Dear Colleagues,

Yes, it's that time of the year again. Are you feeling brave?!

It is with great pleasure that I present the now traditional int-boundaries
Christmas quiz, designed to tickle your brain cells during the festive
season. As in previous years, the quiz is just for fun but anyone who wishes
to compete for the kudos of being named 'boundary brain of the year' should
submit their answers to me ([log in to unmask]) by 10 January. Don't be
put off if you can't answer all the questions - if previous quizzes are
anything to go by, you would be surprised by the number of correct answers
needed for a competitive score....

On a different matter, a number of list members have contacted me in recent
weeks concerning difficulties connecting to the IBRU web site. For reasons
we don't fully understand, our web server has developed an annoying habit of
going to sleep from time to time, thereby temporarily preventing connection
to the site. I'm hoping we can resolve the problem in the near future but in
the meantime I have set up a 'mirror' site which offers everything that the
main site offers except the searchable boundary news database. If you are
unable to connect to the main site (http://www-ibru.dur.ac.uk) please feel
free to try the following alternative address:
http://www.dur.ac.uk/~dgg0www1/ibru/. Please accept our apologies for any
inconvenience caused by this curious problem.

On behalf of everyone at IBRU, I would like to extend our warmest seasonal
greetings and best wishes for 1999 to our many friends around the world.
Keep in touch!

Cheers,

m a r t i n

Martin Pratt, listowner


THE 1998 INT-BOUNDARIES CHRISTMAS QUIZ

1. In 1998:
a) Where was the creation of a new maritime boundary prevented by just 200
votes?
b) Where did nearly 95% of voters agree to withdraw a longstanding national
territorial claim?
c) Who came to blows in Badme?
d) Why were the Mohabbakah Islands in the news?

2. What is the longest international land boundary?

3. And what is the shortest?

4. How many land boundary tripoints are there?

5. How many maritime boundaries have been agreed? How many remain to be
agreed?

6. How many boundary/territorial disputes are currently before international
courts or abitration tribunals?

7. Who wrote the following:
a) Boundary-Making: A Handbook for Statesmen, Treaty Editors and Boundary
Commissioners
b) Boundaries, Possessions and Conflicts in South America
c) The Maritime Political Boundaries of the World
d) Standing Your Ground: Territorial Disputes and International Conflict
e) Fronts et Frontiers

8. Who had a hit in 1982 with a song entitled 'Borderline'?

9. True or False? There is an area of the South China Sea claimed by China,
Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei.

10. Are there any areas of unclaimed land territory?

11. How many land boundaries can you identify where the side of the road on
which you drive changes as you cross the border?

12. Where does crossing a land boundary place you in a time zone two hours
behind the one from which you came?

13. Which countries claim sovereignty over the following islands:
a) Duwayyimah
b) South Talpatty Island
c) Juan de Nova
d) Clipperton Island

14. Where is the "Actual Ground Position Line"?

15. How many States have now ratified the United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea? And how many have complied with the Convention's requirement
to deposit charts or lists of geographical coordinates defining straight
baselines and the outer limits of claimed maritime zones with the
Secretary-General?

16. How many States which have ratified the Law of the Sea Convention claim
a territorial sea whose breadth exceeds 12 nautical miles?

17. What were the key territorial elements of the peace agreement signed by
Ecuador and Peru on 26 October?

18. How many messages have been sent to the int-boundaries list since its
launch in October 1995?



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