During the last two centuries, the political map of Europe has changed considerably. More recently, there are remarkably contrasting tendencies concerning the functions and densities of borders. The borders inside the European Union lost their importance, whereas Central and Eastern Europe saw the birth of a multitude of new state borders. The long-term study of border regions, therefore, is a fascinating subject for geographers, historians, social scientists, and political scientists. The main thesis of this book is that the rise of the modern nation-state reinforced the separating function of state borders by nationalising the people on both sides of it. This process gained strength in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was challenged in the second half of this century by processes of supra-national integration, globalisation and the revolution in communication and transport, as the case studies from different parts of Europe of this book will show.
Audience: This book will be of interest to academics, researchers and practitioners in geography, history, political sciences, European studies and East-European studies.

Inhalt
I Introduction.- 1 19th and 20th century borders and border regions in Europe: some reflections.- 2 State borders in geography and history.- II Nationalising Border Regions.- 3 The incorporation of Limburg in the Dutch state.- 4 Borders, ethnicity, and demographic patterns in the Russian Baltic Provinces in the late nineteenth century.- 5 Politicised borders: the case of Greek Macedonia.- 6 'A bleeding wound', how border-drawing affects local communities: a case study from the Austrian-Slovene border in Styria.- III Denationalising Border Regions.- 7 Relaxation of tensions in the multi-ethnic border province of South Tyrol: the importance of cross border relations.- 8 An anatomy of Basque identity: a geographical analysis of identity patterns in the Franco-Spanish border area.- 9 The Austro-Hungarian border region: opportunities for and perspectives of regional development.- 10 Border effects and the cultural landscape: the changing impact of boundaries on regional development in Switzerland.- 11 City-networking and bottom-up development by transborder co-operation: the influence of local authorities in the Saar-Lor-Lux Region.- References.- About the authors.