I must say that the UN site does not use the word "condominium," but calls its
18 acres "an international zone belonging to all Member States."
This begs the question: What does the United States call those 18 acres?
Answer: "The United Nations Headquarters District"
Here's the law, 22 USC 4309a(e):
(e) ''United Nations Headquarters District'' defined
For purposes of this section, the term ''United Nations
Headquarters District'' means the area within the United States
which is agreed to by the United Nations and the United States to
constitute such a district, together with such other areas as the
Secretary of State may approve from time to time in order to permit
effective functioning of the United Nations or missions to the
United Nations.
The full text of the 1946 agreement between the UN and the USA is found within
the very long web page at
http://tinyurl.com/5rb5x . When you get to the page,
use your browser's "Find on this page" function to search for the word
"Desiring" to go directly to the beginning of the agreement. Once you have read
its 28 sections and two annexes (paying particular attention to Section 7), you
will see that the UNHD is much more analogous to a diplomatic facility than to a
sovereign entity. The agreement simply assures the UN that it and its members
will be free to perform their proper functions within the UNHD without American
interference.
As to property ownership: The US government acquired the land by expropriation
for the UN, and the UN reimbursed it. The UN holds title to the property, but
its ownership reverts to the US government or to the city or state if the UN
vacates.
Lowell G. McManus
Leesville, Louisiana, USA
----- Original Message -----
From: "aletheiak" <aletheiak@...>
To: <BoundaryPoint@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 29, 2004 4:46 PM
Subject: [BoundaryPoint] Re: Possible to have land in USA that isn't in a State?
> the united nations itself calls the entire 18 acres an international
> zone
> & describes it as a condo belonging to all 191 of its members
> http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/untour/subunh.htm
>
> so it could yet prove to be a true territorial entity rather than just a
> merely diplomatic enclave
> with real stamps & real security forces
> just like the vatican & taiwan
> in case thats all that matters
>
> for we know it doesnt have to be a member of the united nations
> in order to be considered a real country with a real territory
>
> so perhaps more data are needed to fully answer this question