Borderlines.
Geography, history and geopolitics.
Award Winning Travel Writing
Borderlines is where ‘Prisoners of Geography’ meets travel blogging. This is Travel Tramp’s geopolitical column.
Learn how geography, politics and history shape the world around, as we answer deep travel questions from the road.
What makes a country a country? What’s the difference between a micronation and a microstate? Why did Transnistria declare independence from Moldova?
You can find answers to all these questions and more as I build a database of the world’s cartographic curiosities and geopolitical oddities.
Latest Border Stories
How Many Countries in Northern Europe? Everything You Need to Know.
From Latvia and Lithuania to Norway and Iceland, there are ten sovereign nations in Northern Europe. Here's everything you need to know. The United Kingdom crosses European boundaries. Stretching into the frigid waters of the North Sea, my home country is a firm part...
How Many Countries in Central Europe? Everything You Need to Know.
From Germany and Poland to Austria and Hungary, discover how many countries there are in Central Europe. Here's everything you need to know. If you've been reading my latest series on Europe's different regions, then you'll already understand it's no easy task...
How Many Countries in Southern Europe? Everything You Need to Know.
From the Balkans to the Mediterranean, discover how many countries are in Southern Europe. Here's everything you need to know. Southern Europe encompasses 17 countries — Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Kosovo, Malta,...
How Many Countries in Western Europe? Everything You Need to Know.
From Austria and Belgium to France and Monaco, discover how many countries there are in Western Europe. Here's everything you need to know. The boundaries of Western Europe are annoyingly difficult to define. I'm from the United Kingdom, and I've always considered...
How Many Countries in Eastern Europe? Everything You Need to Know.
From Latvia and Lithuania to Serbia and Montenegro, discover how many countries there are in Eastern Europe and why the region's boundaries are so difficult to define. The map of Eastern Europe has changed considerably, even in the last few decades. Not only is the...
Is Turkey in Europe or Asia? Everything You Need to Know.
With continent spanning borders and a history straddling cultural boundaries, Turkey is a transcontinental nation. Is Turkey in Europe or Asia? Here's everything you need to know. 'Turkey is a European country, an Asian country, a Middle Eastern country, a Balkan...
How Many Balkan Countries Are There? Everything You Need to Know.
From Albania and Montenegro to Serbia and Slovenia; there are 11 countries in the Balkans. Here's everything you need to know. Until Yugoslavia violently splintered apart in 1991, the map of the Balkans was very different from what you see today. Where Yugoslavia had...
How Many Countries in South Asia? Everything You Need to Know.
From Afghanistan and Bangladesh to Pakistan and Sri Lanka, there are eight countries in South Asia; here's everything you need to know. South Asia is situated in the southern portion of the Asian continent. Geographically, South Asia is bordered by the Himalayas to...
How Many Countries in the Caribbean? Everything You Need to Know.
From Antigua and Barbuda to Trinidad and Tobago, there are 13 independent countries in the Caribbean (plus overseas territories and dependencies), here's everything you need to know. My first taste of the Caribbean Sea was in Roatan, an island off the coast of...
How Many Countries in the Mediterranean? Everything You Need to Know.
From Algeria and Tunisia to Greece and Turkey, there are 21 countries in the Mediterranean; here's everything you need to know. The fabled ancient poet Homer (if the Greek writer truly existed, that is) famously described the 'Wine Dark Sea' of the Mediterranean in...
richard@travel-tramp.com