Bir Tawil

The Bir Tawil refers to a portion of land in between Sudan and Egypt. It is best known as one of the last pieces of land on Earth that does not belong to any country that is also not claimed by any recognized country, also known as "terra nullius".

History

In 1899, Sudan was controlled by both Egypt and The United Kingdom, and a border needed to be created. So, the border between Egypt and Sudan was set at the 22nd parallel north of latitude.

The red line shows the 22nd parallel north (between Egypt and Sudan

However, the border was later redrawn due to tribal usage of the land, with a large portion of land north of the 22nd parallel being given to Sudan (the Hala'ib triangle), and a small portion south (the Bir Tawil) was given to Egypt.

Today

The Hala'ib triangle is much more important to control than the Bir Tawil, as Hala'ib is inhabited and far larger with access to the ocean, while Bir Tawil has no access to the ocean and is completely uninhabited. Oil reserves were also found close to the Hala'ib Triangle. Both Egypt and Sudan today claim the Hala'ib triangle, with Egypt justifying their claim with the original 1899 border decision, and Sudan justifying their claim with the 1902 change, and so, if either country tried to claim Bir Tawil, they would have to give up the Hala'ib triangle.

In 2014, a man from Virginia named Jeremiah Heaton travelled to Bir Tawil, and claimed it as the "Kingdom of North Sudan". He did this because his then 7-year old daughter dreamed of becoming a real princess, and he promised her that she would be. However, no government recognizes this claim. Shortly after, two Russian men travelled to Bir Tawil and claimed it as the "Kingdom of Middle Earth". And in 2017, a man from India travelled to Bir Tawil, claiming as the "Kingdom of Dixit", with Dixit being the mans last name, although Jeremiah Heaton claims that Dixit was lying and never actually reached Bir Tawil.

See also

• Marie Byrd Land
• Liberland

Simplified map showing Egypt's claim (yellow and green), Sudan's claim (blue and green), the Hala'ib Triangle (green) and Bir Tawil (the white area between Egypt and Sudan)

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