If you’re looking for the Shortest Border in The World, then you are at the right place. In this article, we will discuss the Shortest Border in The World.
It is necessary to know that the national border is a mutually recognized boundary between the two countries, and one of the parties illegally crossing the border is no different from invading the country. But a borderline on this small island in the Mediterranean makes people confused. Is this a borderline or a water diversion plastic pipe? This is the shortest national border in the world. It is less than 100 meters let’s know about the shortest border in the world.
The Shortest Border in The World
This shortest border is located between a Spanish enclave Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera and Morraco. It is 85 meters ((242 feet) long. On the part of the peninsula that borders the mainland, a plastic pipe is placed as a substitute for the national border. The side close to the mainland is Morocco, and the side near the sea is Spain. Tourists once landed on this small island.
When the tourists walked away from the Spanish side near the plastic pipe, the Moroccan sentry on the opposite mountain immediately issued a warning to the tourists. The general meaning of the warning was not to approach the national border.
Spanish border sentries tell tourists not to cross the Spanish border to the Moroccan border, as they may eat rubber guns. The Spanish army’s garrison is roughly located on the reef of the peninsula, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack, which also makes this place a sea fortress for the Spanish army. In the 16th century, the first Spanish sailors arrived on this small island, and the Spanish flag was flying on this small island at that time.
Story About The Shortest Border in The World
The incident started in 1496: Portugal and Spain signed an agreement on the division of the North African coast, which resulted in Spain only being able to seize the territory east of Vélez. It wanted to eat even the Moroccan mainland, but it was no match. Britain and France were rampant in North Africa at that time. Therefore, in an operation on the grounds of combating pirates, Spain directly snatched La Gomera. In 1563, La Gomera, which was left unattended, was garrisoned by the Ottomans. The Spanish Marquis Villafranca was furious. Leading troops to kill hundreds of Ottoman garrisons on the island.
Since then, only 19,000 square meters of La Gomera has fallen into a state of “changing owners” in turn. The Ottoman Empire was officially stabilized after the fall. After the 19th century, Spain felt that the island was useless because it was too far away from the mainland. At that time, the fastest boat would take a day and a night to get there. Hundreds of soldiers died for such a “broken island”, which was really not worth the candle.
However, a dramatic scene happened: After a sudden earthquake, a gravel channel suddenly appeared between the natural island of La Gomera and the African continent, directly turning La Gomera into the center of the African continent. a peninsula. What’s more interesting is that whenever the tidal season comes, this nearly 100-meter-long road will be submerged, and the borderline that disappears from time to time is gone.
Since it is connected to the mainland, Spain is not willing to give up La Gomera, because no one knows whether the French will leave Morocco, and maybe there will be a chance to take a dip in the muddy water by then. Therefore, the Spanish government simply built a small prison on the island and escorted a few criminals who entered the island illegally and stole them. For 13 years, it has been said that it was too wasteful to escort back and forth.
As time went on, Spain realized that Morocco could not get involved, so it simply built a formal border line with barbed wire and sent a small number of soldiers to guard it. However, after 2002, Morocco and Spain began to dispute over the sovereignty of La Gomera Island. Moroccan young people came several times late at night to remove the stone piers and barbed wire fences, and the Spanish soldiers were not angry at all.
In the end, the Spanish soldiers were too lazy to carry new stone piers and barbed wire and simply threw a blue line on the ground (actually it was a fishing net line bought by fishermen, it was cheap and not afraid of stealing) as a borderline. From then on, the world’s shortest national border was born. After measuring people with good intentions in many countries, it was concluded that the world’s shortest national border is only 9 meters long…Of course, the real land border should be according to this piece Calculating the width of the beach, The embarrassing thing is that the longest is 85 meters at low tide, which is still the shortest border in the world.
Interesting Thing About The Shortest Border in The World
However, don’t think that this short 85-meter national border is as cute as its size. Now the most elite special soldiers in Spain are stationed in La Gomera, although the total number is only about 30. For Trespassers are merciless.
In 2013, four Moroccan youths wanted to dive and land on the island, but they were beaten up by two Spanish soldiers before they even landed on the beach.
In 2015, three French tourists thought they could pass through with EU passports. After being stopped by the soldiers, he held a “theory” with the French passport and was finally frightened away by the Spanish soldiers firing warning shots.
According to the Spanish border law, La Gomera is both a military location and a border. It is not the same as an ordinary port or customs. Anyone who encounters trespassers can be shot and killed. Because of this regulation, the surrounding residents have to drive their boats 10 nautical miles away even for fishing, because the key to the dispute between Spain and Morocco is the ownership of the nearby waters.
But in the eyes of tourists, there are not so many worries. As long as they don’t trespass the national border, Spanish and Moroccan soldiers don’t bother to stop tourists from taking pictures. After all, this is the shortest border in the world.
