Post B2XpmfLW2kNcMLRYBM by opencage@en.osm.town
(DIR) More posts by opencage@en.osm.town
(DIR) Post #B2XpmXdIijqwRBhdnE by opencage@en.osm.town
2026-01-22T12:26:13Z
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People seemed to enjoy our recent #geoweirdness thread about the Eurozone, so this time we'll stick with the topic of the EU 🇪🇺, but .. outside of Europe.Join us for a look at the "Special territories" of the members of the European Economic Area1/n
(DIR) Post #B2XpmZ8t6miJ7RUNfM by opencage@en.osm.town
2026-01-22T12:26:13Z
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2/ In total there are 32 remote territories belong to the EU 🇪🇺 and EFTA (European Free Trade Association; consisting of Iceland 🇮🇸, Liechtenstein 🇱🇮, Norway 🇳🇴, and Switzerland 🇨🇭) states and operating within the infrastructures of these two bodies.These territories are divided into three categories, which will form the basis of this thread:1. Outermost Regions (OCR)2. Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT)3. 10 Special Cases#geoweirdness
(DIR) Post #B2XpmaBlDabcMdqBma by opencage@en.osm.town
2026-01-22T12:26:13Z
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3/ You’ll recognise many of the regions from our #geoweirdness library:We already have a Greenland 🇬🇱 🇩🇰 thread https://en.osm.town/@opencage/113800557605866524 covering the world’s northernmost territory and the largest of these special territories, roughly 80% of the collective landmass.Our Macaronesia thread covers the Azores 🇵🇹 and Canary Islands 🇮🇨🇪🇸 1/3 of the 6 million inhabitants of these special territories live on the Spanish archipelago: https://en.osm.town/@opencage/114556545417737901
(DIR) Post #B2Xpmb6TohyZCYNUBs by opencage@en.osm.town
2026-01-22T12:26:13Z
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4/ Each category of remote territory works differently. The 9 Outermost Regions (OMRs) are part of EU 🇪🇺 member states and follow EU law. Most were named as part of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, with some changes since then. Saint Barthélemy 🇧🇱 🇫🇷 was added as an OMR in 2007, but then became an OCT in 2012.The full list is: Azores 🇵🇹; Madeira 🇵🇹; Canary Islands 🇮🇨🇪🇸; French Guiana 🇬🇫🇫🇷, Guadeloupe 🇬🇵🇫🇷; Martinique 🇲🇶 🇫🇷 ; Saint Martin 🇲🇫; Mayotte 🇾🇹🇫🇷 and Réunion 🇷🇪🇫🇷. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/about-parliament/en/in-the-past/the-parliament-and-the-treaties/maastricht-treaty
(DIR) Post #B2XpmbpV7JzLSBRRMe by opencage@en.osm.town
2026-01-22T12:26:13Z
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5/ What separates the OMRs from their continental states tends to be a greater degree of freedom and some derogations regarding laws, such as taxation and fishing. For example, VAT in the Azores 🇵🇹 and Madeira 🇵🇹 is lower than on the mainland (23% on the mainland; 22% in Madeira and 16% in the Azores). https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/portugal/corporate/other-taxes #geoweirdness
(DIR) Post #B2XpmcXoSZQxfcApQu by opencage@en.osm.town
2026-01-22T12:26:13Z
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6/ The 2nd category of special territories is the overseas countries and territories (OCTs). These are not part of the 🇪🇺 EU or the Single Market, and have differing rules re: customs and other key areas of policy. The list of OCTs has changed a lot since the initial 1957 list compiled under the Rome Treaty, with many of the original territories no longer existing, e.g. French Somaliland (now Djibouti 🇩🇯).Today, there are 13 OCTs, including Greenland 🇬🇱, an OCT since 1985. #geoweirdness
(DIR) Post #B2XpmdRp6KEkTKNYjg by opencage@en.osm.town
2026-01-22T12:26:13Z
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7/ Aside from Greenland 🇬🇱🇩🇰 the other OCTs are French 🇲🇫 and Dutch Carribean 🇳🇱 territories https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_territories_of_members_of_the_European_Economic_Area#Overseas_countries_and_territoriesOf course we have threads about both groups🇳🇱 https://en.osm.town/@opencage/110485247551659771🇫🇷 https://en.osm.town/@opencage/109930044904649272#geoweirdness
(DIR) Post #B2Xpmdzr3nSWAsIjmS by opencage@en.osm.town
2026-01-22T12:26:14Z
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8/ The key difference between the so-called “Special Cases” and the OMRs/OCTs is that there is no structure or commonality between the relationship of each Special Case and the European Union 🇪🇺 . Each of the 10 special cases has its own ad hoc arrangement, with different rules and contexts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_territories_of_members_of_the_European_Economic_Area#Special_casesWe’ll go through some of the more interesting ones now:#geoweirdness
(DIR) Post #B2XpmeeyauLuEPXZsO by opencage@en.osm.town
2026-01-22T12:26:14Z
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9/ The 🇺🇳 UN Buffer Zone in 🇨🇾Cyprus, the blue area outlined in the map below, was created in 1964 to keep peace between the Republic of Cyprus in the south and the unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus above. Today, it is part of the EU 🇪🇺 under Cyprus’ membership (2004) and has access to the Customs Union. EU law applies to the south, and is suspended in the north; nationality law applies to the whole island. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Buffer_Zone_in_Cyprus #geoweirdness
(DIR) Post #B2XpmfLW2kNcMLRYBM by opencage@en.osm.town
2026-01-22T12:26:14Z
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10/ Nearby is another Special Case: Mount Athos, Greece. This is an autonomous monastic region of Greece 🇬🇷 that is granted special legal status in the Greek constitution. It is part of the Schengen Area and the customs union, but sits outside of the VAT area. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monastic_community_of_Mount_Athos #geoweirdness
(DIR) Post #B2Xpmfy9j5HwIBWPPU by opencage@en.osm.town
2026-01-22T12:26:14Z
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11/ Heligoland (Helgoland in German) is a tiny archipelago belonging to Germany 🇩🇪 in the North Sea. It was part of the UK 🇬🇧 until they traded it for ... Zanzibar in modern Tanzania 🇹🇿 in 1890.It’s part of the EU 🇪🇺, but not part of the customs union or VAT area. very interesting due to the considerable changes that have occurred to the shape of the land over the last century. You can see below a modern map and a 1910 map showing this evolution: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heligoland #geoweirdness
(DIR) Post #B2XpmgjItn0CePa3to by opencage@en.osm.town
2026-01-22T12:26:14Z
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12/ Finally, we have the Faroe Islands 🇫🇴 a self-governing nation within the Kingdom of Denmark 🇩🇰. It is not part of the EU 🇪🇺. They sit outside the EU due to disagreements on the Common Fisheries Policy, and are not part of the Schengen zone or free market. There is some tension between the EU and the Faroes regarding concerns over fishing quotas. In 2013 this led to a boycott, which banned Faroese vessels from all EU ports and ended in 2014. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faroe_Islands_and_the_European_Union #geoweirdness
(DIR) Post #B2XpmhLwa7uWaFev7w by opencage@en.osm.town
2026-01-22T12:26:14Z
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13/ It’s worth commenting on the Schengen Zone. This is an open borders system of 29 European countries: the EU 🇪🇺member states are included except Ireland 🇮🇪 and Cyprus 🇨🇾 , the 4 EFTA members, and 4 microstates (Andorra 🇦🇩, Monaco 🇲🇨, San Marino 🇸🇲 and the Vatican 🇻🇦). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_AreaThis is all plotted on the Euler diagram below. #geoweirdness
(DIR) Post #B2Xpmi00BBxAaUOuZ6 by opencage@en.osm.town
2026-01-22T12:26:14Z
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14/ That brings our thread on special territories of the EEA to a close. What did we miss? If you enjoyed this thread, you may like our look at the 🇪🇺€ Eurozonehttps://en.osm.town/@opencage/115859345967158025🇬🇧 British overseas territories https://en.osm.town/@opencage/110288036094504869🇺🇸 US non-state territories https://en.osm.town/@opencage/110644249174123375We have many more #geoweirdness threads about other countries, border disputes, exclaves, geocoding, etc listed on our blog: https://blog.opencagedata.com/geothreads
(DIR) Post #B2XpmilVKZx0xocqbg by genmaicha@stereophonic.space
2026-01-22T13:42:38.528001Z
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@opencage wow, I guess you could say the sun never sets on the european economic area!