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Cospaia: For nearly four hundred years, the smallest republic in the world

59 points by monort 12y ago

ableal 12y ago
Somehow, I was looking for Terry Pratchett's signature on this piece. It would be right up his alley - a border redefinition error that leaves a gap, instead of an overlap. Sigh.
namenotrequired 12y ago
Similar things still happen, though usually both states claim a piece of land, instead of neither. The border between Uruguay and Brazil for instance contains two plots of land - both now uninhabited - they are claimed by both countries, due to a disagreement about which of two streams of the same river counts as its border. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil%E2%80%93Uruguay_relations#Border_Disputes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil%E2%80%93Uruguay_relation...
Turing_Machine 12y ago
There's a similar situation on the border between Egypt and Sudan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bir_Tawil http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bir_Tawil
- sireat 12y ago
  I was really fascinated to find that it has a population of 0. Is the climate that unhospitable? Granted it must be a desert, but there are some hills, and presumably some water sources within those 2000 sqkm.
PeterWhittaker 12y ago
I found the article turgid and meandering (a fluvial influence? hmmm). The Wikipedia articles summarizes things ever so much more clearly: Cospaia unexpectedly gained independence in 1440 after Pope Eugene IV, embroiled in a struggle with the Council of Basel, made a sale of territory to the Republic of Florence. By error, a small strip of land went unmentioned in the sale treaty and its inhabitants promptly declared themselves independent. An early centre in Italy for tobacco production, Cospaia eventually deteriorated into a mere smugglers' haven which, in 1826, was divided between Tuscany and the Papal States. Each citizen was awarded a silver coin by the church to help convince them to continue farming tobacco. Today, Cospaia is a hamlet (frazione) of the comune of San Giustino in the Province of Perugia. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Cospaia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Cospaia.

59 points by monort 12y ago

Somehow, I was looking for Terry Pratchett's signature on this piece. It would be right up his alley - a border redefinition error that leaves a gap, instead of an overlap. Sigh.

namenotrequired 12y ago

Similar things still happen, though usually both states claim a piece of land, instead of neither. The border between Uruguay and Brazil for instance contains two plots of land - both now uninhabited - they are claimed by both countries, due to a disagreement about which of two streams of the same river counts as its border. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil%E2%80%93Uruguay_relations#Border_Disputes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil%E2%80%93Uruguay_relation...

Turing_Machine 12y ago

There's a similar situation on the border between Egypt and Sudan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bir_Tawil http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bir_Tawil

sireat 12y ago
I was really fascinated to find that it has a population of 0. Is the climate that unhospitable? Granted it must be a desert, but there are some hills, and presumably some water sources within those 2000 sqkm.

PeterWhittaker 12y ago

I found the article turgid and meandering (a fluvial influence? hmmm). The Wikipedia articles summarizes things ever so much more clearly: Cospaia unexpectedly gained independence in 1440 after Pope Eugene IV, embroiled in a struggle with the Council of Basel, made a sale of territory to the Republic of Florence. By error, a small strip of land went unmentioned in the sale treaty and its inhabitants promptly declared themselves independent. An early centre in Italy for tobacco production, Cospaia eventually deteriorated into a mere smugglers' haven which, in 1826, was divided between Tuscany and the Papal States. Each citizen was awarded a silver coin by the church to help convince them to continue farming tobacco. Today, Cospaia is a hamlet (frazione) of the comune of San Giustino in the Province of Perugia. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Cospaia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Cospaia.