- Contested territories
- Area 120 km²
- Claimed by Cuba, United States of America
In 1903 Guantanamo Bay was leased from the Cuban government for $2,000 by the U.S., claiming that they needed a naval base in order to help the Cubans maintain their independence from the Spaniards—who occupied Cuba until they were defeated in Spanish-American War in 1898. Since the Cuban revolution in 1959 the Cuban government has protested against the American presence, which they consider to be illegal. Towards the end of the 20th Century it functioned as a detention centre for Cuban and Haitian refugees, but in the aftermath of 9/11 a military prison was opened to detain prisoners of the War on Terror. The camp has been criticized widely by human rights organizations: prisoners are being held indefinitely without trial and several detainees having been allegedly tortured. Former US President Barack Obama promised to close it down but did not succeed to do so within his term. In January 2018, then President Donald Trump signed an executive order to keep the prison open indefinitely. President Biden wants to follow through with the closing of Guantanamo Bay.
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Cabinda
Cabinda is a piece of land in West Africa that lies between the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo and the Atlantic Ocean. Adjacent to its coast are some of the largest offshore oil fields in the world. Formally, it is an exclave and province of Angola, but this status has been disputed by several groups that proclaimed independence in 1975. The Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda - Forces Armadas de Cabinda (FLEC-FAC) runs an exile office in Paris.
Donetsk People’s Republic
The Donbas region in Eastern Ukraine has been ravaged by constant turmoil in the last decade. On 30 September 2022, president Vladimir Putin proclaimed Russian rule over Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, in total fifteen percent of Ukraine's territory—the biggest annexation in Europe since World War Two. Putins proclamation followed shortly after referendums in these regions were held, referendums that were called 'a sham' by the international community. The Donetsk People’s Republic already proclaimed independence in Spring 2014, in the wake of the Ukrainian revolution. In February 2022, Russian president Putin formally recognized the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk, a deed that led up to the war between Russia and Ukraine.
State of Jefferson
The State of Jefferson is a collection of counties in Southern Oregon and Northern California. It was established on November 27th in 1941, when armed men roadblocked the borders and informed all vehicles about the new territory they were entering. The two X’s inside the gold pan on their flag symbolize the feeling of being double crossed by politicians when modernization shifted tax dollars away from their communities. Jeffersonians’ dreams of independence were derailed only days after, when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, thrusting the U.S. into WWII. The war effort took priority over independence, but the flags didn’t disappear. In 2013, there was a resurgence when several counties voted to secede from California and become the 51st state of America. The State of Jefferson is not to be confused with Calexit, California’s other secession movement looking to separate California from the United States.