Editing Demilitarized zone (section)

{{Short description|Area in which agreements between military powers forbid military activities}}
{{Redirect|DMZ}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
[[File:20120416 WN C1022490 0002 - Flickr - NZ Defence Force.jpg|thumb|240px|The mission of [[United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission|UNCMAC]] is to supervise the [[Korean Armistice Agreement|Military Armistice Agreement]] between the two Koreas along the 151 mile [[Korean Demilitarized Zone|Demilitarized Zone]] (DMZ).]]
A '''demilitarized zone''' ('''DMZ''' or '''DZ''')<ref>{{cite book|last1=Oren|first1=Michael|title=Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East|date=3 June 2003|publisher=Presidio Press|isbn=978-0345461926|page=7}}<!--|access-date=28 August 2014--></ref> is an area in which treaties or agreements between states, 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 {{convert|14|km|mi|abbr=on}} wide [[Iraq-Kuwait barrier|area between Iraq and Kuwait]]; [[Politics of Antarctica|Antarctica]] (preserved for scientific exploration and study); and [[Politics of outer space|outer space]] (space more than {{convert|100|km|mi|disp=or|abbr=on}} from the Earth's surface).

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]]s because their land is unsafe for construction or less exposed to human disturbances (including hunting). Examples include the [[Korean Demilitarized Zone]], the [[United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus|Cypriot Demilitarized Zone]] (the Green Line), and the former [[Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone]] which divided Vietnam into two countries ([[North Vietnam]] and [[South Vietnam]]) from 21 July 1954 to 2 July 1976.