Editing Mont Blanc (section)

=== Ownership of the summit ===
At the scale of the [[Mont Blanc massif]], the border between Italy and France passes along most of the main Alpine watershed, from the [[Aiguille des Glaciers]] to [[Mont Dolent]], where it reaches the border with Switzerland. However, its precise location near the summits of Mont Blanc and nearby [[Dôme du Goûter]] is disputed.<ref>{{cite news |date=23 July 2019 |title=Monte Bianco, la Francia "invade" il confine italiano: si rischia il caso diplomatico |trans-title=Mont Blanc, France "invades" the Italian border: diplomatic case at risk |url=https://torino.repubblica.it/cronaca/2019/07/23/news/monte_bianco_la_francia_invade_i_confini_italiani_si_rischia_il_caso_diplomatico-231842103/ |language=Italian |work=[[La Repubblica]] |location= |access-date=25 January 2022 |quote=Un'ordinanza francese 'invade' il territorio del Monte Bianco che l'Italia considera come proprio e il caso rischia di riaprire il contenzioso, mai risolto, sui confini tra i due Paesi ed avere complessi sviluppi giudiziari. |trans-quote=A French order 'invades' the Mont Blanc territory that Italy considers as its own and the case risks reopening the dispute, never resolved, of the borders between the two countries with complex judicial developments. |archive-date=30 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130124726/https://torino.repubblica.it/cronaca/2019/07/23/news/monte_bianco_la_francia_invade_i_confini_italiani_si_rischia_il_caso_diplomatico-231842103/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=21 October 2020 |title=Monte Bianco, cresce la tensione tra Italia e Francia: Macron vuole la vetta |trans-title=Mont Blanc, the tension between Italy and France is growing: Macron wants the summit |url=https://torino.repubblica.it/cronaca/2020/10/21/news/monte_bianco_cresce_la_tensione_tra_italia_e_francia_macron_vuole_la_vetta-271373634/ |language=Italian |work=[[La Repubblica]] |location= |access-date=25 January 2022 |quote=L'ultimo motivo di attrito: due leggi a favore della biodiversità violano la sovranità italiana sul proprio territorio. Di Maio protesta formalmente: "Forte disappunto" |trans-quote=The last reason for friction: two laws in favor of biodiversity violate Italian sovereignty over its territory. Di Maio formally protests: "Strong disappointment" |archive-date=25 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125143918/https://torino.repubblica.it/cronaca/2020/10/21/news/monte_bianco_cresce_la_tensione_tra_italia_e_francia_macron_vuole_la_vetta-271373634/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=3 March 2021 |title=Parliamentary questions: Answer given by Ms Johansson on behalf of the European Commission |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-9-2020-006010-ASW_EN.html |institution=European Parliament |quote=The Commission is aware of the ongoing dispute between Italy and France regarding their common border in the Mont Blanc area, particularly in the area of the Torino Hut, and would welcome a swift — and for both parties satisfactory — settlement. |access-date=25 January 2022 |archive-date=25 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125183302/https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-9-2020-006010-ASW_EN.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Italian officials claim the border follows the watershed, splitting both summits between Italy and France. In contrast, French officials claim the border avoids the two summits, placing them entirely with France. The size of these two (distinct) disputed areas is approximately {{convert|65|ha}} on Mont Blanc and {{convert|10|ha|spell=in}} on Dôme du Goûter.<ref name="Swisstopo">{{cite web |url=https://s.geo.admin.ch/894dc622d1 |title=Swiss National Map: Courmayeur (1:50,000) |website=map.geo.admin.ch |access-date=29 July 2020 |archive-date=24 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124011644/https://map.geo.admin.ch/?topic=ech&bgLayer=ch.swisstopo.pixelkarte-farbe&layers=ch.swisstopo.zeitreihen,ch.bfs.gebaeude_wohnungs_register,ch.bafu.wrz-wildruhezonen_portal,ch.swisstopo.swisstlm3d-wanderwege,ch.bav.haltestellen-oev&layers_visibility=false,false,false,true,true&layers_timestamp=20181231,,,,&layers_opacity=1,1,1,0.65,0.7&lang=en&E=2554626.15&N=1076553.19&zoom=7 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1723, the Duke of Savoy, [[Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia|Victor Amadeus II]], acquired the [[Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861)|Kingdom of Sardinia]]. The resulting state of Sardinia was to become preeminent in the [[Italian unification]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~31537~1150016:A-new-map-of-the-dominions-of-the-K |title=A new map of the dominions of the King of Sardinia. (with) Isle and kingdom of Sardinia. (with) Mont Blanc in Faucigni and the subjacent Alps and glaciers. From the original published at Turin with royal approbation, and dedicated to his Sardinian Majesty. By Francis de Caroly; translated with improvements and additions. London, Published by Laurie & Whittle, 53, Fleet Street, 12th May 1799. Engrav'd by B. Baker, Islington. – David Rumsey Historical Map Collection |website=www.davidrumsey.com |access-date=30 October 2020 |archive-date=1 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101140505/https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~31537~1150016:A-new-map-of-the-dominions-of-the-K |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:View of Mont Blanc from Aguille Rouge.jpg|thumb|View of the southern side of Mont Blanc (big summit on the left) from [[Aiguille Rouge]]]]

Citing the [[Treaty of Paris (1796)]], France claims that the historical border of Savoy and Piedmont diverged from the watershed line, fully encompassing the summit of Mont Blanc within Savoy and consequently, within French territory.<ref>{{cite web |title=Conférence : Le différend frontalier Franco-Italien au sommet du mont Blanc |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_mQlHAdHhs |access-date=6 July 2024 |archive-date=6 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240706130403/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_mQlHAdHhs |url-status=live }}</ref>

After the Napoleonic Wars, the [[Congress of Vienna]] restored the King of Sardinia in Savoy, Nice, and Piedmont, his traditional territories, overruling the 1796 Treaty of Paris. Forty-five years later, after the [[Second Italian War of Independence]], it was replaced by a new legal act. This [[Treaty of Turin (1860)|act]] was signed in [[Turin]] on 24 March 1860 by [[Napoleon III]] and [[Victor Emmanuel II of Italy|Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy]], and deals with the annexation of [[Savoy]] (following the French neutrality for the plebiscites held in Tuscany, Modena, Parma and Romagna to join the Kingdom of Sardinia, against the Pope's will). A demarcation agreement, signed on 7 March 1861, defined the new border. With the formation of Italy, for the first time, Mont Blanc was located on the border of France and Italy, along the old border between the department of Savoy and that of Piedmont, formerly belonging to the [[Savoyard state]].<ref name="questions.assemblee-nationale.fr">{{cite web |url=http://questions.assemblee-nationale.fr/q13/13-76121QE.htm |title=FICHE QUESTION |website=questions.assemblee-nationale.fr |access-date=23 October 2017 |archive-date=2 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171102204702/http://questions.assemblee-nationale.fr/q13/13-76121QE.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

The 1860 act is still legally valid for both the French and Italian governments.<ref name="questions.assemblee-nationale.fr"/> Italy claims, that the border was moved by France in 1865, when surveys carried out by a cartographer of the French army, Captain JJ Mieulet, incorporated the summit into French territory, making the state border deviate from the watershed line, and giving rise to the differences with the maps published in Italy in the same period.<ref name="Colombo">{{cite web |last1=Colombo |first1=Claudio |title=La disfida del Monte Bianco |url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2005/dicembre/27/disfida_del_Monte_Bianco_co_9_051227086.shtml |website=corriere.it |access-date=30 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120801070918/http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2005/dicembre/27/disfida_del_Monte_Bianco_co_9_051227086.shtml |archive-date=1 August 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Ridateci il "nostro" Monte Bianco! |journal=Lo Scarpone |date=November 2011 |pages=6 |url=http://www.cai.it/uploads/media/LO_SCARPONE_NOVEMBRE_2011.pdf |access-date=30 October 2020 |publisher=Club Alpino Italiano |language=it |issn=1590-7716 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120012425/http://www.cai.it/uploads/media/LO_SCARPONE_NOVEMBRE_2011.pdf |archive-date=20 January 2013}}</ref>

Modern Swiss mapping, published by the [[Swisstopo|Federal Office of Topography]], plots a region of disputed territory (statut de territoire contesté) around the summits of both Mont Blanc and the Dôme du Goûter. One of its interpretations of the French-Italian border places both summits straddling a line running directly along the geographic ridgeline (watershed) between France and Italy, thus sharing their summits equally between both states. However, a second interpretation places both summits, as well as that of [[Mont Blanc de Courmayeur]] (although much less clearly in the latter case), solely within France.<ref name="Swisstopo"/><!--Same as IGN French map-->

[[NATO]] maps take data from the Italian national mapping agency, the [[Istituto Geografico Militare]], which is based upon past treaties in force.<ref>{{cite news |date=4 October 2019 |title=Scontro Italia-Francia sul Monte Bianco |trans-title=Italy-France clash on Mont Blanc |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/ita/scontro-italia-francia-sul-monte-bianco/45276766 |language=Italian |work=[[Swissinfo]] |location= |access-date=25 January 2022 |quote=La cartografia ufficiale italiana, in uso alle Forze Nato e riconosciuta a livello internazionale, si basa sulla Convenzione del 1861... |trans-quote=The official Italian cartography, in use by the NATO forces and internationally recognized, is based on the 1861 Convention... |archive-date=25 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125143916/https://www.swissinfo.ch/ita/scontro-italia-francia-sul-monte-bianco/45276766 |url-status=live }}</ref>

{| style="margin:1em auto;"
|-
| [[File:1823 Mont Blanc 1.jpg|thumb|left|1832 Map of the Kingdom of Sardinia showing an administrative border passing through the summit of Mont Blanc. This was the same map annexed to the 1860 treaty to determine the current border between France and Italy.]]
| [[File:Carte Mieulet Mont Blanc+frontispice.jpg|thumb|Captain Mieulet map of 1865 placing the international border south of the watershed<ref name="Colombo"/>]]
| [[File:Mbianco.png|thumb|left|A Sardinian Atlas map of 1869 showing the international border on the watershed<ref>The map is based on measurements taken in 1856 before the convention of 7 March 1861 and is identical to the map attached to the Treaty of Turin. See [[Institut géographique national (France)|IGN]]</ref>]]
| {{CSS image crop |Image=292 Courmayeur.jpg |bSize=2100 |cWidth=300 |cHeight=200 |oTop=500 |oLeft=150 |Description=1:50'000 [[Swiss National Map]], with both disputed areas marked}}
|}