Enclave and exclave
An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one.[1] Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters.[2]: 60 Enclave is sometimes used improperly to denote a territory that is only partly surrounded by another state.[1] Enclaves that are not part of a larger territory are not exclaves, for example Vatican City and San Marino (both enclaved by Italy) and Lesotho (enclaved by South Africa) are enclaved sovereign states.
"Enclave" redirects here. For other uses, see Enclave (disambiguation).
An exclave is a portion of a state or district geographically separated from the main part, by some surrounding alien territory.[3] Many exclaves are also enclaves, but not all: an exclave surrounded by the territory of more than one state is not an enclave.[4] The Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan is an example of an exclave that is not an enclave, as it borders Armenia, Turkey and Iran.
Semi-enclaves and semi-exclaves are areas that, except for possessing an unsurrounded sea border (a coastline contiguous with international waters), would otherwise be enclaves or exclaves.[4]: 116 [5]: 12–14 Semi-enclaves and enclaves are mutually exclusive. Likewise, semi-exclaves and exclaves are mutually exclusive. Enclaves and semi-enclaves can exist as independent states (Monaco, The Gambia and Brunei are semi-enclaves), while exclaves and semi-exclaves proper always constitute just a part of a sovereign state (like the Kaliningrad Oblast).[4]
A pene-exclave is a part of the territory of one country that can be conveniently approached—in particular, by wheeled traffic—only through the territory of another country.[6]: 283 Pene-exclaves are also called functional exclaves or practical exclaves.[5]: 31 Many pene-exclaves partially border their own territorial waters (i.e., they are not surrounded by other nations' territorial waters), such as Point Roberts, Washington, and Minnesota's Northwest Angle. A pene-exclave can also exist entirely on land, such as when intervening mountains render a territory inaccessible from other parts of a country except through alien territory. A commonly cited example is the Kleinwalsertal, a valley part of Vorarlberg, Austria, that is accessible only from Germany to the north.
Origin and usage[edit]
The word enclave is French and first appeared in the mid-15th century as a derivative of the verb enclaver (1283), from the colloquial Latin inclavare (to close with a key).[7] Originally, it was a term of property law that denoted the situation of a land or parcel of land surrounded by land owned by a different owner, and that could not be reached for its exploitation in a practical and sufficient manner without crossing the surrounding land.[7] In law, this created a servitude[8] of passage for the benefit of the owner of the surrounded land. The first diplomatic document to contain the word enclave was the Treaty of Madrid, signed in 1526.[2]: 61
Later, the term enclave began to be used also to refer to parcels of countries, counties, fiefs, communes, towns, parishes, etc. that were surrounded by alien territory. This French word eventually entered English and other languages to denote the same concept, although local terms have continued to be used. In India, the word "pocket" is often used as a synonym for enclave (such as "the pockets of Puducherry district").[9] In British administrative history, subnational enclaves were usually called detachments or detached parts, and national enclaves as detached districts or detached dominions.[10] In British ecclesiastic history, subnational enclaves were known as peculiars (see also royal peculiar).
The word exclave[3] is a logically extended back-formation of enclave.
True exclave is an extension of the concept of true enclave. In order to access a true exclave from the mainland, a traveller must go through the territory of at least one other state. Examples include:
Unusual cross-border transport channels[edit]
National railway passing through another state's territory[edit]
Changes in borders can make a railway that was previously located solely within a country traverse the new borders. Since diverting a railway is expensive, this arrangement may last a long time. This may mean that doors on passenger trains are locked and guarded to prevent illicit entry and exit while the train is temporarily in another country. Borders can also be in the "wrong" place, forcing railways into difficult terrain. In large parts of Europe, where the Schengen Area has eliminated border controls when travelling between its 27 member countries, this problem no longer exists, and railways can criss-cross borders with no need for border controls or locked trains.[56]
Examples include: