West Berlin was a city that existed between 1949 and 1990 as a political
enclave surrounded by
East Berlin and
East Germany. It was located some 100 miles east of the
East/West German border and was accessible by land from
West Germany only by a narrow rail and highway corridor. It comprised the western regions of
Berlin which consisted of the
American,
British, and
French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945. It was politically closely affiliated with, though not part of,
West Germany. It had a special and unique legal status because its administration was formally conducted by the Western
Allies. East Berlin consisted of the region occupied and administered by the
Soviet Union, and was claimed as its capital by East Germany. The Western Allies did not recognise this claim, as they asserted that the entire city of Berlin was legally under four-power administration. The
Berlin Wall, built in 1961, physically divided East and West Berlin until it
fell in 1989.