Enclave and exclave

In political geography, an enclave is a piece of land which is totally surrounded by a foreign territory, and an exclave is one which is politically attached to a larger piece but not actually contiguous with it. Many entities are both enclaves and exclaves, but the two are not synonymous.

(In medicine, an exclave is a detached part of an organ, as of the pancreas, thyroid, or other gland.)

The word enclave crept into the jargon of diplomacy rather late in English, in 1868, coming from French, the lingua franca of diplomacy, with a sense inherited from late Latin inclavatus meaning 'shut in, locked up" (with a key, late Latin clavis). The word exclave is a logical extension created three decades later.

Although the meanings of both words are close, an exclave may not necessarily be an enclave. For example, Kaliningrad, an exclave of Russia, is surrounded not by one state, but by two: Lithuania and Poland; it also borders the Baltic Sea. On the other hand, Lesotho is an enclave in South Africa, but it isn't politically attached to anything else.

Enclaves may be created for a variety of historical, political or geographical reasons. Some areas have been left as enclaves simply due to changes in the course of a river.

Since living in an enclave can be very inconvenient and many agreements have to be found by both countries over mail addresses, power supply or passage rights, enclaves tend to be eliminated and many cases that existed before have now been removed.

In British administrative history, subnational enclaves were usually called detachments. In English ecclesiastic history, subnational enclaves were known as peculiars (see also Royal Peculiar).

Many exclaves today have an independence movement, especially if the exclave is far away from the mainland.

True enclaves

This refers to those territories where a country is sovereign, but which cannot be reached without entering another country. The best-known example was West Berlin, before the reunification of Germany, which was de facto a West German exclave within East Germany, and thus an East German enclave (many small West Berlin land areas, such as Steinstücken, were in turn separated from the main one, some by only a few meters). De jure all of Berlin was ruled by the four Allied powers; this meant that West Berlin could not send voting members to the German Parliament, and that its citizens were exempt from conscription.

Most of the enclaves now existing are to be found in Asia, with a handful in other continents. See List of enclaves and exclaves.

The life in such areas varies greatly from one to another. Whereas in modern times European enclaves are usually legally well defined and their population is often free to move from one country to another, Asian enclaves often result from disagreement over border treaties. This causes their inhabitants to be at worst enclosed inside, at best seriously impaired in their usual life.

Enclaved countries

Some enclaves are countries in their own right, completely surrounded by another one, and therefore not exclaves. Three such sovereign countries exist:

The republic of San Marino, enclaved within Italy
Vatican City, within the city of Rome, in Italy
The Kingdom of Lesotho, embedded inside South Africa

True exclaves

See List of enclaves and exclaves.

"Practical" enclaves and exclaves

Some territories, while not geographically detached from their motherland, are more easily reached by entering a foreign country, because of their location in a hilly area, or because the only road available enters that foreign place before coming back to the mother country. These territories may be called "practical exclaves," "pene-exclaves" or "quasi-exclaves" and can be found along many borders, particularly those that are not heavily defended. They will only be attached to the motherland via an extremely small or thin slice of land.

Subnational enclaves and exclaves

Sometimes, administrative divisions of a country, due to historical or practical reasons, caused some areas to belong to a division while being attached to another one. For numerous examples, see List of enclaves and exclaves.

Ethnic enclaves

Ethnic enclaves are communities of an ethnic group inside an area where another ethnic group predominates. Jewish ghettos and shtetls, barrios and Chinatowns are examples. These areas may have a separate language, culture and economic system.

Extraterritoriality

Embassies and military bases are usually exempted from the jurisdiction of the host country, i.e., the laws of the host nation the embassy is in do not typically apply to the land of the embassy or base itself. This exemption from the jurisdiction of the host country is defined as extraterritoriality. Areas of extraterritoriality are not true enclaves as they are still part of the host country. In addition to embassies some other areas have extraterritoriality.

Examples of this include:

Pavillon de Breteuil in France - used by the General Conference on Weights and Measures.
United Nations headquarters in the United States of America - used by the United Nations.
NATO (political) headquarters in the Evere area of Brussels, Belgium.
Headquarters Allied Command Operations (NATO) at the area designated as Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), North of Mons, Belgium
The headquarters of Sovereign Order of the Knights of Malta, in Rome used by the Sovereign Order of the Knights of Malta.
Some 13 buildings in the city of Rome outside of the Vatican - used by The Holy See.
Turkish Cemetery also known as "Türk's Tomb" (Turkish: Türk Mezarı) in Syria is the grave of Suleyman Shah (Turkish: Süleyman Şah). He was father of Ertuğrul, who was in turn, the father of Osman I, the founder of the Ottoman Empire. The land is ceded to Turkey by the Treaty of Ankara signed between her and France on 20 October 1921. Turkey has the right to have a squad/section of the army and to hoist the Turkish flag.

Land ceded to a foreign country

Some areas of land in a country are owned by another country and in some cases it has special privileges, such as being exempt from taxes. These lands are not enclaves and do not have extraterritoriality.

Examples of this include:

Napoleon's original grave in Longwood, Saint Helena ceded to France.
Victor Hugo's house in St Peter Port, Guernsey ceded to the city of Paris.
The World War II Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Normandy, France which contains the graves of 9,386 American military dead, most of whom gave their lives during the landings and ensuing operations of World War II, ceded to the United States of America.
About 24 m² of land that surrounds the Suvorov memorial near Göschenen in central Switzerland ceded to Russia.
The Vimy Memorial in France, which commemorates the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The French government permanently ceded a land area of about 1 km² to Canada as a war memorial in 1922 in recognition of Canada's military contributions in World War I in general and at Vimy Ridge in particular.
The land under the John F. Kennedy memorial at Runnymede, United Kingdom. Land ceded to the United States of America.
Two cemeteries on North Carolina's Outer Banks ceded to Great Britain. Both contain the graves of British sailors killed in U-Boat attacks during World War II.

Railways

Changes in borders can make a railway that was previously located solely within a country criss-cross the new borders. Since railways are much more expensive than roads to rebuild to avoid this problem, the criss-cross arrangement tends to last a long time. With passenger trains this may mean that doors on carriages are locked and guarded to prevent illicit entry and exit while the train is momentarily in another country.

Examples include:

Ireland/Northern Ireland - defunct
ex Soviet Union Central Asia.
Salzburg to Innsbruck (Austria) (passes Rosenheim, Germany)
Trains from Neugersdorf, Saxony to Zittau pass Czech territory at Varnsdorf, while Czech trains from Varnsdorf to Chrastava pass through German territory at Zittau, and then a small part of Polish territory near the village of Porajów.

Wien to Innsbruck - the straightest route for a high speed line would pass in tunnel under a "knob" of German Territory.

External links

Exclaves | Political geography

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Enclave and exclave