Disputed places
Where the map depends on who you ask, and why.
- AbkhaziaGeorgia’s Black Sea coast, outside Georgian control since 1993 and recognised by Russia in 2008.
- Abu Musa and the TunbsIran landed troops two days before the UAE was born. Fifty-five years on, both still claim the islands.
- AbyeiA 2011 vote was meant to decide whether it joined Sudan or South Sudan. It never happened.
- Aksai ChinAn empty plateau China crossed with a road in the 1950s, and India still counts as Ladakh.
- Arunachal PradeshAn Indian state that China calls South Tibet, over a line drawn with Tibet in 1914.
- Belize and GuatemalaGuatemala claims much of Belize, over a road promised in 1859 and never built.
- Cameroon’s English-speaking regionsJoined Cameroon in a 1961 vote with a federal promise; the federation ended in 1972.
- CrimeaMoved from Russia to Ukraine in 1954, taken by Russia in 2014, still Ukrainian to the UN.
- Dokdo / TakeshimaTwo tiny islets South Korea holds, Japan claims, and Seoul says aren’t in dispute at all.
- EssequiboTwo-thirds of Guyana, claimed by Venezuela, with the World Court’s ruling due around 2027.
- GibraltarBritish since 1713, wanted back by Spain ever since, and in 2026 its border came down.
- Hans Island (Tartupaluk)Canada and Denmark fought over it with whisky and schnapps for 50 years, then split it.
- HatayFrance handed this corner of Syria to Turkey in 1939. Syria never formally accepted it, and rarely says so.
- JerusalemClaimed as a capital by Israel and the Palestinians. Most countries recognise neither claim.
- KalapaniA treaty made a river the border but never said where the river starts. India and Nepal still disagree.
- KashmirIndia and Pakistan each claim all of it, and neither accepts the line between them as a border.
- KosovoDeclared independence in 2008. The US and most of the EU recognise it; Serbia does not.
- Machias Seal IslandCanada keeps lighthouse keepers on this rock off Maine just to show it’s Canadian. The US says it isn’t.
- MayotteWhen the Comoros became independent, one island voted to stay French. Comoros still claims it.
- Migingo IslandHalf a football pitch of rock, hundreds of fishermen, and two countries that both say it’s theirs.
- Nagorno-KarabakhAn Armenian breakaway state for three decades, until Azerbaijan retook it in 2023.
- Navassa IslandClaimed by the US in 1857 for its guano. Haiti’s constitution still lists it as Haitian.
- Northern CyprusA state only Turkey recognises, and a UN buffer zone through the island’s capital.
- OlivenzaTaken from Portugal in the War of the Oranges, promised back in 1815, and still Spanish.
- RockallBritain annexed it in 1955 to keep Soviet spies off it. Now Ireland and Scotland argue over the squid.
- SabahWas it a lease or a sale? One word in an 1878 deed still divides Malaysia and the Philippines.
- Shebaa FarmsLebanon says it’s Lebanese, Syria agreed, and the UN’s maps still put it in Syria. Israel holds it.
- Sir CreekBoth sides accept the same 1914 map. They disagree about what it shows.
- SomalilandIts own government, currency and elections since 1991, and its first recognition in 2025.
- South OssetiaThe 2008 war began here, and Russia recognised it as independent soon after.
- TaiwanSelf-governing since 1949, claimed by the People’s Republic of China, and never settled.
- The Chagos IslandsBritain emptied these atolls for a military base, then signed them over to Mauritius in 2025.
- The Falklands / MalvinasArgentina lost a war over them in 1982. The islanders voted 99.8% to stay British in 2013.
- The Golan HeightsAnnexed by Israel in 1981. Only the United States and Colombia recognise it.
- The Hala’ib TriangleFollow the 1899 line and it’s Egypt’s; follow the 1902 line and it’s Sudan’s.
- The Hanish IslandsEritrea and Yemen fought over them, then let judges decide. Fishermen from both shores kept their rights.
- The Ilemi TriangleKenya runs it, South Sudan says it’s only on loan, and the colonial maps offer four different lines.
- The Kuril IslandsThe reason Japan and Russia never signed a peace treaty ending the Second World War.
- The Labrador boundaryDrawn by London judges in 1927, it moved 112,400 square miles out of Quebec, which has never accepted it.
- The Northwest PassageCanada says it’s Canadian water. The US says it’s an international strait. They agreed to disagree in 1988.
- The Senkaku / Diaoyu IslandsFive empty islands Japan holds, claimed by China and Taiwan since a UN report hinted at oil.
- The South China SeaSix claimants, islands built on reefs, and a 2016 ruling China rejects.
- The Temple of Preah VihearThailand said the watershed put the temple in Thailand. The World Court said a 1907 map put it in Cambodia.
- The West Bank and GazaHeld by Jordan and Egypt until 1967, and the land where Palestinians seek a state.
- TransnistriaIt broke away from Moldova in the early 1990s. No country recognises it, not even Russia.
- TromelinFrance runs it, Mauritius claims it, and in 1761 enslaved castaways were left there for 15 years.
- Western SaharaContested since 1975, and even the maps disagree about whether it has a border.
When the map depends on who you ask
A dispute can be over land two countries both claim, like Kashmir, parts of which are run by India, Pakistan and China, or over whether a place is a country at all. Kosovo and Taiwan are recognised by some countries and not others, and Western Sahara is mostly run by Morocco while the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic claims it.
Maps take sides whether they mean to or not, and many countries require their own maps to show their claims. Geographys says where a border is disputed rather than quietly picking one, and shows Crimea as Ukrainian, in line with the UN General Assembly's 2014 resolution. In Globe Atlas, disputed borders are drawn the way maps in your own country draw them, with a note saying so.