Editing Terra nullius (section)

{{Short description|International law term for unclaimed land}}
{{Italic title}}
{{About|a region of land that is not claimed by any party|a region separating warring parties|No man's land|the books|Terra Nullius (Coleman novel){{!}}''Terra Nullius'' (Coleman novel)|and|Terra Nullius (Lindqvist book)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Use list-defined references|date=August 2022}}
[[File:Antarctica, unclaimed.svg|200px|thumb|right|The unclaimed areas of Antarctica, including all of [[Marie Byrd Land]]]]

'''''Terra nullius''''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|ɛr|ə|_|ˈ|n|ʌ||l|ɪ|ə|s}},<ref>{{cite web |title=terra nullius (noun) |url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/terra-nullius_n |website=OED |access-date=1 March 2024}}</ref> plural ''terrae nullius'') is a [[Latin]] expression meaning "[[no man's land|nobody's land]]".<ref name=Klotz-1998>
{{cite book
 |first=Frank G. |last=Klotz
 |date=June 1998
 |title=America on the Ice: Antarctic policy issues
 |publisher=DIANE Publishing
 |isbn=0-7881-7048-1
 |page=3
 |quote=Antarctica was what international lawyers refers to as ''terra nullius'' – literally, "nobody's land".
 |url={{GBurl|id=yww_zPcd8nMC|pg=PA3}}
 |via=Google Books
}}
</ref>
Since the nineteenth century it has occasionally been used in [[international law]] as a principle to justify claims that territory may be acquired by a state's [[Acquisition of sovereignty#Effective occupation|occupation]] of it.{{efn|Even as to ''terra nullius'', like a volcanic island, or territory abandoned by its former sovereign, a claimant by right as against all others has more to do than [[Flag planting|planting a flag]] or rearing a monument. From the 19th century the most generous settled view has been that discovery accompanied by symbolic acts give no more than "''an inchoate title, an option, as against other states, to consolidate the first steps by proceeding to effective occupation within a reasonable'' {{nowrap|''time''." — [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] (1998) [[New Jersey v. New York]]<ref name=SCotUS-1998-05-26-523-US-767>
{{cite web
 | title = New Jersey v. New York, 523 US 767 (1998)
 | publisher = US Supreme Court
 | url = http://openjurist.org/523/us/767/new-jersey-v-new-york
 | date = 26 May 1998
 | volume = US
 | issue = 523
 | at = 523.US.767
 | access-date = 29 January 2010
}}
</ref>}}}}<ref name=intl-law-multi-ref>
{{cite book
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 |year=1990
 |title=Principles of Public International Law
 |edition=4th |page=146
}}
<br/>{{*}}{{cite book
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}}
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}}
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}}
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}}
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}}
<br/>{{*}}{{cite book
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 |year=1844
 |title=Law of Nations
 |edition=6th Am. |at=§208, p.&nbsp;99
 |publisher=J. Chitty
}}
</ref> There are currently three territories sometimes claimed to be ''terra nullius'': [[Bir Tawil]] (a strip of land between [[Egypt]] and the [[Sudan]]), four pockets of land near the [[Danube]] due to the [[Croatia–Serbia border dispute]], and parts of [[Antarctica]], principally [[Marie Byrd Land]].