Many thanks for this, Evan.

Subscribers may also like to know that Bolivia has just instituted proceedings against Chile in the International Court of Justice, claiming (in brief) interference with an alleged right of access to the sea.  The press release is here: http://www.icj-cij.org/presscom/index.php?pr=2459&p1=6&p2=1&lang=en.

Regards to all,

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Hi all,

Most of you probably know that last week the ICJ passed down a ruling on the border between Burkina Faso and Niger, settling a relatively low-key but persistent boundary dispute between the two states. For anyone who's interested but doesn't have time to read the ruling, I've posted a map of the formerly disputed area and the new boundary (prettier and more concise than the sketch maps in the official ruling, in my humble opinion):

http://www.polgeonow.com/2013/04/niger-burkina-faso-disputed-territory.html

I've accompanied the map with a very brief summary of the situation, and also highlighted an interesting peculiarity of the case: the boundary claims submitted by the two states to the court left a small strip of land unclaimed by either party, similar to the case of the Bir Tawil "triangle" between Sudan and Egypt (unlike Bir Tawil, this area is an actual triangle). It's visible as a small white area on my map, and is mentioned in Article 74 of the official ruling from the ICJ. However, the territory in question can now no longer be considered unclaimed, as the court awarded it to Niger in its final judgment.

Cheers,
Evan Centanni
Political Geography Now
www.polgeonow.com

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