Talk Elections

Well I'd rank among the friendliest: US-Canada, Borders accross EU nations, and borders located in isolated parts of the world. China and N. Korea have an open border.

Most hostile: All countries bordering Israel, North and South Korea, and US and Mexico.

All EU nations and US/Canada are definately the most friendly. North/South Korea is definatly the most hostile, India/Pakistan is up there too. US/Mexico doesn't even come close.

Hahaha, no. The border with Mexico is simply guarded. The Paksitani-Indian border with fortified. No comparison.

Andorra's borders.

No, the borders of Vatican City and Rome are most friendly. I remember going there and strolling past Swiss guards.

Don't be stupid. Outside Europe (where they are hardly noticeable any more) and a few other places like US-Canada (where they are real, but not too tough), US - Mexican border is among the friendliest ones out there.

What ag said. US-Mexico is by all accounts a pretty much par for the course border. Now, the only way you notice the German-Belgian border passing on the train is that the electricity poles suddenly look different. No sign, no nothing. I mean, even at the Scottish-English border there's a small sign marking the border crossing.
The bit about the Chinese-North Korean border by KillerPollo is wrong. That border is "open" only by comparison with the North Korean-South Korean one. It's probably harder to cross than the US-MExican one. (But thousands of N Koreans slip through every year anyways. Lots of illegal N Korean immigrants in Manchuria.)

do see/air borders count? If not, the AUS-NZ border in Antarctica would be the firendliest :p

Sweden Norway is friendly and not in the EU! ;)

Isn't Norway in the Schengen accord anyways? I seem to recall it was that or no Scandinavia inside Schengen or cancellation of the much older Scandinavian Free Borders accord, whatever it was called.

same at pretty much every US states' borders.


I heard the usual route for defectors is to China, then to Japan, then to South Korea.

Which I completely support. ANYTHING to get out of there.

US-Canada and any EU border

North Korea-South Korea

Morocco-Algeria is no piece of cake either.

US-Canada is very friendly.  I dont know enough about other borders to make a fair judgement.

Australia doesn't border New Zealand, silly. Not even a sea border.

That reminds me, Canada also has a sea border with France and Denmark :) We also claim to border Russia and Norway via the north pole.

I've never had any problems crossing from Anglesey to Ireland by ferry

Generally borders suck, but are inevitable. Paradox of borders.

Most hostile borders.

Koreans
Borders of Israel
India/Pakistan
Iraq/Iran
Iraq/Syria
US/Cuba (Guantanamo)

In Europe

Serbia/Albania, maybe
Bosnia borders
Russia/Baltic States and Poland (In Kalingrad)

You forgot Greece/Macedonia.  That one is a lot tamer than it was a decade ago, but you still do not want to be caught in Greece as referring to to the Republic of Macedonia without prefixing a "former Yugolsalv" to it.

most hostile:  the border between Belgica and Germania.  aka, the Rhine River.  Circa 44BC.


angus recommends   ROME:  engineering an empire.

now, and for the next two hours.  Only on the History Channel. 

actually, I'd vote the border between the two Koreas.  anytime after about AD1953. but I've been intrigued with the roman imperial situation ever since my parents took me to the Romisch-Germanisch Museum in Köln when I was about 7. 

 the thing is, they had two factions around that time:  the Republicans and the Imperialists.

Here and now, both major factions are the Imperialists.  That's the difference.

you really ought to check this out.  Rome's system of water distribution is pretty nifty, but I'd make a plug for the Inca.  Any of you been to Machu Picchu?  That's a pretty impressive system too.  Not being white, the Inca can't be taken seriously as engineers, I suppose, but I think their aqueduct system (built in harmony with nature) would rival Rome's in efficiency and elegance.

ooh, now they're talking about Nero's ongoing problems with that vile and growing cult:  The Christians.   There goes the neighborhood. 

okay, I won't hijack this thread any further.

Mostly I just wanted to promote this show.  it's cool.  and it's on now.  into ancient technology?  you'll like this one.  check it out.

Terra Pax.  :)

Most hostile: at least historically, the Berlin Wall dividing East and West Germany.

Actually, the usual route out is to China, then dig a cave to live in, then find work as a dishwasher in a restaurant.

They actually had checkpoints. The DMZ is a line of fortifications with no break in them and no legal passage between the two nations.

Heck, technically the war isn't even over yet - we just have a very longstanding cease-fire.

The friendliest is Saudi Arabia-Oman because no one even knows where the heck it is. Then again, I wonder when was the last time that someone actually crossed it. In terms of remoteness really only antarctica compares to Rub-al Khali.

I'll agree that Korea is most hostile.

BTW, yes I'm back - for the moment at least

yay :)

With regards to hostile borders, the Joint Security Area aka the North/South Korean border should be very high on any such list. I think it's a testament to the potentially destructive power of ideology that a country based on 5000 years of shared history can suddenly be at war with itself (since, technically, North- and South Korea are still at war with each other; a peace treaty was never signed and both countries have been in a quasi-terminal cease fire since the late 1950s). It's absolutely insane.