The Only Place On Earth Nobody Wants

Bir Tawil is a patch of land between Egypt and Sudan that neither country claims. It is one of the few places on the planet that is truly terra nullius, meaning it belongs to no sovereign nation at all.

This strange territory exists because of a historical discrepancy between two different border lines drawn in the early 20th century. While Egypt favors one line that gives them Bir Tawil, Sudan favors the other, leaving this specific area unclaimed by both sides. Claiming the land would force a country to forfeit its rights to a much larger, more valuable neighboring territory. As a result, this desert rectangle remains the only habitable place on Earth that no government is willing to call its own.