Barren fields, armed guards, barbed wire, steel fences; most people would summon images of these if they were asked to imagine a country’s border. However, this is not always the case. Borders can get really strange. From complex enclaves to islands divided by an international border or dateline, some places in the world have the most unusual borders. Not only do they make for a fascinating insight into a country’s culture, they also give wonderful insight into history as well. That being said, here are 4 of the most unusual borders in the world.
Enclaves
Lesotho checks all the boxes to be a country but unlike most countries in the world, it is located inside South Africa. Similarly, the Vatican is situated entirely within Italy. Territories like these are called Enclaves. Enclaves are bizarre. But it gets even more complex with 2nd order and 3rd order enclaves.
A 2nd order enclave occurs when you have a country X and country Y such that some portion of country X is surrounded by country Y which is fully surrounded by country X. That means an enclave inside an enclave.
Similarly, a 3rd order enclave is an enclave within an enclave which is inside another enclave.
Let’s look at some examples-
Netherlands and Belgium
There is a town called Baarle on the border of Netherlands and Belgium. Unlike Lesotho and the Vatican, Baarle is a 2nd order enclave. That is to say, within the Netherlands side of the border there are tens of Belgian exclaves (exclaves are similar to enclaves but unlike enclaves, exclaves can be surrounded by more than one state) and many of these Belgian exclaves have Netherlands enclaves inside of them. Now it might make more sense if all of these borders were actively drawn in the town. But as it turns out, these borders have passed through everywhere including restaurants, super shops, even through peoples’ living rooms. But what makes it weirder is that there are different laws and regulations between the two countries that are actively enforced inside each enclave and exclave. These laws, in turn, have made different settings, including restaurants, shops, and other similar businesses, function differently.
For example, there were laws in Baarle regulating how long a restaurant could remain open in the Netherlands and in Belgium. That led many cross-border restaurants to close a portion of their setting and customers would have to get up and move tables if they were sitting on the side of the country that closed earlier.
The United Arab Emirates and Oman
Talking about the most unusual borders in the world, Oman has an exclave named Madha within the UAE which is completely separated from the Omani mainland. But there is a piece of land called Nahwa inside of this Omani exclave which is owned by the UAE, making it a 2nd order enclave. Madha is mostly empty but the developed portion of the territory which is called “New Madha” contains roads, a school, a police station, and an Eidgah.
Madha is the only territory between the UAE and Oman with no barrier and there is no border crossing between Madha, Nahwa, or the UAE.
On a side note, the border between Bangladesh and India was even weirder. In total there were 198 enclaves of which there were even a 3rd order enclave inside of Bangladesh. However, in 2015 an agreement was finalized between two countries and the issue was resolved.
Diomede Islands
Located in the middle of the Bering Strait, Diomede Islands are a pair of islands situated barely a mile away from each other between the USA and Russia. The bigger one is called the “Big Diomede” which is owned by Russia and the smaller one is called the “Little Diomede” which is owned by the USA. But the most fascinating fact about these islands is that these islands are divided by an international date line. Because of this, Big Diomede is almost a day ahead of Little Diomede even though they are just a mile apart. This is why they are sometimes called “Tomorrow Island (Big Diomede)” and “Yesterday Island (Little Diomede)”.
The Korean Table
Can you name the most famous border in the world? There might be many suitable answers to this question but if we look back in history, the border between North Korea and South Korea may seem the most appropriate. That being said, this is arguably the most famous border in the world. However, there is a little known fun fact about this border that many people might find fascinating. This border literally divides a table into two. Where one side of the table is owned by North Korea and another by South Korea. This allows officials from both countries to arrange meetings and negotiate deals without having to leave their respective countries.
The reason why these unusual borders exist in the first place is either rooted in fascinating history or just because of geographical positioning. Although there is no shortage of unusual borders in the world, we found these the most intriguing.
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