evidence: Olivenza is a town near the border of Portugal and Spain. Spain controls it but Portugal does not recognize it as Spanish. Unlike other disputes around the world such as Gibraltar in Spain vs UK, it does not seem to be brought up nor does it sour relations between the two countries. Why is this? Is it because it is of less significance than others due to both countries being in Schengen, EU and NATO? - 12There are a large number of disputed borders across Europe, few are politically hot topics. Commented Aug 22, 2023 at 7:22 - @JackAidley how many of those disputed areas have people living in them?– phoogCommented Aug 22, 2023 at 10:34 - 2@phoog, not counting irredentist claims and unrecognized states, four of Wikipedia's listed disputes involve inhabited areas: Gibraltar, Olivenza, the village of Sastavci, and an area around the mouth of the Dragonja river. The summit of Sveta Gera may also count, if you consider a military barracks "inhabited".– MarkCommented Aug 22, 2023 at 23:12 - 5Canada and the US have a fair few border disputes, but none of these are particularly politicized. During WW1, some US marines were even deployed (with Canadian agreement) to defend a Canadian lighthouse on a disputed island, which the US otherwise regards as illegal (and/or officially pretends doesn’t exist). Canada also had a dispute with Denmark until recently, a conflict "fought" by leaving each other bottles of whisky.– KRyanCommented Aug 23, 2023 at 2:45 3 Answers