A Map of the Italy - Slovenia Border as it Passes Down the Middle of the Town of Gorizia

Gorizia is a town in the north eastern corner of Italy in the foothills of the Alps. The town lies on the border with Slovenia. The current border was set in 1947 as part of a Peace Treaty signed after World War II. Since then, as the city has grown it has affectively grown in two different countries... Gorizia on the Italian side and, on the Slovenian side, the twin city of Nova Gorica (New Gorizia). The border between the two countries effectively divides the city and runs right down the middle of the public square that lies in front of the town's railroad station.

Although the border remains where it has been since 1947, on December 21st, 2007, Slovenia joined the "Shengen Area", a group of 25 European nations that agreed to allow free passage across all borders to member citizens. Shengen Area nations are also now part of the European Union. This vastly eased movement between Italy and Slovenia... including where the border passes through the town of Gorizia. Still, boarding a train in Gorizia, Italy means a walk down Via Guiseppe Caprin, and crossing in Slovenia as you cross the public square in front of the train station. A crossing that not too long ago was considered illegal.

Sources: Wikipedia

A Map of the very strange borders between the Netherlands and Belgium at Baarle-Nassau

Without going into excruciating detail about allegiances to dukes, lords and kings, it is hard to explain the origin if this rather unique set of international borders. Suffice it to say that the land was bought, sold, and loaned through many generations to the point where the current land owners felt allegiance to either the Dutch or Belgian side of the border. When it came time to make the border official as art of the 1843 Treaty of Maastricht, 5732 separate parcels of land had to have their nationality laid down separately.

Fortunately the borders are all friendly. In fact, there were several opportunities to clean things up in subsequent treaties and negotiations that the residents refused to act on. The residents of Baarle-Nassau seem to enjoy their quirky borders and the ramifications they present.

There is at least one border line that passes directly through a building. With borders sometimes passing through the middle of properties, taxes were sometimes a challenge in the area. To clarify matters, the Dutch government set the rule that taxes would be paid to the country your front door opened up on. With taxes being higher on one side of the border than the other, the ruling was an invitation for creative renovations. If shop keepers didn't like the taxes they were paying, they were known to just move their front door so that it opened on the other country.

The primary border between the two countries lies about 5 kilometers south of Baarle-Nassau... just a short distance beyond the bottom of this map. What is truly unique about this set of borders is that it happens completely inside the Netherlands border. These are Belgian exclaves inside the Netherlands. But even more amazing is that there are Dutch exclaves completely inside the Belgian exclaves. The smallest plot, identified as H12 is just 28,331 square feet (a bit more than 1/2 an acre) in size. With all of the dysfunction between Israel and the Palestinians over land swaps, it is nice to see two countries getting along so well that there's no need to swap.

Sources: University of Buffalo , Wikipedia

A Map of the Border Between New York & New Jersey on Ellis Island

For so many immigrants, stepping off a ship onto Ellis Island was synonymous with arrival in New York City. Many years later, after the immigration station had closed and the buildings lie decaying, the US Supreme Court would decide that Ellis Island, with one small exception, was part of New Jersey.

The original colonial land grant for New Jersey defined it's border as the waterline of New York Bay and the Hudson River, meaning that the water and all islands within it belonged to New York. Most treaties place borders in the middle of natural borders like lakes and rivers. New Jersey tried to fight the claim starting in the early 1800s. In 1834 a compact between New York and New Jersey and ratified by the US Congress set the border as the middle of the Hudson River. This put jurisdiction and bragging rights over the island completely in New Jersey which they were quick to assert and claim in a court filing. The case went all the way up to the Supreme Court. New York fought hard but in the end was awarded only the small 3.3 acre section of the original island. Since that border follows the island's original shoreline it appears quite random today and passes through the middle of numerous buildings. The majority of the current island (most of it created by landfill from the digging of New York City subway tunnels) is now officially part of the State of New Jersey. Payback for Jersey's actions and perhaps the best argument for custody came from then Mayor Rudy Giuliani who remarked that his Italian father "never intended to emigrate to New Jersey."

In the pre-colonial days, Ellis Island was one of several, oyster-rich islands on the western tidal flats of Upper New York Bay. Other nearby islands included Liberty Island (originally Bedloe's Island and site of the Statue of Liberty) and Black Tom Island (named after an African-American that lived on the island according to local legend). Before becoming known as Ellis Island, it had been known as Dyre's Island, Bucking, Gibbet (Gibbet's being cages for displaying the dead bodies of convicted pirates), and lastly, Little Oyster Island. Samuel Ellis acquired the island during the American Revolution and first tried to sell it in 1785. New York State leased the island in 1794 until the Federal Government bought the island in 1808 and began expanding it before opening it as an immigration station in 1892.

Sources: Wikipedia 

The Border Between Egypt and Sudan at the Wadi Halfa Salient

Do you see the 52 villages in the map? No? That's because they were flooded by the damning of the Nile and the creation of Lake Nasser (known as Lake Nubia in Sudan). The strange bulge (known as a salient in cartography parlance) along this portion of the Egypt-Sudan border was originally surrounded the villages that dotted this section of the Nile.

Egypt and Sudan have 3 areas of land under dispute and a fourth that neither country claims. The original 1899 border between the two countries ran straight along the 22nd North Parallel line with no deviations. In 1902, Britain amended the border to account for some tribal and administrative issues. There were 52 villages where the Nile River crossed the 22nd Parallel. It was decided that these villages would be easier to maintain from the Sudanese side of the border so the border was changed to how it appears above. There appears to be a stretch of rough and desolate terrain North of this area that separates it from the next set of villages in current maps.

Egypt now claims this area along with the other two areas (Bir Tawil and the Hala'ib Triangle) in dispute. They maintain a military presence in the other two but not here as there is little of interest to guard.

Sources: Wikipedia 

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.

A Map of the Border Between the USA and Canada as it Passes Through the Town of Derby Line, Vermont

The story of Derby Line Vermont begins with a mistake and ends with an intentional act inspired by the mistake. For most of it's 2000 mile length, the USA / Canada border follows the 45th parallel. I have already written about the exception at the Northwest Angle in Minnesota that was created due to an error about how far North the Mississippi River went. Here in Vermont, the surveyors were intending to follow the 45th parallel, they were just a bit sloppy in their work and unintentionally marked the line too far North. The Town developed along the line along with it's sister town, Stanstead Quebec on the Canadian side.

Sometime in the latter part of the 1800s, Carlos Haskell an American met Martha Stewart (not that Martha Stewart) who had grown up on the Canadian side. They married and settled in Derby Line. Sometime around the turn of the century, they decided to honor the town's erratic border by building a library and opera house right on the border so that Americans and Canadians would both be able to use it. If I were erecting such a monument, I think I would have aligned the building so the border passed symbolically through the middle. Not so with the Haskell Free Library as it came to be known. The border passes diagonally through the building. The line is marked in the floor (you can see pictures of the interior at the CLUI link below). The line was requested by the insurance companies so they would pay only for damages to their part of the building.

In the library, the reading room is on the US side while the stacks are on the Canadian side. In the upstairs opera house, most of the seats are on the US side while the stage is on the Canadian side. This has prompted locals to call it alternatively, "the only library in the USA with no books" and "the only opera house in the USA with no stage".

Having such a small town straddles an international border invites a different perspective on international relations. The Center for Land Use Interpretation has an essay about the town on their website. The author makes the comment that two kids having a game of catch across the border would be perfectly legal. However, each time someone caught the ball they would have to walk over to the customs office to declare the ball.

When the Haskell's built the library, their intention was that people from both sides of the border would be able to use it. There are doors on the Canadian and USA side to enable this. The town also has several small roads that cross seamlessly across the border. All of this is threatened in the post-9/11 world because open, fuzzy borders make the US Department of Customs and Immigration nervous. There have been talks to tighten the links but, according to Wikipedia at least, the Haskell Free Library remains free and open to American and Canadian alike.

Sources: Wikipedia , CNN (via Internet Archive) , Clui.org

A Map of the Fractal Border Between India and Bangladesh near Haldibari

I had trouble finding background information about this strange section of border between India and Bangladesh. As you can partly tell from the lack of relationship between the rivers, the border here does not seem to be based on geographic features. As far as I can tell from the satellite images, the land here is fairly flat and mostly farm land.

Clearly, the border here is the result of some strange decision making. It is hard to know from a glance which side is India and which side is Bangledesh. My original guess was that it was part of the difficult and tumultuous partition of India into Pakistan, India and Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan). But apparently the complexity originates much earlier when the area was under the rule of two different kings. According to Wikipedia, "The enclaves were part of the high stake card or chess games centuries ago between two regional kings, the Raja of Cooch Behar and the Maharaja of Rangpur."

The specific reasons behind the border's strange path is possible to see in the places where the border creates almost a complete loop in it's already erratic course. When I zoom in on these spots, they seem to encircle a single estate or perhaps, a small village. I'd love to know the specifics of how the border-drawing process unfolded. If anyone knows some of the specifics, please let me know.

Sources: Wikipedia

A Map of the Border Dispute Between China and South Korea Over Socotra Rock

I debated what to draw for this map for reasons that will become clear. In the end, I decided to show only water because Socotra Rock, the focus of this dispute lies about 18 feet under water even at low tide) and the nearest borders are miles away. It is the first land dispute I’ve come across with no land involved. For a rock that rarely appears above water, it sure does have a lot of names. South Korea knows it as Leodo or Parangdo whereas China calls the rock, Suyon. Socotra, the commonly accepted name, comes from the British Ship that first “discovered” and charted the rock (more as a navigational hazard than a landmark).

Both the Peoples Republic of China and South Korea claim the rock. By objective measures, it lies closer to Korean territory at roughly 93 miles from the island of Marado (near the much larger Jeju Island). Sucotra Rock lies approximately 178 miles away from China's nearest island, Yushandao, almost double the distance between Korea and the rock. In the late 1990’s, Korea built a helipad and “Ocean Research Station” directly over the rock. Here is an image of the station.

Wikipedia claims that China later burned that station down in a raid. I was hoping to be able to see something in a satellite view on Google Maps but I think the rock is too small and insignificant to be covered by their images.

Coordinates: 32°07′22.63″N 125°10′56.81″E.

A Map of Gambia's Border as Defined by the Gambia River

You can call it, Gambia but the real name is, "The Gambia"... a bit of attitude from the smallest country in continental Africa. The country's entire border is defined by its namesake river and, were it not for its outlet to the Atlantic would be surrounded by Senegal. Rivers are used to mark borders all over the World but usually the river IS the border. Gambia is unique in that the river and its banks essentially define the country rather than the border.

Like too many countries in Africa, The Gambia owes its strange borders to its colonial-era overlords which included Portugal, Great Britain and France at various times. The country follows the path of the Gambia River with borders falling between 10 and 15 miles north and south of the river banks. The river and region have unfortunate close ties to the Atlantic Slave Trade. The Gambia River was navigable by tall ships far into the interior of the African continent enabling a disproportionate number of slaves to have left Africa by this route. Though the active slave trade had long-since ended, Gambia only officially abolished slavery in 1906.

Sources: Wikipedia

A Map of the Border between Malawi and Mozambique Near the Islands of Likoma and Chizumulu

I was browsing through a list of exclaves around the world when I happened upon these two islands in Eastern Africa. The islands are Malawian territory but sit entirely within Mozambique's territorial waters. I am shocked at the lack of drama behind some strange borders and these two islands appear to be no exception. Most of the history behind the border can be traced to the explorer, David Livingstone's explorations in the region and the establishment of the, "Universities Mission to Central Africa" Station on the Island of Likoma.

Upon reaching Lake Malawi in 1859, Livingstone named it Lake Nyasa. As the British began to colonize the African continent, they eventually claimed all of the territory surrounding the lake and named it Nyasaland. Portugal then colonized the Eastern shore of the lake. Since the British still had their mission station on Likoma Island, the islands were given to Malawi when the final borders were drawn up.

Although ownership of the islands is not under dispute, the name of the lake is. Malawi obviously prefers "Lake Malawi". Most other nearby nations prefer "Lake Nyasa". According to Wikipedia, the name Nyasa came about from a mistake in translation. Upon arriving at the Lake, David Livingstone reportedly asked his guide for the name of the lake. The word that came back was "Nyasa". However, nyasa basically meant "lake," the generic word not the lake's proper name (if it had one). Lake Nyasa stuck but should really be translated as "Lake Lake" in other languages. I have seen this happen many times when researching the history behind a place name for my maps. Many of the names for native peoples are the result of this type of confusion between a local population and foreign explorers.

A Map of the Strange Border and Banking Policies Between Austria and Germany around Jungholz

There is no shortage of interesting exclaves around the world and Jungholz does not disappoint. Like many other European exclaves, Jungholz owes its origins to Germany's Feudal era. Jungholz lies in a valley in the Alps. Once a German farmstead, it was sold to a new owner in what would eventually become Austria in 1342. Its location, completely surrounded by Germany was overlooked and eventually accepted as fact. There are no direct roads from Austria proper to Jungholz. By car, you must leave Austria, travel through Germany and then re-enter Austria in order to get to Jungholz. Accommodations have been made to ease the situation by giving Jungholz two area codes and two postal addresses, one German and one Austrian.

Perhaps the most interesting "dividend" of Jungholz's unique location is its banking rules. It has three German banks that operate a bit like their Cayman Island counterparts… off-shore banking without all the sand between your toes. As German banks operating inside Jungholz's tax-free status they offer the ability to transfer money to and from other German banks without incurring any fees. And since they operate inside of Austria, they are allowed to provide the cover of Austria's confidential banking laws which are second only to Switzerland's. One bank even has a James Bond-inspired bank product called, Goldfinger. According to an article on the Travel Intelligence website, the Reiffeisenbank offers the following reassurance to the prospective customer, “There are moments in life when you can’t compromise on confidentiality - for instance, when it comes to your money. Our Goldfinger Numbered Account makes absolute confidentiality a reality.”

Geographic isolation has its privileges.

Sources: Travel Intelligence , Wikipedia

A Map of the Exclaves of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in Kyrgyzstan

Although most of my map research focuses on the geography or history of an area, I often stumble on other topics of interest. In this case, it was the strategy of "Divide et Impera" (Divide and Rule) and how this strange set of exclaves relates to Joseph Stalin, James Madison and contemporary USA politics.

Under the former Soviet Union - Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan were all united despite being composed of a number of different ethnic groups and regions. Today's exclaves are a holdover from the Soviet days when Stalin sought to keep the various factions in the area at bay by implementing "divide et impera". The strategy is essentially the same as "divide and conquer." and includes getting local rulers to turn against each other in order to distract them from their conqueror. Another technique is to introduce impediments that divert local resources that could otherwise be used for military revolt. This seems to have been the case here. Farmers living in an exclave who want to sell their crops must deal with hostile border guards, extra transportation costs and tariffs in order to sell their crops back in the mother country. Exclaves are a formidable tool in the divide and rule arsenal.

The exclaves became official in 1991 with the breakup of the Soviet Union. To keep the map simple, I focused on these five exclaves, four belonging to Uzbekistan and one belonging to Tajikistan. There as many as four more in this region, the Fergana Valley, described by "Chirol" in the Coming Anarchy as, "a virtual archipelago of enclaves". Two of the exclaves are little more than a square kilometer in size and hard to find on many maps. One is described as "the immediate area surrounding a train station". Another might have no inhabitants.

Caesar, Stalin, and Napoleon all made use of divide et impera in their various conquests. Research on the topic led to references to James Madison's 'Federalist Paper No. 10' written in support of the US Constitution (and against the potential for independent states to implement defacto divide and conquer strategies. Madison believed that a strong federal government was key to overcoming the problems of independent factions arguing for their own interests at the expense of others. No. 10 is considered by many to be the most important and influential of the Federalist Papers. According to the Wikipedia entry "Madison argued that a strong, big republic would be a better guard against those dangers than smaller republics". This is a debate that continues today.

During the American Civil War, the South's stated position was not in favor of slavery but in favor of the States' rights to choose. At the end of the day, it was about slavery but arguing for the right of each state to decide on its own is classic "divide and conquer" behavior. This strategy, intentional or not, continues today on topics like healthcare and immigration policy. These are difficult issues. Local control often satisfies local opinions but can keeps an issue from being fully resolved and has the potential to create enclaves of policy.

Sources: The Economist , Webs.com , Wikipedia , Caravanistan

A Map of the Estonia & Latvia Border as it Passes Through the Town of Valga

Valga, or Valka as it is known in Latvia, has more than its fair share of existential challenges. Between 1298 and 1558 it was invaded and burnt to the ground or destroyed six times. It has been colonized or occupied by Sweden and then Russia and Germany twice. Finally, from at least 1920, the town was split into two pieces and divided between Latvia and Estonia. The fences and border gates finally came down in 2009 but the town remains divided by two very different languages, one Nordic and similar to Finnish, the other one of only two still-spoken Baltic languages. As a result it is hard for people from the two sides of town to communicate and Russian is often used as the common language for those that speak it.

As with several other strange or disputed borders in this set, the people of Estonia and Latvia have a Brit to thank for the border running down the middle of their town. In 1920, Colonel S. G. Tallents helped lay out the border with most of the town going to Estonia with the exception of the area surrounding Lugazi Square.

As with other strange borders, the town's unique history has now made it something of a tourist attraction. The Visit Estonia website asks, "Where else could you stand, one foot in one country, holding “jäätis” (ice cream in Estonian) in your left hand and other foot in another country, holding “saldejums” (ice cream in Latvian) in your right hand?”

Thanks to Käty Tarkpea for alerting me to this border curiosity

Sources: Geosite , Wikipedia , Visit Estonia

A Map of the Border Between Nebraska and Iowa at Carter Lake

Poor little Carter Lake. It reminds me of the phrase, "a mystery wrapped inside an enigma" from the Oliver Stone film, 'JFK'. Carter Lake is a town in Iowa surrounded by a namesake oxbow lake that it doesn't own, then Nebraska, and finally, the sweeping curve of the Missouri River. It is the only town in Iowa that lies west of the Missouri River. According to Wikipedia, there was a flood in 1877 that redirected the course of the Missouri which left Carter Lake on the wrong side from that point on.

There are a number of strange borders in the US that are the result of river courses. When the initial borders were being drawn up, care was taken to not orphan small areas on the far side of a river that would make the area hard to govern. Bridges across major rivers were rare in those days and the natural boundaries of the rivers mattered. But rivers are dynamic and their courses are always changing particularly in flat, easily flooded land. I have already documented two other examples where this has happened, The "New Madrid Bend" border between Kentucky and Missouri and the winding border between Louisiana and Mississippi along the Mississippi River near Vicksburg. If I was asked, I would suggest that a river border should stay a river border even if the river changes course. It seems like the natural recommendation. History has judged me wrong. Once a border has been staked out, human forces will act to keep it unchanged even as the underlying river seeks a new course. Since this land is often prone to flooding it is not usually prime real estate. Rarer still is the case of Carter Lake where a whole town occupies that changing landscape.

Omaha Nebraska lies just West of the map I've drawn. If you fly to Omaha, you land at Eppley Airfield. The strange border around Carter Lake creates a situation where, after landing in Nebraska, one must drive through Iowa to get back to Nebraska and the city of Omaha. As out-of-towners are often confused about directions, it must by particularly confusing to see the otherwise friendly signs in Carter Lake announcing, "Welcome to Iowa".

Sources: Wikipedia

A Map of Brunei and its Strange Border with Malaysia

Brunei (officially the, "Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace") is a surprisingly successful and stable states despite its apparent tenuous geography. It is surrounded by Malaysia and separated into two, disconnected states by Malaysia's Limbang District. Brunei occupies just one percent of the island of Borneo that it shares with the countries of Malaysia, and Indonesia. Despite its small size, it has a per capita GDP in the top ten of countries worldwide.

Brunei owes its split existence to the colonial era. It was once a much larger empire that extended beyond the shores of Borneo. Starting in the 1800s, it lost territory to colonial powers and James Brooke, a British citizen who became the first of the "White Rajas" of Sarawak. Brooke was given control of the Limbang District among other territories that eventually became part of Malaysia. In 1888, The "Abode of Peace" agreed to become a British protectorate and stayed that way for a hundred years. It regained it's independence from the United Kingdom in 1984.

Although the Limbang District is connected to the rest of Malaysia, it's roads are not. The only way to drive from the Limbang District to the rest of Malaysia is to drive across the border into Brunei and then across Brunei back into Malaysia.

Countries have come to blows over much smaller parcels of land. I have covered some in this blog. But I always wonder when I see something like Brunei's divided existence, why they couldn't do a land swap or reach some agreement that would have allowed Brunei to exist as a single entity and allowed the people of Limbang to drive across their country without first having to leave it.

Sources: Wikipedia

A Map of the United Arab Emirates Exclave Inside the Oman Exclave Inside the United Arab Emirates

"Good Fences make good neighbors"

"Something there is that doesn't like a wall". – Robert Frost, 'Mending Wall'

My primary focus on this blog is the many interesting stories behind the borders we see today. But there was a time when borders did not exist and not everyone wants them when they're drawn. This is often the case with regards to nomadic people around the Word. It is also a big part of the history of borders on the Arabian Peninsula including this unique set of borders within the UAE.

Peter Easton, a commenter on a couple of my maps, has spent time in the region, including Oman, working on water issues. He understands the history and tribal dynamics well and shared the following insights,

"Historically there were no borders, and no concept of nation states. Allegiance was to a tribe and its head sheikh. This could be fluid, with tribes or sheikhs switching allegiances from time to time. Thus, to some extent, modern borders represent a snap shot of allegiances at a given time. The reason for an allegiance was complex. It could be based on family or tribal ties, on religion (with Islam having various sub-sects), on bribery, etc. When a group switched allegiance, its 'territory' went with it. The boundary of a group's territory was also dependent on various factors: where their oases was, where a vital water well was, where their goats and camels preferred to graze, location of historical burial grounds, etc, etc. The idea of a border as a line was quite meaningless. The land of the desert and mountains had no value to anyone except the local tribes. On older Arabian maps, you will often see no lines or just dotted lines. But this all changed when oil was discovered. Suddenly the precise location of a border line became very political and valuable."

By definition, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a collection of separate emirates into a single country. Each emirate is itself a composition of smaller regions with roots in the Arabian Peninsula's tribal era. Oman, a separate country from the UAE is itself separated into two large areas by the UAE. The Oman exclave has existed for some time but the UAE enclave within it appears to be a recent development. There is a village called Nahwa that sits just inside the UAE enclave. The whole region is mountainous and appears quite desolate so I had trouble seeing the "logic" behind the border on satellite imagery. At some point, the Sheikh of Nahwa probably switched his allegiance from Oman to the UAE and the outline of the exclave relates to the extent of the tribe's territory.

In an area where water is scarce, oases bound tribes to an area. It was also the search for more water that led to the discovery of oil on the Arabian Peninsula. Finally, it was oil that solidified so many borders here and around the world and led to strange ones like this.

Sources: Wikipedia

A Map of the California-Nevada Border as it passes through the pool at the Cal Neva Lodge

The Cal-Neva lodge has several notable distinctions beyond the fact that the property, lodge and building all straddle the border between California and Nevada. The lodge was once partially owned by Frank Sinatra. Judy Garland was discovered there after singing in the fabled Celebrity Showroom. It has played host to many a celebrity including members of Sinatra's Rat Pack, and President Kennedy. Marilyn Monroe reportedly stayed there just a week before she died. There are tunnels underneath the hotel that assisted in the smuggling of alcohol during Prohibition. All that plus the fact that the lodge sits on the shores of Lake Tahoe, one of the World's most beautiful and clear alpine lakes.

As is the case with other places I've documented, sitting astride a border has its advantages. The lodge has always combined the rustic charm of the California side with the more sinful exploits of the Nevada side. Although gambling only became legal in Nevada in 1930, there are stories of illegal gambling before then. If the lodge was raided by Nevada police, the guests would simply move to the California side and vice-versa. There are also tales that the lodge's unique location enabled visiting Californian's to take advantage of Nevada's speedy marriage and divorce proceedings.

Celebrating the lodge's split personality is the Cal-Neva swimming pool, half in Nevada, half in California. The pool's mid-century modern kidney shape gives it an ironic, hipster charm today. The border is painted onto the bottom of the pool with the California and Nevada sides labelled appropriately. The pool is also a microcosm of nearby Lake Tahoe which is itself divided between California and Nevada. I've always been partial to the California side but a drive through the Nevada-side can be a fun celebration of motel signage kitsch.

Sources: Tahoe Daily Tribune , Cal Neva Resort , Wikipedia

A Map of the Border Between Canada and the United States at Point Roberts, Washington

The border at Point Roberts is born of the same stock that created the border between the US and Canada at the Northwest Angle in Minnesota, human error. It is also an example of realities on the ground getting in the way of plans made far away without local knowledge. The result is this small piece of the State of Washington that can only be reached by car by first driving into Canada and then driving back down across the border here. It is considered to be part of the “mainland” continental US even though it is physically connected to it.

Point Roberts is also connected to what has to be one of the more esoteric presidential campaign slogans. President James K Polk was elected in part by running under the slogan, “Fifty-Four Forty or Fight”, a reference to the border between US and British territory at 54°40′ North Latitude. What is now Oregon and Washington was then disputed territory between Mexican-held California, Russian America and expanding British and US interests to the East. Most of what is now the border between the US and Canada follows the 49th Parallel. Extending this west to the Pacific however would mean the border would go straight across Vancouver Island and separate the British stronghold of Victoria from the rest of British-held territory. The eventual compromise was the bend in the border we see today that gives all of Vancouver Island to Canada. It all makes sense when you zoom out a little except that the same problem that existed with Vancouver Island happens at Point Roberts. Unfortunately this detail was not discovered until much later and the border stuck. 

Sources: Wikipedia

A Map of the Strange Border between Saint Martin and Sint Maarten

Despite the fact that the island is one of the smallest islands in the World that is divided between two nations, the border is not really that strange. It is generally split in half with the French getting the half to the North and the Dutch taking the part to the South. What is strange is that the border does not divide the island evenly and we only have a folklore story as to why. France clearly got the better part of the deal. 

There are several stories as to how the island was divided. The one  that local legend seems to favor is that two sailors, one  French, the other Dutch were asked to start at the same point and walk the coastline in opposite directions. Where they met again would determine the halfway point and thus how to divide the island. Some stories say that the Dutch sailor got drunk on rum or “Jenever (Dutch Gin) and walked too slow. Others say that the French sailor cheated by running or cutting corners. Neither story accounts for the fact that border does not go straight across the island. A ridge line would explain some of the strangeness but not all of it.

The other strange part of the island is the number of times occupation of the island changed after the Treaty of Concordia supposedly settled the issue once and for all. Between 1648 when the treat was signed and 1816, the occupation of the island switch between being all French, all British or all Dutch ten times. The shortest period of occupation was in 1781 when the British held the island for just ten months.

Sources: NY Times , Wikipedia

A Map of the Strange Border between Manhattan and the Bronx

Whenever I see a strange border like this, the bonus section always seems to belong to the more powerful of the two neighbors. Marble Hill is technically part of Manhattan even though it is now connected to the Bronx and separated from Manhattan by the Harlem River. If the Bronx was the more dominant player, I wonder whether the border would now follow a more egalitarian course.

When the Dutch first settled Manhattan, they called the area where the Harlem River emptied into the Hudson River, “Spuyten Duyvil”, the spouting devil due to its treachorous currents. The area contained shallow shoals and a tricky section of the Harlem River that curved around Marble Hill. It was hard to navigate in small boats let alone the steamships that plied these waters in the latter half of the 1800’s. So, in 1890, work was started on the Harlem River Ship Canal which cut off the need to go around Marble Hill. The former course of the river was then filled in to connect it to the rest of the Bronx. As a result, Marble Hill went from being part of the island of Manhattan, to being its own island, to finally being part of the Bronx. The border around Marble Hill follows the course of the former river. 

Sources: Wikipedia