Mapping the Contested Line

This book brings together eight contributions on the relationships between cartography and border disputes, using map history to frame the construction of nation-states and colonial territories in the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa and Latin America from the 18th to the 20th century. Written by scholars from Spain, France, Portugal, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, the essay is divided into two main parts. Part I (Chapters 2 to 5) focuses on the use and contribution of maps to the processes of negotiation and boundary fixation on disputed borders, both in diplomatic forums and in the materialisation of the border on the ground, whereas Part II (Chapters 6 to 8) delves into the circulation of maps used by boundary commissions, as well as into how the political purposes of cartography and the audiences to whom maps were addressed and communicated conditioned the very representation of borders. In addition to these Parts, the introductory chapter provides an overview of recent scholarship about the links between maps and border disputes, both at a general level and in the countries and regions specifically considered in this volume. The book is addressed to a wide range of researchers, including geographers, historians, political scientists and specialists in geopolitics and the history of international relations.