An enclave is a territory that is surrounded by another that has different characteristics in terms of its administration, its political regime or its culture. The notion also allows us to refer to a human group inserted in another with traits different from its own.
It can be stated that an enclave is a region of a certain territorial jurisdiction, which is completely surrounded by lands of another jurisdiction. It may be a country surrounded by another , a municipality located within the territory of another, etc.
An example of an enclave is the Vatican . This small sovereign State, whose surface area barely reaches 0.44 square kilometers, is located in the middle of the city of Rome . This means that the Vatican is an enclave in Italian territory.
San Marino is another enclave whose area is surrounded by Italy . Its 39 kilometers of borders are shared, in this way, with the Italian State.
In Africa we can also find an enclave: Lesotho , whose surroundings belong to South Africa . It is a larger country than those mentioned above, since its surface area exceeds 30,000 square kilometers (it has more territory than nations such as Armenia , Albania , El Salvador and Lebanon ).
In addition to everything indicated, we must not forget either, from a historical and artistic point of view, the Archaeological Enclave of Munigua. It is located in the Sierra Norte of the province of Seville, belongs to the municipality of Villanueva del Río y Minas and is from Roman times.
It can be added that it corresponds to the population of Municipium Flavium Muniguense, which has its origins in the so-called pre-Roman period and that its discovery as such occurred in the 16th century when several inscriptions were found. It is considered that this settlement or municipality was created in that area due to the iron and copper mines existing there.
Currently, this enclave is classified as an Asset of Cultural Interest and in it, everything from the remains that have remained of the walls to Forum Street, the Temple of Mercury and the Sanctuary, which is considered the most relevant monument of Munigua.
The Forum, the Roman baths and the necropolis are, likewise, important spaces in this Sevillian archaeological enclave that concerns us, as are the seven houses that have been excavated so far. These have different dimensions, but they are a great example of homes from that time.
The concept of enclave is often used to refer to an ethnic neighborhood , which brings together inhabitants of the same community living in a foreign country. In this sense, we can mention the case of Chinatown , in New York , which is a Chinese enclave located in said American city. In its streets you can find Chinese products and signs written in Mandarin.
In the same way, we cannot overlook the existence of the Enclave Social association, which is based in Córdoba (Spain) and has ten years of experience working as a consultant and advisor for NGOs.