copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: Koalou is a territory of Benin (Koalou, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-02): Benin, country of western Africa. It consists of a narrow wedge of territory extending northward for about 420 miles (675 kilometres) from the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean, on which it has a 75-mile seacoast, to the Niger River, which forms part of Benin’s northern border with Niger. Benin is bordered to the northwest by Burkina Faso, to the east by Nigeria, and to the west by Togo. The official capital is Porto-Novo, but Cotonou is Benin’s largest city, its chief port, and its de facto administrative capital. Benin was a French colony from the late 19th century until 1960. Prior to colonial rule, part of the territory that is now Benin consisted of powerful, independent kingdoms, including various Bariba kingdoms in the north and in the south the kingdoms of Porto-Novo and Dahomey (Dan-ho-me, "on the belly of Dan;" Dan was a rival king on whose grave Dahomey’s royal compound was built). In the late 19th century French colonizers making inroads from the coastal region into the interior borrowed the name of the defeated Dahomey kingdom for the entire territory that is now Benin; the current name derives from the Bight of Benin.
Claim: Koalou is a territory of Benin (Koalou, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-10-05): Parts of the border remained contested on the ground, with several incidents in the disputed areas of Koalou and Niorgou sparking tension in the 2000s. As a result, the two countries signed an agreement in May 2009 which created a small neutral zone in the area, pending a final decision on the matter by the International Court of Justice.[6][7] [...] - ^ Le Burkina et le Bénin déclarent Koualou-Kourou zone neutre, Jeune Afrique, 20 May 2009, retrieved 1 December 2019 - ^ Différend frontalier Burkina-Bénin : Kourou/Koalou déclarée zone neutre, Le Faso, 22 May 2009, retrieved 1 December 2019 - ^ Two French tourists kidnapped, local guide killed in Benin, France 24, 5 May 2019, retrieved 2 December 2019 - ^ British FCO Travel Advice - benin, retrieved 1 December 2019 - ^ Butler, Stuart (2019) Bradt Travel Guide - Benin, pgs. 44
Claim: Koalou is a territory of Benin (Koalou, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-08): Benin (/bɛˈniːn/ ben-EEN, /bɪˈniːn/ bin-EEN;[9] French: Bénin [benɛ̃] , Fon: Benɛ, Fula: Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (French: République du Bénin), and also known as Dahomey,[10] is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its population lives on the southern coastline of the Bight of Benin, part of the Gulf of Guinea in the northernmost tropical portion of the Atlantic Ocean.[11] The capital is Porto-Novo, and the seat of government is in Cotonou, the most populous city and economic capital.[12] Benin covers an area of 114,763 km2 (44,310 sq mi),[4] and its population in 2021 was estimated to be approximately 13 million.[13][14] It is a tropical country with an economy heavily dependent on agriculture, and is an exporter of palm oil and cotton.[15][16] [...] - ^ "Official Result in Benin Vote Shows Big Loss for Kerekou". The New York Times. 26 March 1991. Archived from the original on 1 June 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2022. - ^ "ben007 President Kerekou re-elected in Benin". www.afrol.com. Archived from the original on 1 June 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
Claim: Koalou is a territory of Benin (Koalou, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-07-28): 1990 - Unrest continues. President Kerekou meets dissident leaders. Agreement on constitutional reform and multi-candidate presidential elections. Country changes its name to the Republic of Benin. 1991 - President Kerekou is beaten by Nicephore Soglo in the first multi-candidate presidential elections. Kerekou is granted immunity from prosecution over actions taken since 1972.
Claim: Koalou is a territory of Benin (Koalou, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-08-21): Tradition asserts that the Edo people became dissatisfied with the rule of a dynasty of semimythical kings, the ogisos, and in the 13th century they invited Prince Oranmiyan of Ife to rule them. His son Eweka is regarded as the first oba, or king, of Benin, though authority would remain for many years with a hereditary order of local chiefs. Late in the 13th century, royal power began to assert itself under the oba Ewedo and was firmly established under the most famous oba, Ewuare the Great (reigned c. 1440–80), who was described as a great warrior and magician. He established a hereditary succession to the throne and vastly expanded the territory of the Benin kingdom, which by the mid-16th century extended from the Niger River delta in the east to what is now Lagos in the west. Ewuare also rebuilt the capital (present-day Benin City), endowing it with great walls and moats. The oba became the supreme political, judicial, economic, and spiritual leader of his people, and he and his ancestors eventually became the object of state cults that utilized human sacrifice in their religious observances.
Claim: Koalou is a territory of Benin (Koalou, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-01-19): Koalou (nom burkinabé) ou Kourou (nom béninois) est une zone rurale avec deux principaux villages le long de la route nationale reliant le Burkina Faso au Bénin en traversant un pont sur la rivière du Pendjari, qui est l'enjeu d'un litige de souveraineté entre le Burkina Faso et le Bénin qui en revendiquent tous deux le territoire[2]. Pour le Bénin, le village fait partie de la commune de Matéri dans le département de l'Atacora (ou Atakora) ; pour le Burkina Faso, le village fait partie du département de Pama dans la province de la Kompienga et la région Est. Les deux pays ont choisi de régler le problème pacifiquement en retirant tous les symboles de souveraineté affichés des deux pays.
Claim: Koalou is a territory of Benin (Koalou, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2021-09-09): Until recently, counterterrorism experts discounted jihadists’ ability to expand into littoral West Africa because these states, unlike their Sahelian neighbors, were more politically stable and had greater control of their borders. According to this logic, the stronger security forces and governance structures in the littoral states made jihadism unwelcome. The complexity of the kidnapping and assassination operations indicated that the groups had a more permanent fixture in the WAP Complex and surrounding communities in Benin, Togo, and Burkina Faso than previously believed. In particular, the ungoverned, disputed territory around the town of Koalou, at the intersection of these three countries, has become a safe space for jihadist movement and a staging area inaccessible to security forces.
Claim: Koalou is a territory of Benin (Koalou, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-01-01): Benin-Burkina Faso: Benin retains a border dispute with Burkina Faso near the town of Koualau/Kourou [...] Burkina Faso-Benin: the two countries dispute sovereignty over a small area known as Kourou/Koalou near the tripoint with Togo, which has been declared a neutral zone pending settlement of the dispute; in 2009, an agreement to refer the dispute to the International Court of Justice was signed, but no formal application has yet been made to the Court
Claim: Koalou is a territory of Benin (Koalou, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-04-15): About the Ko'olau Gap Photograph
Claim: Koalou is a territory of Benin (Koalou, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-06-03): Kourou/Koualou, a tiny village in a neutral zone straddling Benin and Burkina Faso, was the centre of a one-million-litre-a-year cross-border illicit fuel trade, a snapshot of a phenomenon that spreads far across the 6,000-kilometre-wide African Sahel region.
Claim: Koalou is a territory of Benin (Koalou, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-11-01): The introduction of systematic road checkpoints represented an attempted formalization of JNIM’s relationship with smugglers in Burkina Faso, which, in the earlier phase of their presence, was more informal and based on an ad hoc exchange of goods and services. However, it appears that the presence of both JNIM on the Burkinabé side and Beninois forces on the Benin side has discouraged the use of this road. Much of the smuggling that used to pass through the disputed town of Koalou/Kourou on the Burkinabé-Beninois border has therefore been diverted towards Cinkansé in Burkina Faso,10 a town bordering northern Togo that acts as a principal transit point for a myriad of illicit commodities both entering and exiting the country.11 JNIM has made use of checkpoints in other parts of Burkina Faso and Niger, although these are often focused on controlling road traffic, and do not always attempt to extract payments from road users.
Claim: Koalou is a territory of Benin (Koalou, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-07-03): Alongside their involvement in farmer-pastoralist land disputes, the expansion of violent extremist groups is enabled by informal spaces. This occurs through partnerships with criminal organizations operating along the disputed Kourou-Koalou corridor between Kompienga in Burkina Faso and western Atakora in Benin. Protecting networks trafficking in illicit goods such as weapons, poached animals, and narcotics, jihadists extract supplies and payments. However, they also target informal sectors critical to the livelihoods of local people to entrench themselves politically. Fuel smuggling, known locally as kpayo, is a salient example. In a region lacking sufficient legal petrol stations, the informal fuel trade is essential to the livelihoods of communities existing along the Benin-Burkina Faso border. The toleration of jihadist control over the fuel trade maintained the affordability and availability of smuggled fuel, for both civilians and fighters. Such dynamics enable jihadist authority over informal, but sometimes critical, local economies which subvert state control and entrench them in local service provision.
Claim: Koalou is a territory of Benin (Koalou, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-01-24): These organisations exploit porous borders, a territorial dispute between Benin and Burkina Faso over the Kourou-Koalou area, local grievances against the state, a weak government presence and people’s need to protect their livelihoods.
Claim: Koalou is a territory of Benin (Koalou, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-01-01): The illegal trade in non-renewable resources such as fuel, and to a lesser extent gold, is a major concern. Although there is little data on the illegal gold trade there have been reports of artisanal gold mining in the National Park Complex of W-Arly-Pendjari in the tri-border area between Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger and there are concerns that armed groups may seek to profit from these sites. The illicit fuel trade, which accounts for an extremely high percentage of the national demand for gasoline, is generated by purchasing legal, traditionally subsidized, fuel in Nigeria and transporting it illegally to Benin. The illicit fuel trade is also fed from oil bunkering, where oil is either illegally diverted from official flows, or illegally extracted, and sold on the black market. The illicit fuel trade plays a significant role in resourcing armed groups, which rely on fuel for their operations. The northeastern town of Malanville and the surrounding areas, as well as the disputed territory of Koalou/Kourou in northwest Benin, are primary storage points. Increased demand from armed groups has reportedly driven up prices in the area.
Claim: Koalou is a territory of Benin (Koalou, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-12-12): Along with an intelligence unit, the government has constructed eight military bases in strategic positions across the national parks. One of these fortresses is in Kourou-Koalou, a combination of its Beninese name, Kourou, and its Burkinabe name, Koalou. The frontier town sits at the border of Benin, Burkina Faso and Togo, known as "point triple," and soldiers mill around a huge base with four imposing lookout towers. In the far north of the country, the heat is almost overwhelming as it bears down on the men and women who act as the only barrier to the dusty and lawless plains ahead. [...] The border area has seen a large number of incidents and the first attack on Beninese soil took place in Kourou-Koalou in November 2021. Despite once being a busy highway used by trucks and taxis, the road to the border town from Natitingou in the northwest is now practically deserted, with potholes and makeshift barricades littered across the tarmac. The wind blows dust and wiry branches across it while small children stand and watch in awe as huge tanks thunder past.
Claim: Koalou is a territory of Benin (Koalou, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-06-05): Mira Tankoino was working at the market in a lawless frontier town on Benin’s northern border when more than 20 armed jihadists arrived on motorbikes. The insurgents, who had occupied a long-abandoned tourist lodge in neighbouring Burkina Faso, asked the residents of Kourou Koalou to leave. [...] Scores have lost family members in Benin’s northern territories to such violence as terrorists pour over the border from Burkina
Claim: Koalou is a territory of Benin (Koalou, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-08-01): Elevation highest point: Tena Kourou 749 m lowest point: Mouhoun (Black Volta) River 200 m mean elevation: 297 m
Claim: Lapthal is a territory of India (Lapthal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-07-20): Lapthal is located in the Pithoragarh district and Chamoli district of Uttarakahand, India.[1] Lapthal is historically part of India territory and currently controlled by India with some claim on the region by Zanda County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet, China. Origins of Lapthal [edit]The Lapthal Region, located in Pithoragarh District in the north-east of Uttarakhand, Himalayas, holds a fascinating geological history that traces back to the ancient Tethys Sea. During the Mesozoic Era, the Tethys Sea was a vast ocean separating the supercontinents of Gondwana and Laurasia. As tectonic movements gradually pushed these landmasses together, the Tethys Sea began to close, giving rise to the majestic Himalayas. Today, the Lapthal Region offers a rare glimpse into this bygone era, with marine fossils and sedimentary rock formations that once lay at the bottom of the Tethys Sea now visible on the surface. These geological remnants provide invaluable insights into the Earth's dynamic history and the processes that shaped the current Himalayan landscape. [2][3][4] [...] Presently, access to Lapthal is limited to trekking routes from Sumna in Chamoli or Munsiyari in Pithoragarh, although the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has plans to construct a new route from Sumna to Lapthal.
Claim: Lapthal is a territory of India (Lapthal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-07): Ladakh, union territory of India, located in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent in the vicinity of the Karakoram and westernmost Himalayan mountain ranges. It is bounded by Jammu and Kashmir union territory to the west and by Himachal Pradesh to the south; its northern and eastern borders are disputed with Pakistan and China, respectively. Ladakh was administered as part of Jammu and Kashmir state from 1947 until 2019, when it became a separate administrative unit. Area 22,836 square miles (59,146 square km). Pop. (2011) 274,289; (est. 2023) 300,000.
Claim: Lapthal is a territory of India (Lapthal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2020-01-07): It is necessary to distinguish the phrases ‘Union of India’ and ‘Territory of India’. The Union of India includes only those States which enjoy the status of being members of the federal system and share the distribution of powers with the Union. The Union Territories are not included in the Union of states whereas the term Indian Territory includes not only the States but also the Union Territories and other territories that India may acquire. In the First Schedule of the Constitution, the States and Territories are specified. [...] - The Nagaland State Act 0f 1962 established Nagaland as a separate State. [...] - The State of Jharkhand was established by the Bihar Reorganization Act 2000 of 15 November, consisting of 18 southern districts of Chhota Nagpur and Santhal Pargana of Biha.
Claim: Lapthal is a territory of India (Lapthal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2013-11-17): Constitutional status [edit]Article 1 (1) of the Indian constitution says that India shall be a "Union of States", which is elaborated under Parts V (The Union) and VI (The States) of the constitution. Article 1 (3) says the territory of India comprises the territories of the states, the union territories and other territories that may be acquired. The concept of union territories was not in the original version of the constitution, but was added by the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956.[12] Article 366(30) also defines Union territory as any union territory specified in the First Schedule and includes any other territory comprised within the territory of India but not specified in that Schedule. In the constitution wherever it refers to Territories of India, it is applicable to the whole country including union territories. Where it refers to only India, it applies to all states only but not to union territories. Thus, citizenship (part II), fundamental rights (part III), Directive Principles of State Policy (part IV), Judiciary role, the Union Territories (part VIII), Article 245, etc. apply to union territories as it refers specifically to Territories of India. [...] - ^ "Union Territories of India". Archived from the original on 22 November 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2014. [...] External links [edit]- Media related to Union territories of India at Wikimedia Commons
Claim: Lapthal is a territory of India (Lapthal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2020-05-31): In 1974, India could resolve its maritime boundary dispute with Sri Lanka by abdicating claim on Katchatheevu -- an uninhabited island of 235 acres. [...] Nelang, Pulam Sumda, Sang, Jadhang and Lapthal: In the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand. [...] They are claimed as part of Ladakh union territory by India and as part of Gilgit-Baltistan by Pakistan. In 1984, India assumed military control of the main peaks and passes of the range, with Pakistani forces into the glacial valleys just to the west.
Claim: Lapthal is a territory of India (Lapthal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-02-01): Barahoti was the first location in Indian territory claimed by China in 1954.[4] In 1960, China added Lapthal and Sangchamalla to the dispute and said that three places formed one composite area.[5] [...] Lapthal (or Laptel, 30.7333°N 80.1333°E Chinese: 拉不底) is a large pasture towards the eastern end of the bowl. It is on the bank of the Lapthal river (or Kio Gad) in the Pithoragarh district of Kumaon. It is accessed from the Johar Valley of the Pithoragarh district via Unta Dhura (5350m, 30.5763°N 80.1725°E), through the Girthi Ganga valley, and the Kyungar La pass (5250m, 30.6509°N 80.1588°E).[citation needed] [...] Hardly had the talks ended, than China complained of armed Indian officials arriving in the area on July 8. India deemed it to be routine "revenue settlement operations" by Govt. of Uttar Pradesh, mounted only as a reciprocation to China sending their civil officials on 29 June but rejected the charges of carrying arms. Later that year, according to Indian Government, once winter set in and Indian border posts were dismantled, two adjacent areas (on east and west) —Lapthal and Sangchamalla— were intruded by Chinese troops only for China to claim all the three places (individually) next year.
Claim: Lapthal is a territory of India (Lapthal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-05): Ladakh (/ləˈdɑːk/)[10] is a region administered by India as a union territory[1] and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India and China since 1959.[2] Ladakh is bordered by the Tibet Autonomous Region to the east, the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh to the south, both the Indian-administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan to the west, and the southwest corner of Xinjiang across the Karakoram Pass in the far north. It extends from the Siachen Glacier in the Karakoram range to the north to the main Great Himalayas to the south.[11][12] The eastern end, consisting of the uninhabited Aksai Chin plains, is claimed by the Indian Government as part of Ladakh, but has been under Chinese control.[13][14][15][16] [...] Ladakh was established as a union territory of India on 31 October 2019, following the passage of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act. Prior to that, it was part of the Jammu and Kashmir state. Ladakh is both the largest and the second least populous union territory of India.[22][citation needed] [...] - ^ "Ladakh mountaineer successfully summits Mt Everest | the Administration of Union Territory of Ladakh | India". Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
Claim: Lapthal is a territory of India (Lapthal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-06-06): Union Territory of India – Jammu and Kashmir - On 31st October, 2019 Jammu and Kashmir was removed from its status as a state and converted into union territory. Ladakh was separated from Jammu and Kashmir and was created as a separate Union Territory. [...] Union Territory of India – Ladakh - Leh is the capital city of Ladakh. [...] - After the Government of India passed the Jammu and Kashmir reorganisation act in 2019, Ladakh was carved out as a separate Union Territory.
Claim: Lapthal is a territory of India (Lapthal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-10-13): Himachal Pradesh is no longer a union territory; it was conferred statehood in 1971. Manipur and Tripura followed suit in 1972. Three regions—Nagaland, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh—were all previously part of the Indian state of Assam and were carved out into union territories. Subsequently all of them became states of the Republic of India. Only Delhi, Lakshadweep, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands have maintained their union territory status from the original list. Delhi was granted a legislature in 1952. [...] The pre-independence Indian region of Punjab was divided after partition into West Punjab (in Pakistan) and East Punjab (in India). Lahore, the capital of the united Punjab, became part of Pakistan, so the Indian government created a new planned city called Chandigarh to serve as the capital of the new Punjab state in India. In 1966 Punjab was split into Punjab and Haryana. Straddling the border between Haryana and Punjab, the city of Chandigarh was made the shared capital of the two states and a union territory in its own right as well. Jammu and Kashmir was formerly a state with a legislature. In 2019, after an outbreak of violence in the region of Kashmir, India’s union government passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, splitting the state into two union territories, one called Jammu and Kashmir and the other called Ladakh. The act followed a presidential order amending Article 370 of the Indian constitution, which in 1954 had conferred on the state of Jammu and Kashmir the power to have a separate constitution, a state flag, and autonomy of internal administration.
Claim: Lapthal is a territory of India (Lapthal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-09-15): - Deccan States Agency and Kolhapur Residency (formerly part of Bombay Presidency) [...] - Rajasthan and Punjab gained territories from Ajmer State and Patiala and East Punjab States Union respectively and certain territories of Bihar were transferred to West Bengal. [...] - ^ "Official Website of Government of Jharkhand". Government of Jharkhand. Archived from the original on 21 June 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
Claim: Lapthal is a territory of India (Lapthal, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2021-07-28): Below is a list of the eight Union Territories of India and their capitals. By area, Ladakh (59,146 km²) is the largest and Lakshadweep (32.62 km²) is the smallest Union Territory in India. By population, Delhi is the largest and Lakshadweep is the smallest Union Territory in India. India has 28 states.