Switzerland & Italy Are Changing Their Border, Here's Why

[@Ridorim]

With the video being 3 days old it might be too late for anyone to see this. But I want to point out that the Lago di Lei border change had a different reason than peaks moving (the rectangular one). After diplomatic talks Italy ceded that rectangular area so that Switzerland could build and operate a dam. They gave an equal area to Italy somewhere else.

[@Respectable_Username]

Thank you for your addition! Was wondering about that one

[@ByronLina]

And it was in 1955. Not recently.

[@GeoCrusader]

“While the northern border is pretty simple”… Schaffhausen: allow me to introduce myself

[@General.Knowledge]

Did not know about this! Just looked it up. Very interesting!

[@aum1083]

I disagree about the northern borders beeing "reasonably simple". There are many curious border situations along the northern borders: Especially in the Swiss cities of Basel and Schaffhausen. 1) Basel Euroairport is fully located in France and has a swiss transit road into Switzerland. As far as I know this is the only bi-national Airport operated by two countries (Switzerland/France) worldwide. 2) Basel Bad Bahnhof (train station) is fully located within Switzerland, despite beeing a fully operating DB German train station. This makes it probably the only staffed "Exclave" train station worldwide ;-) 3) Usually the Rhein river is the border river. But half of the city of Basel is located north of the Rhein river (so is the full city of Schaffhausen). 4) Last one about Basel ;-)... The Basel city public transportation network connects three countries. This is probably unique worlwide.You could travel with tramway line Nr.8 to Weil am Rhein (Germany) or you could travel with tramway line Nr.3 to St.Louis (France). 5) The Rhein river also flews through the town of Rheinfelden and through the town of Laufenburg. Those two towns used to belong to the Austrian Empire until 200 years ago when the Rhein river was not the border. Now as of today the Rhein river separates a German Rheinfelden(north) and a Swiss Rheinfelden(south), and also separates a German Laufenburg(north) and a Swiss Laufenburg(south). 6) Büsingen am Rhein is a German town (or Exclave) fully surrounded by Swiss towns. 7) The main train line between the Swiss cities of Zürich and Schaffhausen runs partially (10km) through German territory 8) Constance is the only German city south of the German/Swiss Rhein river border... 9) And most curious of all: There are three countries bordering at Lake Constance (Germany, Switzerland, Austria), but officially there are no international borders separating those three countries on the lake. (> see Wikipedia) Making it the only border region without borders. You could say that lake Constance belongs to no country.... Nothing "reasonably simple" about that :-) 10) One last curiosity (more to the eastern border). Just a few kilometers south of Lake Constance lies the country of Liechtenstein, which is landlocked between Austria and Switzerland, which are landlocked countries themselves. Making Liechtenstein one of only two double-landlocked countries worldwide.

[@GeoCrusader]

@@aum1083 yeah there are so so many curiosities on the northern border… to say that it’s mostly normal is quite the understatement haha

[@giovanni_vaz_cardoso]

​@@aum1083There are many other regions without official borders lol. And no lake Constance belongs to the three countries, it's shared.

[@RainerLP]

​@@giovanni_vaz_cardoso yes but they can not agree on how the bordees should look.

[@lizzylinks789]

I never thought that voice would come from that guy

[@broodjekaas820]

I mean you never do with face reveals lol

[@asifhassan4980]

Exactly!

[@Ephebvs]

His voice is also tender in Portuguese!

[@ZinvictanGamer]

Southern Tuga looks

[@Planetmango48]

In another universe, yes you did.

[@Jan-Sery]

Excluding those minor changes, Switzerland is the only country in Central Europe that's got the same borders since 1815, same political system (constitution) since 1848 and the same currency since 1850.

[@roberw1912]

Does help avoiding all the wars and not joining the EU.

[@Saleca]

Only in central europe... Thats pretty specific lol

[@MW_Asura]

@@Saleca In all of Europe it's Portugal

[@Saleca]

@@MW_Asura i think its Andorra

[@psymar]

​@@Salecaandorra and portugal both use the Euro

[@General.Knowledge]

*Switzerland casually annexing all of Italy, step by step*

[@diegoyuiop]

That would be the dream, imagine getting to Switzerland without even having to move

[@aum1083]

That will bring some punctuallity into Italy, and it would be less chaotic and bureaucratic. Imagine that! ;-)

[@lucone2937]

Swiss Guards are already controlling Vatican City.

[@CarneSagrado]

. Hmmm... a Swiss Guard in the Vatican! 🤣🤣🤣🤣 .

[@patrickjeffers7864]

​@@CarneSagrado🤔🤔..it's been their plan all along

[@aum1083]

I disagree about the northern borders beeing "reasonably simple". There are many curious border situations along the northern borders: Especially in the Swiss cities of Basel and Schaffhausen. 1) Basel Euroairport is fully located in France and has a swiss transit road into Switzerland. As far as I know this is the only bi-national Airport operated by two countries (Switzerland/France) worldwide. 2) Basel Bad Bahnhof (train station) is fully located within Switzerland, despite beeing a fully operating DB German train station. This makes it probably the only "Exclave" train station worldwide ;-) 3) Usually the Rhein river is the border river. But half of the city of Basel is located north of the Rhein river (so is the full city of Schaffhausen). 4) Last one about Basel ;-)... The Basel city public transportation network connects three countries. This is probably unique worlwide. You could travel with tramway line Nr.8 to Weil am Rhein (Germany) or you could travel with tramway line Nr.3 to St.Louis (France). 5) The Rhein river also flews through the town of Rheinfelden and through the town of Laufenburg. Those two towns used to belong to the Austrian Empire until 200 years ago when the Rhein river was not the border. Now as of today the Rhein river separates a German Rheinfelden(north) and a Swiss Rheinfelden(south), and also separates a German Laufenburg(north) and a Swiss Laufenburg(south). 6) Büsingen am Rhein is a German town (or Exclave) fully surrounded by Swiss towns. 7) The main train line between the Swiss cities of Zürich and Schaffhausen runs partially (10km) through German territory 8) Constance is the only German city south of the German/Swiss Rhein river border... 9) And most curious of all: There are three countries bordering at Lake Constance (Germany, Switzerland, Austria), but officially there are no international borders separating those three countries on the lake. (> see Wikipedia) Making it the only border region on this planet without borders. You could say that lake Constance belongs to no country.... Nothing "reasonably simple" about that :-) 10) One last curiosity (more to the eastern border). Just a few kilometers south of Lake Constance is the country of Liechtenstein which is landlocked between Austria and Switzerland, which are landlocked countries themselves. Making Liechtenstein one of only two double-landlocked countries worldwide.

[@edopizza]

The fenced road that joins Basel to the Mulhouse airport has nothing to do with boarder, it is just a way to shift the custom check point right at the airport. There is a comparable situation at the Chiasso-Como border. The custom's infrastructure is fully located on Italian territory, 300 metres from the border. The Swiss highway A2 starts at the customs where the milestone reads - 300 metres. At the actual border it reaches 0 metres and from there on the indicated distance increase.

[@aum1083]

@@edopizza agreed, that's why I wrote "curious border situation"

[@chanpost4]

2:43 mentions that the map says Bavarian Alps rather than German Alps while ignoring it says Julian Alps instead of Slovene/Slovenian Alps

Also, the Bavarian and Austrian Alps are both "German" Alps including parts of the Swiss and Italian Alps. ThatÄs probably why. Being German is not limited to German citizenship.

[@Ea-Nasir_Copper_Co]

When in reality "Julian Alps" refers to a certain specific range of the Alps that's shared by Italy and Slovenia. The name predates the current boundaries by almost 2,000 years; it was probably named for a road built through it and funded by Julius Caesar.

[@antomort7295]

Why does Julian get a border all to himself?

[@moi101096qp]

Lago Maggiore is 200m ABOVE see level ! Great video otherwise! Thanks

[@estraume]

Its mean height above the sea level is 193 metres; a deep lake, its bottom is almost everywhere below sea-level: at its deepest, 179 metres below. So I guess he was almost right if he measures from the bottom of the lake! 😆

[@General.Knowledge]

Ah! Thanks for the correction

[@Michael_Brock]

The general thought all the water evaporates, leaving the body of water a seasonal slight flow filling depression 180 meters below since the Alps are renowned for very small precipitation, and an extremely hot and arid climate the leads to excessive evaporation!

[@NoName-cx3gk]

​@@General.KnowledgeThe greatest depth is 372 m. The lake bed thus reaches 179 m below sea level.

[@stefanschneider3681]

@@General.Knowledge I was already afraid the Mediterranean Sea would threaten me next time we go on vacation in Brissago on Lagio Maggiore 🤣! What is true though is that the deepest point of the Lagio Maggiore is lower then the deepest point of the Adriatic Sea and well below sea level, maybe that's what you wanted to point out?

[@johnc2438]

04:17: Napoleon didn't cross the Alps in 1850; he died almost 30 years earlier in 1821 on the island of Saint Helena. He actually crossed the Alps at the head of an army in 1800. (The painting dramatically illustrates that event: Napoleon passing through the Saint Bernard Pass from Switzerland into what is now Italian territory.)

[@viranekk]

Painting was made in that year 1850

[@KingAlton9403]

5:57 I had no Idea the Matterhorn' peak declined that much over the years. That's a huge difference from 1940.

[@Amondsen3]

Its not realy the matterhorn that changed but in the near vicinity of it. There is actually an italian restaurant that is becoming more and more swiss as it sits on the border. I think like two thirds are now in the swiss part and the other third is still in italy.

[@reddykilowatt]

@@Amondsen3true. Their menu has much less pasta and more schnitzel than before 😂

[@Freezee]

@@reddykilowattfunny joke but schnitzel is not at all a swiss dish

[@KaiHenningsen]

@@Freezee Anything with cheese that's not pizza.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

Keep in mind that there is always going to be erosion and mountain building going on. However, 1940 is over 80 years ago and the technology for measuring these things has evolved a lot. Sometimes there are errors, especially when you were stuck physically going out and surveying the land without even the benefit of modern calculators. So, that all adds up to issues like this cropping up fairly often and I doubt that the movement of this particular border really does much to shift power or resources between the countries. Where you see very large changes is when islands emerge or submerge which can shift the coast a lot if one country or another gains or loses an island. Hence why China keeps trying to get other countries to accept their man made islands.

[@gregwochlik9233]

I agree with the concept of shifting borders back to natural features like rivers and mountain peaks. Otherwise, you will end up with a mess like on the Danube or the Mississippi.

[@General.Knowledge]

Agreed!

[@bloemkoolendestreetgang450]

Ok, now apply this to British colonial lines like Sahara borders

[@marcelolopez1001]

@@bloemkoolendestreetgang450 don't. We'll lose many amazingly weird features such as panhandles and exclaves.

[@bloemkoolendestreetgang450]

@@marcelolopez1001 fair enough, some of those borders are funny. But man looking at Egypts borders on a map hurts my soul.

[@marcelolopez1001]

@@bloemkoolendestreetgang450 Awww yes it does... and I bet it's not the worst case ;,(

[@MagereHein]

In 2018 Netherlands and Belgium corrected their border near Maastricht and Visé due to the river Meuse shifting its riverbed over time and dredging and straightening.

[@dutchman7623]

Yes, a Belgian island was transferred to the Netherlands and two riverbanks were transferred to Belgium. Reason: policing the areas would be much easier when done from the nearest country. 'Funny style' camping became popular on the island, which is now connected to Dutch Limburg. The border in the Eems/Dollart between the Netherlands and Germany however is NOT resolved, but both countries agreed that they both claim the area and will do nothing there that conflicts with others claims. Agreed to disagree...

[@MagereHein]

@@dutchman7623 YTer @MatthiasSchwarzerEnglish made a nice video about the Dollart situation, with pretty pictures of the surroundings.

[@vincent412l7]

A history of Alsase-Lorraine / Elsass-Lothringen would be interesting. How many families living in the same village for generations have generations with different nationalities?

[@dgu8240]

at 8:18 the border was changed due to the building of a swiss hydroelectric powerplant in 1957 and not due to climatic changes in the topography. i think Lago di Lei. the rectangle cut out in the border is the swiss dam, as it had to be on the swiss side while nearly a 100% of the lake is on the italian side. you can see it on an modern map very well, it looks very funny

[@illexsquid]

I'm curious to hear more about how these border changes affect the people living near the borders. Notably, at 7:34 there are clearly a number of structures in the area where the border moved (I think to France?). Are these houses? Is anyone's citizenship affected by these changes? Or do they lose their houses?

[@Chasfondue17]

The rectangle was part of a border exchange, so that the dam of the lake belongs to Switzerland, has nothing to do with the rest of the video.

[@jimmypockrus7725]

I'm glad to see a KZbin channel still using a real person. Great voice, very clear pronunciation of words. Many videos I just can't watch until the end because of some computer generated voice that mispronounced so many words, sometimes the same word pronounced 7 different ways.

[@antomort7295]

TBH ... I had to use captions to follow him

[@Ghredle]

Buddy the sea levels of Lago Maggiore is 193m above normal sea level (Mediterranean Sea)… the deepest known point of the lake is some 370m deep … technically you are are right the deepest point of Switzerland is below sea levels but that point is not dry land

[@Melthornal]

sea level is not measured by where the sea is. also high gravity places have higher sea level because gravity attracts water

[@kildevang98]

You should definitely cover the new border on Hans Island between Greenland and Canada. The new border resulted in both Denmark and Canada no longer being single neighbor nations, and also ended the whisky war!

[@General.Knowledge]

It's a great story!

[@montecorbit8280]

Miss a few episodes because they don't show up in my feed, then I find a strange face in my feed not knowing what it's from. Look at the name on the channel and it's general knowledge! Had to watch it just because of that, and the fact that I had missed some because it wasn't in my feed. Feels strange having a face to connect to this disembodied voice after all these years....

[@LawpickingLocksmith]

Love your dog.

[@General.Knowledge]

Thanks! Me too

[@edopizza]

8:14 The story behind the rectangular border change in the Val di Lei is related to the build of a dam. The water of this Italian valley flows into Switzerland. A Swiss electric power company charged an Italian consortium to build the dam, subsequently the land on which the dam stood was ceded to Switzerland. As a compensation Italy received a comparable size area located half kilometer to the North.

[@Pyliip]

Many thanks for the video, always a pleasure to watch your work. At 7:37 (Genève-Cointrin) the change happens at the border with France north of Geneva and result in (overall) more territory for Switzerland.

[@TheKeeperofChaos]

General Knowledge and Lieutenant Doggo

[@stephenmcnally8583]

Excellent as usual.

[@danhess2]

6:26 and the moment this chairlift switched over to the Swiss border, it went from being constantly out of order to running smoothly and always manned by attentive staff. 😂

[@max_laser]

0:17 and now the UK is transferring Chagos Islands to Mauritius

[@archstanton6102]

Apart from Diego Garcia (BIOT)

[@max_laser]

@@archstanton6102 thanks for info

[@archstanton6102]

@@max_laser Yeah, the while situation was regrettable from a British view. Apparently rumours are US didn't want UK to hand land over, but the issue has dragged on for 50 years and numerous courts found against UK.

[@max_laser]

@@archstanton6102 got it

[@General.Knowledge]

It's true! I find it odd why Mauritius has a claim to it when it's so far away. Any idea why?

[@HahnJames]

Great video! I did not know that Italy and Switzerland had an agreement to accommodate changes in geography like this.

[@ronaldderooij1774]

As for the Netherlands, the recent border change with Belgium would have been a better example than the border "change" with Germany. Germany and the Netherlands still disagree on the sea border, but they made a treaty to administer the contested sea area together from now on.

[@antonio.paternostro_01]

To clarify, Italy is geographically distinguished from its neighbours by the Alpine watershed, which makes the most part of its political border (Switzerland makes no exception) and divides the peninsula from the other Alpine countries. The watershed comprises the tallest peaks of the Alps, so it's no surprise that there are no glaciers between Switzerland and its other Alpine neighbours.

[@markleon411]

Nice to see you. Thanks for this explanation.

[@FlagsinFocus]

It’s great to finally see the face behind the voice. And of course always cover great topics in your continual superb videos.

[@ecurewitz]

Agree. He is surprisingly good looking

[@arjaygee]

@@ecurewitz Pretty easy on the eyes, yes.

[@spudgunn8695]

Good to see that civilization has progressed to the point where 2 nations don't go to war over 150 metres of uninhabitable, un-farmable land!

[@danhess2]

In all fairness, one of the two countries is Switzerland so that’s a nation that wouldn’t have gone to war over land for a long long time now.

[@seb_617]

The Genève-Cointrin example you mentioned has to do with Geneva’s airport and is pretty fascinating (in my opinion anyway!). In the 1950s they had to extend the airport’s runway, but the extension went into then-French territory so they negotiated a land swap. Switzerland gave away some parcels of land elsewhere on the border to make it even (we’re talking about a few fields of land here). One part of the agreement was that there would be a French sector at the airport where French customs and immigration would apply and this persists to this day (although mostly relevant for customs since Switzerland is now part of Schengen). You can access it from France via a customs road (similar to the reverse setup at Basel airport) and you can choose to rent a car from either the French or Swiss side. Reading through the agreement is pretty fascinating because of all the little things they had to think about. Where does one country’s jurisdiction start and the other’s end? (Turns out if you make an attempt to enter the customs area of one country but then turned back, that country can still pursue you for any customs violation even if you technically didn’t cross the line.) What happens in case of an emergency? What about if there is construction or repair work that needs to be done? But overall it’s also heartwarming to see two neighbors come to a civilized agreement that still stands 70 or so years later. And it’s not even the oldest arrangement on this small strip of border. The part of France on that side of the border is part of a duty free zone that has existed since 1815. A whole other topic…

[@pix_wbmr]

You have an amazing voice!

[@MonsieurDean]

Did someone say redrawing borders? 😁

[@Em648]

ok

[@marilynlucero9363]

Lol, you love that shit.

[@joshuataylor3550]

Racist

[@kamikazepigsprivatechannel3546]

While not the same a similar thing happened (and is happening) in the border between France and Italy, the border crosses over the Monte bianco (Mont Blanc) and while France claims the whole peak for themselves Italy claims that the border crosses over the peak, the argument got really heated up in (if I don't remember badly) 2020 when the glacier melting made it so that the peak got shifted a bit reigniting the "conflict" or something like that (I'm really going from memory here), still very interesting

[@MrCyclist]

It is nice to see borders changes without conflict.

[@cazwalt9013]

Italy actually has a small enclave inside of Switzerland it's called (campione d'Italia)

[@ciaoatutti307]

But even canton Ticino is italian, they like to say "no we are not" but it is 😂 they literally speak italian which they like to call "ticinese" just for not call it italian which is basically italian with some kind of dialect words here and there that still sound italian, basically ticinese could be easely an italian dialect without really the dialect

[@cazwalt9013]

@@ciaoatutti307 they're definitely Italian. They just want to feel special lol (they're not)

[@beyondEV]

@@ciaoatutti307 Well, they last guy who wanted them to be italian was gaddafi. before that you had hitler mussolini and the likes. Basically only the worst of the worst, ever tried to tell any swiss, they were belonging to another country rather than being swiss. But none got their way, and none died peacefully...

[@aum1083]

@@ciaoatutti307 Yes, Ticinesi speak italian language, but they have Swiss passports, not Italian. And the Swiss in the north do speak German, but they are not German. And also the Swiss in the west do speak French, but they are not French. And Americans do speak English, but they are not English. And Mexicans do speak Spanish, but they are not Spanish... and so on and so on

[@cazwalt9013]

@@aum1083 they're ethnically Italian German and French babe

[@ceemichel]

The border between Switzerland and Italy is governed by water runoff. Areas with water that flows into the Rhone or Rhine belongs to Switzerland and water that flows south into Italy are Italian. As glaciers melt and climate change affects those conditions, the borders can shift.

[@MidnightAspec]

That was interesting. Thank you.

[@eljanrimsa5843]

Many borders are defined by natural features like rivers, mountaintops, or watersheds. As natural features change, it makes more sense to adjust the lines on the map accordingly. Otherwise you end up with hundreds of silly anomalies. and potential border disputes, that reflect where exactly the natural feature was 200 years ago.

[@johndavis5835]

I'm thinking it sounds like a good idea. A point would be that if you kept the board to the highest points, ice or rock, it would all be in the same watershed.

[@schockocraft4897]

Emergency services having to go over a peak to save someone on the other side would suck pretty hard, totally makes sense to keep the border aligned to the terrain

[@raymondricci5323]

One of my most favorite borders to learn about because I am a Swiss German Italian Scot American for lack of general description where my people who made me were from originally not that long ago.

[@abrahamlevi3556]

It would be interesting to see how the introduction of GPS based surveying has affected borders demarcation in Europe. One of the functions of the International Boundary Committee which was establish in 1908 is to make minor adjustments to the demarcation of the border between Canada and the USA, some of them stem from the inaccuracy of the old surveying techniques used.

[@saulalvarez220]

I think you are an amazing piece of art... General Knowledge Guy..

[@stephenbinion6348]

Kahokia Illinois was the first capital of Illinois. The Mississippi River shifted during a flood. Kahokia is now stranded in Missouri. You can’t reach it from Illinois by car.

[@davebowman6497]

Breaking: More small countries follow the example of Switzerland, moving their border with bigger country to the south. Just 4 minutes after the Swiss-Italian border shift was being announced here, Denmark annexed parts of international waters and German territorial waters just west of Fehmarn Belt . 😊

[@itsmebatman]

the border between Germany and Czechia is also constantly changing. In some places the border is defined as in the middle of small rivers. But as the rivers meander through the landscape the border changes accordingly.

[@dgu8240]

most of the souther border is defined at differnet "wasserscheide" (Drainage divide) which in the alps is always a mountain peak and the highes ridge connecting those peaks.

[@PaulsToolReview]

These border changes make sense as the peaks have traditionally been used for land navigation and demarcation so it they move because of glaciers melting the borders should follow

[@aixtom979]

The Bavarian Alps where most likely named that way long before Bavaria was part of Germany.

[@PrinceeugenioII]

the netherlands and belguim have also made a border change about a river in limburg. (meuze river)

[@jp120789]

In Geneva Cointrin, border was extended when extra space was needed for the extension of the runaway of the airport

[@LeopoldoGhielmetti]

Lago Maggiore is not 200m under the sea but above the sea!

[@danielschein6845]

There’s a story - probably apocryphal that something like this happened between France and Belgium where a farmer moved a 19th century border marker stone out of the way and thus caused a few hundred square meters to become part of Belgium. The local Belgian mayor supposedly said, “I’m confident this can be resolved peacefully.”😂

[@sandragoodman2059]

Very interesting!

[@michaelscheel9533]

Another story about border changes. In El Paso TX there was a flood on the Rio Grande and the US claimed since the river channel was the border the new channel was the border. However Mexico claimed the old border. So anyway around mid-60's the US Army Corps of Engineers re-dug the channel so the river flowed again along the old course.

[@udasai]

Don't even look at the western border of the US state of Mississippi, which is/was the Mississippi River. Luckily, nobody cares as long as they aren't forced to be in Mississippi.

[@f123pio7]

Lago Maggiore is above the sea level.

[@edopizza]

Yes and no. The bottom of Lago Verbano reaches almost 200 metres below sea level.

[@mgailp]

When my g-g-grandfather immigrated to the US, Travers was part of France. When I visited a few years ago, it was in Switzerland.

[@koperekhabsburdzki43]

Me seeing noticing notification: oh my favorite map related youtuber just droped video! Me seeing dachshund: OOOOHHOGFHJGOHKKHKHKDJDJKHKKH MUST PET!

[@RyanMariners]

Awww! General Doggo!

[@ralfbaechle]

It is my understanding that this is more an act of re-surrveying the borders, then putting updated lines on maps and coordinates into databases so users of such data have something to work with. The actual legally binding definition of the border is still the glacier as defined in the unchanged contract. Am I right? At least that's how some of the previous border changes worked. Not far away at the oh so simple Northern border of Switzerland one of the islands in the river Rhein moved a bit so the borders were adjusted as well.

[@florianmaier104]

It is infact the watershed that defines the border, so if the water is northbound (towards the rhone or rhine river) it is Swiss, if it goes southwards it's Italy.

[@Conservator.]

3:46 Lago Majore is 200m (193m to be exact) *above* sea level.

[@rrcaniglia]

Don’t understand the safety concern that would force a change of border, but think the whole idea will lead to confusion and on-the-ground issues for people. So, it’s time to get out the popcorn and a comfortable chair. Let’s watch the show.

[@RandomThingsEn]

just watched the bektashi order video and now I'm watching this ^^

[@General.Knowledge]

Nice! Thanks for watching :)

[@wolschou]

The Bavarian Alps are called bavarian instead of german, because Bavaria is... well, kinda sorta not as german as the rest of Germany, as all Germans will happily tell you, first of all the Bavarians themselves. No one in Bavaria actually thinks of leaving the federation, but they do like to think they could if they wanted to and they also like to remind the rest of Germany of it. They like to feel a bit special, as if the federal rule does not REALLY apply to them, they only follow it because they want to and because, well we others would be lost without them anyway. Kind of like Texas, you know? Which is why they are not a Bundesland, but a Freistaat, and even have their own conservative party, the CSU which is kind of inextricably bound to the CDU, but somehow also isn't, and also claim their share of the Alps for themselves instead of sharing it with their friends.

[@Fedovoi]

The bavarians think their better than the rest of germany and aren't really part of it. While the rest of germany thinks thats really dumb and they're kinda weird. So they pretent bavaria isn't really part of germany. But splitting up the country would suck for all.

[@theChaosKe]

All bundesländer do that, its not just a bavarian thing. In saxony we have our own switzerland even.

[@CarneSagrado]

. Ooh! a Texan German! or a German Tex ? Swap helmets with a 10 gallon stetson? .

[@giovanni_vaz_cardoso]

It was just the map makers choice, I've seen other maps where it's labelled as german alps.

[@kensho6263]

This is low-key not the case

[@Michel-r6m]

In the Lugano area there is Campione D'Italia, an exclave in Switzerland. It seems that the Swiss and Italians get along and the Italians in Campione can stuff done in Switzerland. I stayed (hotel) in Lugano for a long weekend and really enjoyed both Italy (Campione, Como, Milano as Lugano and surroundings Gandria!!!)

[@felicepompa938]

Ticino is mostly Italian speaking, and many Italians from border regions work/used to work there, thats why they get along. They are Lombard Italians all the same.

[@Michel-r6m]

@@felicepompa938 I got fond memories of that region. I am still talking about it. Loved it, in Lugano and Milano people were very helpfull. I do speak Dutch,German, English and French... But it takes a Milanese that worked in Germany to help me...I do not speak Italian but understand a little in context.

[@marcosreynoso3901]

I don't know if you've already talk about the Southern Patagonia Ice Field in the Southern Andes between Argentina and Chile. Almost all the borders between Chile and Argentina are marked by the Andes' drainage divide and in some places in the Patagonia, where the mountains are not high enough, by surveys and political agreements (There were wars because of those borders). However, in the Southern Icefield, there are places were the borders are still undefined because of the glaciers and I think both countries will have to make the same agreements Switzerland and Italy and making when they melt within a few years.

[@headstanding_Penguin]

It's a so minor detail and event that I, as a swiss, have heard about that foe the 1. time here in this video... I guess it was communicated one day, but, as someone who has started to only read the news sparcely, I have likely missed it.

[@danhess2]

As a Swiss person I’m just happy how this video helped reinforced how damn organized we are. You see just how good and comprehensive even our minor federal agency websites are?! lol We are truly the best in the world at making sure all details are handled properly haha

[@tealkerberus748]

The 'peak' of a glacier as a border seems very questionable. Glaciers run in valleys - they're functionally rivers, just frozen. Why not have all the borders along ridge lines? They're much less prone to moving.

[@naphackDT]

Along long stretches of the border, it's defined to follow the watershed line. Basically, if the runoff flows into the North Sea, the land belongs to Switzerland while if the runoff flows into the Mediterranean, it belongs to Italy. The fact that peaks and glaciers define the border is just a result of how the borders are defined.

[@ericp0012]

I think this is a good thing for Switzerland. It is much better for Switzerland to have slightly more land taken from Italy and the European Union.

[@truecerium4924]

Did you already have a video about the Whisky War between Canada and Denmark for Hans Island located between Canada and Greenland. There was a friendly dispute about who owns that island. Small expeditions from each country would visit and "annex" the island leaving a bottle of liquor and their flag behind for when the expedition of the other country would visit. This "dispute" was finally settled, divvying up the island and creating a land border between Canada and Deenmark!

[@cinoeye]

Southern border between It and Ch in the region of Ticino has border crossings that are not considered being in the Alps.

[@wordsmithgmxch]

The policy sounds very reasonable: safety, accountability. It's a pity there's no such simple solution with normal property lines -- for example, when we're afraid that the next storm will topple a neighbor's tree onto our house!

[@davebowman6497]

Breakin: People around Lago Maggiore are nervously awaiting the eventual inflow from the Mediterranean. Real estate prices at the seashore plummeting, while those 220 meters higher soars. A local fisherman is said to look forward to tuna season... 😊

[@gerhard6105]

The Netherlands also shifted a border section with Belgium, near Maastricht.

[@sonias8695]

Very interesting

[@SwissPGO]

3:45 Lago Maggioiore is ABOVE sea level !!

[@mickimicki]

If the Alps stretch over 8 countries, what's number 8? France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Liechtenstein, Germany, Slovenia = 7.

[@nirutivan9811]

Monaco is the number eight. It is a bit strange, I know, but the way the alpine area is usually defined it includes Monaco and therefore Monaco is considered an alpine country.

[@Kamonohashiii]

Monaco isnt part of the Alpes so

[@MervynPartin]

That was very interesting. I did not know that these border changes were taking place, and peacefully at that. Perhaps the USA and Canada could sort out their shared border. There are several locations where towns have been divided and neighbours either side of the border have got along peacefully for years until the paranoid bureaucrats imposed their petty rules. Enclaves are also an anachronism due to mistaken mapping hundreds of years ago.

[@yanickschmid765]

Lago maggiore is 200m above, not below, sea level. The high alps are not above 4600m, this is the height of the tallest peak. Generally the mountain range in above 3000m.

[@Markus_Abrach]

I am a Swiss guy and i haven't heard anything about this border changes

[@manyulgarprsch]

Are you, like, very rich?

[@General.Knowledge]

I guess it's such a minor adjustment and so common that maybe it's not news-worthy inside Switzerland at this point.

[@aum1083]

@@manyulgarprsch Fact: there are way more poor people than rich people in Switzerland.

[@-Sara.]

I'm Italian and I heard a quick mention about it in the news but I'm pretty sure the majority of Italians actually don't know anything about it😅

[@reddykilowatt]

@@aum1083Fact: there are way more poor people than rich people everywhere 😂

[@mossmoss2019]

amazing news for sam from jet lag the game

[@rl95719]

It's encouraging to see there are still diplomatic relationships like this. The US would never do such. They might take but never give land.

[@JxH]

3:45 On Screen "Lago Maggiore 200m below sea level" Not a precise claim. Wiki: Its mean height *above* sea level is 193 m... Its *bottom* is almost everywhere below sea-level: at its deepest, -179 m. Not the same as the claim, being the lake bottom.

[@ThrE3-GeS]

maybe cuz the alp doesn’t extend further then bavaria, while in the other countries it extendes across the whole country, also bavaria has a unique status as free state inside germany.

[@rykelmähaukka]

Finland and Norway almost moved their border in 2017.

[@stevenjlovelace]

I know that there have been multiple adjustments and disputes based on the shifting waters of the Rio Grande.

[@JohnFromAccounting]

The Bavarian Alps are Bavarian rather than German because Bavaria is a free state within Germany. It has its own government, dating back to the unification of Germany. Legally, Bavaria could leave Germany if they wanted to, but they've never exercised this right.

[@johnledingham852]

A good idea if both parties are amicable. There being no aggression between them and a good neighbour policy is intact.

[@Lcngopher]

2020 when canada and denmark figured out their border issue

[@aoilpe]

3:47 Lago Maggiore/Langensee is 193m above sea level and 327m deep at its deepest point what gives the border a maximum depth of 134m under sea level… 😂 Border change’s are a good thing to prevent Dutch-Belgium borders crossing multiple times the same street in some villages..

[@aoeuable]

Speaking for the rest of Germany: We don't claim the Alps, the Bavarians can keep them. While I'm at it, we're also not claiming Bavaria.

[@yankeepapa304]

U.S. and Mexico had border shift decades back re Rio Grande slight adjustments as I recall... YP

[@rkozakand]

Lago Maggiore is NOT below Sea Level!

[@Chuulip]

Omg, a face to the voice!!!