Anglo-Scottish Border

The Anglo-Scottish border (or English-Scottish border, known locally as simply The Border) is the official border and mark of entry between Scotland and England. It runs for 96 miles (154 km) between the River Tweed on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. It is Scotland's only land border. England shares a longer border with Wales.

Although it had long been the de facto border, it was legally established in 1237, by the Treaty of York between England and Scotland, with the exception of a small area around Berwick, which was taken by England in 1482. It is thus one of the oldest extant borders in the world, although Berwick was not initially fully annexed by England. (It was not included in Northumberland for parliamentary purposes until 1885.)

For centuries until the Union of the Crowns the region on either side of the boundary was a lawless territory suffering from the repeated raids in each direction of the Border Reivers.

Following the Treaty of Union 1707 which united Scotland and England to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Border continues to form the boundary of two distinct legal jurisdictions as the treaty between the two countries guaranteed the continued separation of English law and Scots law.

The age of legal capacity under Scots law is 16, while it is 18 under English law. The border villages of Gretna Green, Coldstream Bridge and Lamberton were convenient for elopers from England who wanted to marry under Scottish laws, and marry without publicity.

The marine boundary was adjusted by the Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 so that the boundary within the territorial waters (up to the 12-mile (19 km) limit) is 0.09 km north of the boundary for oil installations established by the Civil Jurisdiction (Offshore Activities) Order 1987.

The border is marked by signposts welcoming travellers both into Scotland and into England.