Terra nullius

Principle of international law

Terra nullius (plural terrae nullius) is a Latin expression meaning "nobody's land". Since the nineteenth century, it has been used in international law to refer to the principle by which territories deemed not to belong to any recognised sovereign state could be acquired through occupation. In historical scholarship, the term is also used retrospectively to describe colonial practices in which European powers claimed sovereignty over lands by referring to them as empty, vacant, or unowned, including in territories where indigenous populations were present.

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