What does it mean when a country “administers” a disputed, uninhabited territory?

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Lots of islands around the world are disputed between one or more countries, and are also uninhabited. It’s frequently said that they are “disputed between [X] and [Y] but administered by [Y],” or something similar. What does administering such an island really mean when there’s nothing there and no one on it except maybe flora/fauna?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Morocco administers Western Sahara. It’s not internationally recognized by every country, but de facto (as a matter of fact) it is under Moroccan control, people are issued Moroccan IDs and driving licenses and are registered as citizens and go to Moroccan public school, borders are guarded and enforced by Morocco, and so on. That’s basically what administrating amounts to, and as they say, possession is nine tenths of the law.

It’s the same deal with vacant islands, except a whole lot less complicated. All you need to do is make sure your military is on it and not the other party’s.

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