In military terms, a demilitarized zone (DMZ) is an area, usually the frontier or boundary between two or more groups, where military activity is not permitted, usually by treaty or other agreement. Often the demilitarized zone lies upon a line of control and forms a de-facto international border.

Demilitarized zones have also unintentionally become wildlife preserves as they cause the land which they sit on to be too dangerous for construction. See also Korean Demilitarized Zone.

Generally, "demilitarized" means converted to non-military use or purpose, returned to a civilian field. In such meaning the term is oftenly used in former Soviet countries both in Western and local (transliterated) languages.

The term demilitarized zone (DMZ) also exists in the domain of computer networks. In this case it defines a zone where any servers which access the internet are placed. Servers inside this zone may be configured to access certain servers within an internal network. See demilitarized zone (computing).

Famous Demilitarized zones

Europe

• Cyprusian demilitarized zone is dividing the Cyprus (South Cypus) and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (North Cyprus). It was created in b United Nations in 1974 after the Turkish occupation of Cyprus in 1974.

(see:Cyprus dispute)

• Rhineland was a demilitarized zone after World War I by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. Rheinland was occupated and militarized in 1936 by Nazi Germany.

• Åland (Ahvenanmaa in Finnish) is an autonomous island region on the coast of Finland (in the the Gulf of Bothnia). It was demilitarized zone in 1921 by the League of Nations, after the Åland crisis from 1920 to 1921.(see: Åland crisis)

Middle East and Asia

• Israel and Palestine: The first Green Line referred to the 1949 armistice line between Israel and the Arab nations (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt) following Israel's 1948 War of Independence. The term Green Line Israel refers to these borders that lasted from 1949 until the 1967 Six Days War.An Green line is between Israel and Palestine is located in The West Bank and is divingding West Bank from Israel.

• Lebanon: The Green Line was also a line of demarcation in Beirut, Lebanon during the Lebanese Civil War from 1975 to 1990. It served to separate the Muslim Lebanese in West Beirut from the Christian Lebanese in East Beirut. It was so named because the line was always drawn in green on local maps. Many of the buildings along the "Green Line" were severely damaged or destroyed during the war. Since the end of hostilities, however, many of the buildings have been rebuilt

• The Korean Demilitarized Zone separates North Korea and South Korea. It was created by the United Nations in 1953 at the end of the Korean War.

See also

• Nicosia, Cyprus
• Rhineland
• Korean Demilitarized Zone
• Foreign relations of North Korea
• UNIKOM
• Vietnam War
• Romulan Neutral Zone (fictional)