[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclave\_and\_exclave](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclave_and_exclave)
this is what wikipedia has to offer, but its so minimal and confusing. it only says that; An enclave is a territory (or a small territory as part of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity.\[1\] Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters.\[2\]: 60 Enclave is sometimes used improperly to denote a territory that is only partly surrounded by another state.\[1\] Vatican City and San Marino, both enclaved by Italy, and Lesotho, enclaved by South Africa, are completely enclaved sovereign states.
An exclave is a portion of a state or district geographically separated from the main part by surrounding alien territory (of one or more states or districts etc).\[3\] Many exclaves are also enclaves, but not all: an exclave can be surrounded by the territory of more than one state.\[4\] The Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan is an example of an exclave that is not an enclave, as it borders Armenia, Turkey and Iran.
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An enclave is a bit of a foreign country inside your country.
An exclave is a bit of your country inside a foreign country.
So whether something counts as an enclave or exclave depends on from whose side you are looking at it (Similar to how people are both immigrants and emigrants from different perspectives).
This also works on level below country. States, counties and other subnational units can have enclaves and enclaves in each others territory.
There are a number of edge case where a enclave is only partially surrounded by another country and the rest is bordered by ocean or when two countries together surround bit of a third or when a piece of territory is technically connected to the rest of it, but that connection is not really something people can easily travel across, making it functionally an enclave because you have to go through another place to get to it.
Higher order enclaves are rare and happen when there are bits of one country inside bits of another country inside the first country and so one.
There is a famous place between Belgium and the Netherlands where this can get very extreme in places, but thanks to EU integration this doesn’t result in much besides lines on the ground.
In other parts of the world where borders are taken more seriously this can result in very real consequences as one country can cut of access of people in an enclave to he outside world.
World War III was nearly started when the soviets tried to prevent access of the allies to West Berlin, which was an Exclave of the allied controlled parts of German in the soviet controlled parts of Germany at that time. The city was ultimately supplied by air to get around this.
An enclave is a bit of a foreign country inside your country.
An exclave is a bit of your country inside a foreign country.
So whether something counts as an enclave or exclave depends on from whose side you are looking at it (Similar to how people are both immigrants and emigrants from different perspectives).
This also works on level below country. States, counties and other subnational units can have enclaves and enclaves in each others territory.
There are a number of edge case where a enclave is only partially surrounded by another country and the rest is bordered by ocean or when two countries together surround bit of a third or when a piece of territory is technically connected to the rest of it, but that connection is not really something people can easily travel across, making it functionally an enclave because you have to go through another place to get to it.
Higher order enclaves are rare and happen when there are bits of one country inside bits of another country inside the first country and so one.
There is a famous place between Belgium and the Netherlands where this can get very extreme in places, but thanks to EU integration this doesn’t result in much besides lines on the ground.
In other parts of the world where borders are taken more seriously this can result in very real consequences as one country can cut of access of people in an enclave to he outside world.
World War III was nearly started when the soviets tried to prevent access of the allies to West Berlin, which was an Exclave of the allied controlled parts of German in the soviet controlled parts of Germany at that time. The city was ultimately supplied by air to get around this.
An enclave is like an island. I can leave the island, but the only way I can leave is by crossing the water. There is no way on or off the island unless I cross water.
An exclave is like the far side of the river. I am on dry land, and I want to get to dry land, but to get from here to there I have to cross water to get there, there is no choice. I can get from the far side of the river to lots of other places without crossing water, but I can’t get from here to there.
An enclave is like an island. I can leave the island, but the only way I can leave is by crossing the water. There is no way on or off the island unless I cross water.
An exclave is like the far side of the river. I am on dry land, and I want to get to dry land, but to get from here to there I have to cross water to get there, there is no choice. I can get from the far side of the river to lots of other places without crossing water, but I can’t get from here to there.
An *ex*clave (“ex-” meaning outside of, or away from) is part of one country that is *separated from the main part*. We have a country where part of it is somewhere else; we have to leave the main part and cross through somewhere else to get to it.
An *en*clave (“en-” meaning in, or inside) is part of one country thing that is no only separated from the main part, but *entirely surrounded* by a single other country.
All enclaves are exclaves, but not all exclaves are enclaves. An exclave that is surrounded by two countries (one on each side) isn’t an enclave, as an enclave has to be surrounded by a single country.
A second-order enclave is an enclave (part of a country that is entirely surrounded by another country), where the land that is surrounding it is also an enclave (so part of a country entirely surrounded by another country). You have a bit of one country inside a bit of a second country, inside a bit of a third country (or possibly the first country).
A third-order enclave is a second-order enclave where the third bit of land is also an enclave. You have your first bit of land (part of one country), surrounded by a second bit of land (from a different country), surrounded by a third bit of land, surrounded by a fourth bit of land. At this point things get a bit silly.
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Looking at [Wikipedia’s helpful graphic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Diagrama_enclave_exclave.svg), A1-A5 are all exclaves of A. They are part of A, but not directly connected to the main part.
A1 and A2 are not enclaves as they aren’t completely surrounded by another country (A1 has the sea, A2 is between B and C). A3, A4 and A5 are enclaves as they are completely surrounded by B, or E.
E1 is a second-order enclave. It is an enclave (part of E, but separated from the main part and completely surrounded by A5), where the thing surrounding it – A5 – is also an enclave. For a third order enclave we would need another region inside E1.
D is arguably not an enclave as it is an entire country, so not a part separated from another country.
An *ex*clave (“ex-” meaning outside of, or away from) is part of one country that is *separated from the main part*. We have a country where part of it is somewhere else; we have to leave the main part and cross through somewhere else to get to it.
An *en*clave (“en-” meaning in, or inside) is part of one country thing that is no only separated from the main part, but *entirely surrounded* by a single other country.
All enclaves are exclaves, but not all exclaves are enclaves. An exclave that is surrounded by two countries (one on each side) isn’t an enclave, as an enclave has to be surrounded by a single country.
A second-order enclave is an enclave (part of a country that is entirely surrounded by another country), where the land that is surrounding it is also an enclave (so part of a country entirely surrounded by another country). You have a bit of one country inside a bit of a second country, inside a bit of a third country (or possibly the first country).
A third-order enclave is a second-order enclave where the third bit of land is also an enclave. You have your first bit of land (part of one country), surrounded by a second bit of land (from a different country), surrounded by a third bit of land, surrounded by a fourth bit of land. At this point things get a bit silly.
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Looking at [Wikipedia’s helpful graphic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Diagrama_enclave_exclave.svg), A1-A5 are all exclaves of A. They are part of A, but not directly connected to the main part.
A1 and A2 are not enclaves as they aren’t completely surrounded by another country (A1 has the sea, A2 is between B and C). A3, A4 and A5 are enclaves as they are completely surrounded by B, or E.
E1 is a second-order enclave. It is an enclave (part of E, but separated from the main part and completely surrounded by A5), where the thing surrounding it – A5 – is also an enclave. For a third order enclave we would need another region inside E1.
D is arguably not an enclave as it is an entire country, so not a part separated from another country.
You know how “landlocked” means a country’s borders are all land-borders with other countries; it has “no way out” to the sea except by marching through the lands of it’s neighbors.
Enclaves and exclaves are a similar concepts describing how politically “borderlocked” a territory is by it’s neighbors.
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An “enclave” is a territory (or sub-territory) that is completely “borderlocked” by a single neighbor; there is politically “only one way out” and it requires going through the territory of that one specific neighbor.
If a territory (or sub-territory) is “borderlocked” by multiple neighbors then it is not an “enclave” because there are (potentially) “multiple ways out” politically.
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An exclave is a sub-territory of a country or government that is separated from the main territory in a way that is completely “borderlocked” by it’s neighbors; there may be “multiple ways out” of the sub-territory but none of those ways connect to the main territory without first going through some neighbor’s territory.
You know how “landlocked” means a country’s borders are all land-borders with other countries; it has “no way out” to the sea except by marching through the lands of it’s neighbors.
Enclaves and exclaves are a similar concepts describing how politically “borderlocked” a territory is by it’s neighbors.
————————-
An “enclave” is a territory (or sub-territory) that is completely “borderlocked” by a single neighbor; there is politically “only one way out” and it requires going through the territory of that one specific neighbor.
If a territory (or sub-territory) is “borderlocked” by multiple neighbors then it is not an “enclave” because there are (potentially) “multiple ways out” politically.
———————————————————-
An exclave is a sub-territory of a country or government that is separated from the main territory in a way that is completely “borderlocked” by it’s neighbors; there may be “multiple ways out” of the sub-territory but none of those ways connect to the main territory without first going through some neighbor’s territory.
You know how “landlocked” means a country’s borders are all land-borders with other countries; it has “no way out” to the sea except by marching through the lands of it’s neighbors.
Enclaves and exclaves are a similar concepts describing how politically “borderlocked” a territory is by it’s neighbors.
————————-
An “enclave” is a territory (or sub-territory) that is completely “borderlocked” by a single neighbor; there is politically “only one way out” and it requires going through the territory of that one specific neighbor.
If a territory (or sub-territory) is “borderlocked” by multiple neighbors then it is not an “enclave” because there are (potentially) “multiple ways out” politically.
———————————————————-
An exclave is a sub-territory of a country or government that is separated from the main territory in a way that is completely “borderlocked” by it’s neighbors; there may be “multiple ways out” of the sub-territory but none of those ways connect to the main territory without first going through some neighbor’s territory.
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