Territory claim

A territorial claim is a demand by a state , a political institution or an ethnic group that a certain area of ​​land belongs to its own territory . The term is mainly used in the context of territorial disputes, including territorial disputes , in which several states, political institutions or ethnic groups have exclusive claims to an area .

Territorial disputes can be resolved using diplomacy (negotiations), economic policy ( embargoes , punitive tariffs ) or border wars with subsequent annexations .

Some disputes are simply about moving the boundaries of existing state territories , while other territorial claims are based on historical borders, i.e. aiming at either the return or the creation of new territories. In the latter case, it is often about ethnic tribal and people areas.

Reasons can be arbitrary drawing of boundaries by occupying powers or states, disputes over available raw materials or borders of a cultural nature. The last wars for European territories in Europe were the Yugoslav Wars (multiple territories) in the 1990s and the second Chechen War .

The list of territorial disputes shows current conflicts worldwide.

See also

• Political status of the Antarctic
• Equidistance principle

Web links

Wiktionary: Territorial claim  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

- Each English. -

• WorldStatesman - click on any state for the listing (after the chronological lists of statesmen) of Territorial Disputes it is party to
• Territorial disputes in CIA World Factbook
• Occupied or disputed territories? in Middle-East-Info.org - Concise information about all regimes and terrorism in the Middle East
• US State Department / Florida State University International Border Studies