HIDDEN deep in the African desert lies one of the strangest pieces of land on Earth — not for its beauty, wealth, or strategic value, but because no country wants it.
Bir Tawil is a 2,060-square-kilometre patch of barren desert between Egypt and Sudan, which remains an unusual geopolitical anomaly after decades of being unclaimed.
Those daring to go there face a tough journey, driving through remote desert roads past relics of gold mines and, at times, crossing paths with armed gangs and bandits.
Bir Tawil has long been a quirky favourite for small, often tongue-in-cheek, self-declared “countries” – usually founded by ordinary people across the globe.
With no laws, the land has even drawn would-be “kings,” including a US dad who trekked there to fulfil his young daughter’s wish of becoming a princess.
Jeremiah Heaton, a Virginia farmer, planted a flag and declared Bir Tawil the “Kingdom of North Sudan” so that his daughter Emily could have a royal title.
While the move had no legal bearing, it sparked global interest and debate over land claims and the nature of sovereignty.
As the dad tells it, Emily had casually asked if she could be a princess, and Heaton, wanting to make her dream come true, started looking for a way to make that happen.
While most parents might have gently explained the impracticality of such a request, Heaton took it as a challenge.
He began researching unclaimed land where he could theoretically establish a kingdom for Emily, at the time aged six.
In June 2014, Heaton headed to northeastern Africa, reaching Bir Tawil after a challenging journey through the desert.
With a homemade blue flag bearing a crown symbol and the name “Heaton,” he ceremoniously planted it in the sand, declaring Bir Tawil the “Kingdom of North Sudan” and himself its king.
He immediately proclaimed Emily to be a princess, therefore “granting” her the royal title she had wished for.
In 2017, Suyash Dixit, an IT entrepreneur from Indore, India, also claimed Bir Tawil as his own, naming it the “Kingdom of Dixit.”
After a challenging journey across the desert, he planted a flag, declared himself king, and even “appointed” his father as prime minister.
He posted his claim and experience on social media, where it garnered significant attention and sparked a wave of jokes and memes.
There are rumours, though largely unsubstantiated, that Bir Tawil contains hidden gold deposits.
While Egypt and Sudan have both had ancient ties to gold mining, particularly in the Nubian Desert, Bir Tawil itself is rarely studied or mined.
These rumours, however, have attracted a few treasure hunters and adventurers over the years, hoping to uncover hidden riches in the desert.
Some have even joked about Bir Tawil as a potential “backup homeland” for populations affected by natural disasters.
While obviously impractical, the idea underscores the paradox of unclaimed land in a time when territorial disputes are common.
Despite several stunts and theories, Bir Tawil remains unclaimed due to a unique border dispute between Egypt and Sudan.
The journey to Bir Tawil is lengthy and can take anywhere from two days to a week, depending on the starting point, route, and conditions.
Due to its isolation and extreme desert environment, the journey requires careful planning, local knowledge, and permission from authorities in Egypt or Sudan.
Most travellers begin in Aswan, Egypt, or Khartoum, Sudan, as these are the nearest large cities with transportation infrastructure.
From Aswan, the trip typically involves a long desert drive heading southward toward the Egypt-Sudan border.
Both countries monitor the border area closely, with visitors needing permits and a good guide familiar with the region.
Egypt, in particular, restricts movement near the border, especially in sensitive zones close to the Hala’ib Triangle.
The trip to Bir Tawil from either Egypt or Sudan covers hundreds of kilometres across remote, rugged desert terrain.
Explorers often follow dirt tracks used by nomadic tribes, miners, or military patrols, though few roads are mapped or maintained.
The drive can take days and usually involves off-road vehicles capable of handling deep sand and rough trails.
There are no towns, water sources, or services along the way, so travellers must bring ample water, food, fuel, and spare parts.
And to make matters worse, armed gangs, smugglers, and bandits often prey upon those venturing in the desert, particularly along less-monitored routes.
The origins of this unclaimed desert stretch back to British colonial rule in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when overlapping boundary lines inadvertently left Bir Tawil in a legal limbo.
In 1899, while both Egypt and Sudan were under British administration, a formal border was established along the 22nd parallel north.
This placed Bir Tawil, an arid and resource-poor patch of desert, in Egyptian territory, while a more valuable area, the Hala’ib Triangle, was assigned to Sudan.
But in 1902, the British changed the boundary to fit the local tribes’ movements, putting Bir Tawil in Sudan instead and giving Egypt control over the fertile Hala’ib Triangle.
When Egypt and Sudan became independent, each country wanted the Hala’ib Triangle because it has good land and access to the Red Sea.
Egypt claims it based on the 1899 line, while Sudan uses the 1902 line to support its claim.
Bir Tawil, a barren desert with no resources, has no value to either country.
To claim the Hala’ib Triangle, each country must reject Bir Tawil — because they can’t claim both under their chosen boundary line.
So by claiming Hala’ib, they essentially “give away” Bir Tawil, leaving it unwanted.
The territory is therefore unclaimed because Egypt and Sudan only want the valuable land next to it, not Bir Tawil itself.
For now, Bir Tawil endures as a strange relic of colonial history and an unlikely symbol of modern-day geopolitics — a land still ungoverned and, in all likelihood, destined to remain unclaimed.
