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Border barrier

Wall or barrier at national boundaries

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A border barrier, border fence or border wall is a separation barrier that runs along or near an international border. Such barriers are typically constructed for border control purposes such as curbing illegal immigration, human trafficking, and smuggling. Some such barriers are constructed for defence or security reasons. In cases of a disputed or unclear border, erecting a barrier can serve as a de facto unilateral consolidation of a territorial claim that can supersede formal delimitation. A border barrier does not usually indicate the location of the actual border, and is usually constructed unilaterally by a country, without the agreement or cooperation of the other country.

Examples of border walls include the ancient Great Wall of China, a series of walls separating China from nomadic empires to the north. The construction of border barriers increased in the early 2000s; half of all the border barriers built since World War II, which ended in 1945, were built after 2000.

01List of current barriers

Note: The table can be sorted alphabetically or chronologically using the icon.

Name Countries affected Built and maintained by Date built Length (km) Deaths during crossing attempts References
Argentina-Paraguay Argentina and ParaguayArgentina20141.3
Austrian border barrierAustria, Italy, and SloveniaAustria20153.7
Morocco- Algeria Morocco and AlgeriaMorocco2014150 km
Algeria- Morocco Algeria and MoroccoAlgeria2013150 km
Belize-Guatemala Belize and GuatemalaBelizeProposed, agreedN/A
Botswana-Zimbabwe Botswana and ZimbabweBotswana2003500 8
Brunei-Malaysia Brunei and the city of Limbang, MalaysiaBrunei200520
Bulgaria-Turkey barrier Bulgaria and TurkeyBulgaria201430
Calais border barrierUnited Kingdom and FranceUnited Kingdom and France20161
Ceuta border fence Spain and MoroccoSpain20018 13-18 depending on estimates.
Costa Rica-Nicaragua Costa Rica and NicaraguaCosta RicaProposedN/A
Green Line (Cyprus) Cyprus and Northern CyprusCyprus and the United Nations1964180
Chinese-Korean border fence China and North KoreaChina20111,416
Chile-Bolivia ditch Chile and Bolivia Chile 2022 (Under construction) N/A
China-Vietnam/Myanmar border wall China, Vietnam and Myanmar China 2021 3,468
Denmark-Germany border fenceDenmark and GermanyDenmark201970
Dominican-Haiti border fence Dominican Republic and HaitiDominican RepublicPartially completedN/A
Egypt-Gaza barrier Egypt and Gaza StripEgypt1979, low concrete wall (2.5-3m tall) with barbed wire as part of initial security measures; 2009 Underground steel barrier (10-11 km long, 18m deep) to block smuggling tunnels.3.1
Estonia-Russia barrier Estonia and RussiaEstonia2018110
Finland-Russia border barrier Finland and RussiaFinland2023200
Greece-Turkey border Greece and TurkeyGreece2012, expanded 2021200
North Macedonia-Greece barrier North Macedonia and GreeceNorth Macedonia201530
Malaysia-Thailand border Thailand and MalaysiaThailand70's, 2001650
Melilla border fence Spain and MoroccoSpain199811
Myanmar -Bangladesh border fence Myanmar and BangladeshMyanmar2017271
Hungary-Serbia barrier Hungary and SerbiaHungary2015175
Hungary-Croatia barrier Hungary and CroatiaHungary201541
India-Bangladesh barrier India and BangladeshIndiaUnder construction3,268
India-Myanmar barrier India and MyanmarIndiaUnder construction1,624
India-Nepal barrier India and NepalIndiaUnder construction?
India-Pakistan barrier India and PakistanIndia2004550
Iran-Pakistan barrier Iran and PakistanPakistan and IranUnder construction959
Iran-Afghanistan barrier Iran and Afghanistan Iran 1992, 2024(Under construction) 30 km built in 1992, 300 km planned to be built, 100 km built so far in 2025
Jordan - Syria Jordan and SyriaJordan2015100 km barriers and deep trenches
Israel-West Bank barrier Israel and Palestine Israel Partially Completed 708
Israel-Egypt barrier Israel and Egypt Israel 2013 245
Israel-Lebanon barrier Israel and Lebanon Israel 2018 11
Israel-Gaza barrier Israel and Gaza Strip Israel 1994 N/A
Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan barrier Kazakhstan and UzbekistanKazakhstan200645
Kenya - Somalia barrier Kenya and Somalia Kenya 2015 (Under construction) planned 700 km, done only 10-13 km of fence with barbed wire
Korean Demilitarized Zone North Korea and South KoreaNorth Korea and United Nations Command1953248
Kruger National Park South Africa and MozambiqueSouth Africa1975120 89 (Army), over 200 (Various churches)
South Africa-Zimbabwe Border South Africa and ZimbabweSouth Africa2000s225
Kuwait-Iraq barrier Kuwait and IraqKuwait1991193
Latvia-Russia border fence Latvia and RussiaLatvia201590
Libya-Tunisia barrier Libya and TunisiaTunisia2015200 km barrier - moat and sand wall (out of 500 km of border)
Lithuania-Belarus barrier Lithuania and BelarusLithuania2021502
Lithuania-Russia border fence Lithuania and RussiaLithuania2017130
Norway-Russia border barrier Norway and RussiaNorway20160,2
Oman-Yemen Oman and YemenOman2013288
Pakistan-Afghanistan barrier Pakistan and AfghanistanPakistan2017 started2,670
Poland-Belarus barrier Poland and BelarusPoland2022186 21
Saudi-Yemen barrier Saudi Arabia and YemenSaudi Arabia200475
Saudi-Iraq barrier Saudi Arabia and IraqSaudi Arabia2014900
Slovenia-Croatia barrier Slovenia and CroatiaSlovenia2016220
Serbia-North Macedonia barrier Serbia and North MacedoniaSerbia2020240
Turkey-Syria border barrier Turkey and SyriaTurkey2018764 km finished, planned 911 km, 2 m wide, 3 m high concrete structure
Turkey-Iran border barrier Turkey and IranTurkeyStart of construction in 2017Planned 295 km, finished as of 2025 170 km
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan barrier Turkmenistan and UzbekistanTurkmenistan20011,700
Ukraine Russia/Belorussia barrier Ukraine, Russia and BelarusUkraineStarted 2015 - on halt 2022 with Russian invasion2,000
United Arab Emirates-Oman barrier United Arab Emirates and OmanUnited Arab Emirates2018410
Mexico-United States barrier United States and MexicoUnited StatesPartially Constructed as of 2025, to be completed by 2029.1,749
Uzbek-Afghanistan barrier Uzbekistan and AfghanistanUzbekistan2001209
Uzbek-Kyrgyzstan barrier Uzbekistan and KyrgyzstanUzbekistan1999870
Hong Kong-China barrier and Forts Hong Kong and mainland ChinaUnited Kingdom and Hong Kong1950s, 1962 updated,33 km
(Gibraltar) United Kingdom-Spain barrier (Gibraltar) United Kingdom and Spain United Kingdom and Gibraltar19091.24
Ethiopia-Eritrea barrier Ethiopia and EritreaEthiopia and Eritrea1990s-2000s?
Israeli West Bank barrier
Israeli West Bank barrier
Map of the Roman Empire, along with locations of limes
Map of the Roman Empire, along with locations of limes

02Border barriers in history

Antiquity

Middle Ages

Early modern period

Defunct barriers in modern times

Other

The extent of the Ming dynasty and its walls, which formed most of what is called the Great Wall of China today
The extent of the Ming dynasty and its walls, which formed most of what is called the Great Wall of China today
Berlin Wall, 1988.
Berlin Wall, 1988.
Watch videos about Border barrierExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Border barrier, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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