... 205 miles from China, 105 miles from Taiwan, and 105 miles from the closest island of Japan (McDevitt, 2014). In the late eighteen hundreds, Japan surveyed the islands as "terra nullius," which translates in Latin as "belonging to no one" ("Narrative," 2012). By 1895, after the first Japanese and Chinese (Sino) war, the islands were under ... Sino-Japanese war in 1937, and have remained uninhabited since (McDevitt, 2014). In opposition, China insists the Japanese annexation was unlawful, because the islands should not have been classified as terra nullius. They claim that the islands ha...

• Word Count: 2908
• Approx Pages: 12
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... . Introduction United States law has used the doctrine of "discovery" to justify the takeover of Indian people and territory. In the same way Australian law has used the concept of "terra nullius," the legal myth that Australia had no previous owners. Today it is easy to see that both doctrines are racist. Both are inconsistent with modern international law. The United Nations ... Working Group on Indigenous Populations rejects both doctrines. Canadian law has never used either "discovery" or "terra nullius." Our legal tradition has been so self-confident, so arrogant, that it felt no ne...

• Word Count: 4016
• Approx Pages: 16
• Grade Level: High School

... taking over all the land they felt they needed, which in reality was the whole continent. This idea was fueled by everyone believing the continent was made up primarily of terra nullius, or empty space, that was theirs for the taking (pg. 130). The notable and well recognized Smithsonian Institute is one of the front runners of denying how many people originally ... of Australia could see the invading British as being a problem. Much like the European settlers in the Americas, the explorers of Australia thought that the world they were entering was terra nullius and if there were a peop...

• Word Count: 3728
• Approx Pages: 15
• Has Bibliography

... that Aboriginal people occupied and owned Australian land before White settlers came in 1788 and give rights to traditional land owners. Before this time, Australia had been referred to as Terra Nullius, meaning "land belonging to no-one". Mabo brought about the Native Title Act (1993) to enforce the decision in Australian statute law. Although this demonstrates the way the High Court ... ...

• Word Count: 1187
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate