	none
137	Brunei	Involved in dispute over the Spratly Islands with China Malaysia Philippines Taiwan and Vietnam; Brunei established an exclusive economic fishing zone encompassing Louisa Reef in southern Spratly Islands in 1984 but makes no public territorial claim to the offshore reefs; claimants in November 2002 signed the 'Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea' a mechanism to ease tension but which fell short of a legally binding 'code of conduct'
138	Bulgaria	joint boundary commission is rectifying boundary with Romania based on shifts in Danube since last delimitation in 1920
139	Burkina Faso	two villages are in dispute along the border with Benin; Burkina Faso border regions have become a staging area for Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire rebels and an asylum for refugees caught in regional fighting; the Ivorian Government accuses Burkina Faso of supporting Ivorian rebels
140	Burundi	Tutsi Hutu and other conflicting ethnic groups associated political rebels armed gangs and various government forces continue fighting in the Great Lakes region transcending the boundaries of Burundi Democratic Republic of the Congo Rwanda and Uganda to gain control over populated and natural resource areas; government heads pledge to end conflict but localized violence continues despite UN peacekeeping efforts
141	Cabo Verde	none
142	Cambodia	completed boundary demarcation with Thailand; accuses Vietnam of moving and destroying boundary markers and encroachments initiating border incidents; accuses Thailand of preventing access to Preah Vihear temple ruins awarded to Cambodia by ICJ decision in 1962; maritime boundary with Vietnam hampered by dispute over offshore islands
143	Cameroon	ICJ ruled in 2002 on the Cameroon-Nigeria land and maritime boundary by awarding the potentially petroleum-rich Bakassi Peninsula and offshore region to Cameroon; Nigeria rejected cession of the peninsula but the parties have formed a Joint Border Commission to resolve differences bilaterally and have commenced with demarcation in less-contested sections of the boundary; Lake Chad Commission continues to urge signatories Cameroon Chad Niger and Nigeria to ratify delimitation treaty over the lake region which remains the site of armed clashes among local populations and militias; Nigeria agreed to ratify the treaty and relinquish sovereignty of disputed lands to Cameroon by December 2003
144	Canada	managed maritime boundary disputes with the US at Dixon Entrance Beaufort Sea Strait of Juan de Fuca and around the disputed Machias Seal Island and North Rock; uncontested dispute with Denmark over Hans Island sovereignty in the Kennedy Channel between Ellesmere Island and Greenland
145	Cayman Islands	none
146	Central African Republic	internal political instabilities with fighting and violence overlap into Chad and CAR leaving refugees and rebel groups in both countries; violent ethnic skirmishes persist along the border with Sudan
147	Chad	internal political instabilities with fighting and violence overlap into Chad and Central African Republic leaving refugees and rebel groups in both countries; Chadian Aozou rebels reside in southern Libya; Lake Chad Commission continues to urge signatories Cameroon Chad Niger and Nigeria to ratify delimitation treaty over lake region which remains the site of armed clashes among local populations and militias; Chad rejects Nigerian request to redemarcate boundary the site of continuing cross-border incidents
148	Chile	Bolivia continues to press Chile and Peru to restore the Atacama corridor ceded to Chile in 1884; dispute with Peru over the economic zone delimited by the maritime boundary; Chile demands water rights to Bolivia's Rio Lauca and Silala Spring; Beagle Channel islands dispute resolved through Papal mediation in 1984 but armed incidents persist since 1992 oil discovery; territorial claim in Antarctica
149	China	involved in complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with Malaysia Philippines Taiwan Vietnam and possibly Brunei; claimants in November 2002 signed the 'Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea' a mechanism to ease tension but which fell short of a legally binding 'code of conduct'; much of the rugged militarized boundary with India is in dispute but the two sides have participated in more than 13 rounds of joint working group sessions on this issue; India objects to Pakistan ceding lands to China in 1965 boundary agreement that India believes are part of disputed Kashmir; China as well as Taiwan claims Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto
150	Clipperton Island	none
151	British Indian Ocean Territory	Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago including Diego Garcia; in 2001 the former inhabitants of the Chagos Archipelago evicted in 1965 and now residing chiefly in Mauritius were granted UK citizenship and the right to repatriation; the UK resists the Chagossians' demand for an immediate return to the islands; repatriation is complicated by the exclusive US military lease of Diego Garcia that restricts access to the largest island in the chain;
152	Cocos Islands	none
153	Colombia	Nicaragua filed a claim against Honduras in 1999 and against Colombia in 2001 at the ICJ over disputed maritime boundary involving 50000 km² in the Caribbean Sea including the Archipelago de San Andres y Providencia and Quita Sueno Bank; maritime boundary dispute with Venezuela in the Gulf of Venezuela; Colombian drug activities penetrate Peruvian border area
154	Comoros	claims French-administered Mayotte
155	Congo	most of the Congo River boundary with the Democratic Republic of the Congo is indefinite
156	Cook Islands	none
157	Coral Sea Islands Territory	none
158	Costa Rica	legal dispute over navigational rights of Rio San Juan on border with Nicaragua
159	Croatia	discussions continue with Bosnia and Herzegovina on sections of the Una River and villages at the base of Mount Pljesevica; parliamentarians are far from ratifying the Croatia-Slovenia land and maritime boundary agreement which would have ceded most of Pirin Bay and maritime access to Slovenia and several villages to Croatia; in late 2002 Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro adopted an interim agreement to settle the disputed Prevlaka Peninsula allowing the withdrawal of the UN monitoring mission
160	Cuba	US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay is leased to US and only mutual agreement or US abandonment of the area can terminate the lease
161	Cyprus	hostilities in 1974 divided the island into two de facto autonomous areas a Greek Cypriot area controlled by the internationally recognized Cypriot Government and a Turkish-Cypriot area separated by a UN buffer zone; UN deadline on sides accepting a federation plan for reunification have expired diminishing chances of Turkish-Cypriot participation in EU membership in 2004
162	Czech Republic	Liechtenstein's royal family claims restitution for 1600 km² of land in the Czech Republic confiscated in 1918; individual Sudeten German claims for restitution of property confiscated in connection with their expulsion after World War II; Austria has minor dispute with Czech Republic over the Temelin nuclear power plant and post-World War II treatment of German-speaking minorities
163	Côte d'Ivoire	rebel fighting extended to neighboring states and has driven out nationals and foreign workers to nearby countries; the Ivorian Government accuses Burkina Faso and Liberia of supporting Ivorian rebels
164	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Democratic Republic of the Congo is in the grip of a civil war that has drawn in military forces from neighboring states with Uganda and Rwanda supporting the rebel movements that occupy much of the eastern portion of the state - Tutsi Hutu Lendu Hema and other conflicting ethnic groups political rebels and various government forces continue fighting in Great Lakes region transcending the boundaries of Burundi Democratic Republic of the Congo Rwanda and Uganda - heads of the Great Lakes states pledge to end conflict but localized violence continues despite UN peacekeeping efforts; most of the Congo River boundary with the Republic of the Congo is indefinite
165	Denmark	Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Denmark Iceland and the UK
166	British Virgin Islands	none
167	Brazil	unruly region at convergence of Argentina-Brazil-Paraguay borders is locus of money laundering smuggling arms and drug trafficking and harbors Islamist militants; uncontested dispute with Uruguay over certain islands in the Quarai/Cuareim and Invernada boundary streams and the resulting tripoint with Argentina
168	Dominica	protests Venezuela's claim to give full effect to Aves Island which creates a Venezuelan EEZ/continental shelf extending over a large portion of the Caribbean Sea
169	Australia	maritime delimitation and resource sharing agreements signed with East Timor resolve dispute over 'Timor Gap' hydrocarbon reserves; no agreement reached on dividing Timor Sea with Indonesia
170	Algeria	Libya claims about 32000 km² in a dormant dispute still reflected on its maps in southeastern Algeria; armed bandits based in Mali attack southern Algerian towns; border with Morocco remains closed over mutual claims of harboring militants arms smuggling; Algeria supports the exiled Sahrawi Polisario Front and rejects Moroccan administration of Western Sahara
171	American Samoa	none
172	Andorra	none; border is undemarcated in sections but is not in dispute
173	Angola	gives shelter to thousands of refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo while thousands of Angolan refugees still remain in neighboring states as a consequence of the protracted civil wars in both states
174	Anguilla	none
175	Antarctica	Antarctic Treaty freezes claims
176	Antigua and Barbuda	none
177	Arctic Ocean	some maritime disputes
178	Argentina	claims UK-administered Falkland Islands
179	Armenia	Armenia supports ethnic Armenian secessionists in Nagorno-Karabakh and militarily occupies 16% of Azerbaijan - Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
180	Aruba	none
181	Ashmore and Cartier Islands	nationalist group in Indonesia reportedly seeks to populate reefs to assert claims; Australia has moved to close reefs to Indonesian traditional fishing and to create a national park while prospecting for hydrocarbons in the vicinity
182	Atlantic Ocean	some maritime disputes
183	Austria	minor disputes with Czech Republic and Slovenia continue over nuclear power plants and post-World War II treatment of German-speaking minorities
184	Bouvet Island	none
185	Azerbaijan	Armenia supports ethnic Armenian secessionists in Nagorno-Karabakh and militarily occupies about one-sixth of Azerbaijan - Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
186	Bahrain	none
187	Baker Island	none
188	Bangladesh	discussions with India remain stalled to delimit a small section of river boundary demarcate and fence the porous land boundary exchange 162 miniscule enclaves allocate divided villages and stop illegal cross-border trade and violence; Bangladesh protests India's attempts to fence off high-traffic sections of the porous boundary; dispute with India over New Moore/South Talpatty Island in the Bay of Bengal prevents maritime boundary delimitation; Burmese Muslim refugees strain Bangladesh's meager resources
189	Barbados	none
190	Bassas da India	claimed by Madagascar
191	Belgium	none
192	Belize	Guatemala has claimed half of southern Belize; Guatemalan squatters continue to settle along the border despite a 2000 agreement; OAS brokered a Differendum in 2002 that created a small adjustment to land boundary a large Guatemalan maritime corridor in the Caribbean a joint ecological park for disputed Sapodilla Cays and a substantial US-UK financial package but agreement was not brought to a popular referendum
193	Benin	two villages are in dispute along the border with Burkina Faso; much of Benin-Niger boundary including tripoint with Nigeria remains undemarcated but states accept 2001 arbitration over disputed Niger River islands; several villages along the Okpara River are in dispute with Nigeria; in 2001 Benin claimed Togo moved the boundary stones - joint commission presently resurveying the boundary
194	Bermuda	none
195	Bhutan	approximately 100000 Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal 90% of whom reside in seven UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees camps place decades-long strains on Nepal
196	Bolivia	continues to press Chile and Peru to restore the Atacama corridor ceded to Chile in 1884; Chile demands water rights to Bolivia's Rio Lauca and Silala Spring
197	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia and Montenegro have delimited about half of their boundary but sections along the Drina River remain in dispute; discussions continue with Croatia on problem sections of the Una River and villages at the base of Mount Pljesevica
198	Botswana	established a commission with Namibia to resolve small residual disputes along the Caprivi Strip including the Situngu marshlands along the Linyanti River; downstream Botswana residents protest Namibia's planned construction of the Okavango hydroelectric dam on Popa Falls; dormant dispute remains where Botswana Namibia Zambia and Zimbabwe boundaries converge
199	Djibouti	Djibouti maintains economic ties and border accords with 'Somaliland' leadership while maintaining some political ties to various factions in Somalia including the Somali Transitional National Government in Mogadishu
200	Dominican Republic	despite efforts to control illegal migration destitute Haitians continue to cross into the Dominican Republic
201	Kuwait	the Kuwait 1994 land and Khawr 'Abd Allah channel boundary demarcation ended Iraqi claims to Kuwait and Bubiyan and Warbah islands; Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are negotiating maritime boundary with Iran
202	Ireland	disputes with Iceland Denmark and the UK over the Faroe Islands continental shelf boundary outside 200 NM
203	Haiti	despite efforts to control illegal migration destitute Haitians continue to cross into Dominican Republic; claims US-administered Navassa Island
204	Heard Island and McDonald Islands	none
205	Holy See	none
206	Honduras	in 1992 ICJ ruled on the delimitation of 'bolsones'
207	Hong Kong	none
208	Howland Island	none
209	Hungary	Hungary has yet to amend status law extending special social and cultural benefits to ethnic Hungarians in neighboring states who protest the law
210	Iceland	Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Denmark Iceland and the UK
211	India	much of the rugged militarized boundary with China is in dispute but the two sides have participated in more than 13 rounds of joint working group sessions on this issue; India objects to Pakistan ceding lands to China in 1965 boundary agreement that India believes are part of disputed Kashmir; with Pakistan armed stand-off over the status and sovereignty of Kashmir continues; disputes with Pakistan over Indus River water sharing and the terminus of the Rann of Kutch which prevents maritime boundary delimitation; Joint Border Committee with Nepal continues to work on resolution of disputed boundary sections; dispute with Bangladesh over New Moore/South Talpatty Island in the Bay of Bengal prevents maritime boundary delimitation
212	Indian Ocean	some maritime disputes
213	Indonesia	East Timor-Indonesia Boundary Committee continues to meet regularly to survey and delimit land boundary; East Timor refugees delay return from camps in Indonesia; maritime delimitations with Australia and East Timor await further discussions; ICJ awarded Sipadan and Ligitan islands to Malaysia in 2002; Indonesian secessionists squatters and illegal migrants create repatriation problems for Papua New Guinea
214	Iran	Iran protests Afghanistan's limiting flow of dammed waters on Helmand River tributaries in response to prolonged drought in region; thousands of Afghan refugees still reside in Iran; despite restored diplomatic relations in 1990 disputes with Iraq over maritime and land boundaries navigation channel and other issues from eight-year war persist; UAE engage direct talks and Arab League support to resolve disputes over Iran's occupation of Tunb Islands and Abu Musa Island; Iran insists on division of the Caspian Sea into five equal sectors while other littoral states have generally agreed to equidistant seabed boundaries - Iran has threatened Azerbaijanian hydrocarbon exploration in disputed waters
215	Iraq	despite restored diplomatic relations in 1990 disputes with Iran over maritime and land boundaries navigation channel and other issues from eight-year war persist; land and Shatt al Arab boundary demarcation put an end to claims to Kuwait and to Bubiyan and Warbah islands but no maritime boundary exists with Kuwait in the Persian Gulf; Iraq protests Turkey's hydrological projects to regulate the Tigris and Euphrates rivers upstream
216	Isle of Man	none
217	Guinea	domestic fighting among disparate rebel groups in Guinea Liberia and Sierra Leone have created skirmishes deaths and refugees in border areas
218	Israel	West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation; Golan Heights is Israeli-occupied
219	Italy	Croatia and Italy continue to debate bilateral property and ethnic minority rights issues stemming from border changes after the Second World War
220	Jamaica	none
221	Jan Mayen	none
222	Japan	islands of Etorofu Kunashiri and Shikotan and the Habomai group occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945 now administered by Russia claimed by Japan; Liancourt Rocks
223	Jarvis Island	none
224	Jersey	none
225	Johnston Atoll	none
226	Jordan	none
227	Juan de Nova Island	claimed by Madagascar
228	Kazakhstan	Kazakhstan and China have resolved their border dispute and are working to delimit their large open borders to control population migration illegal activities and trade; delimitation of boundary with Russia is scheduled for completion in 2003 - delimitations with Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are complete with demarcations underway - delimitation with Kyrgyzstan is largely complete; equidistant seabed treaties have been signed with Azerbaijan and Russia in the Caspian Sea but no resolution has been made on dividing the water column among any of the littoral states; no resolution of Caspian seabed boundary with Turkmenistan
229	Kenya	Kenya's administrative boundary still extends into the Sudan creating the 'Ilemi triangle'
230	Kingman Reef	none
231	Kiribati	none
232	Guyana	all of the area west of the Essequibo
233	Guinea-Bissau	separatist war in Senegal's Casamance region results in refugees and cross-border raids arms smuggling and other illegal activities and political instability in Guinea-Bissau
234	East Timor	East Timor-Indonesia Boundary Committee meets regularly to survey and delimit the land boundary; some East Timor refugees delay return from camps in Indonesia; maritime delimitation and resource-sharing agreements signed with Australia resolved dispute over 'Timor Gap' hydrocarbon reserves but maritime agreement with Indonesia awaits further discussions
235	French Guiana	Suriname claims area between Riviere Litani and Riviere Marouini
236	Ecuador	none
237	Egypt	Egypt and Sudan retain claims to administer the triangular areas that extend north and south of the 1899 Treaty boundary along the 22nd Parallel but have withdrawn their military presence - Egypt is economically developing the 'Hala'ib triangle' north of the Treaty line
238	El Salvador	in 1992 the ICJ ruled on the delimitation of 'bolsones'
239	Equatorial Guinea	in 2002 ICJ ruled on an equidistance settlement of Cameroon-Equatorial Guinea-Nigeria maritime boundary in the Gulf of Guinea but states have not yet agreed to abide by the decision; creation of a maritime boundary in hydrocarbon-rich Corisco Bay with Gabon is hampered by dispute over small islets on Mbane/Mbagne bank administered and occupied by Gabon since the 1970s
240	Eritrea	Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to abide by 2002 independent boundary commission delimitation decision but demarcation scheduled to begin in 2003 has been hampered by technical delays and Ethiopian concerns that the decision ignored 'human geography' and awarded Badme the focus of the 1998-2000 war to Eritrea demarcation of the boundary has been postponed indefinately; UN Peacekeeping Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea
241	Estonia	Russia continues to reject signing and ratifying the joint December 1996 technical border agreement with Estonia
242	Ethiopia	Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to abide by 2002 independent boundary commission delimitation decision but demarcation scheduled to begin in 2003 has been hampered by technical delays and Ethiopian concerns that the decision ignored 'human geography' and awarded Badme the focus of the 1998-2000 war to Eritrea demarcation of the boundary has been postponed indefinately; Ethiopia maintains only an administrative line and no international border with the Oromo region of southern Somalia and maintains alliances with local clans in opposition to the Transitional National Government in Mogadishu; 'Somaliland' secessionists provide port facilities and trade ties to land-locked Ethiopia; efforts to demarcate the porous boundary with Sudan have been delayed by civil war there
243	Europa Island	claimed by Madagascar
244	Falkland Islands	claimed by Argentina whose forces briefly occupied it in 1982 but now declares it will no longer seek settlement by force
245	Faroe Islands	Faroese are considering proposals for full independence; Denmark dispute with Iceland over the Faroe Islands fisheries median line boundary of 200 NM; Denmark disputes with Iceland the UK and Ireland over the Faroe Islands continental shelf boundary outside 200 NM
246	Federated States of Micronesia	none
247	Fiji	none
248	Finland	none
249	France	Madagascar claims Bassas da India Europa Island Glorioso Islands and Juan de Nova Island; Comoros claims Mayotte; Mauritius claims Tromelin Island; territorial dispute between Suriname and French Guiana; territorial claim in Antarctica
250	French Polynesia	none
251	Guernsey	none
252	French Southern and Antarctic Lands	'Adelie Land' claim in Antarctica is not recognized by the US
253	Gabon	creation of a maritime boundary in hydrocarbon-rich Corisco Bay with Equatorial Guinea is hampered by dispute over small islets on Mbane/Mbagne bank administered and occupied by Gabon since the 1970s
254	Gaza Strip	West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation
255	Georgia	boundary with Russia has been largely delimited but not demarcated with several small strategic segments remaining in dispute and OSCE observers monitoring volatile areas such as the Pankisi Gorge in the Akhmeti region and the Argun Gorge in Abkhazia; Meshkheti Turks scattered throughout the former Soviet Union seek to return to Georgia; ethnic Armenian groups in Javakheti region of Georgia seek greater autonomy closer ties with Armenia
256	Germany	none
257	Ghana	Ghana has received many refugees and returning nationals escaping rebel fighting in Cote d'Ivoire
258	Gibraltar	Gibraltar residents vote overwhelmingly in referendum against 'total shared sovereignty' arrangement worked out between Spain and UK to change 300-year rule over colony
259	Glorioso Islands	claimed by Madagascar
260	Greece	Greece and Turkey have resumed discussions to resolve their complex maritime air territorial and boundary disputes in the Aegean Sea; Cyprus question with Turkey; dispute with The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia over its name
261	Greenland	uncontested dispute between Canada and Denmark over Hans Island in the Kennedy Channel between Ellesmere Island and Greenland
262	Grenada	none
263	Guadeloupe	none
264	Guam	none
265	Guatemala	Guatemalan squatters continue to settle in Belize border region; OAS brokered Differendum in 2002 creating small adjustment to land boundary large Guatemalan maritime corridor in Caribbean joint ecological park for disputed Sapodilla Cays and substantial US-UK financial package but agreement was not brought to popular referendum leaving Guatemalan claim to southern half of Belize intact
266	Zimbabwe	dormant dispute remains where Botswana Namibia Zambia and Zimbabwe boundaries converge

Back to statistical information of Coral Sea Islands Territory 2003

Coral Sea Islands Territory
Atlas

You found a piece of the puzzle

Please click here to complete it