The world's shortest national border is only 85 meters long

The Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, a small rock formation in northern Africa conquered by Spain in 1564, holds the title of the world's shortest national border, at just 85 meters long.

Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera is a small territory of Spain. (Photo: OC).

According to Oddity Central (UK), Spain has nearly 2,000 land borders with Portugal and France, but it also has much shorter borders with countries such as Andorra, England (in the Gibraltar area) and Morocco.

With Morocco, Spain shares the world's shortest land border, an 85-meter strip of land connecting a rock with an area of ​​about 19,000 square meters ^with the country's coast.

Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera has been a small Spanish territory since 1564 when it was conquered by Admiral Pedro de Estopiñán. Although Morocco has repeatedly made claims to this land, Spain has never agreed. This country also deployed troops stationed here to rule this land.

Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera is one of the places that Spain has sovereignty over in North Africa, along with Ceuta, Melilla, Peñón de Alhucemas, the Chafarinas Islands and Isla de Perejil. These are all non-autonomous territories under Spanish administration.

Interestingly, this barren rock was an island until 1934 , when an earthquake created a small isthmus and turned the island into a peninsula. This land border is officially recognized as the shortest in the world.

Currently, the Spanish army is responsible for surveillance and defense in Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera. These soldiers are rotated monthly and live in rather modest facilities, without water or electricity. They relied mainly on Spanish Navy supply ships.