What kind of boundaries do you see?
Function/Purpose
• Keeping People IN
• Keeping People OUT
• Mark limits of jurisdiction – symbol of
SOVEREIGNTY
• Promotes nationalism
Types of Boundaries
 Three types of boundaries
 Geometric
 Physical
 Cultural
 Best boundaries are those to
which all affected states agree,
regardless of the rationale used
to draw the line
 Geometric
 Straight-line boundaries that do
not related to the cultural or
physical features of the territories
involved
 Ex. North/South Korea 38th
parallel
 Physical (or natural)
 Separate territories according to
natural features in the landscape,
such as mountains, deserts, or
rivers
 Ex. France and Spain are divided
by the Pyrenees
What types of
boundaries do
you see?
Types of Boundaries
• Cultural Boundaries
– Mark changes in the
cultural landscape, such as
boundaries that divide
territories according to
religion or language
– Sometimes drawn according
to geometric straight lines
– Religious
• Only a few cases where
religion has been used to
select the actual boundary
line
• Example:
– South Asia, partition of
India and Pakistan
– Ireland and North Ireland
– Language
• Europe best example
• Idea spread during 20th
century
– Versailles Conference
Cyprus “Green Line” Boundary
• Contains two nationalities
– Turkish= north, eastern
• 18% of population
– Greek= south
• 78% of population
• Cyprus gained independence in
1960
– Constitution guaranteed Turkish
minority rights
– Cyprus never peacefully integrated
the Greek and Turkish nationalities
• Series of Coups led to Turkish
section declaring itself
independent in 1983
– no one except Turkey recognizes
independence
• Wall constructed between two
areas
– Buffer zone patrolled by UN
– Accepted to EU in 2004
Boundary Evolution
• Evolution
– Another way to classify boundaries
depends not on how they were
created, but how they evolved over
time
• Antecedent boundaries
– Existed before humans
cultures developed into
current forms
• Subsequent boundaries
– Grow to divide space as
result of human interaction
• Superimposed boundaries
– Forcibly put on the
landscape
• Relict boundary
– No longer functions has a
boundary
• Boundary Creation
– Several steps on the growth of
boundaries into final form
• Definition
– Phase in which the exact location of
a boundary is legally described and
negotiated
» De Jure
» De Facto
• Delimitation
– Is the step when the boundary’s
definition is drawn onto a map
• Demarcation
– Is the visible marking of a boundary
on the landscape with a fence, line,
sign, wall, or other means
• Administration
– Is the enforcement by a
government or people of the
boundary that has been created
Boundary disputes •
Type of Disputes
– Territorial Disputes
•
Conflicts over boundaries are divided into
different categories
– Can include mix of categories
• Conflict because one state wants to
annex a territory whose pop. is
ethnically related to them
– Definitional disputes
• Fight over the language of border
agreement in a treaty or contract
– Japan and Russia
– Locational /Positional disputes
• Occur when conflicting parties agree
on the definition but not on where
the boundary exists on a map
– Operational /Functional disputes
• Conflicts over the way a boundary
should operation or function
– Allocational /Resource boundary
disputes
• Fights over resources that may
by divided by the boundary
Frontiers
• Frontier:
 Region where no state exercises
complete and political control or
boundaries are weakly developed
 Antarctica
 Saudi Arabia and Yemen
• A frontier area is uninhabited
or sparsely settled by a few
isolated pioneers
• 19th Century (1800s)
– Vast amounts of frontiers
– Tangible geographic area whereas
a boundary is a infinitely thin,
invisible, imaginary line
– Frontier provides an area of
separation but a boundary brings
two neighbors into direct contact
•
•
•
•
Australia
American West
Canadian North
Sub-Saharan Africa