Note: This article pertaining to fun with enclaves and exclaves was originally published on Tuesday, June 9, 2015 at 1:30 in the morning and has been updated.
International borders can be incredibly complex — almost seemingly unnecessarily so, with Baarle Hertog in Belgium and Baarle Nassau in the Netherlands which I visited in 2018 as one of numerous examples — as I found out for myself when I experienced enclaves and exclaves with the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
Fun With Enclaves and Exclaves: United Arab Emirates and Oman
Before we continue, here are the definitions of an enclave and an exclave as defined by the Oxford Dictionaries:
- An enclave is a portion of territory within or surrounded by a larger territory whose inhabitants are culturally or ethnically distinct.
- An exclave is a portion of territory of one state completely surrounded by territory of another or others, as viewed by the home territory.
Oman and United Arab Emirates
Although others exist, the particular enclave and exclave at which I was eyeing my visit is where an exclave of Oman — a country I visited earlier in 2015 — is also an enclave within the United Arab Emirates; but within that exclave of Oman is an exclave of the United Arab Emirates, which is also an enclave…
…which means that a portion — or counter-enclave — of the United Arab Emirates is located within a portion of Oman, which is located within the United Arab Emirates.
Huh?!?
I found this to be bizarrely interesting — so I decided to visit, as I was already scheduled to spend the night in Fujairah anyway.
First, I did not need a passport, visa, or other official documents to cross those particular borders — at no financial cost to me as well.
Second, the borders are not manned — other than a police station within the enclave and exclave of the United Arab Emirates, but no one is outside — so it is like crossing from one state into another within the United States.
This is what greeted me as I crossed the border into the particular exclave of Oman which I was visiting.
I entered Madha, which is in this exclave of Oman.
Remembering the decorative streetlights which adorned the roads when I was in Oman earlier in 2015, I knew I was back in Oman when I saw more of them as I crossed the border into the exclave.
I photographed both sides of the official marker of the inner border of this exclave of Oman and the enclave of the United Arab Emirates.
The photograph on the left is the marker as seen from the Oman side; while the photograph on the right is the same marker as seen from the enclave of the United Arab Emirates within the exclave of Oman.
The above photograph was shot from near the interior border of the exclave of Oman. The building houses law enforcement officers within the enclave of the United Arab Emirates.
The remainder of the photographs are simply in chronological order. The first two photographs were taken within the village of Nahwa, which is within the enclave of the United Arab Emirates.
The above photograph was shot within the enclave of the United Arab Emirates. The inner border of the exclave of Oman is just beyond the bend in the road.
A new bridge appeared to be built at the time I was there, as indicated by the construction and mining in Oman.
Before I knew it, I was back in the United Arab Emirates, ready to drive almost three hours to Abu Dhabi.
Final Boarding Call
Enclaves and exclaves derive from some anomalies in the historical context of the establishment of the official borders of a country; but they sometimes are exempt from the typical rules — which can potentially be more interesting to visit.
In fact, I believe that the first enclave I visited was Lesotho, which is completely surrounded by South Africa.
In the specific case of Oman and the United Arab Emirates which I stated in this article, some people might read it and conclude “so what?”; while others — like me, for example — can be fascinated by their mere structure…
…and I was glad I visited — even if it served no other purpose than for me to say that I was there.
All photographs ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
