Abstract
Located at the interfaces between adjacent state territories, international boundaries have a special significance in determining the limits of sovereign authority and defining the spatial form of the contained political regions. Frontiers and boundaries have usually been studied in terms of their geographical relationships to the human and physical landscapes through which they pass, and though political geography is rich in morphological, empirical and generic boundary studies, the economic and psychological functioning of boundaries has not received the attention it merits. Boundaries have been loosely described as being linear; in fact they occur where the vertical interfaces between state sovereignties intersect the surface of the earth. Frontiers, in contrast, are zonal and therefore contain various geographical features and, frequently, populations. As vertical interfaces, boundaries have no horizontal extent, though the factor of border location can characterise surrounding landscapes, while a past frontier location may be marked in a landscape long after the frontier concerned has advanced, receded or contracted. The seaward extent of the coastal state is also marked by boundaries, and often by frontier-like extensions of diminished state control beyond the outer limit of sovereign authority; this contrasts with the situation on land, where frontiers associated with boundaries normally represent areas which are being integrated into the functioning state system and which are contained within the state boundaries.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
J. R. V. Prescott, The Geography of Frontiers and Boundaries, London (1965), pp. 34–9.
P. E. James, Latin America, 3rd edition, New York (1959).
M. W. Mikesell, Comparative studies of frontier history, Annals Assoc. Am. Geogr., 50 (1960), 62–74.
R. Hartshorne, Suggestions as to the terminology of political boundaries, Annals Assoc. Am. Geogr., 26(1936), 56–7.
See ref. 3.
L. D. Kristof, The nature of frontiers and boundaries, Annals Assoc. Am. Geogr., 49 (1959), 269–82.
See ref. 6, 269.
F. J. Turner, The frontier in American history, New York (1893).
B. O. Witthuhn, The spatial integration of Uganda as shown by the diffusion of postal agencies, 1900–65, East Lakes Geogr., 4 (1968), 5–17.
D. Wishart, The changing position of the frontier of settlement on the Eastern margins of the Central and Northern Great Plains, 1851–1896, Prof Geogr., 21 (1969), 155.
D. R. Reynolds and M. L. McNulty, On the analysis of political boundaries as barriers, East Lakes Geogr., 4 (1968), 31.
P. D. Wood. Frontier relics in the Welsh border towns, Geography, 47 (1962), 54–62.
See R. P. Beckinsale, Rivers as political boundaries, in Water, Earth and Man (ed. R. J. Chorley), London (1969), for further discussion.
See ref. 4.
See Col. Sir T. Holdich, Political Frontiers and Boundary Making, London (1916);
L. W. Lyde, Some Frontiers of Tomorrow: An Aspiration for Europe, London (1915).
S. C. Gilfillan, Duration of land boundaries in Europe, Pol. Sci. Q., 39 (September 1924), 458–84.
A. T. A. Learmonth and C. Hamnett, Approaches to Political Geography, Bletchley (1971), pp. 28–32.
See ref. 1.
See ref. 4, and W. G. East, The nature of political geography, Politica, 2 (1937), 259–86.
J. W. House, A local perspective on boundaries and the frontier zone, in Essays in Political Geography (ed. C. A. Fisher), London (1968), p. 329.
S. B. Jones, Boundary Making: A Handbook for Statesmen, Washington DC (1945).
See ref. 6, 136.
A. Cobban, The Nation State and National Self-Determination (1945), revised edition, London (1969), pp. 57–75.
H. R. Wilkinson, Jugoslav Kosmet, Trans. Inst. Br. Geogr., 21 (1955), 171–93.
D. S. Whittlesey, The Earth and the State (1939), 1944 edition, New York, 331.
S. W. Boggs, International Boundaries: A Study of Boundary Functions and Problems, New York (1940), 66.
P. Odell, Europe sits on its own energy, Geogr. Mag., 46 (1974), no. 6, 244.
R. S. Yuill, A simulation study of barrier effects in spatial diffusion processes, Discussion Paper no. 9, Michigan Inter-University Community of Mathematical Geographers (1964).
A. P. Brigham, Principles in the delimitation of boundaries, Geogr. Rev., 7 (1919), no. 4, 201–19.
See ref. 26.
See ref. 11, 24.
J. Ross Mackay, Interactance hypothesis and boundaries in Canada: a preliminary study, Canadian Geogr., 2 (1958), 1–8.
A. Lösch, The Economics of Location, New Haven, Conn. (1954).
E. J. Soja, Communication and territorial integration in East Africa: an introduction to transaction flow analysis, East Lakes Geogr., 4 (1968), 39–57.
See ref. 11, 33–4.
See ref. 33, p. 192.
F. E. Oxtoby, The role of political factors in the Virgin Islands watch industry, Geogr. Rev., 60 (1970), no. 4, 463–74.
W. Franke, Forschungen zur deutschen Landeskunde, Bad Godesberg (1968).
See ref. 33.
J. E. Martin, Industrial employment and investment in a frontier region: the Franco-German example, Geography, 58(1973), 55–8.
For (a), N. J. G. Pounds, An Historical and Political Geography of Europe, London (1947); for (c),
A. E. Moodie, Geography behind Politics, London (1957); for (d),
A. Shearer, Guardian (11 March 1972); for (e),
R. Muir, The political geography of north-east Scotland, PhD thesis, University of Aberdeen (1970).
K. E. Boulding, Conflict and Defense: a General Theory, New York (1962).
P. G. Bradshaw, Geography and international relations: an attempt at synthesis, PhD thesis, University of Southampton, 84–5.
S. Hoggart, Bordering on the impossible, Guardian (9 October 1971).
I. Claude, Jr., Swords and Ploughshares, New York (1964), 348.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1981 Richard Muir
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Muir, R. (1981). Frontiers and boundaries. In: Modern Political Geography. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-86076-0_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-86076-0_6
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-31128-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-86076-0
eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)