A border checkpoint is a location on an international border where travelers or goods are inspected and allowed passage through. Authorization often is required to enter a country through its borders. Access-controlled borders often have a limited number of checkpoints where they can be crossed without legal sanctions. Arrangements or treaties may be formed to allow or mandate less restrained crossings. Land border checkpoints can be contrasted with the customs and immigration facilities at seaports, international airports, and other ports of entry.
Sultan Iskandar Building
Woodlands Checkpoint
Italian-Swiss border post – since Switzerland joined the Schengen Area in 2008, this checkpoint is solely for customs formalities
United States–Mexico border checkpoint at Nogales, Arizona.
Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders can be established through warfare, colonization, or mutual agreements between the political entities that reside in those areas.
North Korean policemen standing guard at the North Korea-South Korea border. View from North Korea.
A photograph of the France–Italy border at night. The southwestern end of the Alps separates the two countries.
The purpose of the Great Wall of China was to stop people and militaries from crossing the northern border of China. Today it is a relic border.
Crossing the Ambassador Bridge into Canada from the US