Happy New Year, everyone, and welcome to Day Six - the final day of our 2020 MTP list changes!
This year, we have released our 2020 changes in small batches each day over a period of 6 days. Think of this like the annual UNESCO process, where a few new WHS are released daily.
On Day 1, we divided three countries into their constituent regions:
- Kazakhstan - Now divided into 14 regions and 4 city-states (including Baikonur, which is leased to Russia until 2050).
- Algeria - Now divided into 8 regions
- England - Now divided into 9 regions (in addition to existing MTP items Lundy, Scilly Isles, and other UK locations)
On Day 2, we added the northernmost territories of Russia, specifically, from west to east:
- Wrangel Island
- New Siberian Islands
- Severnaya Zemlya
- Ushakov and Vize Islands
- Novaya Zemlya
On Day 3, we added the equivalent locations on the Alaska side, including:
- Pribilof Islands
- Western Aleutian Islands (Unalaska onwards)
- St. Matthew & Hall Islands
- St. Lawrence Island (Alaska)
- Little Diomede Island
- Big Diomede Island (belongs to Russia - just to even things out)
On Day 4, we added a few "Special Areas," including:
- Korean DMZ (i.e. You have not been in North Korea if you have only visited the DMZ from the south, and stood in the little room straddling the border)
- Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province (Tajikistan)
- Donbass Region (Ukraine)
On Day 5, we added islands and island groups that have been overlooked, or which deserve to be separated from the group to which they are currently assigned, including:
- Bass Islands (separated from Austral Islands; the remaining Austral Islands are now named Tubuai Islands)
- Southern Coral Group (Seychelles - Coëtivy and Île Platte are geographically separate from the Amirantes Group)
- Entrecasteaux Reefs (These northernmost land forms of New Caledonia are far removed from the mainland)
- Colombian Outer Banks (These four Carribbean regions have been disputed between Colombia and the US for centuries, and include Serrana Bank, Roncador Cay, Serranilla Bank, and Bajo Nuevo Bank)
- Commander Islands (the Russian-controlled farthest west of the Aleutian Islands should have been added on Day 3, but fit in just as well today)
Today is "Enclave Day," where we add enclaves/exclaves which we have previously missed. One of MTP's quirks is coverage of enclaves, which sometimes aren't the most exciting to visit, but are certainly geographically distinct and unusual locations which typically came about due to some strange historical twist. Today's enclaves include:
- Dahagram-Angarpota (Bangladesh in India)
- Vorukh (Tajikistan in Kyrgyzstan)
- Sokh District (Uzbekistan in Kyrgyzstan)
- Shakhimardan (Uzbekistan in Kyrgyzstan)
- Orasje-Domalivac (Bosnia in Srpska)
- Odžak (Bosnia in Srpska)
- Međurečje (Bosnia in Serbia)
These 7 bring us to a new total of 949 items. Note that there is is a known glitch in the iOS app which still shows Algeria, Kazakhstan and England as separate MTP items, for a total of 952. This has been fixed and a new app version submitted to Apple. When Apple approves, you can download the fix. If you want to be 100% accurate today, just leave those items unchecked.
Have a look at your new map and update your totals as appropriate. Note that the new region borderlines might not be visible at first on small screens and on the app. But if you click on the map, the regions will appear. We will be improving this experience soon with our ongoing map upgrades.
These changes were all suggested by MTP'ers like you. So again a huge THANK YOU for all of your input!
Happy Travels in 2020!
Charles Veley | Founder & CEO