When I speak of ownership in 1901, I mean more than just the home centers. We can think of France as a 5-center nation entering 1902, but he may be locked out at 4 and he may do very well and have 6, but when planning long-term, does anyone really think of Spain and Portugal as unowned? In a technical sense, yes, they're unowned, but in a more practical sense, they are French, much like Denmark will /always/ be German entering 1902 and any Turkey that doesn't secure Bulgaria must have CD'd or supported himself into Rumania after a surprise capture of the Black Sea. So when I speak of ownership, I mean it in a practical preparatory sense.

That clarification made, neutrals seem to fall along certain lines. Tunis = Italy; Bulgaria = Turkey, Rumania = Russia, Serbia = Austria; Holland and Denmark = Germany, Norway = England, Spain and Portugal = France. I would go so far as to say that these territories are owned by "divine right" considering their ownership in 90+% of games. But what about the others? Belgium, Sweden, Greece? Do these have "owners?"

Of course, there are also degrees of ownership. Rumania is Russian, but to a lesser degree than Bulgaria certainly being Turkish and Tunis certainly being Italian. Similarly, Denmark is certainly German, and to a lesser degree, Norway is certainly English (Russia could bounce him 1901). If I had to make tiers of ownership, 1 being the highest, it'd look like this:

1: Bulgaria = T, Denmark = G, Spain = F, Tunis = I, Portugal = F
2: Serbia = A, Rumania = R, Norway = E, Holland = G
?: Greece, Belgium, Sweden

We could generalize this a bit more too. Does Austria really /deserve/ to own Trieste? Many an Italy have taken Trieste to hit five centers and have then had long-lasting alliances with Austria. It isn't appreciated, but sometimes the territory is ceded to Italy. So, beyond merely thinking of neutral "ownership," we could also ask if home centers are "owned" by the respective player or if they really belong to someone else.

I'd be interesting in hearing other players' views of the board in 1901. When you go for negotiations (say as Austria), do you assume that Rumania is Russian or do you make him aware that a neutral is neutral and you'll fight him for it /in 1901/? Do you play the expansionist Italy that views someone else's home center as "divinely" your own? Opinions, please, and they'll be even more appreciated if they're on-topic and not excessively pedantic. ;)