Posted by I had a couple visitors to my blog from Russia over the weekend. Normally this isn’t a big deal – I get visitors from other countries all the time. But what was interesting was Google Analytics’ depiction of Russia on the “Map Overlay” module. I noticed a small piece of Russia sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania, not physically attached to the rest of Russia. (See red circle)
I thought it was a mistake. There’s no way Russia would be allowed to keep such a valuable sliver of land. Instead, I found out I was the one mistaken.
Inside that red circle is Kaliningrad, a Russian province that has remained with Russia despite much map redrawing over the past century. It actually has a term – it’s called an Exclave, which is a one territory legally or politically attached to another territory without being contiguous. Think Alaska.
My geographic world has been turned upside down. Thank you, visitors from Russia, for setting all of us straight.