1918 · 28 July 1920 · 12 March 1924 The border takes twelve villagesHranica berie dvanásť dedín

Austria-Hungary ended in 1918 and Orava became part of Czechoslovakia — but not all of it. The northern, Goral-speaking end of the valley was claimed by the new Poland, which occupied part of it, and both sides argued that the people there were theirs. A plebiscite was planned and then abandoned, and on 28 July 1920 the Conference of Ambassadors at Spa simply divided the disputed lands: Poland was given twelve villages of north-eastern Orava around Jablonka — some 389 square kilometres with about sixteen thousand people — along with thirteen villages in Spiš. On 12 March 1924 a small exchange adjusted the line: Suchá Hora and Hladovka came to Czechoslovakia, the country around Nižná Lipnica went to Poland. Nobody in those villages was ever asked. The border is still there.Rakúsko-Uhorsko sa v roku 1918 skončilo a Orava pripadla Československu — ale nie celá. Severný, goralsky hovoriaci koniec doliny si nárokovalo nové Poľsko, ktoré ho sčasti aj vojensky obsadilo, a obe strany tvrdili, že tamojší ľudia patria im. Plebiscit sa najprv pripravoval, potom sa od neho ustúpilo, a 28. júla 1920 Konferencia veľvyslancov v Spa sporné územie jednoducho rozdelila: Poľsko dostalo dvanásť obcí severovýchodnej Oravy okolo Jablonky — asi 389 km² a približne šestnásťtisíc ľudí — a k tomu trinásť obcí na Spiši. Dňa 12. marca 1924 drobná výmena čiaru upravila: Suchá Hora a Hladovka pripadli Československu, okolie Nižnej Lipnice Poľsku. Nikto sa v tých dedinách nikoho nepýtal. Hranica tam stojí dodnes.