List of territorial disputes

This is a list of ongoing territorial disputes around the world. Bold indicates one claimant's full control; italics indicates one or more claimants' partial control.

Disputes between recognized sovereign states

Africa

Territory	Claimants	Notes
Abyei	Sudan South Sudan	Both Sudan and South Sudan claim the area. Takeover by north May 2011
Badme	Ethiopia Eritrea	Basis of the Eritrean-Ethiopian War which began in 1998. Currently controlled by Ethiopia.
Bakassi	Cameroon Nigeria	This area was handed over by Nigeria to Cameroon following an International Court of Justice ruling, but the Senate of Nigeria has decreed the handover of territory was illegal.
Banc du Geyser	Madagascar Comoros France
Bassas da India, Europa Island and Juan de Nova Island	France Madagascar
Bir Tawil	None Egypt administrated	De jure no man's land. Egypt and Sudan both claim different borders in which they would have the Hala'ib Triangle, leaving the Bir Tawil to the other. As both claim the Hala'ib Triangle, neither claims Bir Tawil.
Bure	Ethiopia Eritrea
Caprivi Strip boundary tripoints/quadripoint	Botswana Namibia Zambia Zimbabwe
Ceuta	Spain Morocco
Chagos Archipelago	United Kingdom Mauritius Seychelles	United Kingdom administers as part of British Indian Ocean Territory
Part of Gicumbi District, Northern Province	Rwanda Uganda
Glorioso Islands	France Madagascar Seychelles Comoros
Hala'ib Triangle	Egypt Sudan	Previously under joint administration; Egypt now maintains full de facto control
Heglig	South Sudan Sudan	Both Sudan and South Sudan claim the area. Takeover by South Sudan in April 2012, internationally viewed as part of Sudan.
Ilemi Triangle	Kenya South Sudan
Islas Chafarinas	Spain Morocco
Jodha	South Sudan Sudan	Both Sudan and South Sudan claim the area.
Part of Kabale District	Uganda Rwanda
Kafia Kingi	South Sudan Sudan	Both Sudan and South Sudan claim the area.
Kaka	South Sudan Sudan	Both Sudan and South Sudan claim the area.
KaNgwane	South Africa Eswatini	Swaziland claims territories which it states were confiscated during colonial times. The area claimed by Swaziland is the former bantustan of KaNgwane, which now forms the northern parts of Jozini and uMhlabuyalingana local municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal, and the southern part of Nkomazi, the southeastern part of Umjindi and the far eastern part of Albert Luthuli local municipalities in Mpumalanga.
Part of the Katemba region	Angola Democratic Republic of the Congo
Koualou village	Burkina Faso Benin
Area near Logoba/Moyo District	South Sudan Uganda
Lunchinda-Pweto province	Zambia Democratic Republic of the Congo
Mayotte	France Comoros	Under the 2009 referendum, the population supported becoming an overseas department of France, and so became one on March 31, 2011.
Islands in Mbamba Bay, Lake Nyasa	Tanzania Malawi
Mbañie Island, Cocotiers, and Congas Island	Gabon Equatorial Guinea
Melilla	Spain Morocco
Migingo Island vicinity, and, farther north, the vicinity of the islands of Lolwe, Oyasi, Remba, Ringiti and Sigulu, all a maritime rights dispute in Lake Victoria.	Kenya Uganda
Several islands in the Ntem River	Cameroon Equatorial Guinea
Several villages near the Okpara River	Benin Niger
Orange River border line	Namibia South Africa	Namibia claims the border lies along the middle of the river, while South Africa claims it lies along the north bank.
Peñón de Alhucemas	Spain Morocco
Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera	Spain Morocco
Perejil Island	Spain Morocco	After the 2002 incident, both countries agreed to return to the status quo previous to the incident.
Ras Doumeira and Doumeira Island	Eritrea Djibouti
The Rufunzo Valley and Sabererwa	Rwanda Burundi
Rukwanzi Island and the Semliki River valley	Democratic Republic of the Congo Uganda
Exclusive Economic Zone surrounding the Savage Islands	Portugal Spain
Sindabezi Island	Zambia Zimbabwe
Socotran Archipelago	Yemen Somalia	Somalia, while not formally claiming the archipelago, asked for the United Nations to look into "the status" of the Socotran archipelago (i.e., whether or not it "should" belong to Yemen or rather Somalia).
South East Algeria	Algeria Libya
Tromelin Island	France Mauritius Seychelles
Tsorona-Zalambessa	Ethiopia Eritrea
Wadi Halfa Salient	Egypt Sudan
Yenga (border hamlet), and left bank of the Makona and Moa rivers	Sierra Leone Guinea

Asia and the Pacific

Further information: Territorial disputes in the South China Sea

Territory	Claimants	Notes
Aasal, Al-Qaa, Al-Qasr, Deir Al-Aashayer, Kfar Kouq and Tufail	Lebanon Syria
Abu Musa	Iran United Arab Emirates
Part of Akrotiri Sovereign Base Area	United Kingdom Cyprus
Aksai Chin (part of Jammu and Kashmir, see below)	People's Republic of China India	Possibly also the ROC.
Arunachal Pradesh	People's Republic of China India Republic of China (Taiwan)	Controlled by India but claimed by China and Taiwan.
Azad Kashmir (Jammu and Kasmir)	India Pakistan
Bhutanese enclaves in Tibet, namely Cherkip Gompa, Dho, Dungmar, Gesur, Gezon, Itse Gompa, Khochar, Nyanri, Ringung, Sanmar, Tarchen and Zuthulphuk	People's Republic of China Bhutan	Possibly also the ROC.
Boraibari	Bangladesh India	Boraibari falls under the adverse possession category with the map suggesting that it should be within India.
Daikhata-Dumabari	India Bangladesh
Various areas: Dak Jerman/Dak Duyt, Dak Dang/Dak Huyt, the La Drang area and the islands of Baie/Koh Ta Kiev, Milieu/Koh Thmey, Eau/Koh Ses, Pic/Koh Thonsáy and the Northern Pirates/Koh Po	Cambodia Vietnam
David Gareja monastery complex boundary dispute	Georgia Azerbaijan
Demchok, Chumar, Kaurik, Shipki Pass, Jadh, and Lapthal	People's Republic of China India Republic of China (Taiwan)	Disputed areas located between Aksai Chin and Nepal, all administered by India except for most of the Demchok tract (administered by China.)
Part of Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area	United Kingdom Cyprus
Doi Lang	Burma Thailand
Fasht Ad Dibal and Qit'at Jaradeh	Bahrain Qatar	These were not included, in the 2001 International Court of Justice judgement, as low-tide elevations.
several areas in the Fergana Valley	Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Uzbekistan
Gilgit-Baltistan (Jammu and Kashmir)	India Pakistan
Greater and Lesser Tunbs	Iran United Arab Emirates
Hibernia Reef	Australia Indonesia
Ieodo Island/Suyan Rock (aka Socotra Rock)	South Korea People's Republic of China	Also possibly claimed by: Republic of China (Taiwan) North Korea
Imia/Kardak	Greece Turkey
Indo-Bangladesh enclaves	India Bangladesh	Controlled by India but claimed by Bangladesh.
Isfara Valley	Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan
Kachatheevu Island	India Sri Lanka	Given to Sri Lanka by India in 1974.
Karang Unarang	Indonesia Malaysia
Jammu and Kashmir	India Pakistan People's Republic of China	Some areas are occupied by the People's Republic of China (see "Aksai Chin" above and "Trans-Karakoram Tract" below) and some(Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan) occupied by Pakistan and most of the area controlled by India.
Kalapani region, the smaller Susta River dispute and the smaller still Antudanda and Nawalparasi disputes	India Nepal	All administered by India.
Karki exclave of Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan	Armenia Azerbaijan	Armenia occupied this Azerbaijani exclave in January 1990 as part of the wider Nagorno-Karabakh (NK) conflict, although Karki is not in the vicinity of the NK.
Khuriya Muriya Islands	Oman Yemen
Korea	North Korea South Korea	The Democratic People's Republic of Korea administers North Korea, but Article 1 of the Constitution of North Korea reads: "The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is an independent socialist State representing the interests of all the Korean people." The Republic of Korea administers South Korea, but Article 3 of the Constitution of South Korea reads: "The territory of the Republic of Korea shall consist of the Korean peninsula and its adjacent islands."
Kula Kangri and mountainous areas to the west of this peak, plus the western Haa District of Bhutan	People's Republic of China Bhutan	Possibly also the ROC.
South Kuril Islands (Northern Territories)	Russia Japan
Lathitila	India Bangladesh	Controlled by India but claimed by Bangladesh.
Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo in Korean, Takeshima in Japanese)	South Korea North Korea Japan
Ligitan and Sipadan	Malaysia Indonesia	The 2002 International Court of Justice ruling awarded both islands to Malaysia, but left unsettled the maritime boundary immediately southwest and west of the islands between Malaysia and Indonesia.
Macclesfield Bank	People's Republic of China Republic of China (Taiwan) Vietnam Philippines
Matthew and Hunter Islands	Vanuatu France
Minerva Reefs	Tonga Fiji	Fiji claims that the entire reef is submerged at high tide, negating use of Minerva as a basis for any sovereignty or maritime EEZ claim by Tonga under the rules of UNCLOS.
Muhurichar river island	India Bangladesh	Controlled by India but claimed by Bangladesh.
Certain islands in the Naf River	Bangladesh Burma
Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts	Armenia Azerbaijan	The Azerbaijani districts adjacent to NK that are also occupied by Armenia are: Aghdam, Fizuli, Lachin, Kelbajar, Qubatli, Jabrayil and Zangilan. Armenian land border with Turkey remains closed over this occupation since 1993
Small areas of Oecusse District	East Timor Indonesia
Okinotorishima	Japan People's Republic of China	The PRC does not claim ownership of the islet; rather, it argues that it is not large enough to entitle Japan to the EEZ of the surrounding ocean.
Paracel Islands	People's Republic of China Republic of China (Taiwan) Vietnam
"Point 20"; a small area of land reclaimed from the sea by Singapore	Singapore Malaysia	Malaysia claims the land was reclaimed in its territorial waters
Part of Poipet commune	Thailand Cambodia
Prachinburi area	Thailand Cambodia
Preah Vihear Temple area (Khao Phra Wihan)	Thailand Cambodia	Temple complex awarded to Cambodia by an International Court of Justice ruling in 1962, but Cambodian–Thai border dispute continues over areas immediately adjacent to the temple.
Pulau Batek/Fatu Sinai	Indonesia East Timor	Ceded by Timor-Leste to Indonesia in August 2004.
Pyrdiwah	India Bangladesh	Controlled by India but claimed by Bangladesh.
Qarooh and Umm Al Maradim	Kuwait Saudi Arabia
Sabah (North Borneo)	Malaysia Philippines	Philippines lays a dormant claim on Sabah on the basis that it is a historical part of the Sulu Sultanate (see North Borneo dispute).
Scarborough Shoal	Philippines People's Republic of China Republic of China (Taiwan)	The Philippines has a naval presence around the atoll, with tensions being stoked by fishing rights in surrounding waters, and the placement of a survey marker by China. The Philippines has released a law that proclaims the islands as a "regime of islands".
Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu Tai)	Japan People's Republic of China Republic of China (Taiwan)
Shaksgam Valley	People's Republic of China India	Possibly also the ROC.Currently controlled by China.
Shatt al-Arab	Iran Iraq
Siachen Glacier and Saltoro Ridge area	India Pakistan	Taken over by India in 1984 and currently administered by India but claimed by Pakistan.
Sir Creek	India Pakistan	A dispute over where in the estuary the line falls; no land, but significant maritime territory is involved.
South Talpatti/New Moore/Purbasha Island	India Bangladesh	This former dispute over a small island never more than two meters above sea level was contested from the island's appearance in the 1970s to its disappearance in the first decade of the 2000s. While land disputes here no longer exist, the maritime boundary is yet to be defined.
Spratly Islands	Republic of China (Taiwan) People's Republic of China Vietnam Philippines (part) Malaysia (part) Brunei (part)	The Philippines has released a law that proclaims part of the islands as a "regime of islands".
Swains Island	United States Tokelau	This claim is unsupported by New Zealand, of whom Tokelau is a dependency. New Zealand formally recognises the USA's sovereignty over Swains Island.
Exclusive Economic Zone near the Tasman Sea	Australia Japan	Japan continues to do whaling operations in the area. For more info see Whaling in Japan
Parts of Three Pagodas Pass	Burma Thailand
Trans-Karakoram Tract	People's Republic of China India
Tsushima Island	Japan South Korea	Claimed by Korea
Tumen River (disputed sovereignty of certain islands) Possibly also the ROC.	People's Republic of China North Korea South Korea
The islands of Ukatny, Zhestky and the disputed 'island' of Malozhemchuzny	Russia Kazakhstan
Vozrozhdeniya Island (now a peninsula)	Kazakhstan Uzbekistan
Wake Island	United States Marshall Islands
Golan Heights	Israel Syria	Syrian territory occupied by Israel since 1967 (the Six-Day War.) This includes a 10 mi wide strip along the northeast side of the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret).
Shebaa Farms	Israel Lebanon Syria
Saudi Arabia–United Arab Emirates border dispute	United Arab Emirates Saudi Arabia

Europe

Territory	Claimants	Notes
Aegean dispute	Greece Turkey	Broad number of delimitation disputes about a.o. national airspace, territorial waters and exclusive economic zones. Includes Imia/Kardak dispute.
Mont Blanc summit dispute	France Italy
Carlingford Lough boundary dispute	Ireland United Kingdom
Some areas by the Danube Parts of Osijek and Sombor districts	Croatia Serbia
Eastern coast of Narva river and Petseri County	Russia Estonia	Russia recognized them as a part of Estonia with Treaty of Tartu, 1920. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia continued administering it.
Ems estuary and Dollart Bay (western part)	Netherlands Germany	Settled in 1960s (agreeing to disagree)
Gibraltar	United Kingdom Spain	Spain claims territory under the Treaty of Utrecht conditions.
Gulf of Piran	Slovenia Croatia	An agreement was signed (and ratified by Croatia's parliament on Nov. 20, 2009) to pursue binding arbitration to both the land and maritime portions of this ongoing dispute
Isthmus between Gibraltar and Spain	United Kingdom Spain	Spain claims territory as illegally occupied since it was not included into the Treaty of Utrecht.
Imia/Kardak	Greece Turkey	Part of Aegean dispute
Tuzla Island	Ukraine Russia
Lake Constance	Austria Germany Switzerland
Lough Foyle boundary dispute	Ireland United Kingdom
An area near Montalmus peak	Andorra Spain
Olivenza (including the municipality of Táliga)	Spain Portugal	In 1801, during the War of the Oranges, Spain, with French military support, occupied the territory of Olivenza (in Portuguese Olivença). By the Treaty of Vienna (1815), the signatory powers pledged to mediate in favor of Portugal, but, until today, Spain never returned the territory.
Pichvni	Georgia Russia
Prevlaka	Croatia Montenegro
Rockall	United Kingdom Ireland Denmark Iceland	Only the UK claims the rock itself. Ireland and Britain have agreed upon a demarcation of the surrounding sea-bed. Denmark and Iceland claim that the Rockall trough limits the Irish and British claims to the waters surrounding the rock and to the Rockall Bank.
Sastavci	Serbia Bosnia and Herzegovina
Island of Šarengrad	Serbia Croatia
Military complex near Sveta Gera, in the area of Žumberak/Gorjanci	Slovenia Croatia
Small 3m-by-60m strip along the Passetto di Borgo in the vicinity of the Vatican City	Holy See Italy
Veliki Školj and Mali Školj (near Neum)	Croatia Bosnia and Herzegovina
Island of Vukovar	Croatia Serbia

North America

Territory	Claimants	Notes
Hans Island	Canada Denmark	Claimed by both Canada and Denmark (on behalf of Greenland).
Continental shelf in the eastern Gulf of Mexico beyond 200 nautical miles	Cuba Mexico United States	Overlap on the eastern gap of the Gulf of Mexico between an area of continental shelf extending beyond 200 nautical miles from Cuba, an area of continental shelf extending beyond 200 nautical miles from Mexico and an area of continental shelf extending beyond 200 nautical miles from the United States. (The case of the western gap was solved by a treaty between Mexico and the United States of America on the delimitation of the continental shelf in the western Gulf of Mexico beyond 200 nautical miles, of June 9, 2000.)

Territory disputed between Canada and the United States

Main article: List of areas disputed by Canada and the United States

Territory	Canadian Claimant	U.S. Claimant
Machias Seal Island	New Brunswick	Maine
North Rock	New Brunswick	Maine
Strait of Juan de Fuca	British Columbia	Washington
Dixon Entrance	British Columbia	Alaska
Portland Canal	British Columbia	Alaska
Beaufort Sea	Yukon	Alaska
Northwest Passage and some other Arctic waters	Canadian territorial waters	U.S. claims navigation rights

Central America and the Caribbean

Territory	Claimants	Notes
Isla Aves	Venezuela Dominica	Dominica abandoned the claim to the island in 2006, but continues to claim the adjacent seas, as do some neighboring states.
Southern half of Belize	Belize Guatemala	Guatemala formerly claiming all Belize.
Bajo Nuevo Bank	Colombia Nicaragua United States Jamaica	Honduras has recognised the sovereignty of Colombia; other claimants have not.
Calero Island's northermost part	Costa Rica Nicaragua
Conejo Island	Honduras El Salvador
Navassa Island	United States Haiti
San Andrés and Providencia	Colombia Nicaragua	Honduras de facto recognises Colombian claim.
Sapodilla Cay	Belize Guatemala Honduras	Guatemala formerly claiming all Belize.
Serranilla Bank	Colombia Honduras Nicaragua United States	Jamaica has recognised the sovereignty of Colombia; other claimants have not.

South America

Territory	Claimants	Notes
Not specified	Chile Bolivia	Bolivia claims and demands sovereign sea access, lost during the War of the Pacific 1879.
Ankoko Island/Isla de Anacoco	Venezuela Guyana
Arroyo de la Invernada or Rincón de Artigas and Vila Albornoz	Brazil Uruguay	Dispute in the 235 km2 (91 sq mi) Invernada River region near Masoller, over which tributary represents the legitimate source of the Quaraí River/Cuareim River
Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)	United Kingdom Argentina	See Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute
French Guiana west of the Marouini River	France Suriname
Guaíra Falls/Sete Quedas	Brazil Paraguay	The disputed islands were submerged by the reservoir of Itaipú.
Guyana east of the Upper Courantyne River	Guyana Suriname
Guyana west of the Essequibo River (Guayana Esequiba)	Guyana Venezuela
Isla Brasilera/Ilha Brasileira	Brazil Uruguay	Uruguayan officials claim that the island falls under their Artigas Department
Isla Suárez/Ilha de Guajará-mirim	Bolivia Brazil
Los Monjes Archipelago	Venezuela Colombia	Colombia no longer claims the islands, only the surrounding waters.
Pacific Ocean Sea border	Chile Peru	This arguably covers 19,000–35,000 square metres of sea extending westward from the border marker number one area on the coast.
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	United Kingdom Argentina	Including Shag Rocks. See South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands sovereignty dispute
Southern Patagonian Ice Field between Monte Fitz Roy and Cerro Daudet	Argentina Chile	Parts of the border still officially undefined.

Disputes between recognized sovereign states and other states

See also: List of states with limited recognition and 2008 South Ossetia war

Territory	Claimants	Notes
Abkhazia	Republic of Abkhazia Georgia
Village of Aibga and surrounding area	Republic of Abkhazia Russia
Eastern part of Bhutan	Bhutan Republic of China (Taiwan)
North Cyprus	Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Cyprus
Mainland China, Hainan, and other islands controlled by the PRC.	People's Republic of China Republic of China (Taiwan)
Moldovan-controlled area of Dubăsari district	Moldova Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic
East Jerusalem	Israel Palestinian Authority
A small area of Gilgit-Baltistan	Pakistan Republic of China (Taiwan)
Kokkina/Erenköy exclave	Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Cyprus	This area is separated from the rest of the land controlled by North Cyprus by land controlled by the Republic of Cyprus.
Heixiazi / Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island (eastern half)	Russia Republic of China (Taiwan)	Split by the People's Republic of China and Russia in 2004
Heixiazi / Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island (western half)	People's Republic of China Republic of China (Taiwan)	Split by the People's Republic of China and Russia in 2004
Kachin State	Myanmar Republic of China (Taiwan)	North part west of the Gaoligong Mountains (高黎貢山) in western Yunnan, China, and the Division of Sagaing: Jiangxinpo (江心坡) and Nankan (南坎).
106.40 square kilometres of formerly Chinese territory in Kazakhstan	Kazakhstan Republic of China (Taiwan)
Kosovo	Serbia Republic of Kosovo	Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Serbia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo. The latter declared independence on 17 February 2008, while Serbia claims it as part of its own sovereign territory. Its independence is recognised by 114 UN member states.
Kutuzov Island	Russia Republic of China (Taiwan)
Outer Mongolia	Mongolia Republic of China (Taiwan)	Outer Mongolia has been excluded from Enforcement Rules for the Act Governing Relations between Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area since 2002. However, Outer Mongolia remains part of the ROC in the Constitution of the Republic of China.
Part of the Rasŏn administrative division	North Korea Republic of China (Taiwan)
Sixty-Four Villages East of the Heilongjiang River	Russia Republic of China (Taiwan)
Somaliland	Somaliland Somalia
South Ossetia	Republic of South Ossetia Georgia
'Border' checkpoint near Strovilia	United Kingdom Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus	UK's claim in regard to its Sovereign Base Areas Technically, of course, this also involves Cyprus; the checkpoint is partially on UN-administered land, and Cyprus claims all of the island. (See: Europe)
Taiwan Penghu Jinmen Matsu Islands Pratas Islands	Republic of China (Taiwan) People's Republic of China	See also: Anti-Secession Law Legal status of Taiwan
Transnistria	Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic Moldova
Tuva	Russia Republic of China (Taiwan)
Varnita, Copanca and Bendery (also known as Tighina or Bender)	Moldova Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic
The West Bank (called Judea and Samaria in Israel)	Israel Palestinian Authority	See Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Western Sahara	Morocco Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic	The United Nations keeps the Western Sahara in its list of Non-Self-Governing Territories and considers the sovereignty issue as unresolved pending a final solution. To that end, the UN sent a mission in the territory to oversee a referendum on self-determination in 1991, but it never happened. Administration was relinquished by Spain in 1976.

Disputes between a state and its subnational entities, or between subnational entities

Territory	Country	Internal Claimants	Notes
Belgaum	India	Karnataka Maharashtra	Disputed since 1956 when Belgaum district was not transferred to Maharashtra.
Hogenakkal	India	Tamil Nadu Karnataka
Kasaragod	India	Kerala Karnataka
Lubicon traditional territory between the Peace River and Athabasca River and north of Lesser Slave Lake	Canada	Alberta Lubicon Lake Indian Nation (Cree)	Northern Alberta
Southern edge of Labrador	Canada	Newfoundland and Labrador Quebec	This was formerly an international dispute between Canada, which includes Quebec, and the Dominion of Newfoundland, at the time a separate country. Although Canada accepted the current border, Quebec never did.
Songling District and Jiagedaqi District	People's Republic of China	Inner Mongolia Heilongjiang
A wide section from the 35th parallel north to one-mile south.	United States	Tennessee Georgia	Due to an inaccurate measurement in 1818, Georgia claims the correct 35th latitude north, and does so in a chance of a drought, it would have access to the Tennessee River.

Antarctica

Further information: Territorial claims of Antarctica

The Antarctic Treaty System, formed on 1 December 1959 and entered into force on 23 June 1961, establishes the legal framework for the management of Antarctica and provides administration for the continent, which is carried out through consultative member meetings. It freezes the territorial claims of all signatories (all claimants have acceded) for as long as the treaty is in force. However, it is not a final settlement; parties can choose to withdraw from the System at any time. Furthermore, only a minority of states have signed it, and it is not formally sanctioned by the United Nations. Thus, Antarctica remains the only part of the planet any (non-signatory) state can still lay claim to as terra nullius (on the grounds of it not having been part of any existing state's legal and effective territory).

Territory	Claimants	Antarctic territory
Area between 25°W and 53°W	United Kingdom Argentina	British Antarctic Territory Argentine Antarctica
Area between 53°W and 74°W	United Kingdom Argentina Chile	British Antarctic Territory Argentine Antarctica Antártica Chilena Province
Area between 74°W and 80°W	United Kingdom Chile	British Antarctic Territory Antártica Chilena Province

Historical Disputes, since been settled

Territory	Former Claimants	Dispute Started	Dispute Settled	Notes
Various Massachusetts boundary disputes	Massachusetts New York New Hampshire Rhode Island Connecticut	1641	1865	The dispute lasted from when these areas were colonies of Great Britain to states of the United States.
Alaska Boundary Dispute	United States Canada	1821	1903	Disputed between the United States and Canada (then a British Dominion with its foreign affairs controlled from London). The dispute had been going on between the Russian and British Empires since 1821, and was inherited by the United States as a consequence of the Alaska Purchase in 1867. It was resolved by arbitration in 1903 with a delegation that included 3 Americans, 2 Canadians, and 1 British delegate that became the swing vote. By a 4 to 2 vote, the final resolution favored the American position. Canada did not get an outlet from the Yukon gold fields to the sea. The disappointment and anger in Canada was directed less at the United States, and more at the British government for betraying Canadian interests in pursuit of a friendly relationship between Britain and the United States.
Aroostook War	United States British North America	1838	1842	Disputed border between the state of Maine and the provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec.
Sakhalin Island	Russian Empire Empire of Japan	1845	1875	Japan unilaterally proclaimed sovereignty over the whole island in 1845, but its claims were ignored by the Russian Empire. The 1855 Treaty of Shimoda acknowledged that both Russia and Japan had joint rights of occupation to Sakhalin, without setting a definite territorial demarcation. As the island became settled in the 1860s and 1870s, this ambiguity led to increasing friction between settlers. Attempts by the Tokugawa shogunate to purchase the entire island from the Russian Empire failed, and the new Meiji government was unable to negotiate a partition of the island into separate territories. In the Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1875), Japan agreed to give up its claims on Sakhalin in exchange for undisputed ownership of the Kuril Islands.
Pamir Mountains	Tajikistan People's Republic of China	1877	2011	The PRC relinquished its claim over this territory in January 2011 with final ratification of a treaty ceding 1,158 square kilometres (447 sq mi) to it by the Tajik government.
Isla Martín García	Argentina Uruguay	1879	1973	After the Conquest of the Desert was formally launched in 1879, many indigenous leaders captured were confined there. The island was transferred to Argentine Navy jurisdiction in 1886. The island's distance from the Uruguayan territory is less than two miles, and its jurisdictional status was formally established by the Treaty of Río de la Plata between Uruguay and Argentina on November 19, 1973.
Clipperton Island	Mexico France	1897	1931	Disputed between France and Mexico. On January 28, 1931, King Victor Emanuel finally declared Clipperton to be a French possession, and has remained relatively undisputed ever since.
Åland Islands	Sweden Finland	1917	1920?	Sweden and Finland argued over the control of the Åland Islands (located between Sweden and Finland). The Åland movement (Ålandsrörelsen) wanted Åland to reunite with its old mother country Sweden (Finland and Åland belonged to Sweden before 1809). The movement gathered signatures from over 7000 inhabitants of legal age at the Åland Islands in 1917 (that was about 96% of the population) - they all supported a union with Sweden. When Finland became independent (December 6th 1917) Sweden wanted a plebiscite about the future of the Åland Islands to solve the problem. Finland refused and argued that the Åland Islands had always been a natural part of Finland - even when Finland was under Swedish rule. Sweden appealed to the League of Nations referring to the right of the population to determine which country they should belong to. After studying the matter closely the League of Nations decided Finland should retain sovereignty over the province but that the Åland Islands should be made an autonomous territory. The Swedish Prime Minister said he didn’t accept the verdict but he also said that Sweden was not going to use military force to get their claims.
Tenedos	Greece Turkey	1920	1923	On 11 August 1920, following World War I, the Treaty of Sèvres with the defeated Ottoman Empire granted the island to Greece, who joined the war in Allies' side in May 1917. The new Turkish Government of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, based in Ankara, which was not party to the treaty, overthrew the Ottoman government, which signed but did not ratify the treaty. After the Turkish War of Independence ended in Greek defeat in Anatolia, and the fall of Lloyd George and his Middle Eastern policies, the western powers agreed to the Treaty of Lausanne with the new Turkish Republic, in 1923. This treaty made Tenedos and Imbros part of Turkey, and it guaranteed a special autonomous administrative status there to accommodate the Greeks.
Northern Ireland	Ireland United Kingdom	1920	1999	Formerly disputed between Ireland and the United Kingdom since partition on 23 December 1920, it was settled by the Good Friday Agreement in 1999, when Ireland renounced its claim. However, both countries acknowledged that the territory can rejoin the rest of Ireland if separate referendums in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland approve of the former's cession.
Yalu River (disputed sovereignty of certain islands)	People's Republic of China North Korea South Korea	1949	2005	The allocation to North Korea of all of the large islands in the lower Yalu River, including Pidan and Sindo at the mouth, is now clear. The river's maritime rights remain shared between the two nations.
Shaksgam Valley	Pakistan (still claimed by: India People's Republic of China)	1947	1963	Pakistan relinguished its claim to China; India did not.
Sinai Peninsula	Israel Egypt	1967	1982	During the Six-Day War Israel claimed Sinai. It was returned in 1982 under the terms of the 1979 Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty.
West Bank and East Jerusalem	Israel Jordan	1967	1988	During the Six-Day War Israel conquered these territories from Jordan. Jordan later renounced the claim on the territory, supporting instead its inclusion in a future Palestine.
Hawar Islands	Qatar Bahrain	1971	2001	Formely disputed between Qatar and Bahrain, it was settled by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. In the June 2001 decision, Bahrain kept the Hawar Islands and Qit'at Jaradah but dropped claims to Janan Island and Zubarah on mainland Qatar, while Qatar retained significant maritime areas and their resources. The agreement has furthered the goal of definitively establishing the border with Saudi Arabia and Saudi-led mediation efforts continue.
Pytalovo (Abrene in Latvia)	Latvia Russia	1991	2007	Pytalovo was part of independent Latvia as Abrene until Latvia was occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union. Latvia disputed Russian jurisdiction over the region until signing a border treaty with Russia in 2007.

See also

• Demilitarized zone
• Dependent territory
• Lists of active separatist movements
• List of sovereign states
• Neutral territory
• Table of administrative divisions by country
• Territorial claims in the Arctic
• Territorial disputes in the Persian Gulf
• List of countries and territories by land and maritime borders