The boundary between Northern Ireland (part of the United Kingdom) and the Republic of Ireland (an independent state) is an example of a religious boundary. The population of Northern Ireland is overwhelmingly Protestant, whereas the population of the Republic of Ireland is overwhelmingly Catholic. The proximity of these two religious groups, and the involvement of the English government, has led to a great deal of “trouble” in the past century.

Korea is an ancient and long-lasting nation. Although for much of its history has been incorporated into various empires the Korean ethnicity remains fairly homogenous and culturally relevant. Since the end of the Korean War in 1953 the Korean nationality has been divided between a communist North Korea and a capitalist South Korea.

A cultural boundary is the geographical term for the border between two different ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups. While these often fall along territorial, topographical, or national boundaries, they can be almost anywhere, and cultural boundaries are more likely to be shaped by historical forces rather than strictly geographical ones. An important cultural boundary is the line formed from the Alps and the Danube River, which divided Western Europe between the Latinized areas of the former Roman Empire and the German-influenced areas on the other side.

An allocational boundary dispute is a dispute over the right to resources. An allocational dispute arises from both natural resources, such as water from a common source, and commercial resources, such as oil from beneath bordering land.

The Kurds do not have a state where they are the majority population. They are, therefore, a stateless nation. All other ethnic groups listed have their own states, such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina respectively.

A boundary dispute over the "allocation" or distribution of natural resources is an allocational dispute. A definitional dispute is a boundary dispute over the legal terms set forth, a locational dispute is a boundary dispute over the physical location, and an operational dispute is a boundary dispute over how the boundary ought to function.

An “exclave” is a region of a country that is completely separated from the main body of that country, usually by the borders of another country. One classic example of an exclave is Alaska because it is not part of the contiguous continental United States.

An antecedent boundary is the name of a boundary between two states that is created before the area is populated with human society. An antecedent boundary may come to be more relevant in the future if people begin to settle in the area; this is what happened with the boundary between the United States and Canada in Oregon.

An elongated state is a state that is long and narrow. It stretches a long way in one direction (either north-south or east-west) and a very short way in the other direction. Chile is the classic example of an elongated state because it spans thousands of miles top to bottom, but only a few hundred from side-to-side. The opposite of an elongated state is a compact state.

According to the Heartland Theory, a government that controls Central Eurasia (much of Russia, some of Eastern Europe, and the Middle East) is likely to eventually dominate much of the world. Mackinder believed that this region was central to interaction between Europe and Asia and to the rest of the world. Most contemporary geographers disagreed with him.