India and Bangladesh have begun the exchange of over 160 enclaves

That one seems pretty straightforward. Each country's preferrence nets them more land. Bir Tawil is far less valuable than the larger disputed landmass (being baren rather than bordering a navigable body of water) so neither party seems to care to fight over it.

Hardly. Country A is sovereign over land inside country B, which land is, itself, inside a part of country A, which is, itself within country B.

Yeah, that makes so much sense.

Same situation between Serbia and Croatia. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberland.

A man in the US tried to claim it as a new country.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/va-man-plants-flag-claim...

You are very correct.

The way I got it, they were just weird.

this is a river delta society so imagine small villages on small island that are essentially part of one country is surrounded by a whole zones that are part of the other country

I think "Many enclaves are also exclaves" is backwards. By Wikipedia's definition, all enclaves are exclaves, but only some exclaves are enclaves.

The territories described in the article are enclaves, not just exclaves, because India and Bangladesh are the only two countries involved.

EDIT: Ah, never mind, I was only considering the case where a country is partitioned into multiple disconnected components.

According to that WP article only the odd-order enclaves are exclaves. The second-order enclaves A4 and A5 aren't exclaves.

I see the logic there, but it doesn't quite match the definition that you have quoted. Dictionaries all seem to include "separated from the main part" or something similar. That definition does fit the WP examples.

Thank you, that is a great article! Recommended for any map geeks.

I love these two bits in particular:

> In another segment, researchers found a stone boundary monument that had been set as part of a 1928 resurvey, except it now stood near a tee on a golf course. Officials at the course had moved it years before so duffers could brag about their two-state tee shot. Using the original 1928 maps, advanced mathematics and some informed guesswork, the joint survey teams navigated to the exact spot where the monument had been uprooted, and even found its broken-off base.

> But an obvious fix is not in sight for Lewis Efird, who bought a gas station just south of what he thought was the state line in the early 1990s to take advantage of South Carolina’s significantly lower gas tax, as well as the ability to sell beer and fireworks. Unfortunately, the survey work showed conclusively that his pumps were in a part of North Carolina where gas is more expensive, beer sales are not allowed and fireworks are illegal. As he told commissioners in a public meeting, “Our business is going to be destroyed.”

My advisor Clem Heusch once took me hiking from France to Switzerland, right by an unoccupied border post.

Its construction suggested it was built either by Napoleon or by the Swiss to defend itself from him. It was just big enough that one soldier with his Nutcracker Suite hat could stand in it.

you are almost certainly correct but there's a possibility that folks could be hassled etcetera: taken advantage of basically.this is a part of the world where the basic things we rely on don't exist institutions rights etcetera

Yes, they are probably posing as citizens of their other nationality. Generally they are probably bribing institutions to get their work done.

> Were there actually passport controls at the frontiers?

Generally any real passport control is probably implemented more as an extortion scheme. "Pay 50 ₹ or else!"