| Abstract: |
Only in the years 1890 to 1910 were mainland Southeast Asia states' borders given an accurate cartographic delineation. Today, these nation-states' control of their border territories varies widely with their development and modernization level and/or their military and political power, as well as with their traditional patterns of territorial control. These pre-colonial regional patterns are of major relevance to any attempt at understanding the current situation. A strong contrast appears between an accurate Chinese type of border, demarcating the lowland regions, densely populated through systematic colonization by mainly Chinese or Vietnamese migrants, and a fuzzier, Indian type of border, typical of Assam and of Theravada Buddhist monarchies, concentric "argrarian States" surrounded by a ring of petty tributary states with multiple allegiance to their more powerful neighbors.
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