Condominium (international law)

For the modern meaning as a type of housing, see Condominium

In international law, a condominium (plural either condominia, as in Latin, or condominiums) is a political territory (state or border area) in or over which two or more sovereign powers formally agree to share equally dominium (in the sense of sovereignty) and exercise their rights jointly, without dividing it up into 'national' zones.

Although a condominium has always been recognized as a theoretical possibility, condominiums have been rare in practice. A major problem, and the reason why so few have existed in practice, is the difficulty of ensuring co-operation between the sovereign powers; once the understanding fails, the status is likely to become untenable.

The word is recorded in English since c.1714, from Modern Latin, apparently coined in Germany c.1700 from Latin com- "together" + dominum "right of ownership" (compare domain).

Current condominia

The main part of Lake Constance (without islands) is considered by Austria to be a condominium between Germany, Austria and Switzerland. This view is not shared by Germany and Switzerland
The Moselle River, is a condominium between Luxembourg and Germany, who share bridges and at least one island (near Schengen). Established by Treaty in 1816
Pheasant Island (also known as Conference Island, Konpantzia in Basque, Île de la Conférence in French or Isla de los Faisanes in Spanish) in the River Bidassoa between France and Spain. Established by the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659

The term is sometimes even applied to a similar arrangement between members of a Monarch's countries in (personal or formal) union, as was the case for the district of Fiume (Rieka), shared between Hungary and Croatia within the Hapsburg Empire since 1868.

Co-principality

Under French law, Andorra was once considered to be a French–Spanish condominium, although it is more commonly classed as a co-principality, since it is itself a sovereign state, not a possession of one or more foreign powers, even though the quality of Head of State is shared ex officio by two foreigners.

Former Western condominia

Cyprus was shared for over 300 years between the Byzantine emperor and the caliph
Countship of Friesland (West Frisia), since 1165 under Imperial administration, was from 1165 to 1493 a joint condominium of the Count of Holland and the Prince-bishop of Utrecht, then again till 25 October, 1555 under Imperial administration
Maastricht, essentially a condominium of Belgium and Holland between 1830 and the 1839 Treaty of London
Neutral Moresnet was shared from 1816 until 1919 between The Netherlands (later Belgium) and Prussia (later Germany)
Northern Dobruja
Oregon Country was an Anglo-American condominium from 1818 until 1846
Sakhalin Island in the Far East, offshore Siberias pacific coast. In 1855, the Russian and Japanese empires signed the Treaty of Shimoda, allowing boths nationals to inhabit the island: Russians in the north, and Japanese in the south, without a clear boundary between. In 1945, according to Yalta Conference agreements, the Soviet Union took over the control of the whole island.
Zaporozhian Sich, a Russo-Polish condominium established in 1667 by the Treaty of Andrusovo

Former Colonial condominia

Canton and Enderbury Islands were a British–American condominium from 1939 until 1979 when they became part of Kiribati
New Hebrides formed a French–British condominium until independence in 1980 as a republic, now called Vanuatu
Samoan Islands from 1889 to 1899 were a rare tripartite condominium under joint protectorate of Germany, Britain and the USA
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan was a British–Egyptian condominium until 1956
Togoland - from 26 August 1914, under British and French occupation, the German protectorate (a colony since 1905) of Togoland was an Anglo-French condominium, until its partition on 27 December 1916 into French and British zones, which were transformed on 20 July 1922 into two separate League of Nations mandates: British Togoland (which joined Gold Coast, present Ghana, in 1956) and French Togoland, the present republic of Togo

Other project

In 2001, the British government proposed sharing sovereignty of Gibraltar with Spain, but this was decisively rejected by the people of Gibraltar in a referendum in 2002.

Sources and references

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