Sharing

Despite their many differences, and as the Falklands/Malvinas case illustrates, boundary disputes have been strikingly consistent in at least one respect: they have tended to defy durable, sustainable solutions. Some underlying agreements concoct condominia that can delineate particular rights and powers in favour of just one sovereign power: sovereignty can be divided and partitioned by one state in favour of another. One of the oldest, and extant, instances of inter-country condominia is to be found along the acquatic border between Germany and Luxembourg. The countries also share bridges and at least the tip of one uninhabited islet, Staustufe Apach, near the Luxembourg town of Schengen where, in 1985, several European countries decided to abolish internal border controls Another water-related case deals with the Gulf of Fonseca where three Central American countries. Finally, Lake Constance, which borders Switzerland, Germany and Austria, is another de facto tridominium.