Germany’s Green Belt and 6 other stories of how borders shape our world

The last U.S.-Canada border dispute, Colombia's grand border mosque, and more. Email not displaying correctly? View in your browser. October 01, 2019 Border/Lands Borders around the world draw people to them for commerce, or for adventure, or out of desperation—they’re one of the defining geopolitical concepts of the modern world. With dispatches from West Africa, Maine, Colombia, Germany, and Lebanon, we explore places where national sovereignty, personal identity, and sense of community manifest on and around the imaginary lines that gird our world. Find all the places and stories of Border/Lands here or see seven highlights from Atlas Obscura's in-depth exploration below. Read More → The Last U.S.-Canada Border Dispute Depending on whom you ask, Machias Seal Island is either off the coast of Maine or of Grand Manan. It’s also either American or Canadian—the last remaining border dispute between the two countries. And for centuries, that dispute has been kept alive by a single family. Read more → Making a Modern Border The original border of Cameroon and Nigeria was made by Britain and Germany, a compromise on where to divide their coveted territories in West Africa. In 2002, the independent nations settled a long-standing disagreement and the saga of laying down a truly 21st-century border began. It continues today. Read more → Colombia’s Grand Border Mosque The desert border city of Maicao, Colombia, has long been defined by cross-border trade with Venezuela—and by corruption, inequality, and mass migration. There, a community of Muslim migrants built a grand mosque that has witnessed the city’s rise and fall. Read more → The Green Curtain For most of its length in Germany, the Iron Curtain was actually a steel fence. In the 30 years after the crumbling of East Germany, the border has transformed into the Green Belt—an 800-mile swath of protected land. It started out as a conservation project and now serves as a monument to Germany's ecological past. Read more → An Ancient Order of Knights Sovereign and independent, but without borders of its own, the somewhat mysterious Order of Malta—a nearly-1,000-year-old Christian chivalric order that pre-dates the Crusades—has outlived its contemporaries and established a place in the modern Middle East. Read more → SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA Friendship Park Every weekend, people gather here for a brief chance to see their loved ones on the other side of the United States–Mexico border. Read more → FRANCE / SPAIN Pheasant Island This tiny river island wedged within the border between France and Spain switches sovereignty every six months as part of a rare, centuries-old agreement. Read more → Visit AtlasObscura.com · View in Browser · Unsubscribe · See All Newsletters 61 Greenpoint Ave #622, Brooklyn, NY 11222