Rarely has an election in a small post-Soviet country been watched so closely.

The fugitive leader of a prominent Biafra secessionist group has been arrested and extradited to Nigeria, in a move likely to inflame separatist unrest in south-east Nigeria. Nnamdi Kanu had been wanted by Nigerian authorities since 2015, when he was charged with terrorism offences and incitement, after broadcasts aired on Radio Biafra, a digital station he founded and ran from his home in Peckham (UK).

If you’re looking to find a safe haven from lockdowns, you might be in the market for an entire micronation.

These stories of life in the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic are told by journalist Diana Gasparyan who went there to meet local residents and learn first-hand what is happening there after the second Karabakh war. During the trip, she kept a travel diary for JAMnews.

A new kit for Ukraine’s football team, showing a map including Russian-annexed Crimea, has provoked anger in Moscow.

The South Korean government and activists alike expressed deep regret toward a map marking disputed islets as Japanese territory.

Spanish officials say Morocco increasingly sees migrants as currency for financial and political gains after it let up to 12,000 flood into a Spanish enclave in North Africa over two days.

Russian peacekeepers have radically reshaped the region. An analysis by Tom Mutch.

At least 6,000 migrants have reached Spain’s Ceuta enclave from neighbouring Morocco, a record number over a single day, Spanish officials say.

In his book, Madhouse at the End of the Earth, author Julian Sancton explains that there is something about the southernmost continent that really drives people mad. An excerpt from the book.

Thirty years ago, on May 18th, 1991, the Republic of Somaliland declared independence. This separation from Somalia certainly was a bold move back then. For over a decade it was impossible to predict what would really come out of the secession. But today it is clear: Somaliland is one of the most stable de facto states in the world, nonetheless, it is still not internationally recognized.

Refusal to recognise British Indian Ocean Territory stamps is latest move to assert Mauritian sovereignty.

A conflict over natural resources has flared into serious border skirmishes between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. By Andrea Schmitz & Dumitru Minzarari.

Bloc had hoped ‘cheese diplomacy’ could help bridge divide, but PDO status has fueled further ructions.

The Conch Republic was born on April 23, 1982, in response to a US Border Patrol blockade of the Florida Keys. Since the US insisted on treating the Keys like a foreign country, Mayor Dennis Wardlow decided to secede. Today the community stands proudly as one with a “sovereign state of mind”.

Rioting, masked protestors, buses set alight, attacks against police officers and journalists—scenes that were once all too familiar have become a reality once again on the streets of Northern Ireland. Is a return to violence an inevitable reality?

Exactly five years ago, Vít Jedlička created his own state: Liberland. It’s located between Serbia and Croatia and designed to be a minarchist state—with as minimal government as possible. Listen to President Jedlicka speaking of his philosophy and bold plans.

The world is not the sum of its nation-states; there are places beyond UN member states that receive few visitors. Brussels Morning talks to Thomas de Waal, an explorer of diplomatically forsaken regions, to understand how these places feel.

Kyiv has raised the alarm over a buildup of Russian forces near the border between Ukraine and Russia, and over a rise in violence along the line of contact separating Ukrainian troops and Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine’s Donbass region.

Russian photographer Valery Melnikov is nominated with this image for the World Press Photo of the Year 2021. He documented the people that left areas that were to return to Azerbaijani control following the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War: this Armenian family is just about to leave their home.

Today in Europe there are 6.5 million people living in countries that, according to the rest of the world anyway, do not exist. These would-be republics’ borders, born out of the chaos of the fall of the Soviet Union, are unrecognized by the international family of nations, as is their legal right to dictate the shape of their futures.

What does it mean to be a citizen of Abkhazia, South Ossetia or any other de facto state? Are the people living in such territories stateless? What are some of the precarious situations they are faced with? An interview with our esteemed explorer Ramesh Ganohariti, a PhD student from Dublin City University.

Loyalist paramilitary groups have told the British and Irish governments they are withdrawing support for the Good Friday agreement in protest at Northern Ireland’s Irish Sea trade border with the rest of the UK.

The Republic of Parva Domus Magna Quies is located in Uruguay. Founded in 1878, the organization occupied an extensive hacienda in the outskirts of Montevideo, of which today only the main mansion remains. ‘According to them, with the exception of Parva Domus, the rest of the world is mad as hell.’

Even if you don’t know much about the Balkans, you might know that borders and maps are a rather sensitive issue there. But Miroslav Lajčák, the EU’s top official for the region, seemed caught by surprise when a map in his office sparked a storm of criticism from Kosovo and further afield.

Kalakuta Republic was a secessionist state within Nigeria that provided political asylum for musicians, friends and the extended family of popular afro-pop musician and activist Fela Kuti. Kuti founded his republic as a protest to the dictatorial regime. Forty-four years ago, the Kalakuta Republic was burned to the ground by government soldiers.

Separatist parties in Catalonia have boosted their parliamentary majority in the regional elections, held amid a third wave of coronavirus. The pro-union Socialist Party, led by former health minister Salvador Illa, won the most votes to claim a narrow victory, but will struggle to form a government.

Voters in Kosovo will cast their ballots in snap parliamentary elections—the sixth such poll in 14 years—which analysts have predicted will be a much tighter race than usual. Stay tuned for all the latest developments, election results and reactions as Kosovo citizens head to the polls to elect a new government.

Elections in Catalonia this week are poised to change the political landscape of the region as the ultranationalist party Vox is set to enter its parliament for the first time. Vox is campaigning on a hardline anti-separatist ticket.

Photographer Philippe Dudouit is one of the few foreigners who continues to travel to the Sahelo-Sahara region. His remarkable work The Dynamics of Dust gives an exceptional insight into the shifting alliances in this vast area that is often neglected in world politics.