Koalou / Kourou — De Facto Map

Koalou / Kourou — Neutral zone · West Africa · Administered jointly by Benin and Burkina Faso.

Some 68 km² of savanna on the Benin–Burkina Faso border near Togo, with the villages of Koalou, Niorgou I and Niorgou II, claimed by both states under the boundary inherited from French rule. In 2008 they removed every symbol of sovereignty, and since 2009 a joint committee has run it as a neutral zone pending a settlement. With neither army present, it has become a crossroads for smuggling. The map draws it as its own place, striped in both countries' colours.