When someone mentions the word border the first thing that pops into most people’s minds is the one in the United States that generated lots of outrag

When someone mentions the word border the first thing that pops into most people’s minds is the one in the United States that generated lots of outrage and controversy. Then there’s the infamous Berlin Wall as well as North and South Korea one. Most people are familiar with these already popular borders but there are a couple of lesser known ones that would be labelled as  controversial too. Here are five examples. 1. Peace Walls - Northern Ireland Set in Northern Ireland, the Peace Walls consists of over 60 separate concrete walls that were erected during the Troubles in an effort to keep the religiously and politically different unionists and nationalists apart. Prior to this, people from opposing sides would launch attacks at each other which led to the gradual construction of the walls. Strangely enough, most of the walls were built after the Troubles had long ended. Because they are no longer needed, the walls are being slowly demolished and are expected to be completed by 2023. 2. Moroccan Wall The Moroccan Wall or the “Berm” is one of the world’s most guarded borders and also holds the record for the longest minefield, thanks to its 7 million landmines. The ten feet tall border runs for 1,600 miles along the Western Sahara desert and features electric fences, barbed wire, radar and of course, Moroccan soldiers. The reason for the border is due to the disputed territory of the Western Sahara—most people consider it to be part of southern Morocco, though others say that it is part of the unrecognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, which controls the other half of Western Sahara just outside the wall. 3. Egypt-Gaza Wall The Egypt-Gaza wall differs vastly from the others on this list in the sense that it is an underground wall that was constructed to put an end to the smuggling of weapons from Gaza into Egypt through underground tunnels. The 40 miles long wall is also intended to counter the tunnels used by Hamas to launch into Israel. These tunnels also benefit regular Israeli citizens who use it to smuggle much needed items like food due to the strict limitations placed by their government on what can be imported or not. 4. Great Wall Saudi Arabia’s Great Wall consists of a 600 miles long fence and trench system that divides the nation from neighboring Iraq. The Saudis first considered building it in 2006 due to the nearby Iraqi Civil War but it wasn’t erected until 2014 when terrorists managed to take over a huge chunk of Iraq’s border. Fearing that their nation would be invaded as well, Saudi Arabia enforced their border with five parallel fences, watchtowers, surveillance equipment and over 30,000 soldiers. While still under construction in 2005, the border was attacked by terrorists in an attempt to prevent the Saudis from finishing it. 5. India-Bangladesh Fence India shares a 2,500-mile-long border with Bangladesh and seventy percent of it consists of an 8-feet-tall fence complete with barbed wire and even an electric fence in certain parts. The structure was constructed in the 1980s shortly after a violent discord between illegal Bangladesh migrants in the Indian state of Assam. The border isn’t all that effective at keeping illegal imigrants away due to corrupt guards who allow them and even terrorists to enter the country by collecting bribes. Some managed to enter through the rivers at the border, which is obviously unfenced.

The Border Walls No One Is Talking About

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