Editing Terra nullius (section)

== Doctrine ==
In international law, ''terra nullius'' is territory which belongs to no state. Sovereignty over territory which is ''terra nullius'' can be acquired by any state by occupation.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Grant |first1=John P. |title=Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law |last2=Barker |first2=J. Craig |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780195389777 |edition=3rd |pages=596}}</ref> According to [[L. F. L. Oppenheim|Oppenheim]]: "The only territory which can be the object of occupation is that which does not already belong to another state, whether it is uninhabited, or inhabited by persons whose community is not considered to be a state; for individuals may live on as territory without forming themselves into a state proper exercising sovereignty over such territory."<ref>{{Cite book |title=Oppenheim's International Law, Vol. I, Peace |publisher=Longman |year=1992 |editor-last=Jennings |editor-first=Robert |location=Burnt Mill |pages=687 |editor-last2=Watts |editor-first2=Sir Arthur}}</ref>

Occupation of ''terra nullius'' is one of several ways in which a state can acquire territory under international law. The other means of acquiring territory are conquest, [[cession]] by agreement, accretion through the operations of nature, and [[Prescription (sovereignty transfer)|prescription]] through the continuous exercise of sovereignty.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mickelson |first=Karin |date=2014 |title=The Maps of International Law: Perceptions of Nature in the Classification of Territory |journal=Leiden Journal of International Law |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=621–639 |doi=10.1017/S0922156514000235|s2cid=146548691}}</ref>{{sfn|Grant|Barker|2009|p=599}}