Daily Archives: March 7, 2021

Map showing Bir Tawil (white) between Egypt and Sudan.

Bir Tawil refers to unclaimed land found on the border between Sudan and Egypt. The area covered by the land is 795 square miles. Bir Tawil is deserted with no trace of permanent inhabitants, no roads, and not governed by any law. The land cover is sand, and several mountains are the only features. It is a no mans land that resulted from a border dispute between Egypt and Sudan. Many people have tried grabbing this portion of land in vain.

In 1899, the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium Agreement set the border between the two countries at the 22nd parallel. Later on, in 1902, the UK drew a separate administrative boundary. They hoped that the new boundaries would be an accurate reflection of land based on its use by the locals in the area. The new boundary placed Bir Tawil as part of Egypt. At the time, the Ababda tribe from Egypt used the land as grazing land for their animals. On the other hand, there was another piece of land called the Halaib Triangle. The area came under the control of the British governor of Sudan. At independence, Sudan claimed ownership of the Halaib Triangle. However, Egypt disputed the claim stating that the 1902 administrative boundary was temporary. As such, the Halaib Triangle belonged to Egypt, and the Bir Tawil was Sudans. To date, Egypt and Sudan have never resolved their boundary dispute. The two countries do not want to claim ownership of Bir Tawil. According to them, it would imply that they had relinquished ownership of the Halaib Triangle which is not the case for either of them.

One individual who tried to take possession of Bir Tawil was Jeremiah Heaton. In 2014, he made a journey to the land to make true his promise to his daughter, Emily. As she grew up, Emily always wondered whether she could ever be a real princess. So for her birthday present, Heaton decided to take ownership of his new country called the Kingdom of North Sudan. He would be the head of state, and Emilys dream of being an actual princess would come true. After setting a flag on the land, he began a campaign to raise 250,000 dollars to develop his new state, which resulted in criticism. Instead of receiving praise for his actions, people labeled him a 21st-century imperialist. Ultimately, he realized that there was no neutral way of claiming ownership of a state. Another person who also claimed ownership of Bir Tawil in 2011 was Jack Shenker. Besides the two, many people have tried owning the disputed land by making online declarations.

Taking ownership of Bir Tawil land is not as simple as planting a flag on it. Besides, any foreigner who tries to claim ownership of the African land will only invite conflict as was in the colonial period. It is best to let Egypt and Sudan resolve their dispute how and when they deem fit. For now, Bir Tawil remains unclaimed land.

Link:

The Story of Bir Tawil - WorldAtlas

A desert landmass covered with sand and surrounded by mountains with no access to any road or the sea. Thats the best description for Bir Tawil, one of the last few places on the planet that has not been claimed by any country. Many people have made online declarations claiming the place as their kingdom, but none of those declarations have been officially accepted.

Bir Tawil is an area of land located on the border of Egypt and Sudan. The place is also known as Bir Tawl, which meanstall water well in Egyptian. It is one of the last remaining places on the planet that has not yet been claimed by any country.

Even though Bir Tawil has a quadrilateral shape, it is generally referred to as the Bir Tawil Triangle. This is because it is associated with theHalaib Triangle that is located just next to it. Both the places together represent a triangle.

Bir Tawil spans an area of 795 square miles (2,060 square kilometers). Its northern border is 95 kilometers (59miles) in length, and the southern border is 46 kilometer (29miles). The eastern and western borders are26 kilometers (16miles) and 49 kilometers (30miles) respectively.

The landmass is surrounded by mountains to the north and the east. Towards the north lies the mountain Jabal Tawil with a height of 459 meters.Jebel Hagar ez Zarqa lies to the eastwith a height of 662 meters. In the south, lies the Wadi Tawil,also known as Khawr Ab Bard.

To better understand how Bir Tawil still remains unclaimed, one has to revisit the boundary dispute between Egypt and Sudan. The real fight is over the Halaib Triangle. In 1899, the area was under the rule of the United Kingdom. The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium Agreement was signed by Egypt and Britain which allowed for both countries to administer Sudan. The 22nd Parallel was designated as the boundary between Egypt and Sudan.

The problem with the original boundary was that it did not take into account the people living there. It was just an arbitrary line drawn to separate two countries. So, in 1902, the UK drew a new administrative boundary that took into consideration the land used by various tribes. This was done to ensure that the tribes wouldnt be living in one country and grazing their cattle in another. Bir Tawil was used as a grazing ground although nobody lived there.

Problems started after the British rule considered the new administrative boundary as the right one, whereas Egypt believes in the earlier 22nd Parallel boundary. According to the old border,Halaib Triangle lies in Egypt, but it lies in Sudan according to the new border. So, Bir Tawil is not claimed by any country while Halaib Triangle is being claimed by two countries. Its quite clear why both the countries are fighting for the same landmass.Halaib Triangle is 10 times larger than Bir Tawil and has access to roads and the sea. Also,Halaib Triangle has 1,000 residents as opposed to barren and human-free Bir Tawil.

Countries may not be claiming Bir Tawil, but there are a few people who have declared themselves as the ruler of this landmass.An American, an Indian, and a Russian man have claimed their ownership of Bir Tawil. Heaton, an American, named Bir Tawil the Kingdom of North Sudan, and Dixit, anIndian, christened it as the Kingdom of Dixit. Zhikharev, a Russian, on the other hand, calls it the Kingdom of Middle Earth.

When Dixit claimed himself as the King of Bir Tawil, Heaton took to social media to bashed him publicly and called him a liar. As a result, the two of them talked privately and decided to work together for the betterment of Bir Tawil. Then, however, Zhikharev came into the picture and stated that both Heaton and Dixit faked their visits to Bir Tawil. This fight between the three men is still ongoing, even though their claims do not hold any official significance.[source: 1, 2, 3]

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Bir Tawil, One of the Last Few Places Not Claimed by any ...

It aint easy for a piece of land to remain entirely unclaimed, due to our species rapacious tendency to snap up anything we might be able to frack, mine, harvest or build property on. This is why it is so surprising, perhaps, that the desert territory of Bir Tawil, sandwiched between Egypt and Sudan, remains terra nullius, completely unclaimed by anybody.

Which is not to say that people havent tried

Theres keeping it realistic and getting your kid a Barbie or a McDonalds birthday party, and then theres travelling thousands of miles to claim a barren, windswept region of sand and rock.

Which is exactly what Virginia father Jeremiah Heaton did in 2014. Flying to Egypt and then making a 14-hour caravan trek across the desert, Heaton planted a flag designed by his children (raising the question of why his son wasnt also made royalty). Because this is the 21st century, he was immediately accused of racism for claiming a desolate region of Africa that absolutely nobody else in the world, not even local Bedouins, want.

The Kingdom of North Sudan has failed to establish an infrastructure, currency, military, police force or population, but does have a nifty website.

What is it with micronations and their unrelenting preference for dynastic absolute monarchies? We may never know, but we do know that Indian man Suyash Dixit had no intention of reinventing the wheel when he made the journey to Bir Tawil to claim it as his own. Proclaiming the Kingdom of Dixit in a Facebook post, Dixit brandished his flag in the region, planted and watered a seed, and called it good. Alas, the UN has yet to recognise Dixits bold and unconventional nation-building.

There are those who are prepared to travel to Bir Tawil before they declare the terra nullius theirs, and there are those who cannot even be bothered to do that and just write a blog post.

In 2010 someone calling himself (or herself?) King Henry I made a blog, declared that Bir Tawil was now the kingdom and Bir Tawil, and informed potential subjects that they could apply for provisional citizenship in the comments. The Kingdom also has a downloadable application form to apply for a fuller and more legitimate form of citizenship, but as of time of print was undownloadable, possibly due to the byzantine internal politics of the kingdom and its 14 citizens.

Not all micronational affairs pertaining to Bir Tawil have been entirely peaceful. The Kingdom of the State of Bir Tawil, established in 1996, initially had a unique dual-monarchy system and was co-ruled by King Adam I of the House of Cook and King Kieran I of the House of Binn.

Alas, Bir Tawils 800 square miles wasnt big enough to accommodate two kings, and the country was plunged into a brutal civil war. Following what was presumably some really nasty Facebook messages, two nations arose from the conflict: West Bir Tawil is now an authoritarian dictatorship under the command of General Kieran Binn, whilst the Free State of East Bir Tawil is maintained by King Adam I.

Founded in 2010 and for some reason not called a duchy, the Grand Dukedom of Bir Tawil realised a very important fact: how can you be a nation if you dont have your own coins and fridge magnets?

The Grand Dukedom proved that pretenders to the throne had nothing on their brass pecunias, and they made it super fancy by putting Latin on the obverse: Pro Licentia quod Optimus is the motto, which presumably means something about their being Transformers fans.

Despite their very fine limited-edition currency, the Grand Dukedom has yet to establish a physical presence in the region, something of a problem for Bir Tawil claimants in general. Its almost as if they dont want to actually live there.

No matter how many micronations have attempted to lay claim to Bir Tawil, none has managed to legitimise themselves, whether through recognition from Egypt, Sudan or the UN. But that could always change these guys are planning on planting their flag, so why not stake your own claim to the region by travelling there with us on our Terra Nullius: Bir Tawil Excursion tour?

Gareth Johnson is the founder of Young Pioneer Tours and has visited over 150+ countries. His passion is opening obscure destinations to tourism and sharing his experience of street food.

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