Borders and Their Origin and Functions. The Origin of Bodrers and States Territorial expansion on non controlled areas (Terra Nullius or No Men’s Land)

Borders and Their Origin and Functions

The Origin of Bodrers and States

• Territorial expansion on non controlled areas (Terra Nullius or No Men’s Land) was allways accepted by international law

• Borders can be changed by wars, discussions, contracts, marriage, purchase between two states or can be changed by conferences, peace talks etc.between several states

• Two or more states can agree on dividing third state’s territory• New states can inherit territory and its borders (for example

liberated, newly formed states after colonial role)• A state can occupy other sovereign state’s territory and the

international community have different responses• Nature can change territory or borders of a state (seashores, rivers,

volcanic mountains have their own dynamics and changes)• Human activity can change the borders and territory of densely

populated areas too (filling up the shores like in the Netherlands, Singapore or Hong Kong, Japan)

The Logic of Forming Borders

• Antropomorph boders dividing nations, two nations on the two sides of the border

• Physiographic borders following the surface’s natural borders, like mountains, rivers dividing states, cultures, religions successfully for ages (like Alps, Carpathians, Himalaya etc.)

• Geometric borders (usually a horisontal or vertical line drawn far from the location, like colonial borders, or newly explored territories.like USA’s state borders or useless territories, like desert)

Newly Conquered Territories of the Singapore Air Port (same in

Danemark, etc.)

The Dynamics of Borders

• Past: non existing borders (this was the homework)• Future: some 800 nations are waiting (sometimes less

peacefully) for establishing their own states in the future• Past-Present-Future: some state have stability in their

borders, some have instability (find some examples for pulsing states, states with growing territory or with less and less territory, for unification process and for states falling into parts)

• Closed or open borders up to the international situation eg. Changes in politics, health situation (diseases, food), economical situation, labour market, capitals

Other Possible Borders

• Recognized borders or borders in dispute (find examples)• Borders by their functions: political, economical, health, etc.• Size and shape of the countries (big and small states in the same time, extreme

shapes• Like Enclaves like Kaliningrad District not connected to the main body of the state.• Or Vatican City perforating a body of a larger state, depending on one big neighbour• So sometimes relation is not balanced between big and weak neighbour states (eg

Soviet Union and Finland, ‘Finlandisation’) or South Africa and Leshoto etc.

Limited Sovereignity• Especially after wars some states can not control its territory:• foreign ocupation,• Some states had been divided into two parts in the end of a conflict (Ireland

and Northern Ireland, Koreas, GDR and FRG, China and Taiwan, South and North Yemen)

• limitations in sea, land or air powers,• limitations in sea or river use or air use (picture: Non fyling zone on the

South part of Iraq after the First Gulf War in a US Air Force Unit’s Patch)

Border as a Line or a Territory

• Border: strict (front) lines, easy to find the boder line which is signed with fence, barb wire, stones, walls, mines etc.

• Frontier: a zone, where gradual changes took place between the two areas

Picture: meeting point of three border line: Lithuanian, Russian and Polish bodrers