The Only Land Without Laws

You’re reading my newsletter, Terra Nullius, on the weird and interesting intricacies of the countries and places that make up our world. It currently goes out to around 1,000 people every week. You can subscribe here: 

There is only one bit of solid ground in the world neither claimed nor governed by anyone. It’s called Bir Tawil and it’s an 800 square mile piece of desert between Sudan and Egypt.

Disputed territories are common. Defined borders between nations are a relatively modern invention, and even some of the world’s most peaceful countries have ongoing arguments with their neighbours about which side of their borders a particular tree or rock belongs. France and Spain can’t decide who owns an island on a river between them, so every six months they take turns running it. In other places, it’s slightly less cordial, and soldiers are sent to fight over the rocks and trees in question.

There are no disputes over Bir Tawil, no one wants it. Why? As with many strange borders around the world, it’s the fault of the British Government. At the end of the 19th Century, Britain agreed with Egypt to rule what is now Sudan under a joint system. Given Egypt was occupied by Britain at the time, the integrity of a border between Egypt and Sudan wasn’t incredibly important. To save time, a straight line was drawn across the 22nd Parallel and in 1899 that was the demarcation between the two nations. Everything above the parallel was Egypt and everything below it was Sudan. As you can see below, this puts Bir Tawil in Sudan.

But what’s that other definitely not straight line? It’s a second border between Sudan and Egypt, drawn by the British in 1902. Fast forward 50 years to Sudan gaining independence in 1956 and there is a problem.

The second border gives Sudan a claim on something called the Halayib Triangle, a valuable area with oil on the Red Sea, which the first border gives to Egypt. To this day, each country only recognises the border which gives it the Halayib Triangle.

You’ve probably realised by now that this approach gives neither country Bir Tawil, and neither Egypt nor Sudan care. If either of them attempts to govern the empty piece of desert, they are handicapping their respective claims to the Halayib Triangle and its potential oil riches. If you were to commit a crime there, Egypt would say it was a matter for Sudan, and Sudan would say it was a matter for Egypt. It is quite literally a lawless place.

So where does that leave Bir Tawil? It has not descended into anarchy or chaos without laws and the only drama is when Americans come and plant flags and set up websites, claiming they have founded a new country.

But otherwise, it remains what it has always been: a place for nomadic tribes to graze their animals and a reminder of when the world was divided up by civil servants in London, killing time before lunch at their club.

The best Wikipedia article I have read this week

The Straw Hat Riot – When New York descended into riots after men wore straw hats after September 15th, the day it became socially unacceptable.

Books I am reading

1. The Thames and I by HM Emperor Naruhito of Japan – A charming and extremely esoteric memoir by the current Emperor of Japan about his time in England, particularly at Oxford while writing his thesis: “A Study of Navigation and Traffic on the Upper Thames in the 18th Century”

2. Blue: Keeping the Peace and Falling to Pieces, by John Sutherland – A remarkable book on policing in Britain by a senior officer and the toll it took on his mental health.

3. Curtain Down at Her Majesty’s – An edited collection of diaries, letters, writings and similar around the immediate events before and after the death of Queen Victoria

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