Have you ever heard of a piece of land that belongs to one country but lies inside another? These are called enclaves and exclaves, and while they may sound like technical words, the ideas behind them are actually quite easy to understand. Let’s break them down simply.
An enclave is a small area that is completely surrounded by a single foreign country. Imagine your house that is fully fenced inside your neighbour’s property—that’s what an enclave looks like on a map. A famous example is Lesotho, a country entirely surrounded by South Africa (Refer to map 1). It has its own government and laws, but is locked inside the borders of South Africa. Another example is Vatican City, the world’s smallest country, which is surrounded on all sides by the city of Rome in Italy (Refer to map 2). Both Lesotho and Vatican City are true enclaves because they are completely inside another country.
Now, let’s look at the other term: an exclave. This is a piece of land that belongs to a country but is separated from its main part by the territory of other countries. In simpler words, it’s a disconnected piece of land that still belongs to its country. For example, Nakhchivan is part of Azerbaijan, but it is not connected to the main area of Azerbaijan. Instead, it is bordered by Armenia, Iran, and Turkey (Refer to map 3). So, from Azerbaijan’s point of view, Nakhchivan is an exclave, it is a part of Azerbaijan but separated by other countries.
Enclave as well as Exclave
Sometimes, a territory can be both an enclave and an exclave. This happens when a piece of land is both surrounded by another country and also separated from its own country. A good example is Campione d’Italia, a small Italian town located inside Switzerland. It is an enclave from Switzerland’s side and an exclave from Italy’s side (Refer to map 4). These overlapping terms can get confusing, so here’s a simple way to remember: if a land is surrounded by another Single country, it’s an enclave. If a land is cut off from its own country, it’s an exclave. If both are true, then it’s both!
What is a Super Enclave or a Third-order enclave?
One of the most fascinating real-world examples of this complexity comes from the India–Bangladesh border. Before 2015, there were more than 160 enclaves between the two countries. Some Indian villages were completely inside Bangladesh, and some Bangladeshi ones were inside India. The situation got even crazier with a place called Dahala Khagrabari, which was an Indian piece of land inside Bangladesh, which was itself inside India, and that too inside Bangladesh again—a total of three layers deep (Refer to map 5). This kind of land patch is called a third-order enclave or a Super Enclave and it was the only one of its kind in the world. Life in such places was very difficult. People often had no access to schools, hospitals, electricity, or legal identity, because neither country wanted to fully take responsibility. Thankfully, in 2015, India and Bangladesh signed a land agreement that swapped most of these enclaves and improved life for thousands of people.
Another example of exclaves comes from Russia. The region of Kaliningrad belongs to Russia, but it is located between Poland and Lithuania, far from mainland Russia. To reach it by land, you must travel through other countries. Kaliningrad is therefore an exclave of Russia. It is not a pure enclave because it touches more than one country (Refer to map 6). Similarly, during the Cold War, there were small exclaves of West Berlin that were surrounded by East Germany. One such place was Steinstücken, a small village that belonged to West Berlin but was cut off from it by East German territory. Residents had to cross heavily guarded borders just to go to work or school until a land corridor was built.
Enclaves and exclaves may seem like strange and rare things, but they exist even today and have a real impact on the lives of people. In many such places, reaching your own country’s mainland can be a long or even risky journey. For governments, these areas create issues related to law, security, and transport. Some exclaves even have to be supplied by air or allowed special road access through neighbouring countries. That’s why some countries have swapped or removed these areas over time to make governance easier. Recently, in 2024, Barak, a Kyrgyz village that was surrounded by Uzbekistan, was officially removed as an exclave after a land swap. The residents were relocated to within Kyrgyzstan’s main territory.
In summary, an enclave is land surrounded by another single country, and an exclave is land separated from its own country. A territory can be both at once if it meets both conditions. While these terms may sound like textbook geography, they affect real people, real borders, and real politics. And understanding them helps us make sense of a very complex world map.
