Cartographic aggression

Cartographic aggression is the term by which the victim country describes any act, in particular the publication of maps or other material by a neighbouring country, which purports to show part of what it perceives as its own territory as belonging to the other country. In rare cases cartographic aggression may be committed by a third country in order to gain some diplomatic advantage. The term is not new, and well accepted even by professional geographers. Recent and well-documented cases of cartographic aggression are:

India, China
Involving Aksai Chin, the Bara Hoti Pass area in Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim and South Tibet (Arunachal Pradesh)

China against Nepal
Note:The outstanding issues were later settled.

USA against India
A rare case of 'third party' cartographic aggression, this was over the Siachen area. From about 1967, US maps started showing an international border starting from NJ9842 and running more or less directly to the Karakoram Pass on the India-China border. This was presumably done to benefit US ally Pakistan, who thus 'acquired' the entire Siachen Glacier region at the stroke of a cartographer's pen!

Pakistan against India
Pakistan followed the American lead (see above) in its own maps.

Iraq against Kuwait
Maps were issued around 1990 showing Kuwait as a province of Iraq.