What kind of boundaries do you see?
Function/Purpose• Keeping People IN
• Keeping People OUT
• Mark limits of jurisdiction – symbol of SOVEREIGNTY
• Promotes nationalism
The partition of India left both India and Pakistan devastated. The process of partition had claimed
many lives in the riots.
Why was India partitioned this way by the British?
Korea and Vietnam
Types of Boundaries Three types of
boundariesGeometricPhysicalCultural
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 as 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
• Conflicts over boundaries are divided into different categories– Can include mix of categories
• Type of Disputes – at end– Territorial Disputes
• 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 operate or function
– Allocational /Resource boundary disputes• Fights over resources that may
be 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
– 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
• A frontier area is uninhabited or sparsely settled by a few isolated pioneers
• 19th Century (1800s)– Vast amounts of frontiers
• Australia• American West• Canadian North• Sub-Saharan Africa
Vice episodes #2
• April 12, 2013 – North Korea/Kashmir
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