Why Don't Egypt and Sudan Claim Bir Tawil?

On January 19, 1899, Britain and Egypt signed the agreement establishing the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium over Sudan. It defined Sudan as the territory south of the 22nd parallel north. A straight line of latitude, it took no account of how people used the land.

On November 4, 1902, the British drew a separate administrative boundary. It placed a triangle of land north of the parallel, on the Red Sea coast around Halaib, under the administration of Khartoum, because the Beja peoples who used it were linked to Sudan. It placed a smaller area south of the parallel, Bir Tawil, under the administration of Cairo, because it was grazing land used by the Ababda, who were linked to the Aswan area in Egypt.

For half a century the difference mattered little: both territories were under the same imperial system. It began to matter when Sudan became independent on January 1, 1956.

The Halaib Triangle covers about 20,580 km² and has a Red Sea coastline, a port, fishing grounds, and mineral potential. Bir Tawil covers about 2,060 km² of landlocked desert with no surface water.

Egypt claims the 1899 line, which gives it Halaib. That line puts Bir Tawil in Sudan. Sudan claims the 1902 line, which gives it Halaib. That line puts Bir Tawil in Egypt. Neither state can claim both areas without contradicting itself, and each prefers the larger and more valuable one. Claiming Bir Tawil would amount to conceding Halaib.

The dispute first came to a head in 1958, when Egypt sought to include Halaib in a national plebiscite and Sudan objected. Tensions eased without a settlement. In the early 1990s the issue returned over oil-exploration rights off the coast, and from the mid-1990s Egypt took control of Halaib on the ground. Egypt has administered it since, and Sudan continues to protest and to claim it.

Throughout, Bir Tawil has remained outside both states' claims. Neither government has sought international arbitration of the boundary as a whole.

Bir Tawil's status is a by-product of a dispute about somewhere else. It remains unclaimed by any state so long as Egypt and Sudan hold their current positions on Halaib. A settlement of the Halaib question could change that.

In the meantime, the territory has attracted claims from private parties. The current claim is that of the Sovereign Empire of Brendania, proclaimed on October 21, 2026 under Emperor Brendan Smith I. The Empire has written to Egypt and Sudan, and its declared policy is peaceful engagement with both.