ENCLAVE

enclave

(noun) an enclosed territory that is culturally distinct from the foreign territory that surrounds it

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

enclave (plural enclaves)

A political, cultural or social entity or part thereof that is completely surrounded by another.

A group that is set off from a larger population by its characteristic or behavior.

(computing) An isolated portion of an application's address space, such that data in an enclave can only be accessed by code in the same enclave.

Usage notes

Enclaves are generally also exclaves, though exceptions exist (as detailed at list of enclaves and exclaves), and in common speech only the term enclave is used.

An enclave is an area surrounded by another area, while an exclave is an area cut off from the main area. An area can be cut off without being surrounded (such as Kaliningrad Oblast, cut off from the rest of Russia by Lithuania, Poland, and the Baltic Sea) hence exclaved without being enclaved, or surrounded without being cut off (such as the Kingdom of Lesotho, enclaved in South Africa, but not exclaved).

A pene-enclave (resp, pene-exclave) is an area that is an enclave "for practical purposes", but does not meet the strict definition. This is a very technical term.