Map Update: Kosovo Recognized by 3 More Countries (103/193)

Countries recognizing the Republic of Kosovo in green, highlighting recent additions. Disputed recognitions in yellow. Kosovo in magenta. Map by Evan Centanni, modified from public domain graphic (source).

New ALBA Member: Saint Lucia (Map)

The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our Americas (ALBA). Map by Evan Centanni.

Bangsamoro Republik? Philippine Separatists Seize Territory (map)

Zamboanga City in the southwestern Philippines came under rebel attack last week, with insurgents seizing and occupying several neighborhoods. Because the fighters are from a rebel group that declared independence in August, their newfound territorial control might technically be considered the birth of a new breakaway state. Details and discussion below!

Claims and territorial control of the MNLF rebels/Bangsamoro Republik. Map by Evan Centanni.

Japan-China Dispute: The Eight Islands of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Group (Aerial Photos)

Map of the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands (by Evan Centanni). Click to view at full size.

Article by Evan Centanni

The Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands
A recent feature on Political Geography Now introduced the history and status of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, a disputed territory controlled by Japan but claimed by China and Taiwan. The article included an original map which showed the isles' configuration and precise location within the East China Sea (click on the map at right to see it at full size). But if you're like me, you may be wondering "just how small are these islands, and what do they really look like?"

Disputed Territory: The Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands

You may have heard the news about China and Japan's ongoing territorial dispute over a group of islands in the East China Sea. But what are the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, and why are they so fiercely contested? Read on for all these answers and more!

Map of the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands (by Evan Centanni).

Article by Omar Alkhalili

About the Islands
The Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands are a collection of five small islets and three rocks in the East China Sea, all of which are uninhabited. The largest of the islands has an area of 4.32 km² and the smallest is only 0.45 km². They are located about 140 km from the nearest inhabited Japanese islands, 300 km from mainland China and 170 km from Taiwan. They are administered by Japan but claimed by both the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Taiwan, whose government is known officially as the Republic of China (ROC).

Map: The Falkland Islands' Disputed Seas

The Falkland Islands, a South Atlantic territory disputed between the U.K. and Argentina, held a status referendum this week in which 99.8% of voters defied Argentina by choosing to remain British. But it's not just about the islands - also at stake are legal rights to the sea for hundreds of miles around.

Zones of maritime jurisdiction around the Falkland Islands, highlighting area disputed between the U.K and Argentina. Map by Evan Centanni (country coastlines from the Natural Earth dataset). All rights reserved.

The Disputed Seas of the Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are administered by the U.K. as an overseas territory, but are also claimed based on historical arguments by Argentina, which calls them "las Islas Malvinas". Both countries have signed and ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which defines ownership and legal rights for the waters surrounding coastal countries. According to the UNCLOS, each country is entitled to three basic zones of control in its surrounding seas:

Partner Project: Range of Taiwan's Missiles

Click to see at full size on Taiwan in Perspective blog.
Map by Evan Centanni (all rights reserved).

Michal Thim from Taiwan in Perspective recently asked Political Geography Now to help him make a map depicting Taiwan's current and future missile capabilities in its standoff with China. For anyone who's interested, here's the finished product (click on the map to see it at full size on Michal's site). The main sources for the missile information was this article from Defense News, and the locations of China's military assets come from the U.S. Department of Defense's 2012 annual report on China.

If you want to learn more about the complex political situation in Taiwan, Wikipedia has a decent outline of the basics. Political Geography Now also hopes to publish maps and articles covering Taiwan in the future.

Puerto Rico: 51st State of the U.S.?

[This article was written after Puerto Rico's 2012 status referendum. In June 2017, Puerto Rico voted in another controversial referendum, again technically in favor of statehood. Most of this five-year-old article is still accurate after the 2017 vote. -Editor]


Earlier this month, papers reported that Puerto Rico had voted to become a state of the U.S. - but will it really happen? What does it take to become a state, anyway? Last time, we explained Puerto Rico's current status - now for answers about the territory's future....

A possible 51-star U.S. flag. Since each star on the flag represents one state, a new one would need to be added for Puerto Rico (public domain; source).

Why would Puerto Rico want to become a state?
Puerto Rico's current situation leaves it disadvantaged compared to the states. It has its own constitution and government, but the laws establishing them are subject to approval by the U.S. Congress. And despite the fact that most federal taxes and other laws apply to Puerto Ricans, residents have no real representation in Congress and no say in the presidential election. (For more details, see What is Puerto Rico?)

Kosovo Recognized by Papua New Guinea (92/193)

Countries recognizing the Republic of Kosovo in green, with the most recent, Papua New Guinea (lower right), in lighter green. Kosovo in magenta. Map by Evan Centanni, modified from public domain graphic (source).

WTO Admits New Members

Organization: World Trade Organization
Countries in Question: Vanuatu, Russia, Montenegro, Samoa
News Categories: Intergovernmental Organizations
Summary: The World Trade Organization, the intergovernmental organization supervising international trade between the majority of the world's countries, admitted one new member last October, and three more last week. Especially notable was the admission last Friday of Russia, which was by far the largest economy not to have joined previously.

Full Story
While some intergovernmental organizations, such as the U.N. or regional unions, were created for general purposes of cooperation between states, others serve more specific purposes. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is one of these, acting as a venue for countries to agree on rules for international trade. Among its members, economic agreements are subject to rules aimed at liberalizing international trade, and trade-related disputes are also arbitrated through the organization. Formed in 1995 as a replacement for weaker trade treaties of the past, by 2008 the WTO represented approximately 80% of the world's independent countries.

World Trade Organization members in green. Countries joining this year in brighter green, with small countries circled. Modified from this Wikimedia map (license: CC BY-SA).

This October, the WTO grew for the first time in three years, with the acceptance of the Pacific island country of Vanuatu's as a member. Just last week, three more countries joined: Russia, Montenegro, and Samoa. Samoa is another small Pacific island country, and Montenegro was only formed a few years ago from the final breakup of former Yugoslavia. Russia, however, has gained much attention for being the last of the world's major economic powers to join the organization. Although it first applied for admission to the group 18 years ago, before the modern WTO was even formed, until recently Russia was slow to proceed with membership negotiations. For the last few years, it was blocked from entry by Georgia, a WTO member protesting its invasion by Russia during the 2008 war between the two countries, but that hurdle was finally crossed after a Swiss-brokered agreement between Russia and Georgia earlier this year. Although the four new countries have been accepted by the organization, their governments will still have to ratify the agreements in order for them to become full participating members.

Abkhazia Recognized by Vanuatu

Country Name: Abkhazia (English), Apsny (Abkhaz), Abkhaziya (Russian)
Official Name: Republic of Abkhazia
News Category: Partially Recognized States, Diplomatic Recognition
Summary: The disputed breakaway state of Abkhazia has gained diplomatic recognition from Vanuatu, the fifth U.N. member to acknowledge its independence from Georgia.

Abkhazia (purple stripes) and South Ossetia (gold stripes), and their

claimed location within Georgia. Wikimedia map by Ssolbergj (CC BY-SA).

Full Story
The Republic of Abkhazia is one of seven states in the world which are recognized by some U.N. members, but not by the U.N. as a whole. Located in the Caucasus region on the border between Europe and Asia, Abkhazia is considered part of Georgia by most U.N. members; however, it has enjoyed de facto independence since winning a war of secession against the larger country in 1993. It has shared much of its fate with South Ossetia, another breakaway state which also seceded from Georgia around the same time. Abkhazia and South Ossetia passed their first decade and a half of independence without the recognition of any U.N. members. That changed after a 2008 war in which Georgia attempted to take back the two breakaway states by force, and was repelled by Russian forces. In the aftermath of the war, both Abkhazia and South Ossetia received diplomatic recognition from Russia, as well as from the Central American Republic of Nicaragua. The next year, South America's Venezuela and the Pacific island country of Nauru followed suit. The two breakaway republics are also recognized by each other and at least two other non-U.N. member states.

U.N. members recognizing Abkhazia shown in green. Vanuatu circled in green, Abkhazia circled in pink.
Modified from this map by Wikimedia user NuclearVacuum (license: CC BY-SA).

This summer, Abkhazia received recognition from a fifth U.N. member, the Republic of Vanuatu. For the first time, South Ossetia was not recognized along with Abkhazia. Vanuatu is a Pacific island country of a quarter-million people, formerly known as the New Hebrides, which won independence from Britain and France in 1980. Vanuatu's recognition of Abkhazia this year was accompanied by a great deal of confusion. Negotiated in secret between the two states, the recognition agreement was first announced to the public at the end of May. However, government officials in Vanuatu gave differing reports on whether or not the agreement existed, with confirmation finally coming on June 7. Making things even more complicated, Vanuatu's temporary prime minister withdrew recognition of Abkhazia on June 19, but it was reinstated on July 12 after the return of the permanent head of government.

Wikipedia: Abkhazia, Vanuatu, International Recognition of Abkhazia & South Ossetia