The border area is the area immediately adjacent to the border of a country. In addition to the informal definition, a border area may have a legal definition and delineation, both domestically and due to bilateral agreements. Reasons for legal definition of a border area include enhanced security and special provisions for the residents of border areas to cross the border (
local border traffic).
China
In
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, during the
Chinese Civil War, many of the areas controlled by the communists were called 'Border Areas', because they were in remote districts on the borders of two or more provinces. They are also known by the names of 'Border Regions' and 'Liberated Areas' in English. Examples include the
Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Region and the neighbouring 晋-察-冀
Jin-Cha-Ji (short for
Shanxi
Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...
Province,
Chahar Province and
Hebei Province) Border Area in North China.
European Union
In
Germany, within the framework of the
European Union Customs Union, the border area (german: grenznahe Raum ) extends on the German part of the customs border of the Community to a depth of 30 kilometers, from the seaward border of the customs territory of the Community to a depth of 50 kilometers.
For
Schengen States,
a regulation for local border traffic at external borders define a border area which may extend to a maximum of on either side of the border. An exception is made for
Kaliningrad Oblast, see "
Poland–Russia border" article for details.
Soviet Union
In the
Soviet Union , the regime of the use of land , water, forests , entrails , other arable lands, navigation, fishing, rafting and other works is defined by the border area regime . If necessary, a border zone is established within the administrative unit ( city , region , settlement , village ) within the territory adjacent to the USSR state border or the coast guard by border troops, where a special border regime is introduced . The border troops carry out tasks of guarding the state border in that zone. In addition, along the USSR state border, on its land or border. A boundary layer (not more than 2 km wide) is established along the banks of rivers , lakes and other reservoirs , where additional restrictions are imposed in accordance with the procedure established by the border regime. The entire strip (including rivers, lakes and islands ) is under the exclusive control of the USSR Armed Forces. A logging layer 4–5 m wide can be established along the border.
During the
Interbellum and post-
World War II periods, the border areas were subject to severe
ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, and religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making a region ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal, extermination, deportation or population transfer ...
of nationals of "
potentially hostile" ethnicities;
[Павел Полян, ''Не по своей воле...'' ( Pavel Polian, '' Against Their Will... A History and Geography of Forced Migrations in the USSR''), ОГИ Мемориал, Moscow, 2001, ] see
Population transfer in the Soviet Union
From 1930 to 1952, the government of the Soviet Union, on the orders of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin under the direction of the NKVD official Lavrentiy Beria, forcibly transferred populations of various groups. These actions may be classified ...
and
Forced settlements in the Soviet Union#Deportations from border territories in 1939–1941 for details.
United States
In the
United States, a 100-mile
border zone from the border was created, in which
Customs and Border Protection’s officials have authority for stop and search (see also:
100-mile zone at the Mexico–United States border).
References
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Borders