| There are almost 200 official countries in the world. But there are dozens more breakaway states which are determined to be separate and independent. The breakaway states have their own rulers, parliaments or warlords, and are home to millions of people, but they're not officially recognised as proper countries by the rest of the world. Several have their own armies and police forces, and issue passports and even postage stamps which the rest of the world ignores. All of the breakaway states have declared independence after violent struggles with a neighbouring state. Some now survive peacefully, but others are a magnet for terrorists and weapons smuggling, and have armies ready for a fight. Several could be at the centre of future wars which threaten their regions and the wider world. In a world of easy adventure tourism, Simon visits breakaway states & unrecognized nations which don't usually feature on the tourist trail: Somaliland, Transniestria, South Ossetia, Taiwan, Abkhazia, Ajaria and Nagorno-Karabkh Welcome to Places That Don't Exist... Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan Azerbaijan and Armenia became independent after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but a mountainous area of Azerbaijan called Nagorno-Karabkh (NK) triggered war. Historically it was mainly Armenian Christian, and when it wanted its own independence, Armenian troops helped the Karabkh army push Azeris out. Azerbaijan is still officially at war over NK, and Simon's journey starts in ... |
