Enclave

In human geography, an enclave is a piece of land which is totally surrounded by a foreign territory. If another country has sovereignty over it, it is also called an exclave of that other country.

"Practical" enclaves

Some territories, while not geographically detached from their motherland, are more easily reached by entering a foreign country, because of their location in a hilly area, or because the only road available enters that foreign place before coming back to the mother country. These territories may be called "practical enclaves," "pene-enclaves" or "quasi-enclaves" and can be found along many borders, particularly those that are not heavily defended. They will only be attached to the motherland via an extremely small or thin slice of land.

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Here are some examples:

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• The Austrian municipality of Jungholz is surrounded by German territory virtually everywhere, except at one point: the top of a mountain.
• The Kleines Walsertal, a valley part of Vorarlberg, Austria, can be reached by road from Oberstdorf, Bavaria, only.
• The Swiss village of Samnaun could initially only be reached by road from Austria. Thus in 1892 the village was excluded from the Swiss customs territory. The exemption was maintained even when in 1907-1912 a road was built to the Engadin valley.
• For similar reasons the Italian Livigno valley near the Swiss border is excluded from EU VAT area.
• Some villages in eastern Estonia can only be reached by a road which ventures inside Russian territory. One can drive on the road without any visa, but it is forbidden to stop before coming back to Estonia.
• Several farms on the border between Denmark and Germany.
• The western-most region of County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland contains a pene-enclave jutting into County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland (United Kingdom).
• A valley, which includes five villages, called Macahel in northeast of Turkey can only be reached a road via Batumi in Georgia by vehicles, and as the snow shuts the paths which are completely within the borders of Turkey in winter, the road via Batumi is the only way for getting there.
• Point Roberts, Washington lies at the tip of a peninsula jutting south across the 49th parallel from British Columbia; its only road connection to the United States is via Canada.