Subject: first try at a complete clavoscopy of the usa
Date: Apr 30, 2001 @ 11:51
Author: michael donner (michael donner <m@...>)
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as mentioned
have been trying to answer some clave questions myself lately
taking the usa as an example
& this is a very crude try for lack of the right reference materials
with several close & uncertain calls
& i know many will not agree with my definitions or approach
& many would specifically dismiss the idea of exclaves enclaved only in the
high seas
but anyway
with all due respect to everyones ideas & everyones land


for starters i found that the dry tortugas group of the florida keys
actually lies more than 24nm from the rest of dry florida & the rest of the
dry usa
& thus is an exclave both of florida & of the usa

therefore the so called contiguous or lower 48 are actually 2 discontiguous
units
the huge metropolitan unit plus the separate dry tortugas unit
wow


& because the 12nm federal territorial seas of the usa include usually 3nm
& sometimes 9nm of territorial seas of individual states & territories
i have even found several fantastic places within the territorial seas of
the usa where individual states separate from the rest of themselves
while the territorial seas of the usa nevertheless remain unbroken

california most notably is actually divided into 7 separate parts
1 the metropolitan territory
plus 6 offshore exclaves as follows
2 farallon islands
3 channel islands
4 santa barbara etc
5 santa catalina etc
6 san nicolas etc
7 san clemente etc
tho the offshore islands & groups are so situated that all of them
unlike the dry tortugas
fall within the unbroken 12nm territorial limits of the usa

similarly block island is an exclave of rhode island tho not of the usa

similarly the chandeleur & neighboring island groups of louisiana form an
exclave of louisiana but not of the usa

point roberts washington also
tho previously dismissed as a non exclave
in favor of calling it an international tongue of land
is technically a true exclave of washington state as well as of whatcom
county
tho not a true exclave of the usa
being more than 6nm but less than 24nm from the rest of dry washington etc

& finally maine too would have an exclave
& thus would also increase from a singular to a plural territorial entity
if the disputed machias seal island is added to its territory
tho this island like those of ca & ri & la above also falls within the 12nm
limits & thus wouldnt be an exclave of the usa either

so much for the lower 48 or so called contiguous united states
with at least 5 turning out to be exclavic or discontiguous from themselves
in addition to kentucky & new york which had been previously recognized
tho i realize some people would distinguish these several types of situations
& might not even call them all claves or group them all together as i have here



but to continue
alaska too is widely recognized to be an exclave of the usa
but owing to its broad scattering of islands
it has many more places than california has where it separates from itself
& has 10 islands & groups like the dry tortugas where the usa also
separates from itself

yes
alaska is not simply an exclave
but it actually produces & informs 11 distinct exclaves of the usa


hawaii similarly is 3 distinct exclaves of the usa
rather than a single exclave of the usa
while it too disconnects from itself in additional places as well

& this doesnt even take into account the rest of the hawaiian chain
beyond the state of hawaii
where probably 10 additional usa exclaves are likely
nor the remaining pacific territorial exclaves of the usa
namely
american samoa with 5 exclaves
guam & the northern marianas with 10
wake 1
johnston atoll 1
howland & baker 2
jarvis 1
palmyra atoll & kingman reef 2


& finally to the caribbean
most of the puerto rican islands form a single exclave of the usa together
with most of the american virgins
but st croix of the virgins & the mona group of puerto rico both form
separate exclaves of the usa besides
& there is an additional outlying caribbean exclave of the usa at navassa


so to recap
at least 9 or 10 of the 50 states are territorially discontiguous
& the probable total numbers of units of territory of the usa are

2 lower 48 states
11 alaska
13 hawaiian chain
22 rest of the pacific
4 caribbean

52 total the full deck
of separate portions of legal sovereign usa territory
including the biggie as one
& as simply the first among equals

m