India/Bangladesh - The world's worst border

Welcome to Map Men. - We're the men. - And here's the map. ♫ ♫ Map Men, Map Men ♫ ♫ Map Map Map, Men Men Today's map is a 2015 map of the border between India and Bangladesh. An area riddled with 'enclaves'. An enclave is a piece of country, wholly surrounded by another country. Like a TicTac inside a Polo. This is a piece of Bangladesh which is in India. And this is a '2nd Order enclave', a piece of India which is in Bangladesh which is in India. And this is the world's only 3rd order enclave in the world. A piece of India which is in Bangladesh which is in India which is in Bangladesh which is insane. Like a TicTac inside a Polo inside a bagel inside Bangladesh. The problem for people living in smaller enclaves is they often lack access to basic resources. With the two countries often unwilling to share. Worse still, with many enclaves too small to support their own emergency services, neighbouring paramedics awkwardly refuse to cross borders. Heeeeelp! I'm having a heart attack! I just need a defibrillator! Can somebody help me please? Arghhhhhhh! The cruel irony is that in order to leave their enclave, residents need a visa, which they can only get by travelling to their embassy, which they can only do if they have a visa which they don't. So how did we end up in this ludicrous situation? Amazingly, historians aren't really sure. All they know, is that it was the result of a confused end to a war in 1713 between various princes Who couldn't be bothered to use a map to draw a clear border!! - Calm down, Mark. - I'm fine, but they should have used a map. Back in the 18th century, these patches of who owned what didn't matter like they do today. It was only when, you guessed it, the British came and went, that the two provinces became separate countries who, incidentally, hate each other. The simple thing to do would be to swap these enclaves over, but for India, this was a problem, because it would send out the wrong message. Hello? Hello Pakistan? It's Bangladesh. India are giving land away. India are giving land away? Hello? Hello China, it's Pakistan, India are giving land away! India are giving land away?! But, in 1974, enclave dwellers were offered hope, When the two sides put together an agreement to swap their stray bits of land. Both sides signed it, and then Bangladesh ratified it. And India, didn't. Agh! Agh! So rude! Agh! Agh! India decided they weren't happy with the small print. And the dispute continued... Heeeeeeelp! For another 40 years. But... as recently as 2015, India finally decided to put people first. And they ratified the agreement. On August the 1th, 2015, 161 enclaves were ceded to the country that contained them. Setting thousands of people free. And so we must pay our respects to this once great map now sadly consigned to history. Mark! Save some for me.

Channel: Jay Foreman

Views: 3,531,631

Rating: 4.8787384 out of 5

Keywords: Map Men, MAP MEN, Jay Foreman, Mark Cooper-Jones, Mark Cooper Jones, India, Bangladesh, border, enclave, enclaves, complicated border, India and Bangladesh, Indian, Bangladeshi, exclave, exclaves, 3rd order enclave, messy border, worst, silliest, world's most complicated border, Geography Now, Geography

Id: r-aIzkvPwFo

Length: 3min 6sec (186 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 08 2016

Reddit Comments

[u/firstpageguy]

Never been so relieved about the solving a problem I never knew existed. It gives you hope for world peace.

[u/Tony339]

Great video. Just went and watched all their Map Men episodes and was very disappointed that it took me less than ten minutes. I need more!

Pls help.

[u/drummindave50]

I like these map men men

[u/MissStabby]

There's also a similar situation with the Dutch-Belgium border! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE93J33SfHY

[u/alexss3]

I wish they'd do a video on Büsingen, the enclave of Germany inside of Switzerland. Interesting enclave indeed.

[u/danivus]

Oh my god it's Fun With Flags only real!

[u/Einchy]

So, wait, what happens to the people who lived in them? Did the Bangladeshi citizens become Indian once the lands went to India? And vice versa?

[u/andysniper]

The one in the blue shirt was my mates Geography teacher, and also a part time comedian.

[u/Tszemix]

The flags are affected by the green screen.