Border barrier


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.

List of current barriers

Note: The table can be sorted alphabetically or chronologically using the icon.
NameCountries affectedBuilt and maintained byDate builtLength Deaths during crossing attemptsReferences
Argentina–ParaguayArgentina and ParaguayArgentina20141.3
Austrian border barrierAustria, Italy, and SloveniaAustria20153.7
Morocco- AlgeriaMorocco and AlgeriaMorocco2014150 km
Algeria- MoroccoAlgeria and MoroccoAlgeria2013150 km
Belize–GuatemalaBelize and GuatemalaBelizeProposed, agreedN/A
Botswana–ZimbabweBotswana and ZimbabweBotswana20035008
Brunei–MalaysiaBrunei and the city of Limbang, MalaysiaBrunei200520
Bulgaria–Turkey barrierBulgaria and TurkeyBulgaria201430
Calais border barrierUnited Kingdom and FranceUnited Kingdom and France20161
Ceuta border fenceSpain and MoroccoSpain2001813–18 depending on estimates.
Costa Rica–NicaraguaCosta Rica and NicaraguaCosta RicaProposedN/A
Green Line (Cyprus)Cyprus and Northern CyprusCyprus and the United Nations1964180
Chinese–Korean border fenceChina and North KoreaChina20111,416
Chile–Bolivia ditchChile and BoliviaChile2022 N/A
China-Vietnam/Myanmar border wallChina, Vietnam and MyanmarChina20213,468
Denmark–Germany border fenceDenmark and GermanyDenmark201970
Dominican–Haiti border fenceDominican Republic and HaitiDominican RepublicPartially completedN/A
Egypt–Gaza barrierEgypt and Gaza StripEgypt1979, low concrete wall with barbed wire as part of initial security measures; 2009 Underground steel barrier to block smuggling tunnels.3.1
Estonia–Russia barrierEstonia and RussiaEstonia2018110
Finland–Russia border barrierFinland and RussiaFinland2023200
Greece–Turkey borderGreece and TurkeyGreece2012, expanded 2021200
North Macedonia–Greece barrierNorth Macedonia and GreeceNorth Macedonia201530
Malaysia–Thailand borderThailand and MalaysiaThailand70's, 2001650
Melilla border fenceSpain and MoroccoSpain199811
Myanmar -Bangladesh border fenceMyanmar and BangladeshMyanmar2017271
Hungary–Serbia barrierHungary and SerbiaHungary2015175
Hungary–Croatia barrierHungary and CroatiaHungary201541
India–Bangladesh barrierIndia and BangladeshIndiaUnder construction3,268
India–Myanmar barrierIndia and MyanmarIndiaUnder construction1,624
India-Nepal barrierIndia and NepalIndiaUnder construction?-
India–Pakistan barrierIndia and PakistanIndia2004550
Iran–Pakistan barrierIran and PakistanPakistan and IranUnder construction959
Iran–Afghanistan barrierIran and AfghanistanIran1992, 202430 km built in 1992, 300 km planned to be built, 100 km built so far in 2025
Jordan - SyriaJordan and SyriaJordan2015100 km barriers and deep trenches-
Israel-West Bank barrierIsrael and PalestineIsraelPartially Completed708
Israel-Egypt barrierIsrael and EgyptIsrael2013245
Israel-Lebanon barrierIsrael and LebanonIsrael201811
Israel-Gaza barrierIsrael and Gaza StripIsrael1994N/A
Kazakhstan–Uzbekistan barrierKazakhstan and UzbekistanKazakhstan200645
Kenya - Somalia barrierKenya and SomaliaKenya2015 planned 700 km, done only 10–13 km of fence with barbed wire
Korean Demilitarized ZoneNorth Korea and South KoreaNorth Korea and United Nations Command1953248
Kruger National ParkSouth Africa and MozambiqueSouth Africa197512089, over 200
South Africa–Zimbabwe BorderSouth Africa and ZimbabweSouth Africa2000s225
Kuwait–Iraq barrierKuwait and IraqKuwait1991193
Latvia–Russia border fenceLatvia and RussiaLatvia201590
Libya–Tunisia barrierLibya and TunisiaTunisia2015200 km barrier - moat and sand wall
Lithuania-Belarus barrierLithuania and BelarusLithuania2021502
Lithuania–Russia border fenceLithuania and RussiaLithuania2017130
Norway–Russia border barrierNorway and RussiaNorway20160,2
Oman–YemenOman and YemenOman2013288-
Pakistan–Afghanistan barrierPakistan and AfghanistanPakistan2017 started2,670
Poland–Belarus barrierPoland and BelarusPoland202218621
Saudi–Yemen barrierSaudi Arabia and YemenSaudi Arabia200475
Saudi–Iraq barrierSaudi Arabia and IraqSaudi Arabia2014900
Slovenia–Croatia barrierSlovenia and CroatiaSlovenia2016220
Serbia–North Macedonia barrierSerbia and North MacedoniaSerbia2020240
Turkey–Syria border barrierTurkey and SyriaTurkey2018764 km finished, planned 911 km, 2 m wide, 3 m high concrete structure
Turkey–Iran border barrierTurkey and IranTurkeyStart of construction in 2017Planned 295 km, finished as of 2025 170 km
Turkmenistan – Uzbekistan barrierTurkmenistan and UzbekistanTurkmenistan20011,700
Ukraine Russia/Belorussia barrierUkraine, Russia and BelarusUkraineStarted 2015 - on halt 2022 with Russian invasion2,000
United Arab Emirates–Oman barrierUnited Arab Emirates and OmanUnited Arab Emirates2018410
Mexico–United States barrierUnited States and MexicoUnited StatesPartially Constructed as of 2025, to be completed by 2029.1,749
Uzbek–Afghanistan barrierUzbekistan and AfghanistanUzbekistan2001209
Uzbek–Kyrgyzstan barrierUzbekistan and KyrgyzstanUzbekistan1999870
Hong Kong-China barrier and FortsHong Kong and mainland ChinaUnited Kingdom and Hong Kong1950s, 1962 updated,33 km
(Gibraltar) United Kingdom-Spain barrier United Kingdom and SpainUnited Kingdom and Gibraltar19091.24
Ethiopia–Eritrea barrierEthiopia and EritreaEthiopia and Eritrea1990s–2000s?

Border barriers in history

Image:Limes and borders.gif|thumb|Map of the Roman Empire, along with locations of ''limes''

Antiquity

Middle Ages

Early modern period

Defunct barriers in modern times

Other