What is boundary? Types of International boundaries
What is the boundary?
The definition of a boundary is a line
or something else that marks a limit or border. It implies the physical limit
of sovereignty and jurisdiction of a state; it is a manifestation of
integration and is oriented inwards.
Characteristics of boundary:
1 bound together by common law,
economy, physical features, idea, or creed with a government or central
authority in effective control of the territory and activities within the
boundaries.
2. This leads to minimizing friction. An
example is a boundary between Spain and Portugal.
3. Boundary is an outer line of
effective control of the government of a country keeping the enemy out and the
resources in.
4. It is a legal-political phenomenon.
5. Boundary signifies differences in
goals, ideology, structure, interests, etc.
Types of International boundaries:
International boundaries are the
geographical borders of political or legal jurisdictions such as countries,
customs territories, and sovereign states. The process of the creation of a
border is called boundary delimitation. The boundary can be classified into basically two
types, 1) functional or genetic classification,
2) Physical or physiographic boundaries.
1) Based on Functional or the genetic classification of boundary:
This type of boundary is based on the
relationship that a boundary line had shared with the surrounding cultural
landscape at the time of its demarcation.
A) Antecedent boundaries
B) Subsequent boundaries
C) Super-imposed boundaries
D) Relic or Relict boundaries
A) Antecedent boundaries:
Boundaries that predated the evolution
of the cultural landscape are called antecedent boundaries. These types of
boundaries were generally agreed upon at the conference table even before the
concerned territory was fully explored, and colonized so that they are mostly straight-line
geometrical boundaries. The precise delineation of boundaries is relatively new
in human history. Before the availability of surveying and cartographic
technologies, impediments to travel such as mountain ranges, water bodies, or
even features such as broad as forests and deserts were used to separate the
territories of political entities.
B) Subsequent boundaries:
Those boundaries whose definition and
demarcation had followed the evolution of the cultural landscape are called subsequent
boundaries. Especially the divisions of language and religion. India and
Pakistan, and India and Bangladesh belong to this type. In Europe, the 1648
Peace of Westphalia gave rise to a more territorially-based notion of the
sovereign state, creating an imperative for the delineation and demarcation of
boundaries and the establishment of border facilities.
C) Super-imposed boundaries:
They were imposed upon the concerned
communities, either by outside powers or the overbearing unit between the two. The
colonial expansion of European states in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries led
to the creation of many international boundaries that endure to this day, even
though they were often drawn arbitrarily. As recently as the late 19th
century, European powers delineated boundaries on the map of Africa without
surveys on the ground and without regard to the economy or culture of African
people. Until the second half of the twentieth century, international
boundaries were subject to change arising from diplomatic agreements and
military conflict.
D) Relic or Relict boundaries:
Such boundary lines result when a
smaller State is absorbed by a larger one, or when frontier boundaries between
States are abandoned and redrawn. The disintegration of states, including
the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, into multiple smaller states, has created new
international boundaries within pre-existing boundaries. At the same time, the
German reunification in 1991 involved the dissolution of a boundary that has
divided Europe for decades.
2) Based on Physical or physiographic
boundaries:
Morphological boundaries are those that
were drawn to follow some conspicuous feature of the physical landscape. This
distinction is, however, not correct. All boundaries are man-made; hence all
are artificial. Physical or physiographic boundaries are as follow-
A) Physiographic Boundaries
B) Mountain Boundaries
C) Rivers as International Boundaries
D) Boundaries in Lakes and Straits
E) Forest, Swamp, and Deserts
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