Borders are manmade, imaginary lines that separate regions, or territories. Borders can be large and politically important, like borders between countries. They can separate states, counties, cities, neighborhoods, school districts, etc.

Borders are major features on maps called political maps. Many times people will use natural features, like rivers, to mark borders. Sometimes lines of latitude or longitude are used.

Look at the examples of borders in North America shown on the map below:

Since borders are manmade, they can be changed by people for many reasons. Since borders mean different things for different people, changing them can often cause conflict.

In the next sections you will analyze the following maps and explanations to understand and analyze the conflict caused by the border changes made in the creation of the nation-state of Israel and the separation of North and South Korea.

Click on the circled areas of the world map to locate these two areas.