Crossing the Line GIS Activity

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Where is it?

Rebellion efforts in the Northern half of Somalia hope to break apart from the Somalian government as a means of violence into two new states called Somaliland in the West and Puntland in the East. While in the southwest, Ethiopian warlords and Islamic extremists in the Southeast are threatening the Somalian government more so.
A potential unification exists with the native Azerbaijani people in Iran. In the Northwestern most part of Iran, some Azerbaijani's are drawing boundaries around themselves and a small part of Armenia to reunite themselves with their homeland in Azerbaijan.

WHY are they there?

Somalia is very culturally diverse. It's borders were drawn only geometrically and physically to fit the UK's advantage. Because of this, different nations were incorrectly joined together to make a government not suitable for all of the state's nations. That is why different nations in the North threaten to break off from Somalia. And in the South other factors like religion and safety also influence Somalia's break up in the north. Warlords coming from Ethiopia that cross into Somalia threaten the safety of many Somalian people. And Islamic extremists against Somalia's Islamic Sunni government also threaten the safety of the people. Both of these factors influence the break up of the Northern half of Somalia.
Most people of that region in Iran are Azerbaijani's that feel they belong to their neighboring homeland country Azerbaijan. They seek to reunify themselves by peacefully drawing borders around themselves and Azerbaijan to become a part of their once nation-state and govern themselves according to their nationality.

Why are they THERE?

The border splitting the newly proposed states in Somalia are separated by a physical boundary following a clustered mountain range spanning from the North to the South splitting Northern Somalia into the two states Somaliland and Puntland. And the two halves splitting Somalia's Government South from the Rebellious North is a geometric boundary drawn by Puntland.
Azerbaijan's new proposed boundary part taking the small region of Armenia and Iran is strictly a cultural boundary drawn by the Azerbaijani people themselves.

What difference will it make?

Somalia's breakup has erupted a lot of violence in that region and leaves the rest of the land vulnerable to outside turmoil. This will cause a severe disruption in Somalia's economy and it's people's safety is threatened.
The Iranian government may not be content with their loss of land and it may cause wars or turmoil in that region if Iran wants to keep that land and can only do it forcefully causing many deaths.