Alex Carson
#1 The Spain/Morocco Border
Ceuta is a small autonomous city in Spain. It is located on the coast of North Africa and it is surrounded by Morocco. Morocco claims Ceuta along with the city of Melilla. As a result, Spain built a fence that is close to 10 feet tall and it is topped with barbed wire.
#2 Baarle-Nassau/Baarle-Hertog Border
The Baarle-Nassau is located in the Netherlands and it shares a border with Baarle-Hertog. Baarle-Hertog is made up of 26 pieces of separated land and it is surrounded by Baarle-Nassau. The border is so complicated that there are houses that are half on one side of the border and half on the other. All around the areas have very strange borders. The border in the photo shows a restaurant area in the Netherlands side of the border and nothing on the Belgium side. This area earns its spot as one of the 10 rare borders in the world.
#3 Bir Tawil
Bir Tawil is a piece of land that is about 795 square miles and it is the only piece of land other than Antartica that is not claimed by any nation. Both the Sudan and Egypt claim that this piece of land belongs to them. Each place has drawn their own borders for this area, and each different drawings show that the area belongs to two different places.
#4 Mount Everest
Mount Everest is not only the highest mountain in the world, it is also the highest border area in the world. The border of Nepal and the border of China run directly across the middle of the mountain. This includes the highest peak of the mountain. According to official borders, the mountain is part of both China and Nepal.
#5The District Of Columbia
The District of Columbia has very strange borders. Originally, it was in the shape of a large diamond that was carved out of Maryland and Virginia. Later, the portion taken from Virginia was returned to the state. Because of the size and shape of the area, the border has strange features. To create a border, 100 stones were placed around the area. Today, other than a few missing stones, the border still exists. The border is unique in other ways as well. If you are walking on a sidewalk on Eastern Avenue on the north side of the street, you are in Maryland. The street itself is located in the District of Columbia. The stores located on one side of the street have a Maryland area code and the stores on the other side have a District of Columbia area code.
#6 Derby Line, Vermont
This is a very strange border that separates two different countries. The town of Derby Line actually straddles the United States and the Canada border. It passes right through the town and even through certain homes and buildings. In some homes, a family prepares their meals in the United States and they eat in Canada. The Haskell Free Library and Opera House was intentionally built on the border. If you are performing at the opera house, you are in Canada. If you are watching the show, you would be in the United States. This building even has two mailing addresses, one in the United States and one in Canada.
#7 The Korean Demilitarized Zone
The Korean DMZ is a strip of land that is about 160 miles long. It is the area that divides South Korea and North Korea. It is also the most militarized border in the world. Because it is so heavily guarded, nobody ever goes in that area. The fact that nobody every crosses, it created a nature preserve, which is home to many endangered species. This area is not a formal border because the two nations are still at war and they haven’t been able to agree upon a technical border. A cease-fire was declared in 1953, but a peace treaty was never called.
#8Tumen River
The Tumen river is located in Northeastern Asia. This is a very strange border because if you start off walking in North Korea, you can walk about a half mile and have passed through China and right into Russia. Considering the safety issues, you shouldn’t attempt this. Because this has been a common area for North Koreans to defect, it is now patrolled heavily by North Korean soldiers.
#9 The Diomedes
The Diomedes are two islands in the Bering Strait. On Little Diomede is the American city of Diomede, with a population of just 146. Big Diomede belongs to Russia and nobody lives there. The islands are only 2.5 miles apart and they are separated by the International Date Line, which acts as the border between Russia and the United States. This border is especially rare because if you are on Little Diomede at 9 am on Saturday it would be 6 am on Sunday on Big Diomede. You can actually look into the future if you have a telescope or a high powered pair of binoculars.
#10 Bristol Virginia/Bristol Tennessee
Both Virginia and Tennessee have a town called Bristol. What makes these two towns so strange is that Bristol Virginia is right across the street from Bristol Tennessee. They even share a downtown district. Whenever there is an annual festival downtown, both states pitch in. If you want to leave Virginia and visit Tennessee, all you need to do is cross the street.
#11The Four Corners Monument
There is only one place in the United States where four states merge at one point. When you visit the monument, you can literally jump from Utah to Colorado, to New Mexico, to Arizona, and then back to Utah again. Because the borders are so close in this area, there is no telephones, electricity, or running water in the area. There are also very few stores and gas stations within a 30-mile radius of the monument.
