In international law, a condominium (plural either condominia, as in Latin, or condominiums) is a political territory (state or border area) in or over which two or more sovereign powers formally agree to share equally dominium (in the sense of sovereignty) and exercise their rights jointly, without dividing it up into 'national' zones.

Although a condominium has always been recognized as a theoretical possibility, condominiums have been rare in practice. A major problem, and the reason why so few have existed in practice, is the difficulty of ensuring co-operation between the sovereign powers; once the understanding fails, the status is likely to become untenable.

The word is recorded in English since c.1714, from Modern Latin, apparently coined in Germany c.1700 from Latin com- "together" + dominium "right of ownership" (compare domain).

Current condominia

• The Moselle River, and its tributary the Sauer, and its tributary the Our, comprise a condominium between Luxembourg and Germany, who share bridges and at least the tip of one island (near Schengen). The condominium was established by treaty in 1816.
• Pheasant Island (also known as Conference Island, Konpantzia in Basque, Île de la Conférence in French or Isla de los Faisanes in Spanish) in the River Bidassoa between France and Spain. It was established by the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659.
• A small area on the Arabian Peninsula is jointly ruled by Oman and the Emirati member state of Ajman.[1]
• The Tumen River is a condominium between China and North Korea.
• Parts of the Gulf of Fonseca and of the territorial sea outside its mouth comprise a unique tridominium between El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.
• The part of the Parana River between the Salto Grande de Sete Quedas and the mouth of the Iguassu River is shared in condominium by Brazil and Paraguay.
• The main part of Lake Constance (without islands) is considered by Austria to be a condominium between Germany, Austria and Switzerland. This view is not shared by Germany and Switzerland.

The term is sometimes even applied to a similar arrangement between members of a Monarch's countries in (personal or formal) union, as was the case for the district of Fiume (Rijeka), shared between Hungary and Croatia within the Hapsburg Empire since 1868.

Co-principality

Under French law, Andorra was once considered to be a French–Spanish condominium, although it is more commonly classed as a co-principality, since it is itself a sovereign state, not a possession of one or more foreign powers, even though the quality of Head of State is shared ex officio by two foreigners.

Former condominia

• Anglo-Egyptian Sudan was legally an Egyptian-British condominium from 1899 until 1956. Though the system was resented by Egyptian and Sudanese nationalists, and would later be disavowed by the Egyptian Government, it persisted due to the United Kingdom's effective control over Egypt itself, which began from 1882.
• Bosnia and Herzegovina was a condominium of Austria and Hungary between 1908 and 1918, while both countries were parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
• Canton and Enderbury Islands were a British–American condominium from 1939 until 1979 when they became part of Kiribati
• Couto Mixto was shared until 1864 between Spain and Portugal
• Cyprus was shared for almost 300 years (688-965) between the Byzantine emperor and the Caliph
• Countship of Friesland (West Frisia), since 1165 under Imperial administration, was from 1165 to 1493 a joint condominium of the Count of Holland and the Prince-bishop of Utrecht, then again till 25 October 1555 under Imperial administration
• Erfurt, from 12th century until Thirty Years' War shared between Archbishopric of Mainz and Counts of Gleichen, the latter replaced by the city councel in 1289 (Concordata Gebhardi), Landgrave of Thuringia in 1327 and the House of Wettin in 1483 (Treaty of Weimar)
• Maastricht, until 1794 shared between the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and the Duchy of Brabant, the latter replaced by the Dutch Republic in 1632.
• Nauru a tripartite condominium mandate territory administered by Australia, New Zealand and United Kingdom from 1923 to 1942 and again in 1947 as a trust territory until independence in 1968
• New Hebrides formed a French–British condominium in 1906 until independence in 1980 as a republic, now called Vanuatu
• Neutral Moresnet was shared from 1816 until 1919 between The Netherlands (later Belgium) and Prussia (later Germany)
• Northern Dobruja by the Central powers (German-Austrian-Bulgarian) during World War I.[2]
• Oregon Country was an Anglo-American condominium from 1818 until 1846
• Sakhalin Island in the Far East, off Siberia's Pacific coast. In 1855, the Russian and Japanese empires signed the Treaty of Shimoda, allowing both countries' nationals to inhabit the island: Russians in the north, and Japanese in the south, without a clear boundary in between. After the Russo-Japanese War ended in 1905 Japan annexed the territory south of 60 North Latitude. In 1945, according to Yalta Conference agreements, the Soviet Union took over the control of the whole island.
• Samoan Islands from 1889 to 1899 were a rare tripartite condominium under joint protectorate of Germany, Britain and the USA.
• Togoland from 26 August 1914, under British and French occupation, the German protectorate (a colony since 1905) of Togoland was an Anglo-French condominium, until its partition on 27 December 1916 into French and British zones, which were transformed on 20 July 1922 into two separate League of Nations mandates: British Togoland (which joined Gold Coast, present Ghana, in 1956) and French Togoland, the present republic of Togo.
• Zaporozhian Sich, a brief Russo-Polish condominium established in 1667 by the Treaty of Andrusovo.

Other

• In 2001, the British government proposed sharing sovereignty of Gibraltar with Spain, but this was decisively rejected by the people of Gibraltar in a referendum in 2002.

See also

• Dependent area
• Protectorate
• Suzerainty
• Principality
  • Andorra
  • Åland
  • Liechtenstein
  • Monaco
• Free city
• Catholic encyclopaedia passim

References

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (September 2008)

External links

• WorldStatesmen- see each present country