The confine international shortest in the world is the one that separates the territory of the two sovereign states of Botswana and of Zambia (in southern Africa), also known as “Kazungula border“, from the name of the city that stands near the short border. Its length is just 150 meters and is located in the center of the course Zambezi River. It is also very particular that the borders of Namibia and Zimbabwe are also very close, making the area a close meeting point for 4 different African states.
The “complicated” border between Botswana and Zambia is 150 meters long
The border between Zambia and Botswana is really short and measuring in fact 150 meters. It is not strictly a land border, as it is located right in the center of the Zambezi river, which at this point reaches a width, between the two banks, of approximately 400 meters. Not having precise geographical or morphological references, the border between the two countries cannot be identified with absolute precision, so much so that there has often been debate on the exact geographical positioning of this administrative limit, born in its first form from agreements on the delimitation of colonial possessions Europeans at the end of the nineteenth century.
To make the situation even more complex, not only is there thestrategic importance of the management of flows along the Zambezi river, the fourth longest on the African continent (2574 km, approximately 4 times the course of our Po), but above all it is the fact that precisely at this point two triple international borders: Namibia, Botswana and Zambiaon one side and, a few tens of meters away, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Until a few years ago the border between the two countries could only be crossed via riverwhich clearly made contacts between Botswana and Zambia more complex, but in 2021 a long bridge was inaugurated 923 meterswhich connects Kazungula, in Zambia, with a place of the same name in the neighboring country.
The border of Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, 85 meters long
To be picky, we can actually identify an even shorter border between two states, even if it is not between the territory of two sovereign states as we would traditionally understand. We can in fact define it more than anything else as one border line and is located between the Spain and the Morocco.
As already mentioned, it is not a border between “European” Spain and Morocco, but between the latter and a small rocky promontory that politically belongs to the Spanish state: the peninsula of Peñón de Vélez de la Gomeraconquered by the Spanish in the 16th century.
This small Mediterranean peninsula covers an area of 19,000 m² and until about a century ago was an island in all respects. Over time, sedimentary deposits have accumulated to form a subtle isthmus which permanently connected the island to the coast, creating a land border the width of suns 85 meters.