Iraq at the gate

The boundaries of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, stretching 4415 km, is only a line on the map. But soon, right in the Arabian desert, a protective wall of metal structures a length of 814 km will grow. So the rulers of the kingdom intend to isolate themselves from Iraq, which, although it is democraticized under the strict leadership of the United States, but this has not ceased to be a dangerous outcast. The rich Saudi Arabia decided to protect itself from Iraqi militants of all stripes, smugglers and just bandits.

In the era of developed globalization all over the world, walls came into fashion again. With their help, well -fed and calm try to isolate themselves from those who have not accepted into the beautiful world of free trade, and those who threaten the safety of this world. Israel stubbornly continues to build its “fence”, the United States seriously intends to fence off with a protective shaft from Latin American migrants. The EU is the only place where it borders with Africa - in the Spanish city of Seuta, clamped on three sides of Morocco, is adding a couple more meters for another six -meter wire fence, which refugees from all over the continent try to break through every month. Soon the walls will become the same symbol of the global world as the Berlin wall - the symbol of the Cold War.

In Saudi Arabia, a competition for the best project of the anti -Irac wall has been announced. The engineers only got down to business, and the princes from the As-Saud dynasty are already developing new fencing plans. The next step will be the installation of a barrier along the border with Yemen, stretching at 1458 km. The reason is the same: the Saudis reproaches Yemen’s authorities in the inability to overcome anarchy and robbery. The grandiose plan of the Saudi king Abdullah Ben Abdelaziz al-Sauda made such an impression on the lord of the adjacent state, Emir Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, that he decided to follow the example of his neighbor and also fence off from Iraq. The Council of Ministers Emir approved the construction of a wall with a length of 217 km and approved the project budget: 9 million dinars ($ 33.4 million).

Great Chinese wall

Built in the III century BC. e. By order of Emperor Qin Shi-Huangdi, to protect the northern border of the Middle Kingdom from the raids of nomadic tribes: Kidans, Tanguts, Jurchenia, Huns and others. The length of the wall, or rather, the systems of forts, earthen ramparts and ditches - 4000 km, height - from 7 to 10 m, width - at 6 m. It was erected by 500,000 subjects of the emperor. At the end of the XII century, the emperors of the Ming dynasty drove about a million more people to the work to reduce the wall and the completion of the towers. From the invasion of the Mongols, the defensive structures did not save China.

British walls

The Romans placed three legions in conquered Britain, including the elite 20th “victorious eagle”, but could not protect their possessions from the raids of fierce mountaineers-pictures. In 122–127 The “Val Adrian” was built, and in 140-142 - “Val Antonina”. Walls of stone and peat, the height of which reached 7 m, effectively protected the mixed garrisons of the Romans and Britons. The picts were securely locked in the northern regions, but after 404, when the Roman legions left Britain, the highlanders again began to torment the inhabitants of the Dolin.

Korean wall

In 1953, after the end of the Korean War, in which the army of 21 countries participated, the border between the Republic of Korea and the Korean People's Democratic Republic-a demi-dramilitarized zone width of 4 km was established on the 38th parallel. After 20 years, South Korea, where the economic boom began, decided to fence off from a dangerous neighbor not only with a strip of alienation, a control strip and minefields, but also a wall. A fence was erected 240 km long, 5-8 m high and 10-12 m wide, but further construction was recognized as inappropriate.

Israeli wall

In 2002, after the next series of terrorist attacks, the Israelis began building a security fence separating Palestinian autonomy from Israel. The construction of a very bizarre configuration has a total length of 670 km and actually represents a deeply echeloned defensive line, only without positions for artillery and tanks dug into the ground. Concrete plates reach a height of 8 m, surveillance cameras and tower with snipers and machine gunners are installed on the wall; In front of the wall - a 2 m deep, a fence made of a metal mesh along which an electric current is missed, and spirals of barbed wire with a height of 2 m. Palestinians call a safety fence with a “wall of hatred”. The construction of the dividing wall was sequentially condemned by the UN, the Hague Court of Human Rights and the Bagatz - Israeli Supreme Court of Justice.

Berlin wall

The construction of a wall of 155 km began on August 13, 1961. So the metaphor about the Iron Curtain found reinforced concrete embodiment. The only fortified line in history, intended not for defense from an external enemy, but for forcibly retaining citizens in the country. The GDR authorities on August 17, 1961 called the wall the "anti -fascist protective shaft." Over the 28 years of its existence, more than 60,000 GDR citizens were prosecuted for the preparation of the escape, 3222 people were arrested on the approaches to the wall, 938 people were killed while trying to cross the border, but 5043 people were sometimes crossed through the wall (including 547 military personnel and police officers). On November 9, 1989, the inhabitants of two parts of Berlin destroyed her, which became a symbol of the collapse of the Soviet camp and the end of the Cold War.