Hello Everyone,Welcome to Day 4 of our 2021 new MTP locations reveal. Yesterday, we added the 6 regions of Sudan and the 4 regions of Libya to our MTP Master List, while on Day 2, we added the 9 regions of Saudi Arabia, and on Day 1, we added the 10 regions of DRC. For those of you new to MTP, we adjust our list of locations every year, and try to spread out our annual unveilings over several days - kind of like a travel Hannukah, where one beautiful gift after another is revealed :)
We now represent the states/provinces of the top 16 countries in the world by area, and are done dividing large countries for 2021, although we expect to continue this trend in future years.
Next up on our new locations for 2021 are a number of island groups in Europe and Africa, as well as a special Middle East location:
- Bornholm
- North Aegean Islands
- Sporades
- Aeolian Islands (and Ustica)
- Campanian Archipelago
- Pontine Islands
- Tuscan Archipelago
- Savage Islands
- Bijagos Archipelago
- Likoma & Chizumulu
- UAE Minor Exclaves (Hatta, Masfout, Manama, Southern Ras al Khaimah)
The European islands are fairly self-explanatory.
Bornholm is a delightful self-contained island community nearer to Poland than it is to the Danish mainland.
In Greece, we had a number of islands in the Aegean which were unclassified, or were misclassified as Dodecanese. These we have divided into the Sporades and the North Aegean Islands.
In the Tyrrhenian Sea, there are four Italian island groups which are clearly separate from the mainland, and which we have generally ignored until now. So we have specified the Aeolian Islands (and Ustica), the Campanian Archipelago, the Pontine Islands and the Tuscan Archipelago as separate locations.
The Savage Islands represent the southernmost part of Portugal, 175 miles south of Funchal, very separate from Madeira and near to the Canary Islands.
Anyone who has been to Guinea-Bissau knows the profound difference between the mainland and the Bijagos Archipelago, both culturally, and naturally.
Likoma and Chizumulu represent a rare example of an aquatic exclave, two Malawian islands near the Mozambique mainland, completely surrounded by Mozambique waters.
Most everyone knows that the United Arab Emirates consists of 7 small Emirates within a small area, 6 lined up along the Persian Gulf, and Fujairah facing east towards the Gulf of Oman. What most people don't realize is that 5 of the 6 western Emirates own back-door exclaves on the eastern side of the country, each for its own reason and with its own purpose. We've grouped these exclaves into a single MTP location, since these are internal domestic borders, and the UAE is crowded enough as it is. Nahwa is also an eastern exclave (of Sharjah), but we've left it separate due to its separate and unique international situation, being completely surrounded by the counter-exclave of Madha, Oman.
If you are an iPhone/iPad app user, you must be on the latest version of the app to see these changes (You can check your version by going to My Profile > Gear Icon > About The App). If you are on the latest version, and can't see the new locations, you can reinstall the app, or simply view all the latest changes on your browser.
If you are an Android app user, and don't see these changes, simply reboot your phone to clear the cache.
Thanks as always for your support. I'll be back tomorrow with Day 5, the final day of our new 2021 MTP locations.
Charles Veley | Founder & CEO