(Redirected from International border)
'Borders' define
geographic boundaries of
political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as
governments,
states or
subnational administrative divisions. They may foster the setting up of
buffer zones.
In the past many borders were not clearly defined lines, but were neutral zones called
marchlands. This has been reflected in recent times with the neutral zones that were set up along part of
Saudi Arabia's borders with
Kuwait and
Iraq (however, these zones no longer exist). In modern times the concept of a marchland has been replaced by that of the clearly defined and demarcated border.
For the purposes of
border control,
airports and
seaports also class as borders. Most countries have some form of border control to restrict or limit the movement of people, animals and goods into or out of the country. In order to cross borders people need
passports and
visas or other appropriate forms of
identity document. To stay or work within a country's borders
aliens (foreign persons) may need special
immigration documents or
permits that authorise them to do so.
Moving goods across a border often requires the payment of
excise tax, often collected by
customs officials. Animals (and occasionally humans) moving across borders may need to go into
quarantine to prevent the spread of exotic or infectious diseases. Most countries prohibit carrying illegal drugs or endangered animals across their borders. Moving goods, animals or people illegally across a border, without declaring them, seeking permission, or deliberately evading official inspection counts as
smuggling.
Border economics
Several markers designating the border between
Nicholas and
Greenbrier counties in
West Virginia,
USA along a secondary road. Notice the older stone survey markers a few meters behind the modern highway sign.
The presence of borders often fosters certain economic features or anomalies. Wherever two jurisdictions come into contact, special economic opportunities arise for
border trade.
Smuggling provides a classic case; contrariwise, a border region may flourish on the provision of
excise or of
import–
export services — legal or quasi-legal, corrupt or corruption-free.
Different regulations on either side of a border may encourage
services to position themselves at or near that border: thus the provision of
pornography, of
prostitution, of
alcohol and/or of
narcotics may cluster around borders, city limits, county lines,
ports and
airports.
In a more planned and official context,
Special Economic Zones (SEZs) often tend to cluster near borders or ports. See also
maquiladora.
Human economic traffic across borders (apart from
kidnapping), may involve mass
commuting between workplaces and residential settlements.
The removal of internal barriers to
commerce, as in
France after the
French Revolution or in
Europe since the 1940s, de-emphasises border-based economic activity and fosters freer
trade.
Border politics
Political borders have a variety of meanings for those whom they affect. Many borders in the world have
checkpoints where
border control agents inspect those crossing the boundary. In much of
Europe, such controls were abolished in what is called the
Schengen Agreement. The
United States has notably increased measures taken in border control on the
Canada–United States border and the
United States–Mexico border during its
War on Terrorism. Some have called the 3600-km (2000-mile) US-Mexico border, "the world's longest boundary between a
First World and
Third World country."
[1]
Historic borders such as
The Great Wall of China, the
Maginot Line, and
Hadrian's Wall have played a great many roles and been marked in different ways. While the
stone walls, the Great Wall of China and the Roman Hadrian's Wall in Britain had military functions, the entirety of the Roman borders were very porous, a policy which encouraged Roman economic activity with its neighbors
[2]. On the other hand, a border like the Maginot Line was entirely military and was meant to prevent any access in what was to be
World War II to
France by its neighbor,
Germany.
References
1. Murphy, Cullen. ''Roman Empire: gold standard of immigration''. Los Angelas Times, June 16, 2007 (accessed here June 20, 2007)
2. Murphy 2007
See also
★
Geopolitics
★
List of land border lengths
★
List of countries that border only one other country
★
List of national border changes since the twentieth century
★
Political geography
★
Political science
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