What Is Bir Tawil?

Bir Tawil (Arabic: بير طويل, Bīr Ṭawīl, meaning "the tall well" or "long well") is a roughly trapezoid-shaped area of the Eastern Desert lying immediately south of the 22nd parallel north. It sits between Egypt to the north and Sudan to the south, more than 200 kilometres inland from the Red Sea.

The territory is best known for a geographical anomaly. Egypt and Sudan each decline to claim Bir Tawil, because claiming it would weaken their competing claims to the Halaib Triangle, a much larger and more valuable area on the Red Sea coast. The result is a piece of land that each neighbour treats as belonging to the other.

That status has made Bir Tawil famous online as "the only unclaimed land in the world". (Marie Byrd Land in Antarctica is the other large area claimed by no state, but it lies under the Antarctic Treaty system.) On October 21, 2026, the founding Emperor of the Sovereign Empire of Brendania, Brendan Smith I, claimed it for his Empire.

The figures below are drawn from standard geographic references.

In 1899 the United Kingdom and Egypt set the northern boundary of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan along the 22nd parallel. In 1902 the British drew a separate administrative boundary that better matched how local communities used the land. Under that line, Bir Tawil, south of the parallel, was administered from Cairo, while the Halaib Triangle, north of the parallel on the coast, was administered from Khartoum.

Egypt today recognizes only the straight 1899 line, which puts Halaib in Egypt and Bir Tawil in Sudan. Sudan recognizes the 1902 line, which puts Halaib in Sudan and Bir Tawil in Egypt. Each state's position therefore assigns Bir Tawil to the other. Claiming Bir Tawil would mean accepting the line that gives away Halaib, which is about ten times larger and has a coastline.

Bir Tawil has no towns, paved roads, or government services. People do use it, however. Members of the Ababda and Bishari communities have long crossed the wider area with livestock, and in recent years artisanal gold miners have set up camps in parts of the region.

The Empire of Brendania honours these communities and their long ties to the land.

Bir Tawil is claimed by the Sovereign Empire of Brendania, and its Emperor is His Imperial Majesty Brendan Smith I.

On October 21, 2026, the Sovereign Empire of Brendania was proclaimed by Declaration of Independence, with Bir Tawil as its sovereign territory. Under its Imperial Constitution and Act of Ratification, Brendan Smith I is Emperor, King, and Supreme Leader of Brendania and founder of the House of Smith. The Empire has opened diplomatic correspondence with Egypt and Sudan and is pursuing formal recognition by peaceful means. Earlier individuals, among them Jeremiah Heaton (2014) and Suyash Dixit (2017), announced claims of their own; Brendania is the sovereign state now constituted over the territory.

Reaching Bir Tawil is difficult and potentially dangerous. Access is through Egyptian or Sudanese territory, both of which control movement in their border regions, and Sudan has been at war since April 2023. Anyone considering travel should read their government's current travel advice first. The guide article on travel covers routes, permits, and risks in more detail.