Disputed Areas

I

Introduction

Disputed Areas, territories over which two or more countries or groups of people claim sovereignty. Governments or people who have a stake in the disputes are usually very sensitive about how these regions are portrayed on maps.

This article is intended to be a reference guide to the disputed areas and borders shown on the maps in the MSN Encarta World Atlas. It is not a comprehensive listing of all territorial, border, or other geopolitical disputes between nations or peoples. In dealing with disputed areas, the cartographers have strived to find neutral ground and present opposing points of view where appropriate.

In the World Atlas, disputed borders appear as broken orange lines. Labels for some disputed areas include the word “(disputed)”. The following summaries of disputed areas and borders are grouped by geographic region.

II

Israeli-Palestinian Disputed Areas

Israel occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1967 during the Six-Day War. Following negotiations between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Palestinian National Authority assumed administrative control of Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip in 1994 and in the West Bank in early 1996. Under the terms of a 1998 accord, Israel began further withdrawals from the West Bank, but renewed disagreements quickly stalled land transfers. In 2005 Israel evacuated Israeli settlers and withdrew its troops from the Gaza Strip. The final status of both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank remains unresolved.

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III

Other Disputed Areas in Asia

A

Abū Mūsá and the Ţunb Islands

The United Arab Emirates and Iran dispute ownership of the Persian Gulf islands of Abū Mūsá, Ţunb al Kubrá, and Ţunb aş Şughrá.

B

Arunāchal Pradesh

China claims the northern part of the Indian state of Arunāchal Pradesh. The boundary has been disputed since 1914, when the British, who had recently incorporated the tribal territory into British India, proposed a border that China never ratified. Although China invaded the area several times after India became independent in 1947, the proposed border remains the de facto boundary.

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