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)

Sierra Leone

as domestic fighting among disparate ethnic groups,

rebel groups, warlords, and youth gangs in Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea,

Liberia, and Sierra Leone gradually abate, the number of refugees in

border areas has begun to slowly dwindle; Sierra Leone considers

excessive Guinea's definition of the flood plain limits to define

the left bank boundary of the Makona and Moa rivers and protests

Guinea's continued occupation of these lands including the hamlet of

Yenga occupied since 1998

Singapore

disputes persist with Malaysia over deliveries of fresh

water to Singapore, Singapore's extensive land reclamation works,

bridge construction, and maritime boundaries in the Johor and

Singapore Straits; in November 2007, the ICJ will hold public

hearings as a consequence of 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;

Indonesia and Singapore continue to work on finalization of their

1973 maritime boundary agreement by defining unresolved areas north

of Indonesia's Batam Island; piracy remains a problem in the Malacca

Strait

Slovakia

bilateral government, legal, technical and economic working

group negotiations continued in 2006 between Slovakia and Hungary

over Hungary's completion of 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, Slovakia has implemented the

strict Schengen border rules

Slovenia

the Croatia-Slovenia land and maritime boundary agreement,

which would have ceded most of Piran 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 member state that forms part of

the EU's external border, Slovenia has implemented the strict

Schengen border rules to curb illegal migration and commerce through

southeastern Europe while encouraging close cross-border ties with

Croatia

Solomon Islands

since 2003, RAMSI, consisting of police, military,

and civilian advisors drawn from 15 countries, has assisted in

reestablishing and maintaining civil and political order while

reinforcing regional stability and security

Somalia

Ethiopian forces invaded southern Somalia and routed

Islamist Courts from Mogadishu in January 2007; "Somaliland"

secessionists provide port facilities in Berbera to landlocked

Ethiopia and have established commercial ties with other regional

states; "Puntland" and "Somaliland" "governments" seek international

support in their secessionist aspirations and overlapping border

claims; 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; Kenya works

hard to prevent the clan and militia fighting in Somalia from

spreading south across the border, which has long been open to

nomadic pastoralists

South Africa

South Africa has placed military along the border to

apprehend the thousands of Zimbabweans fleeing economic dysfunction

and political persecution; as of January 2007, South Africa also

supports large numbers of refugees and asylum seekers from the

Democratic Republic of the Congo (33,000), Somalia (20,000), Burundi

(6,500), and other states in Africa (26,000); managed dispute with

Namibia over the location of the boundary in the Orange River; in

2006, Swazi king advocates resort to ICJ to claim parts of

Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal from South Africa

South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands

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

Southern Ocean

Antarctic Treaty defers claims (see Antarctica

entry), but Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, NZ, Norway, and UK

assert claims (some overlapping), including the continental shelf in

the Southern Ocean; several states have expressed an interest in

extending those continental shelf claims under the United Nations

Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to include undersea

ridges; the US and most other states do not recognize the land or

maritime claims of other states and have made no claims themselves

(the US and Russia have reserved the right to do so); no formal

claims exist in the waters in the sector between 90 degrees west and

150 degrees west

Spain

in 2002, Gibraltar residents voted overwhelmingly by

referendum to remain a British colony and against a "total shared

sovereignty" arrangement while demanding participation in talks

between the UK and Spain; Spain disapproves of UK plans to grant

Gibraltar greater autonomy; Morocco protests Spain's control over

the coastal enclaves of Ceuta, Melilla, and the islands of Penon de

Velez de la Gomera, Penon de Alhucemas, and Islas Chafarinas, and

surrounding waters; Morocco serves as the primary launching site of

illegal migration into Spain from North Africa; 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

Spratly Islands

all of the Spratly Islands are claimed by China,

Taiwan, and Vietnam; parts of them are claimed by Malaysia and the

Philippines; in 1984, Brunei established an exclusive fishing zone

that encompasses Louisa Reef in the southern Spratly Islands but has

not publicly claimed the reef; claimants in November 2002 signed the

"Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea,"

which has eased tensions but falls short of a legally binding "code

of conduct"; 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

Sri Lanka

none

Sudan

the effects of Sudan's almost constant ethnic and rebel

militia fighting since the mid-20th century have penetrated all of

the neighboring states; as of 2006, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Central

African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Uganda

provided shelter for over half a million Sudanese refugees, which

includes 240,000 Darfur residents driven from their homes by

Janjawid armed militia and the Sudanese military forces; Sudan, in

turn, hosted about 116,000 Eritreans, 20,000 Chadians, and smaller

numbers of Ethiopians, Ugandans, Central Africans, and Congolese as

refugees; in February 2006, Sudan and DROC signed an agreement to

repatriate 13,300 Sudanese and 6,800 Congolese; Sudan accuses

Eritrea of supporting Sudanese rebel groups; efforts to demarcate

the porous boundary with Ethiopia proceed slowly due to civil and

ethnic fighting in eastern Sudan; the boundary that separates Kenya

and Sudan's sovereignty is unclear in the "Ilemi Triangle," which

Kenya has administered since colonial times; Sudan claims to

administer the Hala'ib Triangle north of the 1899 Treaty boundary

with Egypt along the 22nd Parallel; both states withdrew their

military presence in the 1990s, but Egypt has invested in and

effectively administers the area; periodic violent skirmishes with

Sudanese residents over water and grazing rights persist among

related pastoral populations along the border with the Central

African Republic

Suriname

area claimed by French Guiana between Riviere Litani and

Riviere Marouini (both headwaters of the Lawa); 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

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) arbitration

to resolve the long-standing dispute with Suriname over the axis of

the territorial sea boundary in potentially oil-rich waters

Svalbard

despite recent discussions, 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

Swaziland

in 2006, Swazi king advocates resort to ICJ to claim parts

of Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal from South Africa

Sweden

none

Switzerland

none

Syria

Golan Heights is Israeli-occupied with the almost 1,000-strong

UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) patrolling a buffer zone

since 1964; 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 Shabaa

farms in the Golan Heights; 2004 Agreement and pending demarcation

settles border dispute with Jordan; approximately two million Iraqis

have fled the conflict in Iraq with the majority taking refuge in

Syria and Jordan

Taiwan

involved in complex dispute with China, Malaysia,

Philippines, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei over the Spratly Islands;

the 2002 "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China

Sea" has eased tensions but falls short of a legally binding "code

of conduct" desired by several of the disputants; Paracel Islands

are occupied by China, but claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam; in 2003,

China and Taiwan became more vocal in rejecting 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 where all parties engage in hydrocarbon prospecting

Tajikistan

in 2006, China and Tajikistan pledged to commence

demarcation of the revised boundary agreed to in the delimitation of

2002; talks continue with Uzbekistan to delimit border and remove

minefields; disputes in Isfara Valley delay delimitation with

Kyrgyzstan

Tanzania

Tanzania still hosts more than a half-million refugees,

more than any other African country, mainly from Burundi and the

Democratic Republic of the Congo, despite the international

community's efforts at repatriation; disputes with Malawi over the

boundary in Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi) and the meandering Songwe River

remain dormant

Thailand

separatist violence in Thailand's predominantly Muslim

southern provinces prompt border closures and controls with Malaysia

to stem terrorist activities; Southeast Asian states have enhanced

border surveillance to check the spread of avian flu; talks continue

on completion of demarcation with Laos but disputes remain over

several islands in the Mekong River; despite continuing border

committee talks, Thailand must deal with Karen and other ethnic

rebels, refugees, and illegal cross-border activities, and as of

2006, over 116,000 Karen, Hmong, and other refugees and asylum

seekers from Burma; Cambodia and Thailand dispute sections of

historic boundary with missing boundary markers; Cambodia claims

Thai encroachments into Cambodian territory and obstructing access

to Preah Vihear temple ruins awarded to Cambodia by ICJ decision in

1962; Thailand is studying the feasibility of jointly constructing

the Hatgyi Dam on the Salween river near the border with Burma; in

2004, international environmentalist pressure prompted China to halt

construction of 13 dams on the Salween River that flows through

China, Burma, and Thailand

Timor-Leste

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 who

left Timor-Leste in 2003 still reside in Indonesia and refuse

repatriation; Australia and Timor-Leste agreed in 2005 to defer the

disputed portion of the boundary for 50 years and to split

hydrocarbon revenues evenly outside the Joint Petroleum Development

Area covered by the 2002 Timor Sea Treaty

Togo

in 2001, Benin claimed Togo moved boundary monuments - joint

commission continues to resurvey the boundary; in 2006, 14,000

Togolese refugees remain in Benin and Ghana out of the 40,000 who

fled there in 2005

Tokelau

Tokelau included American Samoa's Swains Island (Olohega) in

its 2006 draft constitution

Tonga

none

Trinidad and Tobago

in April 2006, the Permanent Court of

Arbitration issued a decision that delimited a maritime boundary

with Trinidad and Tobago and compelled Barbados to enter a fishing

agreement that limited Barbadian fishermen's catches of flying fish

in Trinidad and Tobago's exclusive economic zone; in 2005, Barbados

and Trinidad and Tobago agreed to compulsory international

arbitration under UNCLOS challenging whether the northern limit of

Trinidad and Tobago's and Venezuela's maritime boundary extends into

Barbadian waters; Guyana has also expressed its intention to include

itself in the arbitration as the Trinidad and Tobago-Venezuela

maritime boundary may extend into its waters as well

Tunisia

none

Turkey

complex maritime, air, and territorial disputes with Greece

in the Aegean Sea; status of north Cyprus question remains; Syria

and Iraq protest Turkish hydrological projects to control upper

Euphrates waters; Turkey has expressed concern over the status of

Kurds in Iraq; border with Armenia remains closed over

Nagorno-Karabakh

Turkmenistan

cotton monoculture in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan

creates water-sharing difficulties for Amu Darya river states; field

demarcation of the boundaries with Kazakhstan commenced in 2005, but

Caspian seabed delimitation remains stalled with Azerbaijan, Iran,

and Kazakhstan due to Turkmenistan's indecision over how to allocate

the sea's waters and seabed

Turks and Caicos Islands

have received Haitians fleeing economic and

civil disorder

Tuvalu

none

Uganda

Uganda is subject to armed fighting among hostile ethnic

groups, rebels, armed gangs, militias, and various government forces

that extend across its borders; Uganda hosts 209,860 Sudanese,

27,560 Congolese, and 19,710 Rwandan refugees, while Ugandan

refugees as well as members of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) seek

shelter in southern Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo's

Garamba National Park; LRA forces have also attacked Kenyan villages

across the border

Ukraine

1997 boundary delimitation treaty with Belarus remains

un-ratified due to unresolved financial claims, stalling demarcation

and reducing border security; delimitation of land boundary with

Russia is complete with preparations for demarcation underway; 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 ongoing expert-level discussions;

Moldova and Ukraine operate joint customs posts to monitor transit

of people and commodities through Moldova's break-away Transnistria

Region, which remains under OSCE supervision; the ICJ gave Ukraine

until December 2006 to reply, and Romania until June 2007 to rejoin,

in their dispute submitted in 2004 over Ukrainian-administered

Zmiyinyy/Serpilor (Snake) Island and Black Sea maritime boundary;

Romania opposes Ukraine's reopening of a navigation canal from the

Danube border through Ukraine to the Black Sea

United Arab Emirates

boundary agreement was signed and ratified with

Oman in 2003 for entire border, including Oman's Musandam Peninsula

and Al Madhah enclaves, but contents of the agreement and detailed

maps showing the alignment have not been published; Iran and UAE

dispute Tunb Islands and Abu Musa Island, which Iran occupies

United Kingdom

in 2002, Gibraltar residents voted overwhelmingly by

referendum to reject any "shared sovereignty" arrangement between

the UK and Spain; the Government of Gibraltar insists on equal

participation in talks between the two countries; Spain disapproves

of UK plans to grant Gibraltar greater autonomy; Mauritius and

Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean

Territory), and its former inhabitants since their eviction in 1965;

most Chagossians reside in Mauritius, and in 2001 were granted UK

citizenship, where some have since resettled; in May 2006, the High

Court of London reversed the UK Government's 2004 orders of council

that banned habitation on the islands; UK rejects sovereignty talks

requested by Argentina, which still claims the Falkland Islands

(Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands;

territorial claim in Antarctica (British Antarctic Territory)

overlaps Argentine claim and partially overlaps Chilean claim;

Iceland, the UK, and Ireland dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe

Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm

United States

the U.S. has intensified domestic security measures

and is collaborating closely with its neighbors, Canada and Mexico,

to monitor and control legal and illegal personnel, transport, and

commodities across the international borders; abundant rainfall in

recent years along much of the Mexico-US border region has

ameliorated periodically strained water-sharing arrangements; 1990

Maritime Boundary Agreement in the Bering Sea still awaits Russian

Duma ratification; managed maritime boundary disputes with Canada at

Dixon Entrance, Beaufort Sea, Strait of Juan de Fuca, and around the

disputed Machias Seal Island and North Rock; The Bahamas and US have

not been able to agree on a maritime boundary; US Naval Base at

Guantanamo Bay is leased from Cuba and only mutual agreement or US

abandonment of the area can terminate the lease; Haiti claims

US-administered Navassa Island; US has made no territorial claim in

Antarctica (but has reserved the right to do so) and does not

recognize the claims of any other states; Marshall Islands claims

Wake Island; Tokelau included American Samoa's Swains Island among

the islands listed in its 2006 draft constitution

United States Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges

none

Uruguay

in Jan 2007, ICJ provisionally ruled Uruguay may begin

construction of two paper mills on the Uruguay River, which forms

the border with Argentina, while the court examines further whether

Argentina has the legal right to stop such construction with

potential environmental implications to both countries; uncontested

dispute with Brazil over certain islands in the Quarai/Cuareim and

Invernada streams and the resulting tripoint with Argentina

Uzbekistan

prolonged drought and cotton monoculture in Uzbekistan

and Turkmenistan creates water-sharing difficulties for Amu Darya

river states; field demarcation of the boundaries with Kazakhstan

commenced in 2004; border delimitation of 130 km of border with

Kyrgyzstan is hampered by serious disputes around enclaves and other

areas

Vanuatu

Matthew and Hunter Islands east of New Caledonia claimed by

Vanuatu and France