ABSTRACT

Territory is a tangib1e attribute of statehood and, within that particu1ar geographica1 area which it occupies, astate enjoys and exercises sovereignty. Territorial sovereignty may be defined as the "right to exercise therein, to the exclusion of any other state, the functions of astate". 2

Equa11y crucial has been the associated concept of the state, which, in internationa11aw, seems to have a specific meaning. States are entities with populations living in territories effective1y contra11ed by governments, which are also capab1e of conducting international relations with other states. 3 It should be borne in mind that such a definition does not imply necessarily that the precise borders of the states in question are definitive1y established or are undisputed, nor that astate ceases to exist if it is occupied by an act of war, pravided other states dispute that act of conquest.4 Indeed, the

recent conflict over Iraq' s occupation and annexation of Kuwait was implicitly based on just such a principle of internationallaw, even though it may have been explicitly justified by recourse to United Nations Charter.