Bir Tawil: An enchanted piece of land – not even the “King” found happiness here

Housing crisis? Overpopulation? social conflicts? Not in Bir Tawil – because this land is about 2,000 square kilometres Egypt and the Sudan It is uninhabited to this day and is not claimed by either country.

The absurd story of Pir Tawil began in 1899 when Sudan and Egypt He agreed in an agreement that the land would become the property of the Sudan. In exchange, Egypt would have received an area called Halayeb, which is much larger, more fertile, and richer in raw materials than Bir al-Tawil.

Three years later, a new treaty was drawn up: Halayeb was assigned to Sudan and Bir Tawil to Egypt. But since both countries want Halayeb, they only recognize the treaty that gives them Halayeb. Thus, to this day, neither state has claimed Bir Tawil, because to do so would mean recognizing the other state’s claim to Halayeb.

In 2014, the Kingdom of Bir Tawil was established

About nine years ago, an American came up with the idea of ​​declaring Bir Tawil his kingdom. Jeremiah Heaton of Abingdon, Virginia knew that his young daughter, Emily, dreamed of becoming a princess. So Pir al-Tawil declared himself king, proclaimed himself king, and made his daughter heir to the throne.

On June 16, 2014—on Emily’s seventh birthday—the father laid a homemade family flag on the ground in Bir Tawil. While the girl was happily wearing her crown, father’s problems began. More than 15,000 people flooded him with messages. Some wanted to start businesses, others were interested in citizenship.

The “investors” wanted to sell Bir Tawil’s passports for $20,000

Shortly thereafter, Heaton held talks with General Mike Flynn, Trump’s former national security advisor. Flynn planned to establish a US air base at Bir Tawil from which he could launch drone strikes on terrorists. The idea wasn’t entirely put off by Heaton. But his hopes of being involved in a formal White House project were dashed when General Flynn was fired a few weeks later.

After that, Chinese investors became interested in the Hitun “kingdom”. They presented him with a project to build a city including a solar system – but it was all a scam. The investors actually planned to sell fake passports to desperate Chinese for $20,000 per person. Heaton found out and reported it to the FBI. Also disappointed and battered, he finally returns to Virginia. His adventure has now cost him about $50,000.

The documentary “The King of North Sudan”, which tells the story of Heaton, has been available on streaming platforms since last summer.

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