Kuril Islands

  • Contested territories
  • Area 10,503.2 km²
  • Population 19,434

The Kuril Islands (Russian: Кури́льские острова́, Japanese: Kuriru rettō (クリル列島)) form a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately 1,300 km between Japan and Russia. They are under Russian jurisdiction, but Japan claims the four southernmost islands, which they call the ‘Northern Territories’. They were under Japanese control between 1855 and 1945 but were seized by Russia after World War II. The Japanese population living on the islands was forced to moved by Russia to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The Ainu, the indigenous people who live on the lands surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk, also claim sovereignty over the islands. The disputed are Iturup/Etorofu, Kunashir /Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai Islands.

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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.

Essequibo

Essequibo is a disputed region that makes up two thirds of the country Guyana, a coastal republic in Latin America between Venezuela, Brazil and Surinam. The area is rich with oil and gold. Recently, Venezuela has threatened to annex the region up to the river Essequibo and claim it as Guayana Esequiba. In December 2023 Nicolas Maduro, president of Venezuela, organized a referendum to seek support for annexation. The dispute stretches back to the colonial powers that once held this region: Spain (Venezuela) and the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (Guyana). In an 1899 international arbitration the territory Essequibo was assigned to Guyana, yet Venezuela claims there have been procedural mistakes and the arbitration should therefore be dismissed.

North Dumpling Island

North Dumpling Island was bought for $2.5 million in 1986 by entrepreneur Dean Kamen, the founding father of the Segway Human Transporter. After a denial from local officials to build his own wind turbine on the island he decided to secede from the United States, and even got his friend, then president George W. Bush to comply. The island has its own flag, constitution, anthem and Dean Kamen did eventually build his own turbine, which along with several solar panels provides all the energy for the island.