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386:(territory belonging to Namibia) did indeed use the island for many years, they did so intermittently, according to the seasons, and for exclusively agricultural purposes, without it being established that they occupied the island exercising functions of state authority there on behalf of the Zambezi authorities. The Court therefore rejected this argument.
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To do so, the Court took into consideration the depth and the width of the channel, the flow (i.e., the volume of water carried), the bed profile configuration and the navigability of the channel. After considering the figures submitted by both parties, as well as surveys carried out on the ground at
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After concluding that the boundary between
Botswana and Namibia around Kasikili/Sedudu Island follows the line of deepest soundings in the northern channel of the Chobe and that the island formed part of the territory of Botswana, the Court recalled that, under the terms of an agreement concluded in
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of the river immediately north (not south) of the island. The island is approximately 5 square kilometres (2 square miles) in area, with no permanent residents. For several months each year, beginning around March, the island is submerged by floods. The Island is one of the top tourist attractions
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Namibia and
Botswana reached a Special Agreement in 1996 to resolve their dispute by taking it to the ICJ. Under the terms of the Special Agreement, the two countries asked the Court to "determine, on the basis of the Anglo-German Treaty of 1 July 1890 and the rules and principles of international
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The Court considered
Namibia's alternative argument that it (and its predecessors) had prescriptive title to Kasikili/Sedudu Island by virtue of the exercise of sovereign jurisdiction over it since the beginning of the century, with full knowledge and acceptance by the authorities of Botswana (and
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According to the text of the 1890 Treaty, Great
Britain and Germany located the dividing line between their spheres of influence in the "main channel" of the Chobe River. The real dispute between the countries concerned the location of that "main channel", with Botswana contending that it was the
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The Court stated that it could not draw conclusions from the cartographic material "in view of the absence of any map officially reflecting the intentions of the parties to the 1890 Treaty" and "in the light of the uncertainty and inconsistency" of the maps submitted by
Botswana and Namibia.
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channel running north of Sedudu Island and
Namibia saying the channel ran south of the island. However, since the 1890 Treaty did not define the notion of "main channel", the Court itself had to determine which was the main channel of the Chobe River around the island.
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To the east by the line that commences at the aforementioned point and follows the 20th degree of east longitude to its intersection point with the 22nd degree of south
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different periods, the Court concluded that "the northern channel of the River Chobe around
Kasikili/Sedudu Island must be regarded as its main channel".
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shall be granted free access from its protectorate to the
Zambezi by means of a strip of land not less than twenty English miles wide at any point.
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The dispute arose because of the imprecise wording of the agreement concerning the northern boundary between the colonial powers of
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The present country of
Namibia was German Southwest Africa in 1890; Botswana was then known as the Bechuanaland Protectorate.
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law, the boundary between
Namibia and Botswana around Kasikili/Sedudu Island and the legal status of the island".
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signed on July 1, 1890. This treaty read "in Southwest Africa, Germany's sphere of influence is demarcated thus":
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reprint of a review of the case by W.J.R. Alexander published in the
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between these countries, resolved by a 1999 ruling of the
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which settled the geographic interests between German
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378:its predecessors). The Court found that while the
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333:of the main channel until it meets the
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419:, August 1999, Vol. 95 Issue 8, p321.
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438:International Court of Justice cases
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143:5 km (1.9 sq mi)
229:International Court of Justice
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219:adjacent to the border with
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309:Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty
26:Kasikili Island (Botswana)
305:Bechuanaland Protectorate
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248:Tourism on Sedudu Island
458:River islands of Africa
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329:. Here it descends the
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185:Additional information
38:Chobe River and Sedudu
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276:Sedudu-Island (2019)
443:Islands of Botswana
287:Territorial dispute
225:territorial dispute
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16:Island in Botswana
392:Kasane Communiqué
301:South-West Africa
281:in the background
207:in Namibia) is a
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86:adjacent to
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84:Chobe River
427:Categories
347:Lake Ngami
203:(known as
177:Population
323:longitude
75:Geography
319:latitude
303:and the
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262:Botswana
217:Botswana
164:Botswana
88:Namibian
80:Location
382:of the
339:Germany
335:Zambezi
331:thalweg
307:in the
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221:Namibia
211:in the
194:in 1999
104:17°49′S
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264:(2018)
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107:25°8′E
90:border
215:, in
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