40 Eye-Opening National Borders From Around The World

Our world’s split up by borders. Territories are defined by these boundaries, which come in all shapes and sizes. Some borders are totally invisible, while others are represented by stark, physical features. And some are plain weird. Here we take a look at the most striking and unusual borders from around the globe.

1. Iguazu Falls — Brazil/Argentina

Iguazu Falls is a pretty phenomenal sight and it’s also a special place for geopolitical reasons. That’s because the landform actually marks a section of the border between Brazil and Argentina. On one side of the falls lies Argentina’s province Misiones, while on the other is the Brazilian state Paraná.

2. Haskell Library — United States/Canada

As you enter the Haskell Library in search of a book, you’re firmly within the territory of the United States. But say the title you seek is located further back in the building; well, you’re going to have to cross an international border to get there. That’s because this library sits in both the U.S. and Canada.

3. Col Agnel-Colle dell’Agnello — France/Italy

Col Agnel-Colle dell’Agnello’s a stretch of road that’s notable for a few reasons. First off, it’s situated up high — very high. Laid down at slightly more than 9,000 feet above sea level, it’s among the loftiest of roadways in all of Europe. And on top of that, it also cuts through the border between France and Italy.

4. Hotel Arbez — Switzerland/France

If you fly into the Swiss city of Geneva, you’ll be faced with a decision. As you walk through the airport, you could take one exit that leads out to, well, Switzerland. But if you take another, you’ll end up in France. Similarly, Hotel Arbez — which is about five miles from the airport — is split between the two countries. So just by crossing a line within the hotel, you’ll be crossing an international border.

5. Lotus Bridge — Macau/China

Macau’s a region of China but like Hong Kong it’s run a little differently than the rest of the country. One of the most striking differences is that people drive on the left in Macau, as opposed to on the right in China more broadly. That makes crossing the border difficult for drivers, so a solution’s been created. This is the Lotus Bridge, which is specially designed to allow drivers to switch seamlessly from the right on the Chinese side to the left on the Macau side. Genius!

6. Rio Grande — Mexico/United States

The mighty Rio Grande represents a section of the U.S.-Mexico border, dividing Texas from Chihuahua. And given the waterway’s scale, it’s fair to suggest it’s a particularly dramatic form for a border to take. The river stretches across almost 1,900 miles in all and ultimately ends at the Gulf of Mexico.

7. Victoria Falls — Zambia/Zimbabwe

Another dramatic national boundary can be found between Zambia and Zimbabwe, in the form of a waterfall. Victoria Falls is up there with the very greatest waterfalls on Earth, standing at around 350 feet tall and with an incredible width of more than 5,500 feet. There aren’t many border segments that are quite so stunning.

8. Dreiländereck — Switzerland/France/Germany

The Swiss city of Basel really is at the very heart of Europe. And nowhere is that more plain to see than the Dreiländereck monument. This tall structure symbolizes an important geopolitical boundary, as one of its faces represents Switzerland, another France, and the third Germany. All three nations intersect at this very point.

9. Sharp contrast — Haiti/Dominican Republic

The island of Hispaniola’s split in two; on one side of the border lies Haiti and on the other is the Dominican Republic. Each country’s obviously run differently from the other and that’s represented very clearly when we see a bird’s-eye view of the two. We can actually spot where one nation ends and another begins, as Haiti’s experienced far more deforestation than its neighbor.

10. The Stripe — Portugal/Spain

The border between Portugal and Spain’s close to 750 miles in length and it’s been in existence for a very long time. The boundary — which is known as “The Stripe” — is up there with the very oldest borders on this planet. It first came into being during 1143 but was later revised. Even so, the present shape was established all the way back in 1297. Today, along a particular spot on the boundary, it’s actually possible to zip-line from one country to the other.

11. St. Peter’s Square — Vatican City/Italy

Vatican City’s a unique place. Technically a tiny state in its own right, it’s totally surrounded by Rome. So, that means that every time someone enters St. Peter’s Square, they’re crossing an internationally recognized border, leaving Italy and arriving in the Vatican. This wasn’t always the case, though, as it was once within the jurisdiction of Rome itself.

12. Jungholz — Austria/Germany

Jungholz is a strange place. Standing under the shadow of the Sorgschrofen mountain, this village is positioned at an odd point on the map. Jungholz is a part of Austria, yet it’s almost entirely encircled by Germany. In fact, its only connection to the rest of Austria is a bit of land measuring little more than a few feet in width.

13. Golden Triangle — Thailand/Myanmar/Laos

If visiting several countries in Southeast Asia is on your bucket list, make sure you go to the Golden Triangle. Not only is it a beautiful location, but this place will also help you to tick off Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos — all within seconds of each other. That’s because each of those nations intersect here.

14. Mount Everest — Nepal/China

Say you wanted to cross from Nepal into China; what’s the most elaborate, dramatic way you could do it? Well, you could catch a flight, you could drive — or you could climb Mount Everest. Because the top of the highest mountain in the world is actually split by the two countries’ border.

15. Baarle-Nassau — The Netherlands/Belgium

When it comes to borders, they don’t get more complicated than Baarle-Nassau. This place is in the Netherlands, kind of. Not entirely, because it hosts close to 30 enclaves that actually belong to Belgium. But then, to make things even more confusing, some of these enclaves themselves contain enclaves belonging to the Netherlands. People’s homes can actually straddle different nations in this part of the world. It’s a mess!

16. Sani Pass — South Africa/Lesotho

Lesotho’s a country in Africa but it might more easily be described as an enclave. After all, it’s surrounded by South Africa on all sides. The border’s around 565 miles long in total and its most interesting point is probably at Sani Pass. This is a road standing at around 9,400 feet above sea level. It’s a beautiful stretch, though incredibly dangerous to maneuver.

17. Three-Country Cairn — Sweden/Norway/Finland

This cairn stands at a peaceful point in the world — and a geopolitically important one. This object was placed in this precise position because it’s exactly where Sweden, Norway, and Finland all meet with one another. The boundaries separating these countries have changed a lot throughout history but this cairn’s stood here for almost a hundred years now.

18. Bastei — Germany/Czech Republic

Forged more than a million years ago, the Bastei stone formation’s existed for way longer than borders have even been a concept. Yet nowadays it finds itself sitting just a whisper away from the line that separates Germany from the Czech Republic. There’s a beautiful, old bridge on the site, too, which tourists love.

19. Straight line — Mexico/United States

It’s bizarre to think of how much of a difference a border — which, in essence, is an imaginary line — can make. In this image, we see San Diego on one side and Tijuana on the other. Just by stepping over the straight boundary, you’d be entering into a place with a different language and a different culture.

20. Mount Sabyinyo — Democratic Republic of the Congo/Rwanda/Uganda

Mount Sabyinyo was once an active volcano within East Africa but that’s no longer the case. The mountain doesn’t stand to erupt again anytime soon, thankfully, though it’s still an imposing presence. On top of that, its peak also marks the point where the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda all meet.

21. Lake Constance — Germany/Austria/Switzerland

Lake Constance is situated at a somewhat delicate point on the map. The nations of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland all touch this basin and no single country has overall control of it. Instead, the three nations need to come to an agreement with each other whenever an issue involving the lake arises.

22. Bir Tawil — Sudan/Egypt

Borders are often highly disputed, as countries vie with one another to acquire more land for themselves. Bir Tawil, though, is an odd exception to this broad rule. Sandwiched in the middle of Sudan and Egypt, this area of land isn’t a problem because both nations want to control it. This issue is that neither of them wants it.

23. Kaliningrad — Russia/Poland/Lithuania

Kaliningrad’s a region of Russia, yet none of its borders actually meet any other part of the federation. Instead, it sits in between Poland and Lithuania, with a coastline leading out to the Baltic Sea. So there’s no way to reach mainland Russia on the ground from Kaliningrad without taking a trip through several other nations first.

24. Light border — India/Pakistan

Snapped at the start of fall in 2015, this incredible image was taken by someone on the International Space Station. It shows us India and Pakistan — and it makes it plain just how clear the distinction between these two nations is at night. The border separating the neighbors is lined with lights and they’re so strong they can literally be seen from space.

25. The Northwest Angle — United States/Canada

Northwest Angle’s in a bit of a tricky place. Technically a part of Minnesota and the United States more broadly, the little enclave finds itself totally cut off from the mainland. So by land, it’s only reachable by traveling through Canada. Or, if you were going by boat, you could sail across the Lake of the Woods to get there.

26. Winter trail — Norway/Sweden

The border separating Sweden from Norway’s quite old now, dating back to the Treaty of Kiel of 1814. The boundary stretches out for just over a thousand miles in all and this segment’s particularly pretty. It cuts through a dreamy, wintery forest that seems to go on forever. And it certainly looks like a fun track to ride a snowmobile along.

27. Mount Roraima — Venezuela/Brazil/Guyana

The history of Mount Roraima and its neighboring formations go back an incredibly long time, maybe as far as two billion years. That boggles the mind and it puts the notion of borders into perspective. These are an incredibly new concept, at least in terms of world history. But on that subject, Mount Roraima’s the meeting point of several nations’ borders: Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana.

28. Penon de Velez de la Gomera — Spain/Morocco

Penon de Velez de la Gomera was once an island, controlled by Spain but situated just off the shores of Morocco. In 1934, though, a storm dumped a load of sand in between Penon de Velez de la Gomera and the Moroccan mainland, meaning a border had to be drawn up. It measures about 90 yards in length, which is perhaps the shortest on Earth.

29. Christ the Redeemer of the Andes — Argentina/Chile

At a great height up on the Principal Cordillera mountains, a massive 40-foot statue of Jesus stands. The Christ the Redeemer of the Andes was completed back in 1904 and it marks a special geographical point. This is where Argentina and Chile meet, with the sculpture representing kinship between the two nations.

30. Beetle trouble — Germany/Czech Republic

According to a member of Friends of the Earth, speaking many years ago, the national parks of Germany have traditionally had a different approach to managing their forests compared to those in Czechia. Nowhere is that more evident than in this image, where we see healthy trees growing on the German side and unhealthy ones infested with bark beetles on the Czech side.

31. Panj River — Afghanistan/Tajikistan

The Panj River’s actually an arm of another waterway, which is called the Amu Darya. In any case, the Panj is extremely lengthy in its own right and it serves as a very important boundary. The waterway represents a big segment of the border separating Afghanistan from its neighbor Tajikistan.

32. Diomede islands — United States/Russia

America and Russia have often portrayed themselves as worlds apart, which makes it surprising to realize how close their borders actually are in places. Alaska’s really near to Russia, of course, but the islands of Diomede sit even closer together. These isles are located in the water between Alaska and Russia, with the bigger of the two belonging to the Russians and the smaller one to America. There are only three miles between them.

33. Ban Gioc Falls — Vietnam/China

There are few sights in Southeast Asia quite as spectacular as the beautiful Ban Gioc Waterfall. But not only does this place make for a pretty great photograph; it also actually marks a very important geopolitical boundary. Basically, these incredible falls sit on the border that separates Vietnam from China.

34. Transalpina Square — Slovenia/Italy

Transalpina Square’s a charming space but its status is slightly complicated. One end of it sits firmly within the border of Italy, in a place called Gorizia. The other end, though, lies in Slovenia, in a town named Nova Gorica. As you might imagine, the square’s history is a little complicated.

35. Epupa Falls — Namibia/Angola

A segment of the Cunene River marks some of the border between Namibia and Angola. This great waterway stretches for hundreds of miles in total, though its most interesting spot is probably along the border at Epupa Falls. That’s where the water cascades down a series of drops over the course of almost a mile.

36. The DMZ — South Korea/North Korea

The DMZ between North and South Korea’s a famously tense stretch of no man’s land separating the two neighbors. On each side of the border, the two nations go about their business in their own very different ways. But the DMZ’s firmly locked down on both sides and is heavily guarded.

37. Eastern Upper Lusatia — Czech Republic/Poland/Germany

Eastern Upper Lusatia’s a part of the wider of the Western Sudetes region, which holds a special distinction. This area isn’t administered by a single nation but rather three. The Czech Republic, Poland, and Germany all have a slice of this particular pie. And in this photo, we can see the point where the three nations meet.

38. Different approaches — Brazil/Bolivia

We’ve observed how different nations can have different approaches to land management and here’s another example. On one side of the picture we have Brazil, a country known for cutting down its woodlands. On the other we see Bolivia, which has historically taken greater care to maintain its forests.

39. The Maasai Mara and Serengeti national parks — Kenya/Tanzania

The Maasai Mara national reserve of Kenya shares a border with the Serengeti national park of Tanzania. And this line’s by no means impenetrable, as evidenced by the incredible migrations that take place from one park to the other. Every year, hordes of gazelles, wildebeests, and zebras make the epic journey.

40. Øresund Bridge — Denmark/Sweden

The Øresund Bridge can be split into three different sections: the bridge part, a manmade island called Peberholm, and a tunnel. This stretch of engineering brilliance means people can easily cross the border between Denmark and Sweden. And Peberholm itself is a biologist’s dream, as it’s now home to a plethora of different species.