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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

Passenger trains running between Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad through Lithuania will not be affected by the decision, the government said.

From Barron's • Oct. 29, 2025

The draft Russian defence ministry decree suggested moving the sea borders around Russian islands in the Gulf of Finland and around the exclave of Kaliningrad.

From BBC • May 22, 2024

The cable runs from St Petersburg to Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad.

From Reuters • Nov. 7, 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.