occupied land
Claimed foreign soil
Occupied land is territory controlled by a military force or political power that doesn't have legitimate sovereignty over it.
The term appears most often in discussions of war and international law: Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, Germany's occupation of France during World War II.
The phrase carries an implicit judgment—calling land "occupied" suggests the controlling power's presence is illegitimate or temporary, which is why the designation is often contested politically.
- territoryLand under jurisdiction
- conquestDefeating and seizing control
- settlersThose who establish homes
- colonizedEstablished foreign control over
- annexedIncorporated into one's domain
seized · invasion · buffer zone · disputed · green line · resistance · freedom fighters · liberation · checkpoint · sovereignty · indigenous · olive groves · displacement · ethnic cleansing · encroachment · subjugated · garrison · curfew
occupied landsovereign territory
Land under autonomous control
autonomous region · homeland · free state · motherland · fatherland
occupy, occupied, occupies, occupying, occupier, occupiers, occupation, occupations, occupational