Zoran Nikolić

Strange Geography 2 Zoran Nikolić Why this book? Strange Geography Even when I was a little boy, one simple look at a map was enough to grab my attention and stir up my curi- osity. I was wondering what are these colorful surfaces and lines, what it means that we are living “here”, and what the boundaries are at all. After a couple of years I learned some basic geography, and geographical map for me became even more extraordi- nary invention, like an aircraft which allows me to easily and quickly pop over from India to Argentina, from there to Australia and immediately after to Greenland. Gradually I discovered more and more interesting details on my maps 2015. near Obrenovac, in Konatice and Todor Viktoria www.zorica.info) Aigner, Zorica (Autor: and atlases, including some “new” countries and unusual bor- lithosphere, biosphere and hydrosphere, while social geogra- ders. Although my later education pulled me away to econom- phy studies the population, the economy, settlements. ics and computer science, it is clear now that geography will However, while studing natural or social aspects of our Blue forever stay my favorite science. planet, geography can encounter some strange phenomena. And what is geography? It may be unusual and illogical borders; it can be huge or ex- Geography is a complex science, which studies the natu- tremely small natural phenomena; or phenomena that occur ral and social phenomena on Earth. Its name comes from the at only a few locations in the world; or attempts to create mi- Greek words γεω (“geo”, meaning “Earth”) and γραφία (“gra- cro-states. Some of these oddities and peculiarities will be the fia”, meaning “description”). subject of this book. Certainly, it would really be imposible to The complexity of the geography is reflected in the fact cover in one book all these phenomena on Earth - so here will that it is the bridge between the natural and social sciences. be presented only some of them, hopefully the most interest- Roughly speaking, physical geography studies the overall nature ing or unusual. of the Earth and parts of its geographical layer - atmosphere,

Strange Geography 3 Campione d’Italia Italy–Switzerland In the far south of Switzerland is Lake Lugano, with the operators, so that calls from the rest of Italy to Campione are same-name town on the northwestern shore of the lake. Two- treated as international. Regarding postal numbers, it is allowed thirds of the lake and its shores belong to Switzerland, and one- to use either Italian or Swiss numbers. Residents of Campione third to Italy. A significant part of this Italian third is “besieged” have the right to use the services of Swiss hospitals, as if they by the territory of Switzerland. were the residents of Switzerland itself. The part in question is the Italian town of Campione d’Italia, Historically, one of the most important moments for located on the eastern shore of Lake Lugano, southeast of the Campione came at the end of the eighteenth century, when city of Lugano. Area of about 1.6 square kilometers is a home the Canton of Ticino decided to join the Swiss Confederation. for over 2,000 people. City is less than one kilometer far from The residents of Campione then decided to stay within the the rest of Italy, but high mountains prevent easy access to the Lombardy, i.e. later Italy. In the mid 1930s, by the decision of home country. Therefore Campione residents have to travel the then Italian Duce Benito Mussolini, the name of the city got nearly 15 km to reach the nearest available Italian territory. suffix d’Italia, in order to further express its allegiance to Italy. Thanks to tourism and a large casino (specific status of During World War II, Campione has largely been separated Campione allows free gambling business without payment of from the rest of Italy and functioned almost as a Swiss canton. VAT), this town is very rich. Well preserved nature around the As a result, this small town, unlike the rest of Italy, was not oc- beautiful glacial lake also contributes to strong tourism. cupied during the war by the Germans, nor by the Allies after Casino is the largest single employer in this whole enclave. It the war. was founded in 1917 as a place for collecting information from Some 200 km northeast of Campione there is another foreign diplomats during the First World War. Today, this largest Italian town tied to the Swiss system - Livigno (Italian: Livigno, European casino provides sufficient income for Campione with- Lombard: Livign, German: Luwin). Although not an enclave, it out the need for the introduction of the tax. The owner is the has complicated traffic connections with the rest of Italy, so it Italian Government, while the municipality controls the opera- has had the status of “duty-free” zone for a long time. tion of the Casino. Although Campione is a sovereign Italian territory, many services in the city are closely related to Switzerland. First of all, the official currency is the Swiss franc, although the euro is usually accepted. Switzerland is responsible for customs for- malities, and cars use plates of Alpine Confederation. A similar situation is with phones: almost all phones go through Swiss

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Entrance to Italian exclave Campione d’Italia. (Source: Wikimedia Commons / Autor: Not_home)

The Casinò di Campione is one of the Europe’s largest. (Source: Wikimedia Commons / Autor: AdmComSRL)

Strange Geography 5 Baarle The Nederlands–Belgium Baarle is a small town in the south of the Netherlands, near up to little more than 5 ha. In addition to enclaves in the city, its border with Belgium. In fact, the boundary runs south of the the Belgian Baarle-Hertog also includes several small enclaves city, but also through the town itself! around the city. The town consists of two parts: the Dutch Baarle-Nassau The borders of these enclaves are fully open, but anybody and the Belgian Baarle-Hertog. Belgian part consists of more crossing them should be aware of the things that are permit- than 20 enclaves in the territory of the Dutch city, while in- ted in one country, but forbidden in another. For example, in side these Belgian enclaves there are approximately ten Dutch the Belgian Baarle there are a number of fireworks shops, but counter-enclaves. This means that the border intersects some free sale of fireworks in the Netherlands is prohibited. This fact of the streets several times, while some houses are partly in is widely used by the Dutch in the eve of their holidays, when Belgium and partly in the Netherlands. large number of them cross the border to buy fireworks for The complexity of the border is the result of a large num- holidays celebrations. Another interesting phenomenon was ber of divisions, contracts and exchanges of territories, many relatively common in previous years: because closing time for of which have their roots back in the Middle Ages. All these restaurants in the Netherlands was earlier than in Belgium, divisions are largely confirmed by the mid-nineteenth centu- when that time comes in one of the many restaurants right on ry Treaty of Maastricht. The border wasn’t fully defined until the border, guests would simply transfer to the Belgian half and 1995, when the border of a smallest Belgian enclave was finally established (uninhabited agricultural piece of land, an area of about 2,600 m²). In order to make this situation a little clearer (primarily be- cause of the large number of tourists), boundaries are often marked on the streets themselves. Also, because Dutch and Belgian house numbering are independent, alongside number there is sometimes a Dutch or Belgian flag. In cases where the boundary cuts through a house, its “citizenship” is determined on the basis on whose territory is the front door. Throughout history and numerous changes of tax rates in the Netherlands and Belgium, relocating the front door was not unusual. Belgian enclaves range from 0.2 hectares to about 153 hect- ares, while the Dutch enclaves have the size from about 0.28 ha

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500 m Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors continue with their socializing there. Also, it is interesting that during the First World War, during which the Netherlands was neutral and Belgium was occupied by Germany, Baarle-Hertog was the only free part of Belgium.

Photo on the left: Complicated border between the Netherlands and Belgium in Baarle is often clearly marked on the streets and sidewalks. (Source: Wikimedia Commons / Autor: Jérôme)

Photo on the top right: On the floor of the liquer store in Baarle the borderline in national colors of Belgium and the Netherlands is clearly visible. (Source: Flickr.com / Autor: Diego González)

Photo on the bottom right: Borderline in Baarle even cuts through some buildings. This one has both Duch and Belgian house number. (Source: Flickr.com / Autor: Carsten Schacher) Strange Geography 7 Tomb Of – Most of the world’s enclaves are populated, but there are 35 kilometers from the Turkish-Syrian border! (Who knows why some that are used only for production, mostly agricultural. they didn’t decide to move enclave to the border, so that it can However, there are also some enclaves that have only historical be “unified” with the rest of Turkey?) Anyway, until the begin- significance and no other reason for their existence. This is the ing of 2015 and the escalation of the conflict in Syria, the tomb case with the Turkish enclave in Syria – the tomb of Suleyman was located on a small peninsula on the coast of . Shah. Then, because of the danger that the fighters of the Islamic First of all, it should be said that Suleiman Shah was an state (Caliphate) could attack that Turkish “island” in Syria, at important figure in Turkish history: he was the grandfather first the guard of honor was reinforced with additional Turkish of , the founder of the , one of the special forces, along with the threat by Turkey that it would greatest powers of all time. According to one legend, Suleyman with its mighty army defend its entire territory, including the Shah drowned in the River. Historically, this has not tomb of Suleyman Shah. been confirmed (there is a possibility that Suleyman Shah did A few months later, Turkey made a new decision: with rapid drown in the Euphrates, only not the grandfather of Osman I, military action, the body of Suleyman Shah was transferred to but the founder of another Turkish state, later integrated in the Turkey, buildings on the peninsula were destroyed, so they will Ottoman Empire). not fall into the hands of members of the Caliphate, and new Regardless, it is generally accepted that the tomb of tomb was built in the north of Syria, between the Euphrates Suleyman Shah was on a fortified hill, next to the shore of and city of Kobaney, only 200 meters from the Turkish-Syrian the Euphrates, about a hundred kilometers south of the pres- border. Turkish authorities have repeatedly stressed that tomb ent-day Turkish-Syrian border. Border between Turkey and is only “temporarily” relocated, and that it will be returned to Syria, former French colony, was established based on the the its previous location once the situation in Syria calms down. peace treaty between Turkey and from 1921. This agree- ment stipulated that the territory where the tomb of Suleyman Shah was (hill Qal’at Ja’bar, with area less than one hectare), will remain Turkish, even with the small Turkish guard of honor. After everything, as if the existence of such enclave is not strange enough by itself, creating a large artificial lake Assad on the Euphrates River led to yet another particularity: due to the risk of the tomb being flooded, Turkey and Syria have agreed to relocate the enclave seventy kilometers upstream, to only

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50 km Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors The tomb of Suleyman Shah has moved along the Euphrates River, get- Aerial shot of the tomb of Sulejman Shah (location from 1975 to 2015), ting closer and closer to the Turkish border. Today, the „temporary” broadcasted on Turkish state television. tomb is only 200 m from the border. (Source: YouTube screenshot)

The tomb of Suleyman Shah is a miniature Turkish exclave on Syrian territory. (Source: Panoramio.com / Autor: O.Yilmaz)

Strange Geography 9 Saint Pierre And Miquelon France–Canada Although most of the world enclaves are “stuck in” some- Saint Pierre and Miquelon. Precisely on this issue, Canada and where between the land borders of its neighboring countries, France have had a long trial in an international court, which some enclaves are different. One such enclave is Saint Pierre ruled to assign the French archipelago a very unusually shaped and Miquelon. exclusive economic zone (its boundaries form what many call Saint Pierre and Miquelon is a small archipelago, which “the key”), so that French ships from international waters could consists of three main islands, Saint-Pierre, Miquelon and reach the islands through the very narrow corridor, nearly 200 Langlade, and a large number of small islands. As Miquelon km long and only 10 km wide. But Canada has later exercised and Langlade are connected with narrow sandbar, today they its right, based on international regulations, to further extend are considered a single island, so name Miquelon is commonly its exclusive economic zone, so the “french key” became a kind used for both islands, together shaped as number 8. This small of maritime enclave of France in Canadian waters. archipelago is located 25 km south from the Canadian island of The possibility that significant oil reserves could be found in Newfoundland, but politically and culturally belongs to 3,800 those waters is not likely to accelerate and facilitate the final kilometers distant France. definition of compromise border between Canada and Saint Saint Pierre and Miquelon, as the French overseas collectiv- Pierre and Miquelon, the last remnant of the once powerful ity, is an integral part of the French Republic and the European colony of Nouvelle-France (New France). Union. As a means of payment Euro is used, but often, because of the proximity, both the Canadian and US dollar are accept- ed. Archipelago, with the total area of about 240 square kilo- meters, has a population of 6,000 inhabitants, who speak the (interesting: this French is much more similar to the language spoken in France, than in a nearby Canadian Quebec). The main economic activities are fishing, whose importance is declining, and tourism, as the islands are an in- teresting tourist destination for Canadian tourists. In recent years, hope is growing that in the surrounding waters oil will be found, which would be a significant incentive for the ailing The exclusive economic zone is a band of a certain width extend- economy of the archipelago. ing from the territorial sea in the open sea, where exclusive rights What makes these islands some kind of enclave is so called in respect of the exploitation of biological and mineral resources “Exclusive economic zone” of Canada, which fully surrounds of the sea (fish, oil and the like) are recognized in the coastal state.

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The SPaM coat of arms - the main part is Grande Hermine, the sailing Nova ship by which Jacques Cartier arrived at Saint Pierre and started the Sco�a French colonization of the New World. The three flags symbolize the Basque, Bretonian and Norman origins of most of the population of this French territory. (Source: Wikimedia Commons / Autor: Lexicon) 45°

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60° 55° Source: Wikimedia Commons / Autor: Eric Gaba (Sting) Picturesque house in Saint Pierre. (Source: Flickr.com / Autor: Brian Summers) Strange Geography 11 Condominium

Condominium (from the Latin con-dominium = “joint own- French: Moselle), Sauer (German: Sauer, French: Sûre ) and ership”) in international law means common management Our. It was agreed for rivers themself, bridges, dams and any and authority of two or more states over a particular territory. island (river islands are easy formed and destroyed) to be During the European and world history, there have been nu- under the joint management. The island located near the tri- merous examples of condominiums. With the formation of the junction of Luxembourg, France and Germany mostly belongs modern nation-states, these territories mainly disappeared, i.e. to France, while its northern tip belongs jointly to Germany became part of one country or another. and Luxembourg. Between the two world wars, Germany had However, several condominiums still exists. proposed to Luxembourg the discontinuation of the condomini- Pheasant Island (Spanish: Isla de los Faisanes, French: Île um and its division, but little Grand Duchy boldly rejected the des Faisans, Basque: Konpantzia) is a small island (6,800 sq m) proposal of its powerful neighbor. Last update on the condo- on the river , about 5 km upstream from its mouth in minium agreement concernes the status of bridges: Germany the Bay of Biscay. The island was established as a joint owner- considered that bridges should be divided in half, but the addi- ship (condominium) of France and in their treaty of peace tional German-Luxembourg border agreement of 1984 stipulat- and demarcation signed in the second half of the seventeenth ed that the bridges are also common territory. century. Under this treaty, which is still in force, this is a spe- Common power over the Bay of Fonseca, after a long cific condominium, because the island is not jointly owned by conflict and negotiations, have El Salvador, Honduras and France and Spain, but half a year belongs to the Spanish city of Nicaragua, although the islands in the bay are divided between , and the remaining half, to its French twin-town, . El Salvador and Honduras. This means that over the past approximately 350 years the Part of the Parana river and the artificial lake created by island changed “nationality” more than 700 times! Incom- building a dam Itaipu is a condominium of Brazil and Paraguay. memoration of the treaty signing, a monument was built on Also interesting is the fact that an entire continent- isac the island, along with additional protection from river waves. tually a kind of condominium. The continent in question is Throughout history, Pheasant Island was a place of many royal Antarctica, jointly managed by about fifty countries signatory to meetings and talks, but today it is, unfortunately, completely the Antarctic Treaty System. closed to visitors. According to the peace treaty between Germany and the Netherlands, signed in 1816, the border between Germany and Luxembourg (then part of the Netherlands) has been established largely on the rivers Moselle (German: Mosel,

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Strange Geography 13 French-Dutch Border

If you would ask a geography aficionado from Europe 41,000 inhabitants is much more populated than the French whether the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Republic of part with about 37,000 inhabitants). France have a common border, it is likely that you would get Saint Martin (in Dutch: Sint Maarten) is one of the four the following answer: “Of course not, there is Belgium between constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, them!” However, if you would ask the same question a geogra- and therefore it is part of the EU with the status of “overseas phy aficionado from the Caribbean islands (string of islands be- countries and territories”. As a means of payment Guilder of tween North and South America), it is possible that you would Netherlands Antilles is used, but it will soon be replaced by get a completely opposite response: “Yes, of course that they Caribbean guilders. The main basis of St. Martin’s economy is have a common border!” tourism, both by usual tourists and those who briefly visit the How is it possible to get two contradicting answers? The ex- island during one of the numerous Caribbean cruises. One of planation lies in the fact that both France and the Netherlands the biggest attraction in the Dutch part of the island is Maho in its history were significant colonial powers, as well as the fact Beach with Princess Juliana airport, whose runway is separated that the decolonization of their great empires did not include from the aforementioned beach only by ordinary fence and a all colonies. In this case, attention shoud be payed to the rela- narrow street. Due to the short length of the runway, airplanes tively small Caribbean island of St. Martin. have to fly very low over the beach, i.e. the beginning of the Island of St. Martin is located in the northeastern part of runway. Today, watching from the beach the planes landing is the Caribbean, about 300 kilometers east of Puerto Rico, and a very popular fun “game”, which can also be very dangerous has the area of about 87 square kilometers. The history of the because of strong whirlwinds that occur on this occasion. island was very turbulent (Spaniards, the English, the French St. Martin (French: Saint-Martin) is a french overseas com- and the Dutch all ruled the island or some of its ports at some munity, which occupies the northern part of this island. It is time). Most important for today’s status of the island isthe part of the EU, and the official currency is Euro. The main in- agreement between France and the Netherlands, signed in the dustry is tourism (85% of the population is directly or indirectly middle of the seventeenth century. This agreement is the basis involved in tourism), while most of food and energy are import- for today’s partition of the island: the northern part of the is- ed primarily from Mexico and the United States. Nevertheless, land (2/3 of its surface) belongs to the Republic of France and St. Martin is the richest territory in the Caribbean. is known as Saint-Martin. The southern part (about 1/3 of the island’s surface) is now part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, under the name of Sint Maarten. The population is about the same in both parts of the island (Dutch part, with around

14 Zoran Nikolić -63°10' -63°5' -63° Kingdom of the Netherlands

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Kingdom of the Netherlands consists of three island states in the Caribbean (Sint Maarten, Aruba and Curaçao) and the Netherlands. The Netherlands consists of twelve European provinces and three Caribbean municipali- ties (Boner, Saba and St. Eustatius). Officially, the status of all four states is the same, al- though this is often not the case, which is somewhat expected - the European part of the Netherlands does constitute about 98% of the territory and population of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

An airplane landing at famous Princess Juliana Airport in the Duch part of island of St. Martin. A narrow beach, often crowded with tourists who wave at the landing planes, only the ordinary street and the low wire fence separate from the beginning of the runway. (Source: Wikimedia Commons / Autor: Aldo Bidini) Strange Geography 15 Canada-USA Border

The world’s longest border, the one between the United services provided by companies from both United States and States and Canada, at first glance seems quite clear and sim- Canada. Many residents of Point Roberts live from tourism ser- ple: a large part of it is a straight line, and to a lesser extent vices provided to residents of nearby Vancouver; major contri- the border is made of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. bution to the tourism is mild climate, which is much milder and However, if we zoom map enough, we can notice that this more pleasant than in the surrounding region. enormous border (about 6,500 km between mainland USA and Besides Point Roberts, there are few more unusual places Canada, plus about 2,500 km between Alaska and Canada) has on the border of the United States and Canad. few illogical and unusual parts. Northwest Angle, among the local population known simply One of these parts is town of Point Roberts. It is located as the Angle, virtually is the only territory of the United States, in the extreme northwest of the contiguous United States, in except Alaska, that is located north of the 49th parallel. As a re- Washington state. It is specific in that it is located in the south- sult, the Angle, located on Lake of the Woods, is the northern- ern part of the peninsula that, except that southern part, be- most location of the contiguous United States. The land area longs to Canada. Therefore, the land route from Point Roberts of this factual exclave of the United States in Canada (the only to the rest of the United States leads exclusively through land connection with the United States passes through Canada) Canada. This unusal situation is due to the demarcation, by is about 320 square kilometers, and its population is about 150. which all land south of the 49th parallel belongs to the United The town Angle is the only one in the state of Minnesota with States, and all land north of that parallel to Canada. Of course, the school in which more grades attend classes at the same there are few minor inconsistencies, which will be discussed time in a single classroom. The border crossing between the later. Angle and Canada is also unusual: when someone crosses the Point Roberts, with an area of about 12 square kilometers border and enters the Angle from Canada, they should call US has less than 1,500 people. The number in the summer grows customs officials through videophone from small booth; and to about 4,500, when many tourists from Canada come to their vice versa, when you want to visit Canada from the Angle, you cottages. In the town there is a primary school for children in should videophone their Canadian counterparts! lower grades. Older children with US citizenship go 40 km by East from the corner along the Canada-US border, there bus to school in the city of Blaine, on the border between the are numerous small peninsulas, which are de facto enclaves United States and Canada, while Canadian children go to school because lakes separate them from the mainland. One of these in the nearby town of Delta, a suburb of Vancouver. Point peninsulas is the Province Point (1 ha, uninhabited), a peninsula Roberts has a small airport and port, enabling direct connec- in the Lake Champlain, about 500 km north of New York City. tion to the rest of the United States, and telecommunications About 80 km east of Province Point there is the city divid-

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5 km 100 km 48°55' Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors © d-maps.com ed by the border to Canadian Stanstead and American Beebe Plain. Here are two oddities. First: the boundary line runs along the center of the main street, so that the houses on one side of the street are in Canada and on the other in the United States. Other: there is a unique library and opera building here (Haskell Free Library and Opera House), built in the beginning of the XX century deliberately on the border, in order to bring these two large countries culturally closer. It is interesting that almost all of the books and the stage are located on the Canadian side, so it is often said that this is the only American library without books and the only American opera without a stage. The border is inside the building everywhere clearly marked with a black line.

After crossing the border, every visitor of the Northwest Angle is obliged to report to the customs officers by video phone from this booth. (Source: Wikimedia Commons / Autor: Alan J Jacobs, of New York, NY)

Strange Geography 17 The state border is clearly marked with the line on the floor of the Haskell library at the border of Canadian Stanstead and American Beebe Plain. Source: Wikimedia Commons

18 Zoran Nikolić An additional illustration accompanying the text „Spanish-Moroccan Border” on page 52: Modern architecture in Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in north Africa. Source: Wikimedia Commons Autor: Simone Colombai Strange Geography 19 Tornio-Haparanda Sweden–Finland Torne or Tornio is a river that originates in northern Sweden, ies are considered twins, while city councils are working on the and then, from about the middle of its course to its mouth in plan of complete merging and creating a single city, under the the Gulf of Bothnia, represents the border between Sweden double name TornioHaparanda or HaparandaTornio. In terms and Finland. At the mouth of the river there are towns Tornio of this plan much has already been completed, and many city (Finland) and Haparanda (Sweden). As the border between services are already integrated, while most shops on both sides these countries is practically completely open almost last 50 of the river receive both Euros and Swedish kronor. A new cen- years, that led to practical merging of these cities. Further con- tral square of the unified city is beeing built right on the border tribution to this was made by entry of Sweden and Finland to line. the EU, as well as the later signing of the Schengen Agreement An interesting fact is that Sweden and Finland are in differ- by both countries. ent time zones. The result of that is “double” New Year’s Eve Historically, the city of Tornio was founded by Swedes in the on the streets and squares of TornioHaparanda, which became seventeenth century, on a large island at the mouth of the river a very interesting tourist attraction. Great golf course, also on Tornio. At that time, Finland belonged to Sweden and Tornio the border, is another attraction: it is possible to hit the ball at was an important trading town. Residents of the city were some time, and that it falls to the ground almost one hour be- mostly speaking Swedish, and in the villages around the city fore that time! Finnish language was prevailing. Sami people were living north of the city. The development of the city lasted until the early nineteenth century, when, after the Swedish-Russian war, the whole Finland (including the city of Tornio) became the part of Russia. The city of Tornio then got an insignificant role of the far northern garrison, but the economic decline continued for a long time, even when Finland after the World War I gained independence. This was the reason that most Swedes left this city and on the opposite, Swedish bank of the Tornio river raised a new city named Haparanda. After World War II, both cities were highly developed, and the border between the two Scandinavian neighbors became less significant. Over time, this has led to a kind of unification of the Finnish Tornio and Swedish Haparanda. Today, the two cit-

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1 km Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors The new central city square of the united town of HaparandaTornio is called Victoria Square, in honor of the current Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden. (Source: HaparandaTornio tourist office, haparandatornio.com)

By jumping from one platform to another in the fountain on Victoria Square, the girl is crossing from Finland to Sweden. (Source: HaparandaTor- nio tourist office, haparandatornio.com) Strange Geography 21 Phantom Islands

Long sail on endless ocean waters often can induce hallu- that some of them just sank, so today only submerged shoals cinations in sailors. From distant clouds that almost touch the remain. surface of the sea, a tired sailor may think that he sees an island One of such phantom islands could be Thompson’s is- in the fog. A sun reflection on a great wave may seem like a fire land, allegedly located in the southern Atlantic Ocean, about burning in a village on a remote island. Large floating icebergs 70 km northeast from the small Norwegian island of Buve. often appear far away from Antarctica and the Arctic, where Thompson’s Island was first spotted in 1825, and for the they can be easily mistaken for a frozen island. Of course, there last time reported to be seen in 1893. According to some as- are also people who would like to find an island only to name it sumptions, the island existed, but it was destroyed by an un- after themselves - and what to do if all the islands are already derwater volcano. However, surveys from the late twentieth discovered and recorded in maps? century have shown that the ocean in that location has a depth The result of these and many similar cases are so-called of about 2,400 m, which reduces the possibility that the island “phantom islands”. Phantom islands are supposed islands that ever existed. Anyway, it disappeared from geographical maps have appeared on nautical maps for a long time - sometimes just on the eve of the World War II. for centuries - but had to be removed from the same maps Near Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula there is another phantom when it was proven that they didn’t exist. island - Bermeja. This island is clearly visible in a number of A common cause for reporting the existence of these islands maps from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. Although is actually the wrong mapping of the known islands. For exam- the expeditions organized in the late twentieth and early twen- ple, on many maps from the seventeenth to the nineteenth ty-first century have failed to find Bermejo, the interests in century Pepi’s Island appeared in the northern part of the finding this island have rapidly increased in 2008, when it was Atlantic Ocean. It was later proven to be the Falkland Islands, realized that on its existence depends on who will get that part incorrectly placed 400 km north from real location. Another of the Gulf of Mexico, rich in petroleum. According to one of example is the Island of California, which “existed” in the sev- the conspiracy theories, the American CIA destroyed the island, enteenth and eighteenth centuries, although many expeditions so that crude oil reservoirs would belong to the USA. have already claimed that California is actually a peninsula Island Podesta was on the charts from 1879 to 1935, about (today part of Mexico, south of the State of California). 1,400 km of the coast of Chile. It is interesting that even now Some of the phantom islands may have indeed existed but it can be occasionally seen on some maps, for example, the were destroyed in various ways: by a powerful volcanic erup- famous Google Maps. Just north of Podesta, there was (or tion; by some kind of underwater landslide, plunging the whole wasn’t?) Island Sarah Ann, that the Americans wanted to claim, island into the ocean depths; by an earthquake. It is possible in the hope that it was rich in phosphates. Of course, this did

22 Zoran Nikolić not happen, because they weren’t able to find this island. One of the most enduring phantom island was Sandy Island (French: Île de Sable). For more than a century this island was presented on maps not far from the island of New Caledonia, a French overseas territory east of Australia, and the fact that the island does not exist there was finally confirmed by Australian ship in 2012 (the French were the first to “abol- ish” Sandy Island, in 1979). Shortly thereafter, Sandy island was eliminated from nearly all maps, including Google Maps and National Geographic Maps. However, its contours are still clearly visible on some of the maps from which it was re- moved, eg. on the National Geographic map, where “blurred” island can still be seen in the top left corner, between the -ar chipelago Chesterfield (îles Chesterfield) and Fairway Reef. There are numerous explanations for the first appearance of the Sandy island, but the most likely is the one involving an A map of California as an island from the mid-17th century. The author underwater volcano. In the relative vicinity of the phantom is Johannes Vingboons, a Dutch cartographer. island, the volcano ejected into the water a large amount of (Source: Wikimedia Commons, Library of Congress) pumice (an extremely light rock, 90% comprised of the cap- tured air, so it floats easily on the water surface), which creat- ed the illusion of the solid ground or the island.

Among the world’s longest-lasting phantom islands is the “non-island” Sandy, which is on many maps located not far from the French over- seas territory of New Caledonia. The photography bellow shows the Even today, phantom island of Podesta can be seen on some maps. In attempt to hide this phantom island on the National Geographic map this case, these are the famous Google Maps. (top left, right from the word Chesterfield). (Source: National Geographic (Source: maps.google.com) Maps, ngmaps.maps.arcgis.com)

Strange Geography 23 Boris Nikolić in Konatice near Obrenovac, 2016. (Author: Danijela Radoman Nikolić 24 Zoran Nikolić Author about the Author

I spent only the first two years of my life there, since my Although my diploma tells that I’m an IT engineer, geogra- family was relocating a lot, and later we lived in various cities phy and geographic maps never stopped occupying my atten- in the north of Sumadija. These relocations probably have influ- tion, and online atlases became one of my favorite websites. enced me as a child, because at some moment in my childhood So much time spent browsing and analyzing different maps has I took a geographical map of the then Yugoslavia trying to find led me to notice a lot of unusual things, and that has been an every place where we had lived. And so started my fascination inspiration to write this book and to try to present in one place with geography maps and atlases, a fascination that lasts until as many of these strange phenomena as possible. today, when paper maps are a thing of the past. I have nothing I hope this book can be an interesting addition to all those against electronic atlases - on the contrary, I consider them an (amateurs, professionals or students) who study geography, excellent way of modernizing the representation of geograph- cartography, politics, and society. The book is written insuch ic objects. However, in my house at all times there must be at a way that it can be read partially so that everyone can find least one solid printed geographic atlas, even if I glance at it something of interest. once a year.

About Copyright

Data presented in this book have been collected from differ- Maps are mostly downloaded from OpenStreetMap.org – all ent sources for a long time. The main sources were Wikipedia, are (c) OpenStreetMap contributors (CC-BY-SA), and are ren- Encyclopedia Britannica, as well as numerous websites (I would dered using the excelent free program Maperitive. A smaller especially mention geosite.jankrogh.com). number of maps is downloaded from websites d-maps.com и Most of the photos are downloaded from the website Wikipedia. Wikimedia Commons in accordance with several versions of Graphic design: Danijela Radoman Nikolić. licenses that allow commercial use. Other photographs are under similar conditions downloaded from Flickr.com and Panoramio.com, while a smaller portion of the photos are re- ceived directly from many authors via email.

Strange Geography 25