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Synonyms

exclave

American  
[eks-kleyv] / ˈɛks kleɪv /

noun

  1. a portion of a country geographically separated from the main part by surrounding foreign territory.

    West Berlin was an exclave of West Germany.
exclave British  
/ ˈɛkskleɪv /

noun

  1. a part of a country entirely surrounded by foreign territory: viewed from the position of the home country Compare enclave

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of exclave

First recorded in 1885–90; ex- 1 + -clave, modeled on enclave

Compare meaning

How does exclave compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

Explanation

An exclave is a region of one country that's separated from the rest by another country's territory. There are many exclaves around the world. Alaska is a well-known example of an exclave because it is part of the United States but separated from the mainland by Canadian territory. Another famous exclave is Kaliningrad Oblast, which is a part of Russia, but surrounded by Poland, Lithuania, and the Baltic Sea. Exclaves often face challenges like relying on neighbors for trade and travel while developing unique cultural and political traits shaped by their isolation.

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But Iran owns only one shore of the strait—Oman’s Musandam exclave sits on the other.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026

Azerbaijan announced on Friday it was withdrawing diplomatic staff from Iran, a day after drones launched from Iranian territory targeted an airport and exploded near a school in the country's Nakhichevan exclave, bordering Iran.

From Barron's • Mar. 6, 2026

Lithuania - a member of the Nato military alliance - also shares a border with Kaliningrad, a heavily militarised Russian exclave on the Black Sea.

From BBC • Apr. 23, 2025

Russia's Baltic fleet is headquartered in Kaliningrad exclave near the explosions sites and possess vessels capable of deploying navy divers.

From Reuters • Sep. 26, 2023

Armenian leaders remain   preoccupied by the long conflict with Azerbaijan over   Nagorno-Karabakh, a primarily Armenian-populated exclave, assigned   to Soviet Azerbaijan in the 1920s by Moscow.

From The 2001 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.