Virgin Islands
none
Wake Island
claimed by Marshall Islands
Wallis and Futuna
none
West Bank
West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current
status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement -
permanent status to be determined through further negotiation;
Israel continues construction of a "seam line" separation barrier
along parts of the Green Line and within the West Bank; Israel
announced its intention to pull out settlers and withdraw from four
settlements in the northern West Bank in 2005; since 1948, about 350
peacekeepers from the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO),
headquartered in Jerusalem, monitor ceasefires, supervise armistice
agreements, prevent isolated incidents from escalating, and assist
other UN personnel in the region
Western Sahara
Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, whose
sovereignty remains unresolved - UN-administered cease-fire has
remained in effect since September 1991, administered by the UN
Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), but attempts
to hold a referendum have failed and parties thus far have rejected
all brokered proposals
World
stretching over 250,000 km, the world's 325 international land
boundaries separate the 192 independent states and 73 dependencies,
areas of special sovereignty, and other miscellaneous entities;
ethnicity, culture, race, religion, and language have divided states
into separate political entities as much as history, physical
terrain, political fiat, or conquest, resulting in sometimes
arbitrary and imposed boundaries; maritime states have claimed
limits and have so far established over 130 maritime boundaries and
joint development zones to allocate ocean resources and to provide
for national security at sea; boundary, borderland/resource, and
territorial disputes vary in intensity from managed or dormant to
violent or militarized; most disputes over the alignment of
political boundaries are confined to short segments and are today
less common and less hostile than borderland, resource, and
territorial disputes; undemarcated, indefinite, porous, and
unmanaged boundaries, however, encourage illegal cross-border
activities, uncontrolled migration, and confrontation; territorial
disputes may evolve from historical and/or cultural claims, or they
may be brought on by resource competition; ethnic clashes continue
to be responsible for much of the territorial fragmentation around
the world; disputes over islands at sea or in rivers frequently form
the source of territorial and boundary conflict; other sources of
contention include access to water and mineral (especially
petroleum) resources, fisheries, and arable land; nonetheless, most
nations cooperate to clarify their international boundaries and to
resolve territorial and resource disputes peacefully; regional
discord directly affects the sustenance and welfare of local
populations, often leaving the world community to cope with
resultant refugees, hunger, disease, impoverishment, deforestation,
and desertification
Yemen
Yemen protests Eritrea fishing around the Hanish Islands
awarded to Yemen by the ICJ in 1999; despite resistance from nomadic
groups, the demarcation of the Saudi Arabia-Yemen boundary
established under the 2000 Jeddah Treaty is almost complete; Yemen
protests Saudi erection of a concrete-filled pipe as a security
barrier in 2004 to stem illegal cross-border activities in sections
of the boundary
Zambia
in 2004 Zimbabwe dropped objections and joined Namibia in
supporting plans between Botswana and Zambia to build a bridge over
the Zambezi River, thereby de facto recognizing a short, but not
clearly delimited Botswana-Zambia boundary in the river; 90,000
Angolan refugees were repatriated from Zambia by 2004, the remaining
160,000 are expected to return in 2005
Zimbabwe
Botswana has built electric fences and South Africa has
placed military along the border to stem the flow of thousands of
Zimbabweans fleeing to find work and escape political persecution;
Namibia has supported and in 2004 Zimbabwe dropped objections to
plans between Botswana and Zambia to build a bridge over the Zambezi
River, thereby de facto recognizing a short, but not clearly
delimited Botswana-Zambia boundary in the river
This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005