A Map of the Uganda / Kenya Border Dispute Over Migingo Island

I expect this map to change over the next few days as it is the best representation I could make after reading many stories and reviewing a bunch of maps on the Internet.

Uganda and Kenya have been arguing over who owns the small island, barely visible at the center of the map above. The dispute has been brewing over the last few years and has finally led to a joint survey that is being conducted this week by both countries with results expected as soon as this week (May 15th). As far as I can tell, the dispute comes down to whether the islands are East or West of the Western tip of Pyramid Island just to the South. Pyramid Island is referenced in the constitutions of both countries. From the Western shore of Pyramid Island, the border line continues North to another island. If the shores of Migingo Island are West of that line then the island is in Uganda, otherwise, they are in Kenya.

I have drawn the islands as being just barely in Kenya as the most recent press and other descriptions seem to be leaning towards a situation where the island is in Kenya but the water just West of the Island is in Uganda. This would be ironic because the source of the dispute is fishing rights over the dwindling Nile Perch that are still in abundance around the island.

The island was uninhabited until at least 1991 when two Kenyan fisherman say they set up residence. Uganda says that a Ugandan fisherman started living on the island in 2004 and had found the island abandoned. The island is about half the size of a football field and barely above water. It may have even been below water in previous years when the waters of Lake Victoria were higher. It is amazing to see the island itself because it is basically a large rock with a bunch of tin hacks that house the islands 1000 or so residents. There is barely any open space on the island.

I plan to update the map once the surveyors complete theirs. Apologies in advance for any inaccuracies but I wanted to get the story out while it is still unfolding.

A Map of the Senkaku Islands Territory Dispute Between China and Japan

Only the discovery of fossil fuels would make two countries argue over what had previously been described as "terra nullius" (vacant territory), and "barron rocks". The Senkaku Islands are made up of 8 land masses... five uninhabited islets and three rocks. What lies underneath is what makes them suddenly so interesting.

The islands lie 120 nautical miles west of Okinawa and North East of Taiwan. The dispute is primarily between Japan and China but China needs the proximity and history of Taiwan to bolster it's claim so Taiwan is part of the dispute by proxy.

The earliest recorded reference to the Islands seems to come from China. There is even a Japanese map that shows the islands as Chinese territory. Japan claims the islands as spoils from the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseky it signed with China after the First Sino-Japanese War. China's claims originate from the Treaty of San Francisco which was signed by Japan and the Allies after World War II and rendered the Treaty of Shimonoseky null and void.

After WWII, the United States administered the Senkaku Islands until 1972 when it handed administrative control over to Japan along with Okinawa. China's (and Taiwan's) renewed interest in the islands started in 1970 (coincidentally just two years after the potential for oil was discovered). The dispute continues and the islands have had a regular presence in the news as an Asian flashpoint. The United Nation's "Law of the Sea" gives nations control over a 200 nautical mile "exclusive economic zone" (EEZ) surrounding their territory. EEZ's include seabed and submarine resources like oil and natural gas. The border in the lower right and encompassing everything above it on the map is China's EEZ claim and extends out from Taiwan's border to the south-west. The border in the top left is Japan's EEZ claim and extends out from the (undisputed) islands in its Okinawa prefecture.

Not willing to wait till the matter is formally resolved, China built a natural gas drilling platform outside of Japan's claimed territory but which is capable of drilling into the disputed area to extract gas. Skirmishes and posturing continue including altercations between Chinese, Taiwanese and Japanese ships circling the islands to assert their claims.

Although Senkaku is the Japanese name for the group of islands, China refers to them as the Diaoyo Islands. Diaoyu and the Japanese name for Uotsuri, the largest island translate as, "Fishing".

Sources: Wikipedia , Christian Science Monitor , The Guardian

"Betweenity" - A Map of the Brazil / Uruguay Border Dispute over Brazilian Island

It's strange that the island being disputed is called, Brazilian Island as the name makes it sound like there's no dispute at all. Information on the roots of the dispute are scarce. The island is at the confluence of the Quarai, Cuareim, and Invernada rivers. The rivers form a tripoint border with Argentina but the Argentinian border is not under dispute.

In an essay titled, "Islands in Between", Godfrey Baldacchino offers the following observation, "We should not be surprised: borders, in spite of conventional wisdom and official intent, are often porous, permeable features: they are liminal spaces with osmotic properties, important tools in a contemporary game of economic prosperity, military strategy or national security. Even here, islands ‘in between’can play a key role."

The same article quotes the Former Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago as saying that his country operates in a state of "betweenity" having been claimed by more than one nation. I like that word. It would have been a good way to describe my career on more than one occasion.

A Map of the Kuril Islands Border Dispute Between Japan and Russia

The dispute between Japan and Russia is over the southern-most islands in the Kuril Island chain, specifically Iturup, Kunashir, and Shikotan Islands, and the Habomai Rocks. The current dispute dates from the aftermath of WWII when the Allies dictated terms to Germany and Japan. Treaties that reference ownership of the islands include the Yalta Agreement, The San Francisco Treaty, the Potsdam Declaration, and the Treaty of Portsmouth. None of these treaties however seem capable of resolving the dispute. They either fail to describe the specific border, which islands are included or, as is the case with the San Francisco Treaty, the treaty was not signed by both Russia and Japan. The San Francisco Treaty is also the source of the dispute over nearby Sakhalin Island. Reading snippets from some of these treaties and seeing all the problems they cause makes me think I could be a treaty writer.

Though not a new dispute, the Kuril Islands were in the news again on November 1st, 2010 when Russian President Medvedev visited Kunashir Island, the island closest to Japan's undisputed island of Hokkaido. The video I saw on CNN of Medvedev taking pictures of the coastline made him look more like a tourist than a global leader throwing salt in Japan's eyes. The message to Japan was quite clear.

Since Japan is an island nation, The Kuril Islands seem like a natural continuation of its other, undisputed islands. Of course Russia might say that they are the continuation of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Japan is not asking for all of them... only 3 plus some rocks. And since Japan is small and Russia is so big, the part of me that cheers for the underdog wants to say, "come on Russia, show some love."

A Map of the Strange Borders Between Pakistan and India around the Siachen Glacier

The Siachen Glacier is part of a larger territory dispute between India and Pakistan. Both India and Pakistan have had a significant military presence here (mostly along the Saltoro Ridge) since April 1984. The conflict has been called, The Highest Battleground in the World". Pakistan and India spend upwards of $1 million dollars a day to keep troops amassed along such demanding and inhospitable terrain.

The strangeness of the border is largely due to the history of the conflict with an important contributing role by the USA. The majority of the border between India and Pakistan in Kashmir is defined by what is known as the "Line of Control"... essentially the cease fire line that was negotiated and agreed to by both sides. The Line of Control is the dashed line in the lower left area of the map. In that agreement the border extended only to a point known as NJ9842 (shown on the map). The geography north of that point was considered too mountainous, cold and inhospitable to be of interest to either party. So the agreement fixed the NJ9842 point and then added the clause, "and thence north to the glaciers". This description actually worked for many years because the area was of little strategic interest. Sometime in the 1980s, the US military created a map of the area that continued the border all the way to the Karakoram Pass. This effectively gave the otherwise unclaimed territory to Pakistan. Around the same time, Pakistan had also started to grant climbing permits to K2, the Himilayan mountain known as the hardest mountain to climb. When the Indian Army learned of this, they immediately assembled a military expedition to the Siachen Glacier. The glacier and the surrounding mountains range from 19,000 to 22,000 feet above sea level. The whole area is extremely cold and heavily glaciated. It is sometimes called The Third Pole. Never-the-less both Pakistani and Indian troops have chosen to remain amassed along the Saltoro Ridge.

Most conflicts seem to start when one party draws a border that another doesn't like. In this case, It was the absence of a clear border that started all the fuss. Both India and Pakistan realize that the standoff is an exercise in futility and hope to end it. There have been discussions between the two countries but none have proven successful.