Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Geometric boundaries arestraight lines. Inamajority ofinstances theyarelines oflatitude and
longitude. Several examples are evident on a map of the United States, including the latitude
line that separates Utah, Colorado, and Kansas from Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma
(see Figure 14-3). Some straight lines are not part of Earth's grid, however. Perhaps the most
noticeable U.S. example is the northwest-southeast line that constitutes most of the border
between California and Nevada (see Figure 14-3).
Use of straight lines is not limited to the United States. Nearly all of the borders between the states of
Australia are lines of latitude and longitude. In West Africa, similarly, the country of Mali has both
a latitudinal and longitudinal border with Mauritania, and a non-grid straight-line boundary with Al-
geria.
The most attractive feature of geometric boundaries, as far as border-markers are concerned, is that
they are based on abstract geometric space instead of the physical Earth or ethnic homelands. There-
fore, they have a degree of permanency that the other types do not. Let it rain for 40 days and 40
nights, and the results may alter natural boundaries, but geometric boundaries will not be affected.
Similarly, let every ethnic group on Earth riot, have a bad hair day, go on the warpath, or whatever,
and the results may alter previous ethnic boundaries; but again, geometric boundaries will be unaffec-
ted because they are abstract concepts. People can't pick up and move a line of latitude or longitude.
They could conceivably “fake the location” of such a line for personal benefit, but proper surveying
can detect and fix such shenanigans.
Living with the Consequences
After the boundary lines have been drawn, the citizens of those areas and the ones responsible for cre-
ating the lines have to live with the consequences. The world's international borders consist of thou-
sands of linear segments that enclose some 200 countries. In some cases the results have proven func-
tional and harmonious. Other cases, however, are characterized by very different adjectives. Follow-
ing are an overview and examples of some of the more challenging consequences of global boundary
making.
Ethnic intrigues
As I explain earlier in this chapter, much of the world is divided on the basis of natural and geometric
boundaries as opposed to ethnic ones. This is especially true of the many countries that once were
colonial possessions. Over large parts of Earth, therefore, disparities exist between ethnic boundaries
and country boundaries. Visual comparison of these border types in Africa, for instance, reveals two
very separate sets of lines that seldom coincide. Though not necessarily bad, disagreement between
