2/8/2018 Balaji Viswanathan's answer to How is a country's border determined?

ined? How is the border made official and accepted globally? - Quora

How is a country's border determined? How is

the border made official and accepted
globally?
 http://geology.com/world/asia-satellite-image.shtml
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Balaji Viswanathan, CEO at Invento (2016-present)

Answered Nov 19, 2013

Borders often evolved with time. Nations often started out city states that got
eventually expanded outward by ambitious rulers. Rulers often expanded as much as
they could until they hit barriers - geographical features or other rulers like them.
They then decide to either challenge the barriers or stay back. If they successfully
challenge the barriers, they change their borders.

Some of the ways in which borders got formed:

1. Geographical features: Oceans, mountains, deserts and big lakes often split
groups of people, allowing people on each side to evolve differently. A good
chunk of borders are from geographical features. For instance, here is India's
geographical map. Historically, India's boundaries were defined by the
mountains and oceans surrounding it. Rio Grade splits US & Mexico, Great
lakes splits US & Canada, Rhine splits Germany and France. Natural
boundaries form the templates for grouping regions. One or more of these
regions form a nation.

2. Wars and Conquests: The natural borders are often pushed by ambitious
rulers. As long as you can keep the territory you conquered with a large army,
you could add it to your borders. Russia kept pushing east, until they hit the
Pacific Ocean. In the West, they kept moving until they faced strong
resistance from Scandinavian countries and Eastern Europe. In South, they
faced the Mongols and China. In short, they expanded as much as they could
in every direction.

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3. Through Purchases: US often expanded through money. From the original

13 colonies on the east, US gradually expanded throughout the 19th century.
They purchased a huge portion of their Middle from France. They bought
Alaska from Russia.

4. Treaties: Countries often engage in treaties (usually after a war) that sets the
borders of each nation. This is often a result of prolonged agreements, not
too much different from buying a car from a salesman. You give a few, get a
few. Most of Africa was partitioned this way and their present boundaries are
deeply affected by the treaties among European powers - France, Britain,
Germany and Belgium.

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5. Mutual agreements: In 1976, North Vietnam and South Vietnam agreed to

unite. In 1947, freedom leaders of India and colonial Britain agreed to split
India into two parts - India and Pakistan. West Germany and East Germany
joined in 1989, when the barrier between them (Communism) no longer
made sense.

Borders are also constantly changing based on the wishes of the people involved.
Sometimes this change is non-violent like the unification of West Germany and East
Germany in 1989. Sometimes it is violent like the time when Pakistan was split to
create Bangladesh. List of national border changes since World War I

25.1k Views · View Upvoters · Answer requested by Murali Krishnan and Prashant Saikia

Murali Krishnan
Amazing insight and comprehensive answer. Precisely what I was looking for. You co…

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About the Author

Balaji Viswanathan
CEO of Invento Robotics.

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CEO at Invento
2016-present

MBA Business Administration, Babson College

Graduated 2014
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