Demilitarized zone
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A demilitarized zone, or DMZ, is an area in which treaties or agreements between nations, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities or personnel. A DMZ often lies along an established frontier or boundary between two or more military powers or alliances. A DMZ may sometimes form a de facto international border, e.g., the 38th parallel between North and South Korea. Other examples of demilitarized zones would be 120 miles between Iraq and Kuwait, Antarctica (preserved for scientific exploration and study), and Outer Space (space more than 100 miles from Earth's surface).
Many demilitarized zones are considered neutral territory because neither side is allowed to control it, even for non-combat administration. However, some zones remain demilitarized even after an new agreement has awarded full control to a state which, under the DMZ terms, had originally ceded its right to maintain military forces in the disputed territory.
It is also possible for powers to agree on the demilitarization of a zone without formally settling their respective territorial claims, thereby enabling the dispute to be resolved by peaceful means (such as diplomatic dialogue or international court), or even frozen.
Several demilitarized zones have also unintentionally become wildlife preserves, because the land on which they are located is dangerous for construction and/or less exposed to human disturbances or hunting. See Korean Demilitarized Zone, Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone, Ben Hai River, Hien Luong Bridge, The Green Line in Cyprus.
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Current demilitarized (mostly neutral) zones [edit]
Africa [edit]
- Between northern Morocco and the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla lies a demilitarized zone. Morocco has never recognized Ceuta and Melilla as part of Spain.
See: Ceuta border fence and Melilla border fence.
Antarctica [edit]
Article 1 of the main Antarctic Treaty forbids military activity in Antarctica, though military personnel and equipment may use the landmass for "peaceful" purposes.
Asia [edit]
- The Korean Demilitarized Zone separates North Korea and South Korea. It was created as part of the Korean Armistice Agreement between North Korean, People's Republic of China, and United Nations Command forces in 1953. It is also known as the 38th Parallel.
- Cambodian–Thai border dispute near the Preah Vihear Temple
- Kuwait-Iraq barrier
- The Sinai Peninsula. The Camp David Accords set a limit to the amount of forces Egypt could place in the Sinai Peninsula. Different zones of the peninsula are demilitarized to different degrees, especially within 20-40 kilometers from Israel. Israel also agreed to limit its forces within 3 kilometers from the Egyptian border.
- UNDOF Zone in southwestern Syria, east of the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights.
Europe [edit]
- The United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus separates the self-proclaimed and internationally unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus from the Republic of Cyprus. It was created by the United Nations in 1974 after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
- Åland (Ahvenanmaa in Finnish) is an autonomous island region on the coast of Finland (in the Gulf of Bothnia). It was made a demilitarized zone in 1856 following the Crimean War. The demilitarized status was later confirmed in 1921 by the League of Nations, after the Åland crisis from 1920 to 1922.
- Transnistria - tri-lateral peacekeeping mission. The buffer zone is created roughly outlining the Dnister River that lies between Moldova and the autonomous territory of Transnistria. Since 1999, the Russian Federation has failed to remove its military presence from the region.
- A 5 km wide DMZ or GSZ (Ground Safety Zone) under the Military Technical Agreement exists between Serbia and Kosovo following the Kosovo War
- Svalbard: The Svalbard Treaty of 9 February 1920 recognized Norwegian sovereignty (so it is not a neutral territory), ending the territorial claims of all other signatories, and designated the area as demilitarized.
Former demilitarized zones [edit]
- A neutral territory was established between the British territory of Gibraltar and Spain after the end of the 1727 siege. A strip of land 600 toises (around 1.2 km) long,[citation needed] being more than 2 cannon shots distance between the British guns and the Spanish guns was called "the neutral ground" and shown as such on older maps. In 1908, the British constructed a fence in a portion claimed to be the British half of the neutral territory. Spain does not recognize that the UK has any right to sovereignty over the isthmus, including the border (see Disputed status of the isthmus between Gibraltar and Spain) and asserts it is Spanish soil. Although both the United Kingdom and Spain are part of the European Union, the border is now a de facto international frontier with customs and immigration checks; Spain does not formally recognize it as "a frontier" and refers to it as "a fence". Whatever its name, the crossing remains relevant, as Gibraltar opted out of the European Union Customs Union and is not part of the Schengen area; it is open 24 hours a day with customs duties payable on certain goods entering Spain or Gibraltar.
- The German Rhineland was made a demilitarized zone after World War I by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. Rhineland was re-occupied and re-militarized in 1936 by Nazi Germany in violation of international treaties.
- Saudi-Iraqi neutral zone, originally established in 1922 but disbanded officially since 1991.
- Saudi-Kuwaiti neutral zone, originally established in 1922 but was disbanded by mutual agreement since 1970.
- Israel and Egypt:
- Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, a DMZ, the El Auja Zone was created by the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and Egypt.
- Israel and Jordan:
- The Israeli enclave and Jordanian area on Mt. Scopus was designated as a DMZ.
- The area around the Latrun salient.
- Israel and Syria: Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, 3 DMZs were created by the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and Syria.[1]
- China: Japanese forces conquered Manchuria between September 1931 and February 1932, when they proclaimed the region to be the state of Manchukuo. In May 1933, the Tanggu Truce between China and Japan was concluded, which established a demilitarized zone between Manchukuo and China proper.
- Vietnam: The demilitarized zone between North and South Vietnam was established in April 1954 as a result of the Geneva Conference ending the war between the Viet Minh and the French. The DMZ in Vietnam lay at the 17th parallel north. In reality, the DMZ extended about a mile on either side of the Ben Hai River and west to east from the Lao border to the South China Sea.
- Norway and Sweden established a demilitarized zone of one kilometer on each side of the border after the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905. The zone was disbanded by mutual agreement in 1993.
