NewsTracker Answers for week of Aug. 03, 2026

Q: About 60,000 people hoping to reach Europe last week swam, climbed, or broke through fences to enter Ceuta, a coastal Spanish city bordered by Morocco in North Africa. Where are Spain and Morocco?

Circle the area on this map

Q: More than 70 people died in the rush to cross the border. Nearly all migrants quickly returned to Morocco after encountering hostile reception, no food, and no way to reach mainland Spain. The autonomous Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla are on the Mediterranean Sea and bordered by Morocco. They are described by which geographic term?

A. Enclave

B. Exclave

C. Semi-enclave

D. Semi-exclave

D. A semi-exclave is a territory separated from the main part of a nation by the sea and a foreign land area. An exclave is separated from the main part of nation by foreign land. An enclave is territory surrounded by another country, and a semi-enclave also borders the sea. Enclaves and semi-enclaves may include independent nations.

Q: Which U.S. state is a semi-exclave?

A. Alaska

B. Hawaii

C. Both

A. Both Alaska and Hawaii are separated from the rest of the United States by the Pacific Ocean, but only Alaska is also separated by a foreign territory – Canada.

Q: The Moroccan government has repeatedly called on Spain to transfer Ceuta, Melilla, and some other small coastal territories to Morocco. Spain has long challenged which nation over a semi-exclave on the Spanish mainland?

A. Austria

B. Britain

C. France

D. Italy

B. British forces conquered Gibraltar in 1704 during the War of Spanish Succession, a conflict that also involved Austria, France, and Italy. Ever since, Spanish leaders have sought to regain the 2.6-square-mile territory at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula

Q: After migrants surged into Ceuta, some nations threatened to limit travel with Spain. How many European nations have open common borders?

A. 9

B. 19

C. 29

D. 39

C. Spain is among 29 European nations that agreed to drop border controls. More than 450 people can travel freely across 1.7 million square miles. About 1.7 million people commute to work daily over the internal borders. Spain said no one who irregularly enters its African cities is allowed to travel to its mainland and the open travel area.