Editing Border (section)

== Politics ==
{{Main|National boundary delimitation}}
{{See also|Territorial integrity|Passport|Immigration law|Travel visa|}}
[[File:IsraelCVFRchart-BorderNorth copy.jpg|thumb|Borders between Israel, [[Syria]] and [[Lebanon]] in [[Mount Hermon]] region.
The Blue Line between Israel and Lebanon—marked by black asterisk.
Disengagement Israeli front line with Syria (1974)—marked by blue asterisk.
Disengagement Syrian front line with Israel (1974)—marked by red asterisk.
]]
Political borders have a variety of meanings for those whom they affect. Many borders in the world have [[border checkpoint|checkpoints]] where [[border control]] agents inspect persons and/or goods crossing the boundary.

Some borders require presentation of legal paperwork like [[passport]]s and [[visa (document)|visa]]s, or other [[identity document]]s, for persons to cross borders. To stay or work within a country's borders [[alien (law)|aliens]] (foreign persons) may need special [[immigration]] documents or [[Work permit|permit]]s; but possession of such documents does not guarantee that the person should be allowed to cross the border.

Moving goods across a border often requires the payment of [[excise tax]], often collected by [[Customs (tax)|customs]] officials. Animals (and occasionally humans) moving across borders may need to go into [[quarantine]] to prevent the spread of exotic 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 or seeking permission, or deliberately evading official inspection, constitutes [[smuggling]]. Controls on car liability insurance validity and other formalities may also take place.
[[File:CBP female officers going aboard a ship.jpg|thumb|US customs and border officers boarding a ship at the border.]]

A border may have been:
* Agreed by the countries on both sides
* Imposed by the country on one side
* Imposed by third parties, e.g. an international conference
* Inherited from a former state, colonial power or aristocratic territory
* Inherited from a former internal border, such as within the former [[Soviet Union]]
* Never formally defined.

In addition, a border may be a ''de facto'' military ceasefire line.
In much of Europe, controls on persons were abolished by the 1985 [[Schengen Agreement]] and subsequent [[European Union]] legislation. Since the [[Treaty of Amsterdam]], the competence to pass laws on crossing internal and external borders within the European Union and the associated [[Schengen Area]] states ([[Iceland]], [[Norway]], [[Switzerland]], and [[Liechtenstein]]) lies exclusively within the jurisdiction of the European Union, except where states have used a specific right to opt out (United Kingdom and [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], which maintain the [[Common Travel Area]] amongst themselves).

The United States has notably increased measures taken in border control on the [[Canada–United States border]] and the [[United States–Mexico border]] during its [[War on Terrorism]] (See Shantz 2010). One American writer has said that the {{convert|3,600|km|mi|abbr=on}} US-Mexico border is probably "the world's longest boundary between a [[First World]] and [[Third World]] country".<ref name="Murphy, 1907">{{cite news |last=Murphy |first=Cullen |title=Roman Empire: gold standard of immigration |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=16 June 1907 |access-date=20 June 2007 |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-murphy16jun16,0,7065340.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail |archive-date=22 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070822101808/http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-murphy16jun16,0,7065340.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Update inline|date=October 2019}}
[[File:Valico Ponte Tresa.JPG|thumb|The [[Swiss–Italian border]]]]
Historic borders such as the [[Great Wall of China]], the [[Maginot Line]], and [[Hadrian's Wall]] have played a great many roles and been marked in different ways. While the [[stone wall]]s, the Great Wall of [[China]] and the Roman Hadrian's Wall in Britain had military functions, the entirety of the Roman borders were very porous, which encouraged Roman economic activity with neighbors.<ref name="Murphy, 1907"/> On the other hand, a border like the Maginot Line was entirely military and was meant to prevent any access in what was to be World War II to France by its neighbor, Germany; Germany ended up going around the Maginot Line through Belgium just as it had done in [[World War I]].

=== Border conflict ===
{{Main|Border conflict}}Border conflicts are disputes between territories that occur at the borders separating said territories. They occur when one party constructs identities or interests related to the border which are incompatible with the other party's identities and interests.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Diez |first=Thomas |date=Summer 2006 |title=The European Union and Border Conflicts: The Transformative Power of Integration |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3877820 |journal=International Organization |volume=60 |issue=3 |pages=563–593 |doi=10.1017/S0020818306060218 |doi-broken-date=7 December 2024 |jstor=3877820 |access-date=2024-11-24 |archive-date=2024-04-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240403072055/https://www.jstor.org/stable/3877820 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Border conflicts or the potential of such are the reason why many borders feature [[fortification]]s and zoning like [[no man's land]]s, [[demilitarized zone]]s, [[demarcation line]]s and [[buffer zone]]s. Examples of border conflicts include skirmishes and wars, such as the [[Korean War|38th Parallel]] (between North and South Korea), [[Western Sahara conflict]], and [[Kashmir conflict|Kashmir region]] conflicts between India and Pakistan.

A border conflict can occur due to several reasons. Most commonly, [[territorial dispute]]s can result in border conflicts, as it is the case with the Kashmir conflict.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2002-06-02 |title=China and the Kashmir crisis |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2020788.stm |access-date=2024-11-24 |language=en-GB |archive-date=2009-01-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090112015242/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2020788.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>