Border
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Border has several different, but related meanings:
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Generic borders
A border can consist of a margin around the edge of something, such as a lawn, garden, photograph, or sheet of paper.
Horticultural borders
A herbaceous border comprises a narrow strip of plants along the edge of a garden path or a lawn or fence.
Conceptual/mental borders
A thing can belong on the border if it lies in a grey area at the edge of a category or condition or near the borderline between two different situations but not clearly in one or the other.
Jurisdictional borders
Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, states or countries. 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 In modern times the concept of a marchland has been replaced by that of the clearly defined and demarcated border.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 identification. 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
The presence of borders often fosters certain economic features or anomalies. Wherever two jurisdictions come into contact, special economic opportunities arise. 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, as in Israel.
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.
Types of border
There are different types of border between countries. A natural border is one that follows natural geographical features, such as a river or a mountain range. A geometric border (also known as a straight-line border) is one that is formed by straight lines. Many borders in Africa and the Middle East are geometric.
The Border country
The Border country or the Borders consists of an area of Lowland Scotland on the border between Scotland (see also Scottish Borders) and England. Before the two kingdoms united, the Lowland clans would switch allegiance between the Scottish and English thrones depending on what appeared most favourable for the members of the clan.
See also
External link
- Scottish Border (http://www.scottish-border.co.uk/)de:Grenze
it:Frontiera nl:Grens ja:国境 pl:Granica ro:Graniţă ru:Граница