Island of Palmas Case · Permanent Court of Arbitration · 1928

Who owns the island?

Short answer: The Netherlands: it governed it.

The facts. After the Spanish-American War, the US claimed a tiny Pacific island, Palmas, that Spain had discovered and then ceded. A US general visited and found a Dutch flag flying. The Dutch had run it quietly for years.

The ruling. Island of Palmas (1928): Arbitrator Max Huber ruled for the Netherlands. Discovery alone gives only a weak claim, which must be backed up by real and peaceful control.

The tiny island, now Miangas, belongs to Indonesia. Huber's ruling is still the starting point for island disputes in places like the South China Sea.

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For fun, not legal advice.