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@opencage@en.osm.townPeople seem to like controversy, so for this week's #geoweirdness thread we thought we’d post about a very contentious geo topic we often get asked about: disputed borders.
1/n
2/ More borders around the world than you might think are disputed.
Sometimes between countries, sometimes within countries, for example regions that want independence. Each case is unique with its own history and cultural context.
But how should our geocoding API handle this?
3/ First let’s look at some examples. Some countries take disputes very seriously, and legally you can only show the border they deem to be correct.
A famous “active” case is the border between India 
and Pakistan 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_of_Control
4/ Occasionally disputes lead to violence and escalate into all out war, as sadly seen recently between Armenia 
and Azerbaijan 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenia%E2%80%93Azerbaijan_border_crisis_(2021%E2%80%93present)
5/ Happily not all border disputes lead to violence. Often the disputes are small and the parties just “agree to disagree”.
One such example we covered in our #geoweirdness thread about non-state territories of the United States: both the US 
and Haiti 
claim tiny Navassa Island
6/ There are some very creative border dispute solutions - for example the tiny mid-river island that changes country between Spain 
and France 
every 6 months.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pheasant_Island
See our #geoweirdness thread about France
https://elk.zone/en.osm.town/@opencage/109930121349079578
7/ And sometimes disputes are resolved peacefully, as was the case recently between Canada 
and Denmark 
who settled their disagreement over the ownership of tiny Hans Island - site of the delightful "Whiskey War" which involved trading bottles of alcohol 
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 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 
and the Netherlands 
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 weren’t very accurate. This can lead to surprises when the border is re-surveyed using more modern technologies, like this example between US 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 
nor Serbia 
We covered it in our #geoweirdness thread about Croatia:
https://en.osm.town/@opencage/109652905104538351
12/ So with all this disagreement, how does our geocoding API handle disputes? Who is “right”?
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:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_territorial_disputes
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.
@simon @opencage Isn't there some evidence that the Theodulpass was ice-free during the Middle Ages? e.., https://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_1970_files/AJ%201970%2087-94%20Harriss%20Theodul.pdf but sure I've seen something more recent.
@opencage I miss the Whiskey War.
@klefstadmyr we all do
I'll drink to that.