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What’s the Difference Between Enclaves and Exclaves?
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Map showing Washington State with Point Roberts labeled as a U.S. exclave north of the main border, surrounded by Canada and near the Salish Sea. Map of Vatican City highlighting major streets, gardens, and landmarks, including St. Peter's Basilica, St. Peter's Square with its central obelisk, the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Gardens, Vatican Apostolic Library, Government Palace, and surrounding walls. The map also shows adjacent roads in Rome and includes a small inset locating Vatican City within Italy. Political map of Lesotho, a landlocked country entirely surrounded by South Africa, showing its national boundary, major cities including Maseru (the capital), Mafeteng, Mohale's Hoek, Quthing, Qacha's Nek, Mokhotlong, and Butha-Buthe, as well as rivers and key towns. An inset locator map highlights Lesotho's position within southern Africa. Map highlighting Kaliningrad Oblast, a small Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea, situated between Poland and Lithuania. The map shows surrounding countries including Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany, and Norway, with major cities and borders clearly marked.
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Map showing Washington State with Point Roberts labeled as a U.S. exclave north of the main border, surrounded by Canada and near the Salish Sea.
Point Roberts, Washington Map highlighting Point Roberts, a type of exclave belonging to Whatcom county, Washington, U.S., that lies on an otherwise Canadian peninsula and hence is accessible by land only through Canada.

What’s the Difference Between Enclaves and Exclaves?

Depends on where you’re standing.
Written by
Levens Herbert
Levens Herbert graduated with an MA in the Humanities from University of Chicago in 2024, where she studied English and Gender and Sexuality Studies. In the year following, she worked as a mentor for the...
Levens Herbert
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Top Questions

What is an example of an exclave?

Is Hawaii considered an exclave or an enclave?

What is an example of an enclave that is surrounded by only one country?

Is Vatican City an enclave or an exclave?

An enclave, in political geography, is a territory that’s surrounded by foreign territory. The word enclave comes by way of French from the Late Latin word inclavatus, meaning “shut in or locked up (with a key).” An enclave can also be an exclave if it’s part of a larger territory that it’s separated from.

According to the Encyclopedia of World Geography, edited by R.W. McColl, a piece of land is an exclave “from the perspective of the country that has sovereignty over it.” That same piece of land is an enclave from the perspective of the country that surrounds it. For example, from an American perspective, Point Roberts, Washington, U.S., is a type of exclave, as it’s separated on land by Canada from the main part of the United States. From a Canadian perspective, it’s a type of enclave within Canadian territory. An exclave, then, is always also some type of enclave, but some enclaves, such as Vatican City, are not also exclaves.

Examples

Vatican City
Vatican CityThe sovereign enclave Vatican City is surrounded by Rome, the capital of Italy.

Vatican City is an enclave within Italy that’s also the world’s smallest sovereign country. As an independent nation-state, it doesn’t belong to a country whose main part lies elsewhere, so it isn’t an exclave. As an enclave, Vatican City is unique, because it was established ecclesiastically. In 1929, Italy recognized the city’s sovereignty, with the residing Roman Catholic pope as leader.

Lesotho
LesothoThe landlocked enclave Lesotho is surrounded by South African territory.

Lesotho is a landlocked country that became a sovereign enclave after gaining independence from Great Britain in 1966. The enclave is surrounded by South Africa. It borders three South African provinces: KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, and Eastern Cape.

Kaliningrad, Russia
Kaliningrad, RussiaThe coastal region Kaliningrad is a type of exclave belonging to Russia. From the main part of Russia, it is accessible by land only through other countries, such as Belarus and Lithuania or Poland.

Kaliningrad oblast (region) is a type of exclave belonging to Russia that lies between Lithuania and Poland. By land it can be reached from the main part of Russia only through other countries, such as Belarus and Lithuania or Poland.

Types

Enclaves and exclaves can be landlocked or coastal. A coastal enclave or exclave is known as a semi-enclave or semi-exclave. Such a territory borders one or more foreign territories, but it also borders a body of water that allows access between it and the main part of the territory it belongs to. So, Point Roberts is actually a semi-enclave or semi-exclave, as it borders Canada on land but is otherwise surrounded by water that’s also bordered by the main part of the United States.

Because it lies on a peninsula, Point Roberts is also called a pene-enclave or pene-exclave. Such a territory can be reached by land only through the foreign territory that it borders on the peninsula. Although Point Roberts belongs to the United States, it’s accessible by land only through Canada.

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