border state
Between two nations
A border state is a state situated at the boundary between two regions or political entities.
In American history, it specifically refers to the slave states—Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, and later West Virginia—that remained in the Union during the Civil War despite bordering Confederate territory.
More broadly, any state along an international border: Texas is a border state with Mexico.
Bluegrass State
- MissouriMidwestern state, major river
- MarylandMid-Atlantic U.S. state
- DelawareFirst to join the Union
- West VirginiaAppalachian state, capital Charleston
Kansas · Arkansas · Tennessee · Virginia · North Carolina · American Civil War · secession · Union
Formal boundary setting
- borderlandTerritory at a boundary
- thresholdPoint of beginning
- edgeBoundary or sharpness
- perimeterShape's outer edge length
checkpoint · crossing · customs · territorial · adjacent · neighboring · contiguous · liminal
Area of active fighting
- tensionStretched or strained state
- hostilitiesActive armed fighting
- clashesViolent encounters or disagreements
- skirmishesBrief, minor combat engagements
insurgency · violence · unrest · escalation · battleground · frontline · invasion · occupation
Protective intermediate space
- buffer zoneNeutral area between rivals
- geopoliticsGeography's role in statecraft
- allianceFormal union of parties
- treatyBinding pact between nations
security · influence · stability · diplomacy · negotiation · proxy · corridor · pivot
Kentucky
Bluegrass State
West Virginia · Kansas · Arkansas · Tennessee · Virginia · North Carolina · American Civil War · secession · Union · Confederacy
demarcation
Formal boundary setting
- borderlandTerritory at a boundary
- thresholdPoint of beginning
- edgeBoundary or sharpness
perimeter · checkpoint · crossing · customs · territorial · adjacent · neighboring · contiguous · liminal · transitional
warzone
Area of active fighting
- tensionStretched or strained state
- hostilitiesActive armed fighting
- clashesViolent encounters or disagreements
skirmishes · insurgency · violence · unrest · escalation · battleground · frontline · invasion · occupation · resistance
buffer
Protective intermediate space
- buffer zoneNeutral area between rivals
- geopoliticsGeography's role in statecraft
- allianceFormal union of parties
treaty · security · influence · stability · diplomacy · negotiation · proxy · corridor · pivot · chokepoint
- Kentucky historyDaniel Boone, Henry Clay, statehood, Cumberland Gap, Lexington
- Maryland HistoryAnnapolis, Baltimore, Chesapeake Bay, Fort McHenry, Harriet Tubman
- Buffer Statesbuffer zone, neutral zone, DMZ, demilitarized zone, no mans land
- Civil War KentuckyCumberland Gap, Frankfort, Richmond, Louisville, divided loyalties
- slaverychattel slavery, enslaved, slave, enslavement, slave traders
- Abolitionabolitionists, Frederick Douglass, abolitionist movement, Underground Railroad, Emancipation Proclamation
border stategreat power
Internationally dominant nation-state
satellite state · superpower · client state · neutral state · hegemon
state, border, status, estate, frontier, borders, bordering, bordered, borderline