The 18 most hotly contested islands in the world

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Liancourt Rocks

REUTERS/South Korean Navy/Handout

A South Korean navy vessel participates in a defense drill near Dokdo on the East Sea, July 30, 2008.

More than ever, islands - and the resources beneath them - are the focus of geopolitical tensions between nations around the world.

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The biggest disputes range from the Arctic to Croatia to north of Samoa, and some of the competing claims were made centuries ago.