World court rules on Nicaragua-Costa Rica Google Maps war

Published time: 8 Mar, 2011 15:46Edited time: 8 Mar, 2011 20:37

View of the World Court with the judges seen rear, the delegation of Nicaragua, front left table, and Costa Rica, front right table facing judges, as the court delivered its ruling in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday March 8, 2011, on Costa Rica's request for emergency measures amid a border dispute with Nicaragua

The International Court of Justice has ordered both Costa Rica and Nicaragua to keep all personnel out of a disputed border region along the San Juan River – Google Maps be damned!

TagsConflict, South America, Politics, Law, Internet

Costa Rica took Nicaragua to court last year after Nicaraguan troops and engineers entered the region to dredge the river. Costa Rica claims the territory; however using Google Maps the Nicaraguan forces entered the area believing it to be Nicaraguan territory.

According to Google Maps the land belonged to Nicaragua.

Costa Rica initially asked the court to bar Nicaraguan troops from the region and order a halt to all dredging activities in the area.

However, the court instead ordered all Costa Rican and Nicaraguan forces to leave the area and instructed both nations to "refrain from any actions which might aggravate or extend the dispute."

Google has since corrected the border error on both Google Maps and Google Earth.