Gregory's Server4/ Occasionally disputes lead to violence and escalate into all out war, as sadly seen recently between Armenia π¦π² and Azerbaijan π¦πΏ
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenia%E2%80%93Azerbaijan_border_crisis_(2021%E2%80%93present)
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 6/ There are some very creative border dispute solutions - for example the tiny mid-river island that changes country between Spain πͺπΈ and France π«π· every 6 months. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pheasant_Island See our #geoweirdness thread about France 7/ And sometimes disputes are resolved peacefully, as was the case recently between Canada π¨π¦ and Denmark π©π° π¬π± who settled their disagreement over the ownership of tiny Hans Island - site of the delightful "Whiskey War" which involved trading bottles of alcohol πΎ to show possession of the island https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whisky_War See our thread about Denmark: https://elk.zone/en.osm.town/@opencage/110165247337780685 8/ Many border disputes are caused by rivers changing their course. Look at the border between the US πΊπΈ states of Mississippi and Arkansas. The border follows the path of the river as it once was, not as it now is. 9/ In many places there are disagreements about which side of the river/water the border is on. For example between Germany π©πͺ and the Netherlands π³π± at the mouth of the Ems river https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsch-Niederl%C3%A4ndische_Grenzfrage 10/ Sometimes disputes arise because the old methods of surveying the border werenβt very accurate. This can lead to surprises when the border is re-surveyed using more modern technologies, like this example between US πΊπΈ states North and South Carolina. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/border-redraw-in-the-carolinas-would-mean-19-homes-changing-states/ 11/ There are even bizarre situations where two bordering countries claim to both NOT own territory. See for example the case of "Liberland" on the Danube which is claimed by neither Croatia ππ· nor Serbia π·πΈ We covered it in our #geoweirdness thread about Croatia: 12/ So with all this disagreement, how does our geocoding API handle disputes? Who is βrightβ? We use the main OpenStreetMap database which follows the principal of "most widely internationally recognised and best meets realities on the ground". Here's the OpenStreetMap Foundation's official policy doc: https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/File:DisputedTerritoriesInformation.pdf 13/ The great thing about #OpenStreetMap: OSM is a database, not a map. If you disagree with the OSMF's view you are free to take a copy, and use it to make maps showing the world the way you think it should be - whatever your view. Several local OSM communities do this. 14/ Borders are a passionate topic, there aren't always simple answers. Want more disputed borders? As always, wikipedia is the place for comprehensive list: 15/ The list of disputes is long and complicated - this thread could go on and on, but we'll wrap up this week's #geoweirdness thread there. Thanks for reading and boosting. We have more threads about specific countries, geocoding, etc on our blog.  |
5/ Happily not all border disputes lead to violence. Often the disputes are small and the parties just βagree to disagreeβ.
One such example we covered in our #geoweirdness thread about non-state territories of the United States: both the US πΊπΈ and Haiti ππΉ claim tiny Navassa Island
https://en.osm.town/@opencage/110644280652181391