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-- 😤 Why Terra Nellius Sucks
-- ⛳️ Background on Every Guy That's Planted a Flag There
-- 🗺️ The Other Terra Nullius Places Currently In The World
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Bir Tawil is the last big remaining (habitable) land on earth that is unclaimed by any country.

Every nation wants more land. That’s why wars start (including a recent one). But, sometimes, in very rare circumstances, there’s land that nobody wants. Right now, that’s Bir Tawil – the last big territory on earth that remains unclaimed by any recognized country.

The concept is called Terra Nullius (Latin for “nobody’s land”) and it’s a term used to justify a country’s claim to a place. The idea being that if there was no sovereign state there before, it’s terra nullius so a state that occupies it can claim it.

Obviously, we can have a long debate about how it’s usually not really “nobody’s land,” It’s somebody’s, just somebody that historically didn’t seem to count for the ones that made up the rule.

Today, almost every corner of the planet is claimed as part of one, or several, nations. But, amazingly, there still is terra nullius.

The most glaring example is Bir Tawil on the border between Egypt and Sudan. This is an 800 square mile territory that neither Egypt nor Sudan say is there’s.

And for good reason: Back in 1899 the UK and Egypt jointly controlled the Sudan region, except really the UK did. (then known as Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (it was actually a rare example of countries that share, for those of you who saw that video, but in reality the Brits had the power).) They agreed on a straight line border at the 22nd parallel to define the two regions. (“Political Boundary”)

It was a clean line, but a little too clean because culturally Sudanese groups inhabited a big area above the line, and culturally Egyptian groups used an area below the line.

So in 1902 the British moved the administrative border lines to account for what was more in line with the people on the ground.

That “tweak” added a huge 8000 sq mile swath called the Hala’ib Triangle under the control of Sudan, and gave the 10x smaller Bir Tawil to Egypt (how generous).

Since then, Egypt and Sudan, which became a sovereign state in 1956, have never agreed to the lines. They both want the Hala’ib Triangle. and Why not? Its large, has sea access, offshore oil, and a good amount of mineral wealth.

So, Egypt only recognizes the original straight line border whereas Sudan only recognizes the revised administrative border. That leaves Bir Tawil as purposefully unclaimed by both. If either one claims Bir Tawil, they’d be recognizing a border line they don’t want to, and they’d lose the Hala’ib Triangle.

The terra nullius status of Bir Tawil has prompted some people to think they can be king. Several individuals, including this guy, this guy, and this guy, have traveled there and planted flags to declare their own nations. Jeremiah Heaton is perhaps the most famous, he went there to grant his daughter’s wish to become a real-life princess.

Today, Bir Tawil isn’t known to have any permanent population but the Halaib Triangle has 10 to 30,000. Egypt has been controlling the Triangle since the early 90s and they’ve been actively building infrastructure to solidify their hold on it. That said, there’s no sign Sudan is backing down – their recent government oil maps clearly offer that area up for bidding.

#egypt #sudan #birtawil #geography #maps #terranullius #nomansland #border #borderlands #desert #africa #northafrica