Google has an awkward way of not recognizing nation's borders
Guatemala - Photo by K. Mennem
For years Google Maps has tried to stay impartial on boundaries of countries and territories under dispute. Places like South Sudan, The West Bank, and parts of Ukraine are shown with dotted lines, apparently indicating the border is not set in stone.
People in different parts of the world get a different version of Google Maps depending on their location and preferences. Language, metrics, and many other common sense things are built in.
But is showing a loose border or land up for grabs actually being impartial?
I won’t comment on the famous disputes, which likely started Google’s process of doing this. But I can’t help but wonder what is going on with all the loose borders in Latin America?
I first noticed a few years ago that Google changed the western border of Belize with Guatemala into a soft dotted line. I thought it was an odd move considering the dispute has gone on for over a 100 years and there is no way Guatemala will invade Belize (a few military and police officers have been killed in isolated incidents over the years).
Guatemala has sought more than half of Belize (the western unpopulated land) for generations, saying they inherited the Spanish Kingom’s rights to former Spanish land.
The confusing aspect Google plays in all this, is that unfamiliar travelers may look at a map and be confused on Visa and customs rules or simply not realize they may cross an international border. The border indications are not that far off of the state border recognition on the app.
“If I enter Guatemala can I travel freely to western Belize because according to Google and Guatemala, I am not leaving the country”....
GOOD LUCK
Guatemala City - Photo by K. Mennem
But to add more confusion, western Belize actually has stronger cultural ties (Mayan) to Guatemala than its own nation. And on top of that, Guatemala's only Caribbean region has stronger cultural (Garifuna) ties to Belize than its own nation.
When I was Googling Guatemala I accidentally pulled up Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. I was surprised to see no border around the U.S. run military base. It's just a gray blob around the military zone, which defies Google’s rules on allowing soft borders for those in dispute (Cuba claims the military base as Cuban territory).
All I can get from this is that Google’s rules do not apply when the United States government is involved.
Headed further south, the massive soft border line by Google is clear where Venezuela and Guyana meet. This has been going on forever as well, but seems to come back into the picture everytime Guyana finds some oil. When this happens, Venezuela jumps in and says “hey this is our historical land, time to give it back”.
Western Guyana is like western Belize, very unpopulated and jungle terrain. I think it's often misreported that they leave these undeveloped to leave a barrier between their rivals, however I think that's BS and that developing towns in a jungle seems like a modern day problem.
On the other side of Guyana, another dispute exists with Suriname, the Dutch speaking South American country. But to make things weirder, most people don't realize Suriname shares a border with European Union member state French Guiana.
With all this happening, the old fashion Colonialism vs Revolution fued tends to arise. However, in the end aren't they just disputing over natural resources?
Headed further south there are multiple border disputes, with the Falkland Islands being the most famous. While it is actually an island not a land border, it became famous because the United Kingdom has tried to hold on to it despite its proximity to Argentina (who claims it).
What is funny here is that the people of the Falkland Islands no longer have as much European Union access while the people of French Guiana do (which is why they have not voted for independence).
Other border disputes are ongoing in the Southern Cone, but still mostly for mineral rights and water access.
If I have the chance to meander around any of these soft borders I will report back, but if anyone knows of any ridiculous border disputes that I left out please let me know in the comments.