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OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

5/ Next we have the ๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ฎ US Virgin Islands, which was previously the ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฐDanish Virgin Islands.

The USVI is an unincorporated territory of the United States ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ, purchased from Denmark in 1917

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_o

And west of that we have the Spanish Virgin Islands, which is part of Puerto Rico ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ท, and thus also an unincorporated territory of the United States.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_

#geoweirdness

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OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

6/ Puerto Rico ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ท was an important ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Spanish military outpost and sugar producer for centuries. In 1898, after the Spanish-American War, Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ

Puerto Ricans were granted US citizenship in 1917, and it remains an unincorporated territory of the USA to this day.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_R

The political status of the territory - whether it should become a state, remain as is, or gain independence is a long-running debate
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politica

#geoweirdness

6/ Puerto Rico ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ท was an important ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Spanish military outpost and sugar producer for centuries. In 1898, after the Spanish-American War, Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ

Puerto Ricans were granted US citizenship in 1917, and it remains an unincorporated territory of the USA to this day.

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

7/ Eastward to Hispaniola, the most populous island in the Greater Antilles. It is composed of two nations: Haiti ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡น and the Dominican Republic ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ด

The island was under ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Spanish control from its โ€˜discoveryโ€™ in the 1490s. In the 17th century, French pirates took over the western part, becoming the ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท French colony of Saint-Domingue.

Harsh slavery conditions led to the Haitian Revolution in the 1790s. In 1804, Haiti ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡น gained independence, the first to be liberated by former slaves.

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

8/ Haiti ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡น has a place in OpenStreetMap history: the 2010 earthquake was a major impetus for the creation of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team

hotosm.org/projects/haiti_

#geoweirdness #OpenStreetMap

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

9/ Sadly conditions in Haiti ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡น are still very difficul, and it is the poorest country in the western hemisphere.

Here's an aerial image of the border with the much wealthier Dominican Republic ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ด, you can see the significant deforestation on the Hatian side.

In February 2023, construction was started on a border wall on the Dominican side to stop migrants

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominica

#geoweirdness

OpenCage ๐Ÿ‘‰๐ŸŒ

10/ Haiti ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡น has an open territorial dispute - with the United States ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ over tiny, uninhabited Navassa Island

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navassa_

The island is administered by the US Fish and Wildlife service as a National Wildlife Refuge. It is the only one of the "United States Minor Outlying Islands" not in the Pacific

#geoweirdness

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