Transport permeability of borders

Abstract

The geographic differences in the transport permeability of the borders of 137 countries and 84 administrative-territorial units of the 1st level of the hierarchy of 6 countries are analyzed. It is measured by the indicator K by dividing the border perimeter (km) by the number of transport crossings (entrances) of the border. There are 10 groups of countries of the world according to the size of their territory. According to the peculiarities of the transport and geographical position in relation to the seas and land, all countries are divided into 13 types. The values of the total transport permeability index vary from 6.4 km (Switzerland) to 3391.3 km (Greenland). Its geographic differences in parts of the world are revealed: the countries of Europe on average have K = 52.6 km, the countries of Asia – 145.2 km, Africa – 177.8 km, America – 206.5 km, Australia and Oceania – 271.0 km. 6 subgroups of countries have been identified according to variations in K values: 1) fully open (the most permeable); 2) relatively open (permeable); 3) semi-open (relatively permeable); 4) semi-closed (medium permeable); 5) relatively closed (little permeable); 6) the most closed (almost impermeable). The values of transport permeability of the borders of 18 provinces of China, 20 states of the USA, 36 regions of Russia, 10 lands of Germany, 2 regions of Canada were calculated. The types of correlation between land and sea transport permeability of the borders are revealed.