Geopolitics: Some Bizarre Oddities

Most countries, except for some island nations, have boundaries that have been arbitrarily drawn in times of empire. Many don’t make sense, and many cut across natural geographic or ethnic lines that would easily suggest themselves. Others however are downright bizarre, and some of the most glaring oddities are the following.

France

How far is Canada from France? 7,000 miles, 5000, miles or 10,000 miles?

Well none of the above is correct. France and Canada are in fact only 17 miles apart, and that’s official. A mere 17 miles south of Newfoundland lie a group of islands collectively known as St Pierre et Miquelon, and they don’t just belong to France, they are France.

The French first got there centuries ago, and since then there has been a bit of a chequered history with tempers flaring between France, USA, Britain and Canada. When the dust settled these little dots in the ocean were flying the French flag as they do to this day.

Although Canada is next door, the inhabitants of St Pierre et Miquelon send a deputy not to Ottawa, but to the Assemblée Nationale (Parliament) in Paris, and one to the French upper house. Letters to and from the islands from mainland France are treated as domestic mail, and charged at the domestic rate. The currency of France, the Euro, is the currency of the islands and the Head of State is Nicholas Sarkozy, the President of France.

During the 1930s the islands became important in the liquor smuggling trade to the USA with the advent of prohibition, but it was the rich fishing stocks in the area that the economy has always relied on. In these days of reduced fish numbers the French government are trying to diversify, particularly into tourism.

And St Pierre et Miquelon aren’t France’s only contribution to the fascinating world of geopolitical farce. French Guyana in South America is not really a country; it is a départment of France, again sending elected representatives to Paris. Like the islands it uses French currency, and enjoys Nicholas Sarkozy as Head of State, and in several referendums the people have overwhelmingly voted to stay with France. The Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe fall into the same category.

Azerbaijan

Poor little Azerbaijan. Not many can find it on the map, not many can spell its name correctly, and not many care. Part of the USSR for decades, it emerged as a nation state on the 1990s only to be plunged into bloody battles along ethnic lines. A large Armenian population wasn’t so happy, and Armenia drives a physical wedge through the small nation cutting off an even smaller exclave called Nakchivan from the main territory.