The Land That Nobody Wants
Generally speaking, countries rarely shy away from acquiring new territory. Russia has recently (within the past two decades) invaded Georgia and Ukraine, Turkey has invaded northern Syria, and border clashes over areas such as Aksai Chin exist between India and China. It’s no secret that having more land leads to any number of advantages for the country that owns it.
Bir Tawil’s location in North Africa. Credit: SlowJournalism.com
So, why on Earth is there a patch of desert in North Africa that no country wants to claim?
Bir Tawil is about the size of Greater London, and sits directly on the border between Egypt and Sudan. It doesn’t have a permanent population, though there are teams of Sudanese gold miners who frequent the area to sell what they find back in Khartoum. And although there isn’t anything wrong with the area (other than temperatures topping 45 degrees Celsius for nine months), and the fact that it is full of gold, neither Egypt nor Sudan want to claim it. Perhaps even more (at face value, seemingly) bizarrely, they both want to award it to one another - though not out of kindness.
The story of this geopolitical question mark begins in 1899. The British empire had, at this time, maintained control of both Egypt and Sudan, thus also maintaining the power to draw borders between the two. It was done so at the 22nd Parallel (a measurement of geographic longitude), before being updated in 1902 to better reflect the land’s usage by locals at the time - thus placing Bir Tawil within Egyptian borders. This, simultaneously, gave ownership of another area - the more extensive and fertile Hala’ib Triangle - to Sudan. According to Egypt, however, the 1902 agreement was temporary and deferential to the 1899 agreement, thus giving Bir Tawil to Sudan and the Hala’ib Triangle to Egypt. Therefore, ownership of Bir Tawil (and perhaps more importantly, the Hala’ib Triangle) is based on whichever agreement is seen as valid.
Although neither countries claim ownership of Bir Tawil, plenty of individuals have. A Russian radio broadcaster, an American farmer, and an Indian IT coder have all traveled there to each proclaim themselves king. A British barrister has also done so, but has seen more success in establishing authority there by attempting to regulate revenue generated by the local gold market. One thing, however, seems certain: formal ownership by either Egypt or Sudan does not seem to be on the horizon.
TAI Score: Degree 1. It is highly unlikely that Bir Tawil will, in itself, be a source of conflict. Although clashes over border disputes are by no means unheard of, both Egypt and Sudan have far more serious, and unrelated, issues that require being addressed first.
