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A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between nations, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or boundary between two or more military powers or alliances. A DZ may sometimes form a ''de facto'' international border, such as the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Other examples of demilitarized zones are a 9-mile wide area between Iraq and Kuwait; Antarctica (preserved for scientific exploration and study); and outer space (space more than from the earth's surface). Many demilitarized zones are considered neutral territory because neither side is allowed to control it, even for non-combat administration. Some zones remain demilitarized after an agreement has awarded control to a state which (under the DZ terms) had originally ceded its right to maintain military forces in the disputed territory. It is also possible for powers to agree on the demilitarization of a zone without formally settling their respective territorial claims, enabling the dispute to be resolved by peaceful means such as diplomatic dialogue or an international court. Several demilitarized zones have also unintentionally become
wildlife preserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...
s because their land is unsafe for construction or less exposed to human disturbances (including hunting). Examples include the Korean Demilitarized Zone, the Cypriot Demilitarized Zone ( The Green Line), and the former Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone which divided Vietnam into two countries ( North Vietnam and
South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
) from 21 July 1954 to 2 July 1976.


Current demilitarized zones

* Åland – The Åland Convention of 1921, which was concluded following a decision of the League of Nations in response to the
Åland crisis Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an autonomous and demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1,580 km2, and a populati ...
, mandates that the Finnish government maintain the territory as a demilitarized area. * Antarctica – The Antarctic Treaty forbids military activity in Antarctica, such as "the establishment of military bases and fortifications, the carrying out of military manoeuvres, as well as the testing of any type of weapon". The Treaty does however provide for the "use of military personnel or equipment for scientific research or for any other peaceful purpose". * Joint Control Commission – Known locally as the Dniester Valley Security Zone, the demilitarized buffer zone was created by the cease-fire agreement ending the War of Transnistria. The Commission's peacekeeping mission monitors the demilitarized zone which roughly outlines the Dnister river between Moldova and Transnistria. It is 225 kilometers long and from 1 to 15 kilometers wide. * Korean Demilitarized Zone – The Korean Armistice Agreement created a 4 km (2.5 mi)-wide demilitarized zone between North Korea and South Korea following the Korean War. It is currently one of the most heavily militarized areas in the world despite the name. * Kuwait–Iraq barrier – The United Nations Security Council approved the creation of a demilitarized zone between Iraq and Kuwait in Resolution 689 after the Persian Gulf War. Although the demilitarized zone is no longer mandated by the council, it continues to exist. * Preah Vihear Temple – The International Court of Justice had ordered the creation of a "provisional demilitarized zone" around the Temple whose ownership is claimed by both Cambodia and Thailand. * Sinai Peninsula – The Egypt–Israel peace treaty sets a limit to the amount of forces Egypt can place in the Sinai Peninsula. Parts of the peninsula are demilitarized to various degrees, especially within of Israel. Israel also agreed to limit its forces within of the Egyptian border.Camp David Accords – Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The areas are monitored by the Multinational Force and Observers.10 Tactical Air Group: ''Canadian Contingent Multinational Force and Observers Handbook'' (unclassified), page A-1. DND, Ottawa, 1986. Because of the Sinai insurgency all sides agreed and encouraged Egypt to send large amounts of military forces into the area, including tanks and helicopters, to fight Islamist groups. *
Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...
 – The
Svalbard Treaty The Svalbard Treaty (originally the Spitsbergen Treaty) recognises the sovereignty of Norway over the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, at the time called Spitsbergen. The exercise of sovereignty is, however, subject to certain stipulations, and n ...
of 1920, which recognized Norwegian sovereignty over the territory, designated the area as partially demilitarized.Original Spitsbergen Treaty
/ref> *
Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
 – A demilitarized zone along the
Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
South Sudan border. * United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus – The United Nations Security Council created a buffer zone separating the self-proclaimed, internationally unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus from the Republic of Cyprus. It was authorized by Resolution 186 and is patrolled by the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus. * United Nations Disengagement Observer Force Zone – The United Nations Security Council approved the creation of a demilitarized zone in a portion of the Israeli-
occupied territory Military occupation, also known as belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is the effective military control by a ruling power over a territory that is outside of that power's sovereign territory.Eyāl Benveniśtî. The international law ...
of the Golan Heights in
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
in Resolution 350 after the Yom Kippur War. The zone is monitored by the
United Nations Disengagement Observer Force The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) is a United Nations peacekeeping mission tasked with maintaining the ceasefire between Israel and Syria in the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The mission was established by United ...
.


Former demilitarized zones

* A neutral territory was established between the
British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...
of
Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...
and Spain after the end of the 1727 siege. A strip of land 600 toises (about ) long, more than two cannon shots' distance between the British and Spanish guns, was called "the neutral ground" and shown as such on older maps. In 1908, the British built a fence in a portion claimed to be the British half of the neutral territory. Spain does not recognize British sovereignty over the isthmus (including the border), asserting it is Spanish soil. Although both the United Kingdom and Spain used to be part of the European Union (before the United Kingdom's exit), the border was a '' de facto'' international frontier with customs and immigration checks; Spain does not formally recognize it as a "frontier", referring to it as a "fence". Whatever its name, Gibraltar opted out of the European Union Customs Union and is not part of the
Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and j ...
; the border is open 24 hours a day, with
customs Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...
duties payable on designated goods entering Spain or Gibraltar. * Rhineland – The Treaty of Versailles designated the Rhineland as a demilitarized zone after World War I, prohibiting the Weimar Republic from deploying its military there. It was re-occupied and re-militarized in 1936 by Nazi Germany in violation of international treaties. * Saudi–Iraqi neutral zone – The Uqair Protocol established a demilitarized zone between the Sultanate of Nejd and the
Kingdom of Iraq The Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq ( ar, المملكة العراقية الهاشمية, translit=al-Mamlakah al-ʿIrāqiyyah ʾal-Hāshimyyah) was a state located in the Middle East from 1932 to 1958. It was founded on 23 August 1921 as the Kingdo ...
, which at the time was a
League of Nations mandate A League of Nations mandate was a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I, or the legal instruments that contained the internationally agreed-upon terms for administ ...
administered by the British Empire. Nejd was later incorporated into the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...
. The zone was partitioned in 1981 but the treaty was not filed with the United Nations. The zone was finally officially abolished during the Persian Gulf War, when Iraq and Saudi Arabia cancelled all international agreements with each other. * Saudi–Kuwaiti neutral zone – The Uqair Protocol established a neutral zone between the Sultanate of Nejd and the British protectorate of Kuwait in 1922. It was partitioned by mutual agreement in 1970. *Israel and Egypt: **Following the
1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...
, a DMZ (the
El Auja Zone Auja al-Hafir ( ar, عوجة الحفير, also Auja), was an ancient road junction close to water wells in the western Negev and eastern Sinai. It was the traditional grazing land of the 'Azazme tribe. The border crossing between Egypt and Otto ...
) was created by the
1949 Armistice Agreements The 1949 Armistice Agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt,Mt. Scopus was designated as a DMZ. **The area around the Latrun salient. *Israel and Syria: Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, three DMZs were created by the
1949 Armistice Agreements The 1949 Armistice Agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt,Manchuria between September 1931 and February 1932, when they proclaimed the region the state of
Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China, Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 afte ...
. In May 1933, the Tanggu Truce between China and Japan was concluded, establishing a demilitarized zone between Manchukuo and China. In 1937 Japan violated this truce with an invasion of the remainder of China. In 1945, after the fall of the Japanese empire at the end of the Asia-Pacific theater of World War II, Manchuria was re-incorporated into China. *Ecuador – a demilitarized zone was established on October 2, 1941, after the war between Ecuador and Peru, which existed under Ecuadorian administration and under the observation of neutral mediator nations: the United States, Brazil and Argentina. The DMZ was abolished in 1942, with the withdrawal of Peruvian forces from
El Oro Province El Oro (; ''oro'' = gold) is the southernmost of Ecuador's coastal provinces. It was named for its historically important gold production. Today it is one of the world's major exporters of bananas. The capital is Machala. History The area was ...
after the signing of the
Rio Protocol The Protocol of Peace, Friendship, and Boundaries between Peru and Ecuador, or Rio Protocol for short, was an international agreement signed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on January 29, 1942, by the foreign ministers of Peru and Ecuador, with the p ...
. * Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone – The demilitarized zone between North Vietnam and
South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
was established in July 1954 as a result of the
Geneva Conference Geneva Conference may refer to: * Geneva Naval Conference (1927), on naval arms limitation * World Economic Conference (423 May 1927), on international trade * World Population Conference (29 August3 September 1927), on demography * Geneva Confer ...
ending the war between the Viet Minh and France. The DMZ in Vietnam officially lay at the 17th parallel and ended in 1976; in reality, it extended about on either side of the
Bến Hải River The Bến Hải River ( vi, Sông Bến Hải) is a river in central Vietnam which became an important landmark in the partition of the country into a northern and a southern zone along the 17th parallel by the Geneva Accords of 1954 then end ...
and west to east from the Lao border to the South China Sea. *Norway and Sweden established a demilitarized zone of 1 km (1,100 yards) on each side of their border after the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905. The zone was abolished by mutual agreement in 1993. *
El Caguán DMZ The El Caguán DMZ ( es, Zona de Distensión, zona de despeje de San Vicente del Caguán) was a demilitarized zone of 42,000 km² in southern Colombia authorized by the government of President Andrés Pastrana to negotiate a peace process w ...
– A demilitarized zone was established in southern
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
between 1999 and 2002, during the failed peace process that involved the Government of President
Andrés Pastrana Andres or Andrés may refer to: *Andres, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois, US *Andres, Pas-de-Calais, a commune in Pas-de-Calais, France *Andres (name) *Hurricane Andres * "Andres" (song), a 1994 song by L7 See also ...
and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). *
Northern Syria Buffer Zone The Northern Syria Buffer Zone (also known as the Safe Zone, Peace Corridor, or Security Mechanism) was a temporary Syrian Civil War demilitarized zone (DMZ) established on the Syrian side of the Syria–Turkey border in August 2019 to maintai ...
 – A demilitarized zone in northern Syria straddling portions of the
Syria–Turkey border The border between the Syrian Arab Republic and the Republic of Turkey ( ar, الحدود السورية التركية, translit=alhudud alsuwriat alturkia; tr, Suriye–Türkiye sınırı) is about long, and runs from the Mediterranean Sea ...
. It was established between Turkey and the United States, both NATO allies, during the Syrian Civil War to prevent clashes between Kurdish and Turkish forces. The DMZ collapsed in October 2019, after Turkey dismissed the agreement and the United States ordered a withdrawal of US forces from northern Syria, allowing the
2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria The 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, code-named Operation Peace Spring ( tr, Barış Pınarı Harekâtı) by Turkey, was a cross-border military operation conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the Syrian National Ar ...
to go ahead. *
Ground Safety Zone Ground may refer to: Geology * Land, the surface of the Earth not covered by water * Soil, a mixture of clay, sand and organic matter present on the surface of the Earth Electricity * Ground (electricity), the reference point in an electrical c ...
 – A demilitarized area between Serbia and Kosovo was created under the Kumanovo Agreement following the Kosovo War that existed between 1999 and 2001. Following the Insurgency in the Preševo Valley, Serbian forces were allowed to enter GSZ. * Idlib demilitarization agreement zone – A demilitarized zone, created by agreement between Russian and
Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...
government, splitting the last major stronghold of the
Syrian rebels A number of states and armed groups have involved themselves in the ongoing Syrian Civil War as belligerents. Syrian Arab Republic and allies A number of sources have emphasized that as of at least late-2015/early-2016 the Syrian Arab Republic ...
from the
Syrian government Government of the Syrian Arab Republic is the union government created by the constitution of Syria where by the president is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Syr ...
controlled area amidst the Syrian Civil War.


See also

*
Buffer Zone A buffer zone is a neutral zonal area that lies between two or more bodies of land, usually pertaining to countries. Depending on the type of buffer zone, it may serve to separate regions or conjoin them. Common types of buffer zones are demil ...
* Ceasefire * Demilitarisation *
Demarcation line {{Refimprove, date=January 2008 A political demarcation line is a geopolitical border, often agreed upon as part of an armistice or ceasefire. Africa * Moroccan Wall, delimiting the Moroccan-controlled part of Western Sahara from the Sahrawi- ...
* DMZ (computing) * Green zone * Humanitarian corridor *
List of established military terms This is a list of established military terms which have been in use for at least 50 years. Since technology and doctrine have changed over time, not all of them are in current use, or they may have been superseded by more modern terms. However, the ...
* No-fly zone *
Safe Zone (Syria) Safe zones, de-escalation zones or no-fly zones have been proposed or created at various points during the Syrian civil war which began in 2011, including "de-escalation zones" agreed between the Turkish and Russian powers backing various bellige ...
* UNIKOM * United Nations Safe Areas


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demilitarized Zone Military terminology