Ilha Brasileira

  • Contested territories
  • Claimed by Brazil, Uruguay
  • Area 2,5 km²
  • Population Uninhabited

Ilha Brasileira is a small island at the junction of the Uruguay and the Quaraí river, on the triple border of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. A lack of clarity in historical documents as to whom this small piece of land in the river belonged caused both Uruguay and Brazil to claim the island. However, neither country enforces their claim and the conflict does not prevent the countries from keeping up close, economics ties. The sole inhabitant of the island, Brazilian farmer José Jorge Daniel, passed away in 2011.

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Western Sahara

The Sahrawi Republic is a partially recognized state that claims the non-self-governed territory of Western Sahara, but controls only the easternmost one-fifth of it. Morocco controls and administers the rest of the disputed territory and calls these lands its Southern Provinces. The Sahrawi Republic was proclaimed by the Polisario Front on 27th February, 1976, to fill what they considered a political void left by the departing Spanish colonizers. It maintains diplomatic relations with 40 UN states and is a full member of the African Union. While the claimed capital is the former Western Sahara capital El-Aaiún, the provisional capital was formally moved to Tifariti in 2008. Day-to-day business, however, is conducted in the Tindouf refugee camps in Algeria, which house most of the exiled Sahrawi community.

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico became a US territory following the Spanish-American War in 1898. In 1899, Hurricane San Ciriaco left the island in ruins and the US stepped in granting large loans, buying up most of the farmland leaving Puerto Rico indebted and dependent. Today, following the devastation of another hurricane, Puerto Rico finds itself with a collapsing economy, destroyed infrastructure, and a crisis of sovereignty. It’s not its own state, nor is it one of the United States. Puerto Ricans can be drafted into the US military but have no meaningful representation in the US government, and are not protected under the Bill of Rights. After failed attempts at independence via both congressional voting and violent uprising, the island is divided. A little over half want full US statehood, and the remainder want either full independence or to continue the current arrangement.

M’Simbati

On the tiny peninsula of M’Simbati, former civil servant Latham Leslie Moore declared secession from the then British colony of Tanganyika and founded his own Sultanate in 1959. His self designed flag flew over his house until the secession was suppressed in 1962 by Tanzanian government troops who were fighting for independence. He asked the newly formed government for official recognition, which was denied, however the Tanzanian government agreed to ask permission when stepping on to his land. The Sultanate dissolved when Leslie Moore died in 1980.