Abyei is an area of 10,546 square kilometers in Sudan with the town of Abyei at its center that was given “special administrative status” in the 2004 peace agreement that ended the Second Sudanese Civil War. Sudan and South Sudan still fight over the area because it encompasses the unclear border between the two countries, and contains rich oil reserves. When the region first separated into Sudan and the new South Sudan, the residents of Abyei were told they could decide which Sudan they’d like to be a part of, but then that choice was taken away from them. Several wars have broken out over the area since then, and the military has swept through several times. The area is still disputed today.
Source: Enoughproject.org
Disputes over Badme, a town in the Horn of Africa, triggered the Eritrean-Ethiopian War between 1998 and 2000. Badme is claimed by both Eritrea, which considers it part of Gash-Barka Zone, and Ethiopia, which considers it part of the Semien Mi’irabawi Zone of the Tigray Region. The war was devastating, both in terms of casualties and finances for the countries, and in the end, only a tiny modification to the borders was made. Ethiopia won the entire disputed area by the end of the war, and still holds it.
Source: Eritrea.be
Bakassi is a peninsula on the African Atlantic Gulf of Guinea. Nigeria and Cameroon have disputed the area and taken up arms over it, but in 1994 they took the matter to the International Court of Justice. Both countries pointed to several treaties throughout history set up by past European occupants that supported their own argument to control the area. The International Court of Justice finally handed control over to Cameroon. Nigeria at first refused to remove troops, but the UN stepped in and Nigeria removed troops.
Source: Theguardian.com
Banc du Geyser is a mostly submerged reef in the Mozambique channel that is claimed by France, Madagascar and the Comoros. Only exposed at low tides, the reef measures eight kilometers (five miles) long and five kilometers (three miles) wide. France believes the reef is part of its Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean. The Comoros believe the area is a part of their exclusive economic zone handed over by the U.N. on the Law of the Sea giving a region rights to explore and use the marine resources of an area. Madagascar said it had annexed the reef in 1976, presumably because of the possibility of oil fields in the area.
Source: Globalsecurity.org
Egypt and Sudan both claim an area called Bir Tawil in the Hala’ib Triangle.
Bir Tawil is a 2,060 square kilometer (795 square mile) area along the border between the two countries. The dispute exists essentially because the Sudanese border doesn’t meet the Egyptian border. Because the political and administrative boundaries were set in different places for the two areas, the area is poorly defined. Egypt has controlled the area since the 1990s, when it sent military units in.
Source: Sudantribune.com
This region is disputed by Mauritius and the U.K. Mauritius claims the archipelago is a part of its outer islands, but the U.K. says it is part of the British Indian Ocean Territory. The archipelago formally became a part of the British Indian Ocean Territory in 1965.
Source: Theguardian.com
The Glorioso Islands are a group of French islands in the northern Mozambique channel. Today the islands are nature reserves overseen by France, but Madagascar, Comoros and Seychelles all claim sovereignty over the region. The French have, in the past, allowed Seychelles companies to exploit the region. It is a nesting ground for sea turtles and migratory seabirds, and was once quarried for phosphate.
Source: Un.org
Sudan and South Sudan both have claimed the area since a series of border changes in the southern Upper Nile and the White Nile state. Locals dispute a large portion of the territory, but Sudan and South Sudan only dispute Jodha—a small region near the current Sudan-South Sudan border.
Source: Polgeonow.com
KaNgwane was created for Swazi people not living in Swaziland. Under apartheid, the region was designated as the bantustan (the black state) for Swazi people. It was the least populated of the ten homelands, with an estimated 183,000 inhabitants.When South Africa abolished the apartheid system, it was at first unclear if KaNgwane would go to Swaziland or South Africa. it was eventually incorporated into South Africa as part of Mpumalanga, formerly the Eastern Transvaal.
Source: Britannica.com
The Congolese and Angolans have fought over this area for many years, because the two countries’ strange shapes have made the borders unclear. But in 2007, the Congolese interior minister said the territory does belong to Angola, and arranged to have border modifications made to reflect that.
Source: Menas.co.uk
The Mayotte archipelago is located in the northern Mozambique Channel between Northwestern Madagascar and Northeastern Mozambique. Mayotte’s area is 374 square kilometres (144 square miles). With a population of 212,645, it is very densely populated (569 people per square kilometer or 1,473 per square mile. Mayotte consists of a main island, Grande-Terre (or Maore), a smaller island, Petite-Terre (or Pamanzi), and several islets around them.
Mayotte became an overseas French department in 2009 based on the will of the people, who voted overwhelmingly to remain part of France in a referendum. Until 2009, Mayotte was an overseas collectivity of France.
The territory is geographically part of the Comoro Islands, but the people of Mayotte chose to remain politically a part of France in a 1975 referendum. However the African Union and Comoros have protested this change.
On Jan. 1 2014, Mayotte became an Outermost region of the European Union.
Source: Infoplease.com
This area is claimed by Malawi and Tanzania. Tanzania believes the international border goes through the center of the lake, but Malawi believes it should control the surface of the lake (including the area beneath it) that runs to the shores of Tanzania. When the British controlled the area, they claimed the international border would run through the middle of the lake, but that they would maintain control over two islands which, today, belong to Malawi. Malawi believes it should control the entire area.
Source: Africajournalismtheworld.com
This region sparked a war between Ethiopia and Somalia between 1977 and 1978. At one point, the U.S. backed Ethiopia in the war, and when Ethiopia backed out, the Soviet Union (which had been backing Somalia) switched to backing Ethiopia. When this happened, the U.S. decided to back Somalia, and the war quickly became a display of tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union as much as it was a display of tensions between the two African countries. Eventually Somali forces retreated and Ethiopia gained control over the area.
Source: Martinplaut.wordpress.com
This area has been disputed between Namibia and South Africa for more than 120 years, dating back to a Britain-Germany treaty that defined the boundaries of Namibia. Since then, border adjustments have made the limitations of the treaty unclear. South Africa claims the border runs along the bank of the Orange River. Namibia claims it runs up the middle of the river.
Source: Academia.edu
Perejil Island lies between Spain and Morocco. The island was unclaimed and tensions rose when Moroccan soldiers went there in 2002 to wave their flag. The Spanish Coast Guard spotted this, but when they approached the island they were forced back onto their boats at gunpoint. This led to several attempts by both Morocco and Spain to send troops to the island. Finally the U.S. stepped in to mediate, and the island has returned to its original, unclaimed status.
Source: Theguardian.com
