What are the Functions of Political Boundaries (College Board AP® Human Geography)

Contested Political Boundaries

• Boundaries are created to show the limits of political power; or, where one political entity ends and another begins

  • These boundaries may be international or internal

• Boundaries may be defined, delimited, or demarcated

  • Defined boundaries are established by a legal document

    • Examples of defined boundaries are treaties that create international borders and legal deeds that show property lines between houses

  • Delimited boundaries are borders indicated by lines drawn on a map

    • County borders and voting districts are examples of delimited boundaries.

  • Demarcated boundaries are identified by physical markers or barriers

    • A fence between homes or a border wall are examples of demarcated boundaries

• Political boundaries might become contested when two or more political entities claim authority over the same land area 

  • These disputes are the result of historical, cultural, and/or strategic causes

• There are four main categories of boundary disputes: 

  • definitional

  • locational

  • operational

  • allocational

Definitional disputes

• Definitional (positional) disputes are conflicts over how to interpret documents or maps identifying the boundary

  • The dispute over the border between Argentina and Chile, due to inaccurate maps, is a definitional dispute

Locational disputes

• Locational (territorial) disputes occur between states or regions over who controls a given area

  • Disputes between France and Germany in the early twentieth century over control of the Rhineland were locational disputes

Operational disputes

• Operational (functional) disputes are conflicts over the policies of different states at the border

  • Differing refugee policies and identification requirements at international borders are examples of operational disputes

Allocational disputes

• Allocational (resources) disputes are conflicts over natural resources that are divided by a border but may be used by both countries

  • The conflict between Iraq and Kuwait over access to oil fields is an example of an allocational dispute

Boundaries Created by Policy

• Borders may be created by laws and government policy rather than physical or cultural factors 

• These borders are often the result of international treaties

• A demilitarized zone is an area previously in conflict from which weapons and military forces have been removed and which can no longer be used for military purposes 

  • The border between North and South Korea is an example of a demilitarized zone

Image: The Demilitarized zone between North and South Korea

• The state borders created by the Berlin Conference were a result of international agreements between European powers 

  • European nations met to divide Africa among themselves for colonization purposes

  • The superimposed boundaries of Africa remained in place after independence

Influence of Boundaries on Identities and Disputes

• Boundaries and international agreements influence national identity

• Political boundaries can formalize national and cultural identities by concentrating nationalities in one area

  • The creation of nation-states, such as Slovenia or Croatia, strengthens national identity as it gives individual nations political control and sovereignty

  • The creation of autonomous and semi-autonomous regions, such as Scotland or Nunavut, gives national and cultural groups independent power within the state

• International agreements can create a regional bloc of shared identity larger than the state

  • Agreements like the European Union create a regional identity among the member states

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

• A maritime boundary refers to the extensions of a country's territory into the waterways around them

• The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) regulates international maritime boundaries and resource allocation 

  • UNCLOS establishes the rights and responsibilities of states concerning ownership and usage of the seas bordering their territories and the use of resources found within those waters

UNCLOS four zones

• UNCLOS identifies four zones:

  • A territorial sea is the zone of water adjacent to a state’s coast in which a state has sovereignty 

    • The territorial sea extends 12 nautical miles from the shore 

    • States possess sovereignty over their territorial seas

  • The contiguous zone extends from 12 to 24 nautical miles 

    • States can enforce customs, tax, immigration, and pollution laws within the contiguous zone

  • The exclusive economic zone (EEZ) extends 200 nautical miles from the shore 

    • States have exclusive rights over natural resources in their EEZs

  • International waters, or the high seas, are beyond the EEZ of any state and are open to all states

• If two states share waterways less than 24 nautical miles apart, the distance between the two is divided by half to split water rights equally between them

  • This is known as the Median-Line Principle

South China Sea

• The South China Sea is an important example of UNCLOS in action:

  • The South China Sea is home to large fisheries, as well as oil and gas reserves 

  • There are multiple countries close to one another, including China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan, The Philippines, and Indonesia, all of which claim parts of the South China Sea 

  • China has also built military installations on some disputed islands in the South China Sea to expand the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ)