Chapter M: Major infectious diseases (104)

Brazil
unruly region at convergence of Argentina-Brazil-Paraguay
borders is locus of money laundering, smuggling, arms and illegal
narcotics trafficking, and fundraising for extremist organizations;
uncontested boundary dispute with Uruguay over Isla Brasilera at the
confluence of the Quarai/Cuareim and Invernada rivers, that form a
tripoint with Argentina; the Itaipu Dam reservoir covers over a once
contested section of Brazil-Paraguay boundary west of Guaira Falls
on the Rio Parana; an accord placed the long-disputed Isla
Suarez/Ilha de Guajara-Mirim, a fluvial island on the Rio Mamore,
under Bolivian administration in 1958, but sovereignty remains in
dispute

British Indian Ocean Territory
Mauritius claims the Chagos
Archipelago including Diego Garcia; in 2001, the former inhabitants
of the Chagos Archipelago, evicted in 1967 and 1973 and now residing
chiefly in Mauritius, were granted UK citizenship and the right to
repatriation; in May 2007, the UK Court of Appeals upheld the May
2006 High Court of London judgment reversing the UK government's
2004 Orders of Council that banned habitation on the islands; a
small group of Chagossians visited Diego Garcia in April 2006;
repatriation is complicated by the exclusive US military lease of
Diego Garcia that restricts access to the largest viable island in
the chain

British Virgin Islands
none

Brunei
Brunei and Malaysia agreed in September 2008 to resolve their
offshore and deepwater seabed dispute, resume hydrocarbon
exploration, and renounce any territorial claims on land; Brunei
established an exclusive economic fishing zone encompassing Louisa
Reef in the southern Spratly Islands in 1984, but makes no public
territorial claim to the offshore reefs; the 2002 "Declaration on
the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea" has eased tensions in
the Spratly Islands but falls short of a legally binding "code of
conduct" desired by several of the disputants

Bulgaria
none

Burkina Faso
in September 2007, Economic Community of West African
States (ECOWAS) intervened to attempt to resolve the dispute over
two villages along the Benin-Burkina Faso border that remain from a
2005 ICJ decision; in recent years citizens and rogue security
forces rob and harass local populations on both sides of the poorly
defined Burkina Faso-Niger border; despite the presence of more than
9,000 UN forces (UNOCI) in Cote d'Ivoire since 2004, ethnic conflict
continues to spread into neighboring states who can no longer send
their migrant workers to work in Ivorian cocoa plantations

Burma
over half of Burma's population consists of diverse ethnic
groups who have substantial numbers of kin in neighboring countries;
Thailand must deal with Karen and other ethnic refugees, asylum
seekers, and rebels, as well as illegal cross-border activities from
Burma; Thailand is studying the feasibility of jointly constructing
the Hatgyi Dam on the Salween River near the border with Burma;
citing environmental, cultural, and social concerns, China is
reconsidering construction of 13 dams on the Salween River but
energy-starved Burma with backing from Thailand remains intent on
building five hydro-electric dams downstream, despite identical
regional and international protests; India seeks cooperation from
Burma to keep Indian Nagaland separatists, such as the United
Liberation Front of Assam, from hiding in remote Burmese Uplands;
after 21 years, Bangladesh resumes talks with Burma on delimiting a
maritime boundary in January 2008

Burundi
Burundi and Rwanda dispute sections of border on the
Akanyaru/Kanyaru and the Kagera/Nyabarongo rivers, which have
changed course since the 1960s, when the boundary was delimited;
cross-border conflicts among Tutsi, Hutu, other ethnic groups,
associated political rebels, armed gangs, and various government
forces persist in the Great Lakes region

Cambodia
Cambodia and Thailand dispute sections of boundary with
missing boundary markers and claims of Thai encroachments into
Cambodian territory; maritime boundary with Vietnam is hampered by
unresolved dispute over sovereignty of offshore islands; Thailand
accuses Cambodia of obstructing inclusion of Thai areas near Preah
Vihear temple ruins, awarded to Cambodia by ICJ decision in 1962, as
part of a planned UN World Heritage site

Cameroon
Joint Border Commission with Nigeria reviewed 2002 ICJ
ruling on the entire boundary and bilaterally resolved differences,
including June 2006 Greentree Agreement that immediately ceded
sovereignty of the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon with a full
phase-out of Nigerian control and patriation of residents in 2008;
Cameroon and Nigeria agree on maritime delimitation in March 2008;
sovereignty dispute between Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon over an
island at the mouth of the Ntem River; only Nigeria and Cameroon
have heeded the Lake Chad Commission's admonition to ratify the
delimitation treaty, which also includes the Chad-Niger and
Niger-Nigeria boundaries

Canada
managed maritime boundary disputes with the US at Dixon
Entrance, Beaufort Sea, Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the Gulf of
Maine including the disputed Machias Seal Island and North Rock;
Canada, the US, and other countries dispute the status of the
Northwest Passage; US works closely with Canada to intensify
security measures for monitoring and controlling legal and illegal
movement of people, transport, and commodities across the
international border; sovereignty dispute with Denmark over Hans
Island in the Kennedy Channel between Ellesmere Island and
Greenland; commencing the collection of technical evidence for
submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf
in support of claims for continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles
from its declared baselines in the Arctic, as stipulated in Article
76, paragraph 8, of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the
Sea

Cape Verde
none

Cayman Islands
none

Central African Republic
periodic skirmishes over water and grazing
rights among related pastoral populations along the border with
southern Sudan persist

Chad
since 2003, Janjawid armed militia and the Sudanese military
have driven hundreds of thousands of Darfur residents into Chad;
Chad remains an important mediator in the Sudanese civil conflict,
reducing tensions with Sudan arising from cross-border banditry;
Chadian Aozou rebels reside in southern Libya; only Nigeria and
Cameroon have heeded the Lake Chad Commission's admonition to ratify
the delimitation treaty, which also includes the Chad-Niger and
Niger-Nigeria boundaries

Chile
Chile and Peru rebuff Bolivia's reinvigorated claim to restore
the Atacama corridor, ceded to Chile in 1884, but Chile has offered
instead unrestricted but not sovereign maritime access through Chile
to Bolivian gas and other commodities; Chile rejects Peru's
unilateral legislation to change its latitudinal maritime boundary
with Chile to an equidistance line with a southwestern axis favoring
Peru, in October 2007, Peru took its maritime complaint with Chile
to the ICJ; territorial claim in Antarctica (Chilean Antarctic
Territory) partially overlaps Argentine and British claims; the
joint boundary commission, established by Chile and Argentina in
2001, has yet to map and demarcate the delimited boundary in the
inhospitable Andean Southern Ice Field (Campo de Hielo Sur)

China
continuing talks and confidence-building measures work toward
reducing tensions over Kashmir that nonetheless remains militarized
with portions under the de facto administration of China (Aksai
Chin), India (Jammu and Kashmir), and Pakistan (Azad Kashmir and
Northern Areas); India does not recognize Pakistan's ceding historic
Kashmir lands to China in 1964; China and India continue their
security and foreign policy dialogue started in 2005 related to the
dispute over most of their rugged, militarized boundary, regional
nuclear proliferation, and other matters; China claims most of
India's Arunachal Pradesh to the base of the Himalayas; lacking any
treaty describing the boundary, Bhutan and China continue
negotiations to establish a common boundary alignment to resolve
territorial disputes due to cartographic discrepancies; Chinese maps
show an international boundary symbol off the coasts of the littoral
states of the South China Seas, where China has interrupted
Vietnamese hydrocarbon exploration; China asserts sovereignty over
the Spratly Islands together with Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan,
Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; the 2002 "Declaration on the Conduct
of Parties in the South China Sea" eased tensions in the Spratly's
but is not the legally binding "code of conduct" sought by some
parties; Vietnam and China continue to expand construction of
facilities in the Spratly's and in March 2005, the national oil
companies of China, the Philippines, and Vietnam signed a joint
accord on marine seismic activities in the Spratly Islands; China
occupies some of the Paracel Islands also claimed by Vietnam and
Taiwan; China and Taiwan continue to reject both Japan's claims to
the uninhabited islands of Senkaku-shoto (Diaoyu Tai) and Japan's
unilaterally declared equidistance line in the East China Sea, the
site of intensive hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation; certain
islands in the Yalu and Tumen rivers are in dispute with North
Korea; North Korea and China seek to stem illegal migration to China
by North Koreans, fleeing privations and oppression, by building a
fence along portions of the border and imprisoning North Koreans
deported by China; China and Russia have demarcated the once
disputed islands at the Amur and Ussuri confluence and in the Argun
River in accordance with their 2004 Agreement; China and Tajikistan
have begun demarcating the revised boundary agreed to in the
delimitation of 2002; the decade-long demarcation of the
China-Vietnam land boundary is expected to be completed by the end
of 2008, while the maritime boundary delimitation and fisheries
agreements in the Gulf of Tonkin, ratified in June 2004, have been
implemented; citing environmental, cultural, and social concerns,
China has reconsidered construction of 13 dams on the Salween River,
but energy-starved Burma, with backing from Thailand, remains intent
on building five hydro-electric dams downstream despite regional and
international protests; Chinese and Hong Kong authorities met in
March 2008 to resolve ownership and use of lands recovered in
Shenzhen River channelization, including 96-hectare Lok Ma Chau
Loop; Hong Kong developing plans to reduce 2,000 out of 2,800
hectares of its restricted Closed Area by 2010

Christmas Island
none

Clipperton Island
none

Cocos (Keeling) Islands
none

Colombia
in December 2007, ICJ allocates San Andres, Providencia,
and Santa Catalina islands to Colombia under 1928 Treaty but does
not rule on 82 degrees W meridian as maritime boundary with
Nicaragua; managed dispute with Venezuela over maritime boundary and
Venezuelan-administered Los Monjes Islands near the Gulf of
Venezuela; Colombian-organized illegal narcotics, guerrilla, and
paramilitary activities penetrate all neighboring borders and have
caused Colombian citizens to flee mostly into neighboring countries;
Colombia, Honduras, Nicaragua, Jamaica, and the US assert various
claims to Bajo Nuevo and Serranilla Bank

Comoros
claims French-administered Mayotte and challenges France's
and Madagascar's claims to Banc du Geyser, a drying reef in the
Mozambique Channel; in May 2008, African Union forces are called in
to assist the Comoros military recapture Anjouan Island from rebels
who seized it in 2001

Congo, Democratic Republic of the
heads of the Great Lakes states
and UN pledged in 2004 to abate tribal, rebel, and militia fighting
in the region, including northeast Congo, where the UN Organization
Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), organized
in 1999, maintains over 16,500 uniformed peacekeepers; members of
Uganda's Lords Resistance Army forces continue to seek refuge in
Congo's Garamba National Park as peace talks with the Uganda
government evolve; the location of the boundary in the broad Congo
River with the Republic of the Congo is indefinite except in the
Pool Malebo/Stanley Pool area; Uganda and DROC dispute Rukwanzi
island in Lake Albert and other areas on the Semliki River with
hydrocarbon potential; boundary commission continues discussions
over Congolese-administered triangle of land on the right bank of
the Lunkinda river claimed by Zambia near the DROC village of Pweto

Congo, Republic of the
the location of the boundary in the broad
Congo River with the Democratic Republic of the Congo is indefinite
except in the Pool Malebo/Stanley Pool area

Cook Islands
none

Coral Sea Islands
none

Costa Rica
the ICJ has given Costa Rica until January 2008 to reply
and Nicaragua until July 2008 to rejoin before rendering its
decision on the navigation, security, and commercial rights of Costa
Rican vessels on the Rio San Juan over which Nicaragua retains
sovereignty

Cote d'Ivoire
despite the presence of over 9,000 UN forces (UNOCI)
in Cote d'Ivoire since 2004, ethnic conflict still leaves displaced
hundreds of thousands of Ivorians in and out of the country as well
as driven out migrants from neighboring states who worked in Ivorian
cocoa plantations; the March 2007 peace deal between Ivorian rebels
and the government brought significant numbers of rebels out of
hiding in neighboring states

Croatia
dispute remains with Bosnia and Herzegovina over several
small sections of the boundary related to maritime access that
hinders ratification of the 1999 border agreement; the
Croatia-Slovenia land and maritime boundary agreement, which would
have ceded most of Pirin Bay and maritime access to Slovenia and
several villages to Croatia, remains unratified and in dispute;
Slovenia also protests Croatia's 2003 claim to an exclusive economic
zone in the Adriatic; as a European Union peripheral state, Slovenia
imposed a hard border Schengen regime with non-member Croatia in
December 2007

Cuba
US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay is leased to US and only mutual
agreement or US abandonment of the facility can terminate the lease

Cyprus
hostilities in 1974 divided the island into two de facto
autonomous entities, the internationally recognized Cypriot
Government and a Turkish-Cypriot community (north Cyprus); the
1,000-strong UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) has served in
Cyprus since 1964 and maintains the buffer zone between north and
south; on 1 May 2004, Cyprus entered the European Union still
divided, with the EU's body of legislation and standards (acquis
communitaire) suspended in the north; Turkey protests Cypriot
Government creating hydrocarbon blocks and maritime boundary with
Lebanon in March 2007

Czech Republic
while threats of international legal action never
materialized in 2007, 915,220 Austrians, with the support of the
popular Freedom Party, signed a petition in January 2008, demanding
that Austria block the Czech Republic's accession to the EU unless
Prague closes its controversial Soviet-style nuclear plant in
Temelin, bordering Austria

Denmark
Iceland, the UK, and Ireland dispute Denmark's claim that
the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm; Faroese
continue to study proposals for full independence; sovereignty
dispute with Canada over Hans Island in the Kennedy Channel between
Ellesmere Island and Greenland

Djibouti
Djibouti maintains economic ties and border accords with
"Somaliland" leadership while maintaining some political ties to
various factions in Somalia; Kuwait is chief investor in the 2008
restoration and upgrade of the Ethiopian-Djibouti rail link

Dominica
Dominica is the only Caribbean state to challenge
Venezuela's sovereignty claim over Aves Island and joins the other
island nations in challenging whether the feature sustains human
habitation, a criterion under the UN Convention on the Law of the
Sea (UNCLOS), which permits Venezuela to extend its Exclusive
Economic Zone (EEZ) and continental shelf claims over a large
portion of the eastern Caribbean Sea

Dominican Republic
Haitian migrants cross the porous border into the
Dominican Republic to find work; illegal migrants from the Dominican
Republic cross the Mona Passage each year to Puerto Rico to find
better work

Ecuador
organized illegal narcotics operations in Colombia penetrate
across Ecuador's shared border, which thousands of Colombians also
cross to escape the violence in their home country

Egypt
while Sudan retains claim to the Hala'ib Triangle north of the
1899 Treaty boundary along the 22nd Parallel, both states withdrew
their military presence in the 1990s and Egypt has invested in and
effectively administers the area; Egypt no longer shows its
administration of the Bir Tawil trapezoid in Sudan on its maps;
Gazan breaches in the security wall with Egypt in January 2008
highlight difficulties in monitoring the Sinai border

El Salvador
International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on the
delimitation of "bolsones" (disputed areas) along the El
Salvador-Honduras boundary, in 1992, with final agreement by the
parties in 2006 after an Organization of American States (OAS)
survey and a further ICJ ruling in 2003; the 1992 ICJ ruling advised
a tripartite resolution to a maritime boundary in the Gulf of
Fonseca advocating Honduran access to the Pacific; El Salvador
continues to claim tiny Conejo Island, not identified in the ICJ
decision, off Honduras in the Gulf of Fonseca

Equatorial Guinea
in 2002, ICJ ruled on an equidistance settlement
of Cameroon-Equatorial Guinea-Nigeria maritime boundary in the Gulf
of Guinea, but a dispute between Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon over
an island at the mouth of the Ntem River and imprecisely defined
maritime coordinates in the ICJ decision delay final delimitation;
UN urges Equatorial Guinea and Gabon to resolve the sovereignty
dispute over Gabon-occupied Mbane and lesser islands and to create a
maritime boundary in the hydrocarbon-rich Corisco Bay

Eritrea
Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to abide by 2002
Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission's (EEBC) delimitation decision
but, neither party responded to the revised line detailed in the
November 2006 EEBC Demarcation Statement; UN Peacekeeping Mission to
Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), which has monitored the 25-km-wide
Temporary Security Zone in Eritrea since 2000, is extended for six
months in 2007 despite Eritrean restrictions on its operations and
reduced force of 17,000; Sudan accuses Eritrea of supporting eastern
Sudanese rebel groups

Estonia
Russia recalled its signature to the 1996 technical border
agreement with Estonia in 2005, rather than concede to Estonia's
appending prepared a unilateral declaration referencing Soviet
occupation and territorial losses; Russia demands better
accommodation of Russian-speaking population in Estonia; Estonian
citizen groups continue to press for realignment of the boundary
based on the 1920 Tartu Peace Treaty that would bring the now
divided ethnic Setu people and parts of the Narva region within
Estonia; as a member state that forms part of the EU's external
border, Estonia must implement the strict Schengen border rules with
Russia

Ethiopia
Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to abide by the 2002
Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission's (EEBC) delimitation decision,
but neither party responded to the revised line detailed in the
November 2006 EEBC Demarcation Statement; UN Peacekeeping Mission to
Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), which has monitored the 25-km-wide
Temporary Security Zone in Eritrea since 2000, is extended for six
months in 2007 despite Eritrean restrictions on its operations and
reduced force of 17,000; the undemarcated former British
administrative line has little meaning as a political separation to
rival clans within Ethiopia's Ogaden and southern Somalia's Oromo
region; Ethiopian forces invaded southern Somalia and routed
Islamist Courts from Mogadishu in January 2007; "Somaliland"
secessionists provide port facilities in Berbera and trade ties to
landlocked Ethiopia; civil unrest in eastern Sudan has hampered
efforts to demarcate the porous boundary with Ethiopia

European Union
as a political union, the EU has no border disputes
with neighboring countries, but Estonia has no land boundary
agreements with Russia, Slovenia disputes its land and maritime
boundaries with Croatia, and Spain has territorial and maritime
disputes with Morocco and with the UK over Gibraltar; the EU has set
up a Schengen area - consisting of 22 EU member states that have
signed the convention implementing the Schengen agreements or
"acquis" (1985 and 1990) on the free movement of persons and the
harmonization of border controls in Europe; these agreements became
incorporated into EU law with the implementation of the 1997 Treaty
of Amsterdam on 1 May 1999; in addition, non-EU states Iceland and
Norway (as part of the Nordic Union) have been included in the
Schengen area since 1996 (full members in 2001), and Switzerland
since 2008 bringing the total current membership to 25; the UK
(since 2000) and Ireland (since 2002) take part in only some aspects
of the Schengen area, especially with respect to police and criminal
matters; nine of the 12 new member states that joined the EU since
2004 joined Schengen on 21 December 2007; of the three remaining EU
states, Cyprus is expected to join by 2009, while Romania and
Bulgaria continue to enhance their border security systems

Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)
Argentina, which claims the
islands in its constitution and briefly occupied them by force in
1982, agreed in 1995 to no longer seek settlement by force; UK
continues to reject Argentine requests for sovereignty talks

Faroe Islands
because anticipated offshore hydrocarbon resources
have not been realized, earlier Faroese proposals for full
independence have been deferred; Iceland, the UK, and Ireland
dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf
extends beyond 200 nm

Fiji
none

Finland
various groups in Finland advocate restoration of Karelia
and other areas ceded to the Soviet Union, but the Finnish
Government asserts no territorial demands

France
Madagascar claims the French territories of Bassas da India,
Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, and Juan de Nova Island; Comoros
claims Mayotte; Mauritius claims Tromelin Island; territorial
dispute between Suriname and the French overseas department of
French Guiana; France asserts a territorial claim in Antarctica
(Adelie Land); France and Vanuatu claim Matthew and Hunter Islands,
east of New Caledonia

French Polynesia
none

French Southern and Antarctic Lands
French claim to "Adelie Land" in
Antarctica is not recognized by the US
Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova
Island (Iles Eparses): claimed by Madagascar
Tromelin Island (Iles Eparses): claimed by Mauritius

Gabon
UN urges Equatorial Guinea and Gabon to resolve the
sovereignty dispute over Gabon-occupied Mbane Island and lesser
islands and to establish a maritime boundary in hydrocarbon-rich
Corisco Bay

Gambia, The
attempts to stem refugees, cross-border raids, arms
smuggling, and other illegal activities by separatists from southern
Senegal's Casamance region, as well as from conflicts in other west
African states

Gaza Strip
West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with
current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement
- permanent status to be determined through further negotiation;
Israel removed settlers and military personnel from the Gaza Strip
in August 2005

Georgia
Russia and Georgia agree on delimiting 80% of their common
border, leaving certain small, strategic segments and the maritime
boundary unresolved; OSCE observers monitor volatile areas such as
the Pankisi Gorge in the Akhmeti region and the Argun Gorge in
Abkhazia; UN Observer Mission in Georgia has maintained a
peacekeeping force in Georgia since 1993; Meshkheti Turks scattered
throughout the former Soviet Union seek to return to Georgia;
boundary with Armenia remains undemarcated; ethnic Armenian groups
in Javakheti region of Georgia seek greater autonomy from the
Georgian government; Azerbaijan and Georgia continue to discuss the
alignment of their boundary at certain crossing areas

Germany
none

Ghana
Ghana struggles to accommodate returning nationals who worked
in the cocoa plantations and escaped fighting in Cote d'Ivoire

Gibraltar
in 2002, Gibraltar residents voted overwhelmingly by
referendum to reject any "shared sovereignty" arrangement; the
government of Gibraltar insists on equal participation in talks
between the UK and Spain; Spain disapproves of UK plans to grant
Gibraltar even greater autonomy

Greece
Greece and Turkey continue discussions to resolve their
complex maritime, air, territorial, and boundary disputes in the
Aegean Sea; Cyprus question with Turkey; Greece rejects the use of
the name Macedonia or Republic of Macedonia; the mass migration of
unemployed Albanians still remains a problem for developed
countries, chiefly Greece and Italy

Greenland
managed dispute between Canada and Denmark over Hans
Island in the Kennedy Channel between Canada's Ellesmere Island and
Greenland

Grenada
none

Guam
none

Guatemala
annual ministerial meetings under the OAS-initiated
Agreement on the Framework for Negotiations and Confidence Building
Measures continue to address Guatemalan land and maritime claims in
Belize and the Caribbean Sea; the Line of Adjacency created under
the 2002 Differendum serves in lieu of the contiguous international
boundary to control squatting in the sparsely inhabited rain forests
of Belize's border region; Mexico must deal with thousands of
impoverished Guatemalans and other Central Americans who cross the
porous border looking for work in Mexico and the United States

Guernsey
none

Guinea
conflicts among rebel groups, warlords, and youth gangs in
neighboring states have spilled over into Guinea, resulting in
domestic instability; Sierra Leone considers Guinea's definition of
the flood plain limits to define the left bank boundary of the
Makona and Moa rivers excessive and protests Guinea's continued
occupation of these lands, including the hamlet of Yenga, occupied
since 1998

Guinea-Bissau
in 2006, political instability within Senegal's
Casamance region resulted in thousands of Senegalese refugees,
cross-border raids, and arms smuggling into Guinea-Bissau

Guyana
all of the area west of the Essequibo River is claimed by
Venezuela preventing any discussion of a maritime boundary; Guyana
has expressed its intention to join Barbados in asserting claims
before UNCLOS that Trinidad and Tobago's maritime boundary with
Venezuela extends into their waters; Suriname claims a triangle of
land between the New and Kutari/Koetari rivers in a historic dispute
over the headwaters of the Courantyne; Guyana seeks arbitration
under provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
to resolve the long-standing dispute with Suriname over the axis of
the territorial sea boundary in potentially oil-rich waters

Haiti
since 2004, about 8,000 peacekeepers from the UN Stabilization
Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) maintain civil order in Haiti; despite
efforts to control illegal migration, Haitians cross into the
Dominican Republic and sail to neighboring countries; Haiti claims
US-administered Navassa Island

Heard Island and McDonald Islands
none

Holy See (Vatican City)
none

Honduras
International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on the
delimitation of "bolsones" (disputed areas) along the El
Salvador-Honduras border in 1992 with final settlement by the
parties in 2006 after an Organization of American States (OAS)
survey and a further ICJ ruling in 2003; the 1992 ICJ ruling advised
a tripartite resolution to a maritime boundary in the Gulf of
Fonseca with consideration of Honduran access to the Pacific; El
Salvador continues to claim tiny Conejo Island, not mentioned in the
ICJ ruling, off Honduras in the Gulf of Fonseca; Honduras claims the
Belizean-administered Sapodilla Cays off the coast of Belize in its
constitution, but agreed to a joint ecological park around the cays
should Guatemala consent to a maritime corridor in the Caribbean
under the OAS-sponsored 2002 Belize-Guatemala Differendum; memorials
and countermemorials were filed by the parties in Nicaragua's 1999
and 2001 proceedings against Honduras and Colombia at the ICJ over
the maritime boundary and territorial claims in the western
Caribbean Sea - final public hearings are scheduled for 2007

Hong Kong
none

Hungary
bilateral government, legal, technical and economic working
group negotiations continue in 2006 with Slovakia over Hungary's
failure to complete its portion of the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros
hydroelectric dam project along the Danube; as a member state that
forms part of the EU's external border, Hungary has implemented the
strict Schengen border rules

Iceland
Iceland, the UK, and Ireland dispute Denmark's claim that
the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm

India
since China and India launched a security and foreign policy
dialogue in 2005, consolidated discussions related to the dispute
over most of their rugged, militarized boundary, regional nuclear
proliferation, Indian claims that China transferred missiles to
Pakistan, and other matters continue; various talks and
confidence-building measures have cautiously begun to defuse
tensions over Kashmir, particularly since the October 2005
earthquake in the region; Kashmir nevertheless remains the site of
the world's largest and most militarized territorial dispute with
portions under the de facto administration of China (Aksai Chin),
India (Jammu and Kashmir), and Pakistan (Azad Kashmir and Northern
Areas); India and Pakistan have maintained the 2004 cease fire in
Kashmir and initiated discussions on defusing the armed stand-off in
the Siachen glacier region; Pakistan protests India's fencing the
highly militarized Line of Control and construction of the Baglihar
Dam on the Chenab River in Jammu and Kashmir, which is part of the
larger dispute on water sharing of the Indus River and its
tributaries; UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan
(UNMOGIP) has maintained a small group of peacekeepers since 1949;
India does not recognize Pakistan's ceding historic Kashmir lands to
China in 1964; to defuse tensions and prepare for discussions on a
maritime boundary, India and Pakistan seek technical resolution of
the disputed boundary in Sir Creek estuary at the mouth of the Rann
of Kutch in the Arabian Sea; Pakistani maps continue to show its
Junagadh claim in Indian Gujarat State; discussions with Bangladesh
remain stalled to delimit a small section of river boundary, to
exchange territory for 51 Bangladeshi exclaves in India and 111
Indian exclaves in Bangladesh, to allocate divided villages, and to
stop illegal cross-border trade, migration, violence, and transit of
terrorists through the porous border; Bangladesh protests India's
attempts to fence off high-traffic sections of the border; dispute
with Bangladesh over New Moore/South Talpatty/Purbasha Island in the
Bay of Bengal deters maritime boundary delimitation; India seeks
cooperation from Bhutan and Burma to keep Indian Nagaland and Assam
separatists from hiding in remote areas along the borders; Joint
Border Committee with Nepal continues to examine contested boundary
sections, including the 400 square kilometer dispute over the source
of the Kalapani River; India maintains a strict border regime to
keep out Maoist insurgents and control illegal cross-border
activities from Nepal

Indian Ocean
some maritime disputes (see littoral states)

Indonesia
Indonesia has a stated foreign policy objective of
establishing stable fixed land and maritime boundaries with all of
its neighbors; Timor-Leste-Indonesia Boundary Committee has resolved
all but a small portion of the land boundary, but discussions on
maritime boundaries are stalemated over sovereignty of the
uninhabited coral island of Pulau Batek/Fatu Sinai in the north and
alignment with Australian claims in the south; many refugees from
Timor-Leste who left in 2003 still reside in Indonesia and refuse
repatriation; a 1997 treaty between Indonesia and Australia settled
some parts of their maritime boundary but outstanding issues remain;
ICJ's award of Sipadan and Ligitan islands to Malaysia in 2002 left
the sovereignty of Unarang rock and the maritime boundary in the
Ambalat oil block in the Celebes Sea in dispute; the ICJ decision
has prompted Indonesia to assert claims to and to establish a
presence on its smaller outer islands; Indonesia and Singapore
continue to work on finalization of their 1973 maritime boundary
agreement by defining unresolved areas north of Indonesia's Batam
Island; Indonesian secessionists, squatters, and illegal migrants
create repatriation problems for Papua New Guinea; piracy remains a
problem in the Malacca Strait; maritime delimitation talks continue
with Palau; Indonesian groups challenge Australia's claim to Ashmore
Reef; Australia has closed parts of the Ashmore and Cartier Reserve
to Indonesian traditional fishing and placed restrictions on certain
catches

Iran
Iran protests Afghanistan's limiting flow of dammed tributaries
to the Helmand River in periods of drought; Iraq's lack of a
maritime boundary with Iran prompts jurisdiction disputes beyond the
mouth of the Shatt al Arab in the Persian Gulf; Iran and UAE dispute
Tunb Islands and Abu Musa Island, which are occupied by Iran; Iran
stands alone among littoral states in insisting upon a division of
the Caspian Sea into five equal sectors

Iraq
coalition forces assist Iraqis in monitoring internal and
cross-border security; approximately two million Iraqis have fled
the conflict in Iraq, with the majority taking refuge in Syria and
Jordan, and lesser numbers to Egypt, Lebanon, Iran, and Turkey;
Iraq's lack of a maritime boundary with Iran prompts jurisdiction
disputes beyond the mouth of the Shatt al Arab in the Persian Gulf;
Turkey has expressed concern over the autonomous status of Kurds in
Iraq

Ireland
Ireland, Iceland, and the UK dispute Denmark's claim that
the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm

Isle of Man
none

Israel
West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current
status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement -
permanent status to be determined through further negotiation;
Israel continues construction of a "seam line" separation barrier
along parts of the Green Line and within the West Bank; Israel
withdrew its settlers and military from the Gaza Strip and from four
settlements in the West Bank in August 2005; Golan Heights is
Israeli-occupied (Lebanon claims the Shab'a Farms area of Golan
Heights); since 1948, about 350 peacekeepers from the UN Truce
Supervision Organization (UNTSO) headquartered in Jerusalem monitor
ceasefires, supervise armistice agreements, prevent isolated
incidents from escalating, and assist other UN personnel in the
region

Italy
Italy's long coastline and developed economy entices tens of
thousands of illegal immigrants from southeastern Europe and
northern Africa

Jamaica
none

Jan Mayen
none

Japan
the sovereignty dispute over the islands of Etorofu,
Kunashiri, and Shikotan, and the Habomai group, known in Japan as
the "Northern Territories" and in Russia as the "Southern Kuril
Islands," occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by
Russia and claimed by Japan, remains the primary sticking point to
signing a peace treaty formally ending World War II hostilities;
Japan and South Korea claim Liancourt Rocks (Take-shima/Dokdo)
occupied by South Korea since 1954; China and Taiwan dispute both
Japan's claims to the uninhabited islands of the Senkaku-shoto
(Diaoyu Tai) and Japan's unilaterally declared exclusive economic
zone in the East China Sea, the site of intensive hydrocarbon
prospecting

Jersey
none

Jordan
approximately two million Iraqis have fled the conflict in
Iraq, with the majority taking refuge in Syria and Jordan; 2004
Agreement settles border dispute with Syria pending demarcation

Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan has yet to ratify the 2001 boundary
delimitation with Kazakhstan; field demarcation of the boundaries
with Turkmenistan commenced in 2005, and with Uzbekistan in 2004;
demarcation is scheduled to get underway with Russia in 2007;
demarcation with China was completed in 2002; creation of a seabed
boundary with Turkmenistan in the Caspian Sea remains under
discussion; equidistant seabed treaties have been ratified with
Azerbaijan and Russia in the Caspian Sea, but no resolution has been
made on dividing the water column among any of the littoral states

Kenya
Kenya served as an important mediator in brokering Sudan's
north-south separation in February 2005; Kenya provides shelter to
almost a quarter of a million refugees, including Ugandans who flee
across the border periodically to seek protection from Lord's
Resistance Army (LRA) rebels; Kenya works hard to prevent the clan
and militia fighting in Somalia from spreading across the border,
which has long been open to nomadic pastoralists; the boundary that
separates Kenya's and Sudan's sovereignty is unclear in the "Ilemi
Triangle," which Kenya has administered since colonial times

Kiribati
none

Korea, North
risking arrest, imprisonment, and deportation, tens of
thousands of North Koreans cross into China to escape famine,
economic privation, and political oppression; North Korea and China
dispute the sovereignty of certain islands in Yalu and Tumen rivers;
Military Demarcation Line within the 4-km wide Demilitarized Zone
has separated North from South Korea since 1953; periodic incidents
in the Yellow Sea with South Korea which claims the Northern
Limiting Line as a maritime boundary; North Korea supports South
Korea in rejecting Japan's claim to Liancourt Rocks
(Tok-do/Take-shima)

Korea, South
Military Demarcation Line within the 4-km wide
Demilitarized Zone has separated North from South Korea since 1953;
periodic incidents with North Korea in the Yellow Sea over the
Northern Limiting Line, which South Korea claims as a maritime
boundary; South Korea and Japan claim Liancourt Rocks
(Tok-do/Take-shima), occupied by South Korea since 1954

Kosovo
Serbia with several other states protest the US and other
states' recognition of Kosovo's declaring itself as a sovereign and
independent state in February 2008; ethnic Serbian municipalities
along Kosovo's northern border challenge final status of
Kosovo-Serbia boundary; several thousand NATO-led KFOR peacekeepers
under UNMIK authority continue to keep the peace within Kosovo
between the ethnic Albanian majority and the Serb minority in
Kosovo; Kosovo and Macedonia completed demarcation of their boundary
in September 2008

Kuwait
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia continue negotiating a joint maritime
boundary with Iran; no maritime boundary exists with Iraq in the
Persian Gulf

Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan has yet to ratify the 2001 boundary
delimitation with Kazakhstan; disputes in Isfara Valley delay
completion of delimitation with Tajikistan; delimitation of 130 km
of border with Uzbekistan is hampered by serious disputes around
enclaves and other areas

Laos
Southeast Asian states have enhanced border surveillance to
check the spread of avian flu; talks continue on completion of
demarcation with Thailand but disputes remain over islands in the
Mekong River; concern among Mekong Commission members that China's
construction of dams on the Mekong River will affect water levels

Latvia
Russia demands better Latvian treatment of ethnic Russians in
Latvia; as of January 2007, ground demarcation of the boundary with
Belarus was complete and mapped with final ratification
documentation in preparation; the Latvian parliament has not
ratified its 1998 maritime boundary treaty with Lithuania, primarily
due to concerns over oil exploration rights; as a member state that
forms part of the EU's external border, Latvia has implemented the
strict Schengen border rules with Russia

Lebanon
lacking a treaty or other documentation describing the
boundary, portions of the Lebanon-Syria boundary are unclear with
several sections in dispute; since 2000, Lebanon has claimed Shab'a
Farms area in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights; the roughly
2,000-strong UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has been in place
since 1978

Lesotho
none

Liberia
although civil unrest continues to abate with the assistance
of 18,000 UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) peacekeepers, as of January
2007, Liberian refugees still remain in Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire,
Sierra Leone, and Ghana; Liberia, in turn, shelters refugees fleeing
turmoil in Cote d'Ivoire; despite the presence of over 9,000 UN
forces (UNOCI) in Cote d'Ivoire since 2004, ethnic conflict
continues to spread into neighboring states who can no longer send
their migrant workers to Ivorian cocoa plantations; UN sanctions ban
Liberia from exporting diamonds and timber

Libya
Libya has claimed more than 32,000 sq km in southeastern
Algeria and about 25,000 sq km in the Tommo region of Niger in a
currently dormant dispute; various Chadian rebels from the Aozou
region reside in southern Libya

Liechtenstein
none

Lithuania
Lithuania and Russia committed to demarcating their
boundary in 2006 in accordance with the land and maritime treaty
ratified by Russia in May 2003 and by Lithuania in 1999; Lithuania
operates a simplified transit regime for Russian nationals traveling
from the Kaliningrad coastal exclave into Russia, while still
conforming, as a EU member state having an external border with a
non-EU member, to strict Schengen border rules; the Latvian
parliament has not ratified its 1998 maritime boundary treaty with
Lithuania, primarily due to concerns over potential hydrocarbons; as
of January 2007, ground demarcation of the boundary with Belarus was
complete and mapped with final ratification documents in preparation

Luxembourg
none

Macau
none

Macedonia
Kosovo and Macedonia completed demarcation of their
boundary in September 2008; Greece continues to reject the use of
the name Macedonia or Republic of Macedonia

Madagascar
claims Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands,
and Juan de Nova Island (all administered by France)

Malawi
disputes with Tanzania over the boundary in Lake Nyasa (Lake
Malawi) and the meandering Songwe River remain dormant

Malaysia
Malaysia has asserted sovereignty over the Spratly Islands
together with China, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly
Brunei; while the 2002 "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the
South China Sea" has eased tensions over the Spratly Islands, it is
not the legally binding "code of conduct" sought by some parties;
Malaysia was not party to the March 2005 joint accord among the
national oil companies of China, the Philippines, and Vietnam on
conducting marine seismic activities in the Spratly Islands;
disputes continue over deliveries of fresh water to Singapore,
Singapore's land reclamation, bridge construction, and maritime
boundaries in the Johor and Singapore Straits; in November 2007, the
ICJ will hold public hearings in response to the memorials and
countermemorials filed by the parties in 2003 and 2005 over
sovereignty of Pedra Branca Island/Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks
and South Ledge; ICJ awarded Ligitan and Sipadan islands, also
claimed by Indonesia and Philippines, to Malaysia but left maritime
boundary and sovereignty of Unarang rock in the hydrocarbon-rich
Celebes Sea in dispute; separatist violence in Thailand's
predominantly Muslim southern provinces prompts measures to close
and monitor border with Malaysia to stem terrorist activities;
Philippines retains a dormant claim to Malaysia's Sabah State in
northern Borneo; Brunei and Malaysia agreed in September 2008 to
resolve their offshore and deepwater seabed dispute, resume
hydrocarbon exploration and renounce any territorial claims on land;
piracy remains a problem in the Malacca Strait

Maldives
none

Mali
none

Malta
none

Marshall Islands
claims US territory of Wake Island

Mauritania
Mauritanian claims to Western Sahara remain dormant

Mauritius
Mauritius claims the Chagos Archipelago (UK-administered
British Indian Ocean Territory), and its former inhabitants, who
reside chiefly in Mauritius; claims French-administered Tromelin
Island

Mayotte
claimed by Comoros

Mexico
abundant rainfall in recent years along much of the Mexico-US
border region has ameliorated periodically strained water-sharing
arrangements; the US has intensified security measures to monitor
and control legal and illegal personnel, transport, and commodities
across its border with Mexico; Mexico must deal with thousands of
impoverished Guatemalans and other Central Americans who cross the
porous border looking for work in Mexico and the United States

Micronesia, Federated States of
none

Moldova
Moldova and Ukraine operate joint customs posts to monitor
the transit of people and commodities through Moldova's break-away
Transnistria region, which remains under OSCE supervision

Monaco
none

Mongolia
none

Montenegro
none

Montserrat
none

Morocco
claims and administers Western Sahara whose sovereignty
remains unresolved - UN-administered cease-fire has remained in
effect since September 1991, but attempts to hold a referendum have
failed and parties thus far have rejected all brokered proposals;
Morocco protests Spain's control over the coastal enclaves of Ceuta,
Melilla, and Penon de Velez de la Gomera, the islands of Penon de
Alhucemas and Islas Chafarinas, and surrounding waters; discussions
have not progressed on a comprehensive maritime delimitation,
setting limits on resource exploration and refugee interdiction,
since Morocco's 2002 rejection of Spain's unilateral designation of
a median line from the Canary Islands; Morocco serves as one of the
primary launching areas of illegal migration into Spain from North
Africa

Mozambique
none

Namibia
concerns from international experts and local populations
over the Okavango Delta ecology in Botswana and human displacement
scuttled Namibian plans to construct a hydroelectric dam on Popa
Falls along the Angola-Namibia border; managed dispute with South
Africa over the location of the boundary in the Orange River;
Namibia has supported, and in 2004 Zimbabwe dropped objections to,
plans between Botswana and Zambia to build a bridge over the Zambezi
River, thereby de facto recognizing a short, but not clearly
delimited, Botswana-Zambia boundary in the river

Nauru
none

Navassa Island
claimed by Haiti, source of subsistence fishing

Nepal
joint border commission continues to work on contested
sections of boundary with India, including the 400 square kilometer
dispute over the source of the Kalapani River; India has instituted
a stricter border regime to restrict transit of Maoist insurgents
and illegal cross-border activities; approximately 106,000 Bhutanese
Lhotshampas (Hindus) have been confined in refugee camps in
southeastern Nepal since 1990

Netherlands
none

Netherlands Antilles
none

New Caledonia
Matthew and Hunter Islands east of New Caledonia
claimed by France and Vanuatu

New Zealand
asserts a territorial claim in Antarctica (Ross
Dependency)

Nicaragua
memorials and countermemorials were filed by the parties
in Nicaragua's 1999 and 2001 proceedings against Honduras and
Colombia at the ICJ over the maritime boundary and territorial
claims in the western Caribbean Sea, final public hearings are
scheduled for 2007; the 1992 ICJ ruling for El Salvador and Honduras
advised a tripartite resolution to establish a maritime boundary in
the Gulf of Fonseca, which considers Honduran access to the Pacific;
legal dispute over navigational rights of San Juan River on border
with Costa Rica

Niger
Libya claims about 25,000 sq km in a currently dormant dispute
in the Tommo region; much of Benin-Niger boundary, including
tripoint with Nigeria, remains undemarcated; only Nigeria and
Cameroon have heeded the Lake Chad Commission's admonition to ratify
the delimitation treaty which also includes the Chad-Niger and
Niger-Nigeria boundaries

Nigeria
Joint Border Commission with Cameroon reviewed 2002 ICJ
ruling on the entire boundary and bilaterally resolved differences,
including June 2006 Greentree Agreement that immediately cedes
sovereignty of the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon with a phase-out of
Nigerian control within two years while resolving patriation issues;
the ICJ ruled on an equidistance settlement of Cameroon-Equatorial
Guinea-Nigeria maritime boundary in the Gulf of Guinea, but
imprecisely defined coordinates in the ICJ decision and a
sovereignty dispute between Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon over an
island at the mouth of the Ntem River all contribute to the delay in
implementation; only Nigeria and Cameroon have heeded the Lake Chad
Commission's admonition to ratify the delimitation treaty which also
includes the Chad-Niger and Niger-Nigeria boundaries

Niue
none

Norfolk Island
none

Northern Mariana Islands
none

Norway
Norway asserts a territorial claim in Antarctica (Queen Maud
Land and its continental shelf); despite dialogue, Russia and Norway
continue to dispute their maritime limits in the Barents Sea and
Russia's fishing rights beyond Svalbard's territorial limits within
the Svalbard Treaty zone

Oman
boundary agreement reportedly signed and ratified with UAE in
2003 for entire border, including Oman's Musandam Peninsula and Al
Madhah exclave, but details of the alignment have not been made
public

Pacific Ocean
some maritime disputes (see littoral states)

Pakistan
various talks and confidence-building measures cautiously
have begun to defuse tensions over Kashmir, particularly since the
October 2005 earthquake in the region; Kashmir nevertheless remains
the site of the world's largest and most militarized territorial
dispute with portions under the de facto administration of China
(Aksai Chin), India (Jammu and Kashmir), and Pakistan (Azad Kashmir
and Northern Areas); UN Military Observer Group in India and
Pakistan (UNMOGIP) has maintained a small group of peacekeepers
since 1949; India does not recognize Pakistan's ceding historic
Kashmir lands to China in 1964; India and Pakistan have maintained
their 2004 cease fire in Kashmir and initiated discussions on
defusing the armed stand-off in the Siachen glacier region; Pakistan
protests India's fencing the highly militarized Line of Control and
construction of the Baglihar Dam on the Chenab River in Jammu and
Kashmir, which is part of the larger dispute on water sharing of the
Indus River and its tributaries; to defuse tensions and prepare for
discussions on a maritime boundary, India and Pakistan seek
technical resolution of the disputed boundary in Sir Creek estuary
at the mouth of the Rann of Kutch in the Arabian Sea; Pakistani maps
continue to show the Junagadh claim in India's Gujarat State; by
2005, Pakistan, with UN assistance, repatriated 2.3 million Afghan
refugees leaving slightly more than a million, many of whom remain
at their own choosing; Pakistan has proposed and Afghanistan
protests construction of a fence and laying of mines along portions
of their porous border; Pakistan has sent troops into remote tribal
areas to monitor and control the border with Afghanistan and to stem
terrorist or other illegal activities

Palau
maritime delineation negotiations continue with Philippines,
Indonesia

Panama
organized illegal narcotics operations in Colombia operate
within the remote border region with Panama

Papua New Guinea
relies on assistance from Australia to keep out
illegal cross-border activities from primarily Indonesia, including
goods smuggling, illegal narcotics trafficking, and squatters and
secessionists

Paracel Islands
occupied by China, also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam

Paraguay
unruly region at convergence of Argentina-Brazil-Paraguay
borders is locus of money laundering, smuggling, arms and illegal
narcotics trafficking, and fundraising for extremist organizations

Peru
Chile and Ecuador rejected Peru's November 2005 unilateral
legislation to shift the axis of their joint treaty-defined maritime
boundaries along the parallels of latitude to equidistance lines
which favor Peru; organized illegal narcotics operations in Colombia
have penetrated Peru's shared border; Peru rejects Bolivia's claim
to restore maritime access through a sovereign corridor through
Chile along the Peruvian border

Philippines
Philippines claims sovereignty over certain of the
Spratly Islands, known locally as the Kalayaan (Freedom) Islands,
also claimed by China, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam; the 2002
"Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea," has
eased tensions in the Spratly Islands but falls short of a legally
binding "code of conduct" desired by several of the disputants; in
March 2005, the national oil companies of China, the Philippines,
and Vietnam signed a joint accord to conduct marine seismic
activities in the Spratly Islands; Philippines retains a dormant
claim to Malaysia's Sabah State in northern Borneo based on the
Sultanate of Sulu's granting the Philippines Government power of
attorney to pursue a sovereignty claim on his behalf; maritime
delimitation negotiations continue with Palau

Pitcairn Islands
none

Poland
as a member state that forms part of the EU's external
border, Poland has implemented the strict Schengen border rules to
restrict illegal immigration and trade along its eastern borders
with Belarus and Ukraine

Portugal
Portugal does not recognize Spanish sovereignty over the
territory of Olivenza based on a difference of interpretation of the
1815 Congress of Vienna and the 1801 Treaty of Badajoz

Puerto Rico
increasing numbers of illegal migrants from the
Dominican Republic cross the Mona Passage to Puerto Rico each year
looking for work

Qatar
none

Romania
the ICJ gave Ukraine until December 2006 to reply, and
Romania until June 2007 to issue a rejoinder, in their dispute
submitted in 2004 over Ukrainian-administered Zmiyinyy/Serpilor
(Snake) Island and Black Sea maritime boundary delimitation; Romania
also opposes Ukraine's reopening of a navigation canal from the
Danube border through Ukraine to the Black Sea

Russia
China and Russia have demarcated the once disputed islands at
the Amur and Ussuri confluence and in the Argun River in accordance
with the 2004 Agreement, ending their centuries-long border
disputes; the sovereignty dispute over the islands of Etorofu,
Kunashiri, Shikotan, and the Habomai group, known in Japan as the
"Northern Territories" and in Russia as the "Southern Kurils,"
occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia,
and claimed by Japan, remains the primary sticking point to signing
a peace treaty formally ending World War II hostilities; Russia and
Georgia agree on delimiting all but small, strategic segments of the
land boundary and the maritime boundary; OSCE observers monitor
volatile areas such as the Pankisi Gorge in the Akhmeti region and
the Kodori Gorge in Abkhazia; Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia
signed equidistance boundaries in the Caspian seabed but the
littoral states have no consensus on dividing the water column;
Russia and Norway dispute their maritime limits in the Barents Sea
and Russia's fishing rights beyond Svalbard's territorial limits
within the Svalbard Treaty zone; various groups in Finland advocate
restoration of Karelia (Kareliya) and other areas ceded to the
Soviet Union following the Second World War but the Finnish
Government asserts no territorial demands; in May 2005, Russia
recalled its signatures to the 1996 border agreements with Estonia
(1996) and Latvia (1997), when the two Baltic states announced
issuance of unilateral declarations referencing Soviet occupation
and ensuing territorial losses; Russia demands better treatment of
ethnic Russians in Estonia and Latvia; Estonian citizen groups
continue to press for realignment of the boundary based on the 1920
Tartu Peace Treaty that would bring the now divided ethnic Setu
people and parts of the Narva region within Estonia; Lithuania and
Russia committed to demarcating their boundary in 2006 in accordance
with the land and maritime treaty ratified by Russia in May 2003 and
by Lithuania in 1999; Lithuania operates a simplified transit regime
for Russian nationals traveling from the Kaliningrad coastal exclave
into Russia, while still conforming, as an EU member state with an
EU external border, where strict Schengen border rules apply;
preparations for the demarcation delimitation of land boundary with
Ukraine have commenced; the dispute over the boundary between Russia
and Ukraine through the Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov remains
unresolved despite a December 2003 framework agreement and on-going
expert-level discussions; Kazakhstan and Russia boundary
delimitation was ratified on November 2005 and field demarcation
should commence in 2007; Russian Duma has not yet ratified 1990
Bering Sea Maritime Boundary Agreement with the US

Rwanda
fighting among ethnic groups - loosely associated political
rebels, armed gangs, and various government forces in Great Lakes
region transcending the boundaries of Burundi, Democratic Republic
of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda - abated substantially from a
decade ago due largely to UN peacekeeping, international mediation,
and efforts by local governments to create civil societies;
nonetheless, 57,000 Rwandan refugees still reside in 21 African
states, including Zambia, Gabon, and 20,000 who fled to Burundi in
2005 and 2006 to escape drought and recriminations from traditional
courts investigating the 1994 massacres; the 2005 DROC and Rwanda
border verification mechanism to stem rebel actions on both sides of
the border remains in place

Saint Helena
none

Saint Kitts and Nevis
joins other Caribbean states to counter
Venezuela's claim that Aves Island sustains human habitation, a
criterion under UNCLOS, which permits Venezuela to extend its
EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion of the eastern Caribbean
Sea

Saint Lucia
joins other Caribbean states to counter Venezuela's
claim that Aves Island sustains human habitation, a criterion under
UNCLOS, which permits Venezuela to extend its EEZ/continental shelf
over a large portion of the eastern Caribbean Sea

Saint Pierre and Miquelon
none

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
joins other Caribbean states to
counter Venezuela's claim that Aves Island sustains human
habitation, a criterion under UNCLOS, which permits Venezuela to
extend its EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion of the eastern
Caribbean Sea

Samoa
none

San Marino
none

Sao Tome and Principe
none

Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia has reinforced its concrete-filled
security barrier along sections of the now fully demarcated border
with Yemen to stem illegal cross-border activities; Kuwait and Saudi
Arabia continue discussions on a maritime boundary with Iran

Senegal
The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau attempt to stem separatist
violence, cross border raids, and arms smuggling into their
countries from Senegal's Casamance region, and in 2006, respectively
accepted 6,000 and 10,000 Casamance residents fleeing the conflict;
2,500 Guinea-Bissau residents fled into Senegal in 2006 to escape
armed confrontations along the border

Serbia
Serbia with several other states protest the U.S. and other
states' recognition of Kosovo's declaring itself as a sovereign and
independent state in February 2008; ethnic Serbian municipalities
along Kosovo's northern border challenge final status of
Kosovo-Serbia boundary; several thousand NATO-led KFOR peacekeepers
under UNMIK authority continue to keep the peace within Kosovo
between the ethnic Albanian majority and the Serb minority in
Kosovo; Serbia delimited about half of the boundary with Bosnia and
Herzegovina, but sections along the Drina River remain in dispute

Seychelles
together with Mauritius, Seychelles claims the Chagos
Archipelago (UK-administered British Indian Ocean Territory)