ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Border irregularities of the United States

Okay, let's imagine you have a really big puzzle made up of a bunch of smaller pieces that all fit together perfectly. But some of those pieces are missing or don't quite fit, which makes the puzzle look a little funny.

That's kind of like the borders of the United States. The country is made up of a bunch of states, and each state has its own shape and size. But sometimes when people drew the lines to separate one state from another, they didn't do it perfectly.

So, for example, there's a town called Baarle that's split between Belgium and the Netherlands. Imagine if you lived on one side of the street and your friend lived on the other, but you were in different countries! That's kind of how it is in Baarle, and there are other places in the world where this happens, too.

In the United States, there are a few places where the borders between states aren't quite straight or make as much sense as they could. For example, in one part of Colorado, there's a spot where you can stand in four different states at the same time! And there are some places where a river or a mountain range gets in the way, so the border has to follow the natural barrier instead of just making a straight line.

So overall, the borders of the United States and other countries can be kind of irregular because of different reasons, like mistakes made centuries ago or natural obstacles that got in the way. But those little quirks can also make things interesting and unique!