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De Facto recommends: geopolitics on Lowlands Festival (2/3): Together with @volkskrant.nl, BKB has put together a geopolitical program about #Sudan, with a focus on the humanitarian disaster that is taking place there and how to factcheck as journalists: lowlands.nl/acts/bkb-x-d...

Next up: Off the Map in Mimik, Deventer, September 16, 2026. With journalist Michiel Driebergen about Ukraine and with Kamil and Gülendem Abas with live music on Uygur traditional instruments. And of course also with Jorie Horsthuis and Suzanne Hendriks. Tickets: www.mimik.nl/agenda/de-fa...

Historisch Nieuwsblad @historischnwsbl.bsky.social · last mo.

De Facto recommends: geopolitics on Lowlands Festival (1/3): lowlands.nl/acts/bkb-hoe.... BKB has put together several geopolitical programs you might like, like this one with Shermin Chavoushi and Maral Noshad Sharifi (@maralns.bsky.social), that will focus on real stories about #Hormuz and #Iran.

BKB – Hoe ziek is de geopolitiek: Iran

lowlands.nl

Tienduizenden Marokkaanse jongeren staken massaal de grens over bij de Spaanse exclave Ceuta. Paolo De Mas legt uit hoe de exclave eeuwen geleden in Spaanse handen kwam en bleef. ‘Hoe rechtsgeldig de Spaanse claim op het gebied nu nog is, kun je je afvragen.’ buff.ly/IRuQvbe

Spanje wilde Ceuta niet afstaan als het Gibraltar niet kreeg

Hoe kwam Ceuta eeuwen geleden in Spaanse handen? ‘Hoe rechtsgeldig de Spaanse claim op het gebied nu nog is, kun je je afvragen.’

historischnieuwsblad.nl

The World in a Cloverleaf, is a 16th century #map of the world, drawn by Heinrich Bünting. The original is to be found in the National Library of Israel. Special mention to the #merman on the right, who seems to be slightly more interested in the headless other merman nearby than the clovershape.

Gotta have a #cat #stamp on International Cat Day (August 8). This one is from the Sahrawi Republic, a partially recognized state that claims the territory of Western Sahara, but controls approximately thirty percent of it. Read more about it on our site: www.defactoborders.org/places/weste...

To all you bordercrossers: send us your photos! This one is from the Czech town of Hranice, literally meaning border. It was once a tripoint border, with the GDR, West-Germany and Czechoslacakia, now it serves as a border between Germany and Czech Republic. Are thre more aptly named border towns?

July 27th marks 73 years since the Korean Armistice Agreement and the still existing ceasefire between South and North Korea. 'K-Scar' is an online documentary project by journalist Roland de Courson exploring the inter-Korean border, its history, landscapes, and the people living in its shadow.

Looking forward to our event Off the Map, on September 16th at Mimik, Deventer. One of the guests this evening will be Kamil Abbas, who will play Uygur music for us. Get your tickets through our site or that of Mimik: www.mimik.nl/agenda/de-fa...

Most maps don’t mark out Somaliland. But going there is getting easier. The self-declared republic, an autonomous region of Somalia, hopes that international visitors will function as de facto ambassadors to the non-recognised nation. Check out the new article on our site, written by Aron Goossens.

It’s hot! Seven years ago, De Facto’s own Floor Koomen (@fkoomen) launced her maptastic literary Project Antarctica: floorkoomen.com/Project-Anta.... Go get lost! Bram van den Berg. Drawings by Elliott Dechamboux

Project Antarctica - Floor Koomen

Webdesign for literary Project Antarctica. Programming by Bram van den Berg. Drawings by Elliott Dechamboux.

floorkoomen.com

Blerick (NL) might not have the best smelling train station in the country, but it DOES have a very cool 17th century #map on one of the staircases.

For Roma youth, belonging is not a place on a map — it is memory, music, and the recognition of a cousin you have never met. Nina Yaminah Daneshvar is a journalist and multimedia storyteller whose work explores identity, belonging, and underrepresented communities. Check out her story on our site.

Japanese world map from the Kihon chizo-cho (Basic Atlas) - a popular and widely used school atlas, published by Ninomiya Shoten and Yamakawa Shuppansha. It features not just 360 degrees, but even 540 degrees and 2x the Americas (left and right).

De Facto recommends: The Studio #11, Bonnefanten in Maastricht (NL, with Malina Suliman. The exhibition includes an installation of two large maps of the world, through which she addresses themes like forced migration, violence and the idea of borders versus borderlessness. June 13- September 6.

De Facto's own Jorie Horsthuis just crossed the border with Germany, heading to the launch of the 'law & borders' research network at the University of Regenburg.

YESSSS. More revolving globes in shopping centers PLEASE. If you see a #globe somewhere that you think we should know about, let us know. Have a globalicious day! This one is in Roosendaal (NL) by the way

De Facto recommends: Qaqnas. What does freedom mean for women today? This powerful, musical ode is made by composer Huba de Graaff and Dutch-Kurdish singer-songwriter Naaz. Voice, electronics and resistance take centre stage. At Holland Festival Amsterdam, June 11-14: hollandfestival.nl/en/qaqnas

Two travel documents from countries that don’t exist anymore. On the left: passport for the Independent State of Croatia, that existed only from 1941 to 1943 and on the right: a Reisepass from the Deutsches Reich, these travel documents were issued between 1871 and 1945.

Nice! The article that Afghan journalist Saadat Mousavi wrote for De Facto, has been translated in Dutch and published on RFG Media, who support refugee journalists. Check out the article in Dutch here: rfgmedia.nl/aan-weerszij....

Aan weerszijden van de grensoever klinkt hetzelfde lied - RFG Media

Hoe voelt het om op te groeien op een kruispunt van grenzen? "De regio is als een appel die in twee helften is gesneden," schrijft de Afghaanse journalist Saadat Mousavi in zijn poëtische essay over h...

rfgmedia.nl

Who has been to the Mapparium in Boston? This 3-story stained-glass globe allows visitors to stand inside a globe depicting the world of 1934. It includes defunct names like Italian East Africa, Upper Volta and Siam, Soviet Union and Yugoslavija, but it also explains about political changes after.

Today is Towel Day. 'Home Is Where I Hang My Towel' is the anthem of a micronation called Aerican Empire, a cute reference to Douglas Adams' The Hithchikers Guide to the Galaxy. Check out our site: www.defactoborders.org/places/aeric...

On this day in history, May 24th 1993, the flag for an independent Eritrea was hoisted for the first time. Today Independence Day is being celebrated in Eritrea. Picture credit of the flag in the shape of the countr: Darwinek via Wikicommons