--- title: Odd places: microstates, enclaves and disputed lands — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Odd places: microstates, enclaves and disputed lands», a lesson of the geography course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Most countries are big blobs on the map, but a few are so tiny you could walk across them before lunch: Vatican Cit --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/39-odd-places-microstates-enclaves-and-disputed-lands/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Geography](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/) / Odd places: microstates, enclaves and… # Odd places: microstates, enclaves and disputed lands Lesson 39 of the geography course of Mova's primary school: 18 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/geography/39-odd-places-microstates-enclaves-and-disputed-lands/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/39-odd-places-microstates-enclaves-and-disputed-lands/0/) — Most countries are big blobs on the map, but a few are so tiny you could walk across them before lunch: Vatican City is smaller than many city parks, and Monaco is the second smallest country in the world. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/39-odd-places-microstates-enclaves-and-disputed-lands/1/) — In Europa Universalis 5 the Papal States cover a big part of central Italy, and dozens of little Italian states sit beside them; almost all were swallowed up by Italy by 1870, but San Marino and the Vatican survive. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/39-odd-places-microstates-enclaves-and-disputed-lands/2/) — Some places are islands of one country inside another, like Lesotho inside South Africa, and in the town of Baarle the Belgian–Dutch border runs through streets and even through houses. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/39-odd-places-microstates-enclaves-and-disputed-lands/3/) — Other places are argued over, like a toy two children both claim: Gibraltar, the Falklands, Kashmir and Taiwan are each claimed by more than one side. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/39-odd-places-microstates-enclaves-and-disputed-lands/4/) — And one whole continent belongs to no country at all: under the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, Antarctica is kept for peace and science. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/39-odd-places-microstates-enclaves-and-disputed-lands/5/) — Vatican City is the smallest country in the world, at about 0.44 square kilometres, and Monaco is the second smallest. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/39-odd-places-microstates-enclaves-and-disputed-lands/6/) — In EU5 the Papal States cover a large part of central Italy, and they were lost to Italy by 1870, leaving only the tiny Vatican City later. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/39-odd-places-microstates-enclaves-and-disputed-lands/7/) — San Marino, inside Italy, claims to be the oldest surviving republic in the world, traditionally founded in 301; it sits on a mountain, stayed small and neutral, and was mostly left alone when Italy was united. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/39-odd-places-microstates-enclaves-and-disputed-lands/8/) — Liechtenstein lies between Switzerland and Austria, and Andorra lies in the Pyrenees between France and Spain. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/39-odd-places-microstates-enclaves-and-disputed-lands/9/) — Andorra has two co-princes, the Bishop of Urgell in Spain and the President of France. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/39-odd-places-microstates-enclaves-and-disputed-lands/10/) — An enclave is a piece of one country completely surrounded by another, such as Lesotho inside South Africa, or San Marino and Vatican City inside Italy. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/39-odd-places-microstates-enclaves-and-disputed-lands/11/) — Kaliningrad is part of Russia but separated from the rest of Russia, lying between Poland and Lithuania; as Königsberg it was once the capital of the dukes of Prussia. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/39-odd-places-microstates-enclaves-and-disputed-lands/12/) — In the town of Baarle, the border between Belgium and the Netherlands weaves through streets and even houses, making dozens of tiny enclaves. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/39-odd-places-microstates-enclaves-and-disputed-lands/13/) — Gibraltar, at the southern tip of Spain, guards the narrow strait between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean; it has been a British territory since 1713, and Spain still claims it. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/39-odd-places-microstates-enclaves-and-disputed-lands/14/) — The Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic are a British territory that Argentina claims as the Malvinas, and the two countries fought a short war over them in 1982. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/39-odd-places-microstates-enclaves-and-disputed-lands/15/) — Kashmir is divided between India, Pakistan and China, and India and Pakistan have fought wars over it. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/39-odd-places-microstates-enclaves-and-disputed-lands/16/) — No country owns Antarctica, and under the Antarctic Treaty of 1959 it is kept for peace and science; about a dozen countries' claims are frozen by the treaty. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/39-odd-places-microstates-enclaves-and-disputed-lands/17/) — Taiwan has its own government, army and elections, but China claims it, and most countries do not officially recognise it as a separate state. - ← previous: [Today's world: the UN, the EU and the Commonwealth](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/38-todays-world-the-un-the-eu-and-the-commonwealth/) - next →: [The game map and the real map: what EU5 simplifies](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/40-the-game-map-and-the-real-map-what-eu5-simplifies/) - ↑ back to [Geography](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/)