Political Boundaries

Political Boundaries Definition

The geography of political territories means that each separate, sovereign state and its subdivisions control a physical territory with limits, known as boundaries.

Types of Political Boundaries

Geographers distinguish between several different types of boundaries.

Antecedent Boundaries

Boundaries that precede human settlement and the cultural landscape are called antecedent boundaries.

Fig. 1 - Antecedent boundaries (red) in Antarctica. The red-coloured wedge is Marie Byrd Land, a terra nullius

Antecedent boundaries are drawn first at a remote location, based on geographic data, then (sometimes) surveyed on the ground.

Were 1800s US frontier land parcels really based on antecedent boundaries, though? In reality, they were superimposed (see below). The US Public Land Survey System didn't take into account Native American territories.

Indeed, in most cases, "antecedent boundaries" refer to no prior settlements of colonizers and land takers. Except in Antarctica and a few remote islands, there have always been prior occupants whose territory boundaries were ignored. This happened when boundaries were drawn in Australia, Siberia, the Sahara, the Amazon Rainforest, and elsewhere.

Subsequent Boundaries

Subsequent boundaries exist where the cultural landscape predates the drawing or redrawing of boundaries.

In Europe, many subsequent boundaries have been imposed based on high-level treaties that end wars. Boundaries are shifted to transfer territory from one country to the other, often without the say-so of the people who inhabit the area.

Consequent Boundaries

Consequent boundaries are drawn with the cultural landscapes of ethnic nations in mind. They are a type of subsequent boundary often drawn collaboratively with affected parties. This is not always the case, however. Sometimes, consequent boundaries involve the movement of people, either voluntarily or forced. At other times, people remain in ethnic enclaves or exclaves rather than move, and these areas can frequently become the source of conflict.

In Australia, the boundaries establishing the modern constituent states and territories of the country were largely drawn as if they were antecedent, though, of course, they were superimposed on Aboriginal territories thousands of years old. More recently, however, a collaborative process has involved the drawing of consequent boundaries to define Indigenous territories, carefully following Aboriginal land claims.

Geometric Boundaries

Lines on maps are geometric boundaries. Curvilinear forms, though less common (e.g., the northern border of Delaware, US), are also types of geometric boundaries.

Geometric boundaries may be antecedent, consequent, or subsequent.

Relict Boundaries

Relicts are leftovers from the past. They are traces of old borders. The Great Wall of China is a famous example of a relict boundary because it is no longer a border between two distinct regions.

In many cases, ancient boundaries are recycled or still in use. This is the case in western US states, where certain boundaries from the time that they were US or Mexican territories were retained as state or county boundaries.

Artificial boundary lines at the scale of sovereign states were quite uncommon until modern times. You are unlikely to find a true relict boundary of an ancient empire unless a defensive wall was built, or it followed a natural feature that still exists. However, you can easily find relict boundaries at the scale of cities (in many parts of the world, these had defensive walls) or individual properties.

Superimposed Boundaries

You've probably already realized that the different categories of boundaries are not exclusive of each other and that they can all end up being conflictive. Superimposed boundaries are perhaps the worst offenders in the latter case.

European colonialism established territorial boundaries without consulting affected local people.

Fig. 2 - Africa's international boundaries were mostly superimposed by Europeans without input from Africans

The result, in Africa, was 50+ countries stuck with colonial boundaries often drawn right through the middle of ethnic nations that had never been divided. Though free movement between some countries continued into the independence period, in many cases neighbouring countries reinforced borders and people could not cross easily.

In the worst case, split groups were a poorly-treated minority in one country, blocked from going to the neighbouring country where they were politically and economically more advantaged. This has resulted in numerous conflicts, some genocidal.

Superimposed boundaries in post-colonial Africa also resulted in ethnic groups that were traditional rivals being in the same country together.

Culturally Defined Political Boundaries

Consequent boundaries, in the best case, involve the participation of the people who are to be joined or separated. In Africa, despite Rwanda and several other examples, post-independence countries have kept their superimposed boundaries at all costs rather than engage in the kind of consequent boundary drawing seen elsewhere in the world. Thus, we have to look elsewhere to find culturally-defined political boundaries.

Many Asian and European countries have a close match between cultural boundaries and political boundaries, though these have often come at a great cost. One of these costs is ethnic cleansing.

International Political Boundaries

International political boundaries, i.e., the boundaries between sovereign countries, may be any one or several combinations of the above categories.

The Peace of Westphalia, referring to two treaties signed at the end of the 30 Years' War in 1648, is often seen as the modern origin of fixed boundaries. Indeed, the devastation caused by this war was enough to lead Europeans in the direction of better decision-making on what constituted the territorial rights of states. From there, the Westphalian system expanded worldwide with European colonialism and the Western-dominated world political, economic, and scientific systems.

The need to have fixed boundaries between sovereign states has generated untold hundreds of border conflicts, some escalating into full-scale war. And the process of establishing exactly defined borders using the latest technology (GPS and GIS, now) is not over. Many African countries, for example, do not have adequately surveyed borders, and the process of doing so can drag on for years or even decades, even if neighbouring countries are allies. This is because, if the process is collaborative, which it often is now, local people's concerns need to be taken into account. People may want to be in one country or the other, not be separated from their relatives, or have little regard for the boundary regardless of where it goes. And then there are considerations such as strategic importance and potential resource access. Sometimes, border areas end up being so contentious or strategic that they are either ruled jointly by more than one sovereign nation.

The only cases where international political boundaries are not either settled or in dispute are where they do not exist (yet). Excepting Antarctica and a few remaining terra nullius (no one's lands) in Africa and Europe, this only applies to the high seas and the seabed under them. Beyond their territorial waters, countries have certain rights, except ownership, in their EEZs (Exclusive Economic Zones). Beyond that, political boundaries do not exist.

Of course, humans have not divvied up the surface of the Moon or nearby planets either...yet. Given states' proclivities to control territory, however, geographers may one day be concerned with this.

Political Boundaries Examples

Meanwhile, back here on Earth, we are not lacking examples of the trials and tribulations that political boundaries put us through. Two brief examples, both involving the US, demonstrate the pitfalls and possibilities of boundaries.

US and Mexico

Partly geometric and partly based on physical geography (the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo del Norte), this 3140-kilometre (1951-mile) political boundary, the busiest in the world, is also one of the most politicized, despite the fact that it divides two countries that are staunch allies.

Fig. 3 - A border fence is the boundary of the US and Mexico on the edge of the Pacific Ocean

For many who live on both sides, the border is an inconvenience because they share a Mexican-American culture and an economy. Historically, it was originally superimposed on Native American territories when both sides were the territory of Spain, then of Mexico. Before strict border controls, the boundary had little effect on the movement of people back and forth. Now, it is one of the most heavily patrolled borders between allies in the world, the result of both governments' desire to stem the flow of illegal substances back and forth, as well as the movement of people from Mexico to the US who avoid border controls.

North Korea and South Korea

The DMZ is a buffer zone dividing the two Koreas, and the most heavily militarized political boundary in the world. Demonstrating how politics divides culture, Koreans on both sides are ethnically and culturally identical except for differences emerging since the border was imposed as a subsequent boundary after the Korean War in 1953.