Understanding exclaves: A look at countries with unique territories

Exclaves. A lot of countries in the world have them. Many exclaves are also enclaves, but not all and understanding the difference between the two was something that took me a little too long. But after some research, I found a really cool website that explained all the different types of enclaves and exclaves using a made up map. I will post a link in the description. They use 4 made up territories, A, B, C and D. D is an enclave, it is entirely surrounded by another territory. A is a country that has three exclaves, A1, A2, and A3. And they can also be enclaves. But are they? Let's find out. A1 isn't a true enclave, because it touches the sea. It's therefore called a semi-enclave, in addition to being an exclave. A2 is also not an enclave, because it shares borders with B and C. A true enclave has to be fully surrounded by one single territory. A3 however is fully an enclave while still being an exclave because it is a part of A that is separated from its main territory. To sum up, exclaves are territories disconnected from their mainland. They can or can't be enclaves as well depending on their location. But here we're going to focus on exclaves regardless of their enclave status, these parts of countries that are separated from their mainland. I found a page that listed almost 50 of them worldwide, although they often include islands which aren't very interesting to talk about. So I selected the ones I thought were most interesting for this video and the ones we'll be talking about are Kaliningrad in Russia, Baarle-Hertog in the Netherlands, Nakhchivan in Azerbaijan, Madha in Oman, Cabinda in Angola, Campione d'Italia in Italy, Llivia in Spain and Alaska in the United States. which these exclaves are and why they exist, so let's jump right into it. First, Kaliningrad. A Russian semi-exclave located between Lithuania and Poland, about 663 kilometers west from mainland Russia. The city used to be called Königsberg, being ruled by German people since it was founded by the Teutonic Knights in 1215, being chosen as the Teutonic and the Prussian Duchy's capital. It then became a part of the German Empire. During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied it and conquered it, then being granted ownership over it through the Treaty of Potsdam in 1945, being renamed Kaliningrad in 1946 in honor of Soviet revolutionary Mikhail Kalinin, and they own the territory up to today. Then, Baarle-Hertog. Baarle-Hertog is a mess of a territory, ruled literally in a patchwork system by both the Netherlands and Belgium. It's very confusing to understand, but from what I could interpret, all of it is located inside the Dutch province of North Brabant. Inside it, here in yellow, are parts of the Belgian province of Antwerp, inside of which counter-exclaves and counter-enclaves of the Netherlands. There are maybe 30 separated parcels of land, here we can only see the main ones. The various exclaves result from a number of chaotic medieval treaties and sales between the lords of Breda from the Netherlands and the dukes of Brabant from the Holy Roman Empire. These distributions were then ratified under the Treaty of Maastricht in 1843 and remained for the countries of the Netherlands and Belgium. During the First World War, the situation meant that the German Imperial Army could not occupy these parts of Belgium without crossing the Netherlands, which the Dutch government wouldn't allow. So, these pieces of Belgium became a place where refugees could safely stay. With both countries now being a part of the EU and its free movement area, the situation no longer presents any issue other than a fun border fact. Moving to Nakhchivan, an exclave of Azerbaijan bordering Armenia, Iran, and a little bit of Turkey even, but being disconnected from the country of which it is a part of. It used to be a part of the kingdom of Armenia in 1500 BC, being disputed throughout history by Persians, Mongols, and Turks. In the 16th century, Safavid Iran controlled the area, losing it to the Russians in 1828 in the Russo-Persian War. After Russia went from an empire to the Soviet Union, the territory went into chaos, being ruled by a temporary Transcaucasian Federation, then disputed by the also short-lived First Versions of the Republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan and then occupied by the Ottomans in 1918 until it was retaken by the Soviets in 1920. Finally, in 1921, Vladimir Lenin declared the Nakhchivan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic with close ties to the Azerbaijan Republic. With the dissolution of the USSR and the independence of Azerbaijan, it became an autonomous republic within Azerbaijan. In opposition there is an unofficial and unrecognized breakaway state within Azerbaijan, Artsakh, closely connected to Armenia, but not an exclave since they are territorially connected. Before we move on with the video, a message from today's sponsor, Speakly. Speakly is the fastest way to learn a foreign language. I've been trying to learn French for years and with Speakly I've finally been able to make more progress than ever. Speakly was created by two polyglots who both speak seven languages. They researched thousands of language learners for six years and created a unique method that teaches words and sentences based on their relevance in real-life situations. As opposed to other services that sometimes teach you useless vocabulary based on their research, this methodology helps you learn languages up to five times faster than usual, which means getting from zero to solid speaking skills in around 3-4 months, with only 30 minutes of daily learning. They're also the only app that actually lets you choose how you want to study, choosing writing, multiple choice or a combination of both. Try Speakly for free for 7 days and get a 60% discount if you join the annual subscription using the link in the description. Now, back to the video. Then we have Madha. When the 7 emirates formed the UAE, it was difficult to define the borders of this new united country. Within it, there is an exclave of Oman, Madha. There's not much to this, the UAE was formed by joining a number of emirates that existed in the region alongside Oman, at the time sharing strange and complex borders, which are to some extent still visible in the internal divisions of the UAE. When the seven emirates decided to unify, Oman wasn't a part of it, and so this specific strange border remained a reality. A fun fact, within that Oman exclave is the small United Emirates village of Nahwa, a counter-exclave, the name we give to exclaves inside exclaves. In Africa, Cabinda. Cabinda is an exclave of Angola, not very far but separated by a narrow strip of land belonging to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the only access to the sea that this country has. It also borders the Republic of the Congo in the north. In 1885, the Treaty of Simulambuku established Cabinda as a protectorate of the Portuguese Empire, which also ruled Angola. But they were seen as a different colony for a while, with Cabinda even being called Portuguese Congo for some time. By the mid-20th century, the borders of Angola finally were established in negotiations with neighboring colonial powers. From then on, Cabinda was treated as a part of this colony. Once the Portuguese colonial empire collapsed, Cabinda became a part of Angola. There's actually a small independence movement to make it a sovereign state, but I don't think it has much support. Back in Europe is Campione d'Italia. Campione is an Italian exclave part of the province of Como, but separated from contiguous Italy and surrounded by the Swiss canton of Ticino. The d'Italia was added in the 1930s by Italian dictator Mussolini to assert the exclave's Italian character. At its closest, the exclave is less than one kilometer from the rest of Italy, but the mountainous terrain requires a journey by road through the Swiss village of Bisson and then it takes over 14 kilometers. Despite being Italian, they used the Swiss franc as currency instead of the Italian euro and they were part of the Swiss customs until 2020. The reason this Italian exclave exists goes way back in history, so let's try to summarize it. In 777, a Lombard lord left his inheritance of this land to the Archbishop of Milan. In 1512, Pope Julius transferred the ownership of the surrounding area of Ticino to Switzerland as a thank you for their support in the War of the Holy League. When Ticino chose to become a part of the Swiss Confederation in 1798, the people of Campione chose to remain a part of Lombardy. After Italian unification in 1861, all land west of Lake Lugano, which borders the town, was given to Switzerland so that Swiss trade and transport would not have to pass through Italy. Since then, all surrounding areas have been a part of Switzerland, with the town itself remaining Italian. Also in Europe, for the rest, Llivia. Llivia is a Spanish possession and while being very close to Spain, it is technically located inside of France, a town in the province of Girona in Catalonia. It's disconnected from contiguous Spain and surrounded by the French department of the Pyrénées-Orientales. The separation is a small corridor of about 1.6 kilometers wide, so why do the Spanish control it if it's separated from the rest of the country? The answer is a technical phrasing detail in a treaty. In 1659, the Treaty of the Pyrenees ended a war between Spain and France and ceded a number of Spanish border territories to the French crown. However, despite being in the same region, Llivia did not become a part of the Kingdom of France, as the treaty stipulated that only villages were to be it to France, then Llivia was considered a town, because of its status as an ancient important city. And finally for this video, Alaska. Alaska is a semi-exclave, it is separated from the contiguous United States, but it only borders Canada on one side, not being surrounded by it, with the rest being the Pacific and Arctic oceans, as well as a sea border with Russia. Alaska is the largest state of the US and is one of only two that are disconnected from the mainland, along with a small archipelago of Hawaii. So why do the US control it? Simple, along with much of their territory, they bought it. Alaska was first inhabited by natives, in fact, it is widely believed that the region served as the entry point for the initial settlement of North America by humans through way of the Bering Land Bridge, which I think today no longer exists. The Russian Empire was the first to actively colonize the area beginning in the 18th century, eventually establishing Russian America which spanned most of the current state. The cost and logistical difficulties of maintaining this distant possession led to its sale to the US in 1867 for 7.2 million dollars, equivalent to 140 million now, approximately 2 cents per acre, a very cheap price. The area went through several administrative changes before becoming organized as a territory in 1912, then being admitted as a state in 1959. So those are a few of the exclaves that countries have across the world. First understanding what an exclave is compared to an enclave and in which scenarios a territory can have both these designations at the same time. Then going through in my opinion some of the most interesting examples of exclaves in the world, which they are, who controls them and where they are located as well as how they came to exist. Do you think it makes sense for these exclaves to exist or should countries not be allowed to have territorially disconnected lands. Also, are there any other interesting exclaves that I didn't mention? Let me know in the comments. Thanks so much for watching this video, subscribe if you want, and I will see you next time for more general knowledge.