There are two terms widely used in Geography and in other areas of knowledge that are often considered synonymous in common sense and even in some approaches. academics: the concepts of limit and boundary. However, these are expressions that have different meanings and therefore express territorial and social dynamics that are distinct from each other.
THE difference between boundary and boundary it is in the degree of coverage of each of these terms, in addition to the degree of dynamism that one presents in relation to the other.
O limit concept it is related to the idea of division, which many people think belongs to the idea of boundary, which is not correct. The limit is the division between one territorial unit and another, usually between two countries. The idea of this concept goes back to the constitution of the modern state and its need to determine with total precision the points of the territory over which he exercises his sovereignty, including its constitutive values, languages, currency and other aspects.
On the other hand, the concept of border it is more dynamic and designates an expansion front or a zone of interrelationships between different media, which may or may not be different territories. Unlike boundary, which is a more exact and legally fixed notion, boundaries are more fluid and there is more communication and interaction.
When we use the term "Brazil's agricultural frontier”, for example, we are talking about more or less defined areas where agricultural production advances over natural areas. It is not, therefore, a precise boundary, but a mobile zone where different interactions take place in different perspectives, including, in this case, territorial conflicts, land grabbing, occupation of public and private areas and various other elements.
THE geographer Lia OsórioAxe comment this difference between boundary and boundary this way:
“If it is right that the determination and defense of Limits of a possession or of a State are in the domain of high politics or high diplomacy, the borders belong to the domain of the peoples. While the legal limit of the territory is an abstraction, generated and sustained by institutional action (...), the border is a place of communication and exchange"¹.
Therefore, limits refer to a legally enforceable determination, which has been established by a formal agreement or convention. Borders, on the other hand, constitute something dynamic, “alive”, so to speak, referring to exchanges and relationships, whether cultural, economic, military, affective and others.
Therefore, saying, for example, the “limit between Brazil and Paraguay” is different from saying “the border between Brazil and Paraguay”, the latter referring to areas of population, economic and cultural interaction between the peoples. In the same way, when we talk about the “frontiers of Globalization”, we are talking about its peripheral areas of extension. While the limit defines a termination, the idea of border consists of a beginning or a expansion.
¹ MACHADO, L. O. Limits and borders: from high diplomacy to illegality circuits. Territory Magazine, Rio de Janeiro, year V, nº 8, pp. 7-23, Jan./Jun., 2000.
By Me. Rodolfo Alves Pena
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/geografia/limite-fronteira.htm