Explore 143 Borders Collections - Atlas Obscura
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A View of the Highest Point in Finland from Ridnitšohkka
Norway

Mount Halti Peak

Citizens of Norway want to gift the peak of Mount Halti to Finland for its 100th birthday.
Kaliningrad, Russia

Kaliningrad Oblast

A small part of Russia that does not touch any other part of Russia.
Marie Byrd Land.
Antarctica

Marie Byrd Land

The largest piece of no man's land left on Earth.
An 1859 map of the Great Salt Lake.
maps

Utah's First Federal Surveyor Fled the Territory Fearing for His Life

And helped start a war between James Buchanan and Brigham Young.
Sarah Laskow April 7, 2017
Marker showing the start of the Sullivan Line.
military history

One Sloppy Land Surveyor Almost Caused a War Between Missouri and Iowa

In 1839, the outcome of the "Honey War" hinged on the exact location of the Missouri-Iowa border.
Sarah Laskow March 24, 2017
Newcomb Mott, center, at his trial.
espionage

The Tragedy of Newcomb Mott, Who Thought He Could Walk Into Soviet Russia

Young and naive, he just wanted his passport stamped.
Sarah Laskow March 1, 2017
Busingen on the shore of the Rhine
Büsingen am Hochrhein, Germany

Büsingen Enclave

A remarkable two-country morph, this town is part of Germany legally but is by all other measures Swiss.
A close-up on a passport from the German Empire.
borders

Six Stories of Stunning Passports From Countries That No Longer Exist

Yesterday's bureaucracy is today's curiosity.
Cara Giaimo February 24, 2017
Offa's Dyke, near Knill, Herefordshire, looking west
Knighton, England

Offa's Dyke

Britain’s longest ancient monument, this great 8th century earthwork was built to mark the boundary between what would become England and Wales.
Ishkashim Market
Ishkashim, Afghanistan

Ishkashim Border Market

A strip of neutral ground where the people of Tajikistan and Afghanistan come together to trade.
The Gambia River at Janjanbureh, in the eastern part of the country.
news

The True Origin of The Gambia's Bizarre Borders

According to an apocryphal story, British ships defined the country by shooting cannonballs off the sides of their ships.
Sarah Laskow January 20, 2017
View of Pheasant Island from the Spanish side of the border
France / Spain

Pheasant Island

This tiny river island switches sovereignty every six months as part of a rare, centuries-old agreement.
Maryland's 3rd Congressional District.
Halethorpe, Maryland

Maryland's 3rd Congressional District

A winding district gerrymandered into the shape of a mantis.
Much of District 12 followed the path of Interstate 85
Mooresville, North Carolina

North Carolina's 12th Congressional District

Formerly the most gerrymandered district in the U.S., it twisted and turned along racial borders.
Carthage, Texas

Last Remaining Boundary Marker for the Republic of Texas

The only international border marker within the United States.
"No Pedestrian" signs in the Saatse Boot
Estonia

Saatse Boot

This peculiar border irregularity is the only way to legally enter Russia without a visa.
Puget Sound from the sky.
maps

Why It's Impossible to Know a Coastline's True Length

Measuring around bodies of water is a mathematically impossible task.
Cara Giaimo October 7, 2016
United States / Canada

United States–Canada Border Slash

The entire length of the border is marked by a 20-foot-wide slash through the trees.