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Burkina Faso – Mali – Niger
Junta-led Nations Exit ECOWAS
Three military-led countries in the Western Sahel region of Africa, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, announced their immediate exit from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in a joint statement on Monday. This departure follows ECOWAS’ decision to suspend all three countries and implement harsh sanctions in efforts to restore civilian, democratic rule following military coups in Mali (2021), Burkina Faso (2022), and Niger (2023). In their statement, military leaders in the three Sahel states – the region which borders the Sahara Desert – criticized ECOWAS for failing to combat terrorism and succumbing to foreign influences. The decision to exit comes amidst a long-standing crisis of jihadist violence in the Sahel and the exit of French military personnel from the region, fueling fears that instability and violence may spread farther south.
This map depicts the member states of the Economic Community of West African States as well as the three countries, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, which have recently announced their plans to exit the block. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Bloomberg
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Vietnam
Philippines Maritime Agreement
On a state visit to Hanoi, Philippine President, Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., signed an agreement with the Vietnamese government to boost cooperation between their countries’ coastguards and prevent conflict in the South China Sea. While the two countries maintain competing claims over maritime territory in the region, both have had incidents with coastguard forces of China, which makes an expansive claim on the South China Sea that has been rejected in international rulings. The new agreement between Vietnam and the Philippines is targeted towards a partnership between their respective coastguards with capacity building, training, and personnel and ship exchanges. President Marcos’ visit to Vietnam also included agreements on rice trade and agricultural cooperation, and discussions on other trade and business opportunities.
This map depicts the respective maritime territorial claims of the countries surrounding the South China Sea. The governments of the Philippines and Vietnam have signed an agreement to increase cooperation in the area despite competing territorial claims. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Al Jazeera
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France
Geography of Stone Age Jewelry
A new study in the journal Nature Human Behavior details an analysis of ornaments used by the Gravettians, an Ice Age culture that spanned from the Iberian Peninsula to modern-day Russia roughly 34,000 to 24,000 years ago. Archaeologists studied ornaments made with shell, animal teeth, bone, stone and other materials at 112 Gravettian burial and habitation sites across Europe. Thousands of beads were classified into 134 types based on their raw materials and design elements. Nine distinct cultural groups of hunter-gatherers emerged after clustering bead types geographically. Distance and isolation accounted for a surprisingly small difference between the ornaments the various groups wore. These results imply somewhat porous, shifting cultural boundaries and suggest other factors were at play, like the availability of materials, cultural sharing among groups, and an individual’s social status.
This map depicts the nine distinct cultural regions of Stone Age Europe uncovered through an analysis of prehistoric jewelry. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: Where was the first river granted personhood under the Rights of Nature Doctrine?
A: Whanganui River – New Zealand
The Whanganui is a major river in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the country’s third-longest river and has special status owing to its importance to the region’s Māori people, who also refer to it as Te awa tupua. In March 2017 it became the world’s first river to be given its own legal identity, with the rights, duties, and liabilities of a legal person. The river is considered part of the living landscape by the indigenous Whanganui Iwi people associated with it. The concept of treating a river as a person is not unusual for Māori. It is captured in the well-known Māori saying, “I am the river and the river is me.” The legal reform emerged from the longstanding Treaty of Waitangi negotiations and is a way of formally acknowledging the special relationship local Māori have with the river. The river is represented by two officials, one from Māori and the other from the government.
Source
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Q: What is the youngest country in Europe?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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