Rivers prepared the environment for the establishment of civilizations and enabled people to come together and become a society. Throughout history, rivers that have kept people together have also been a natural boundary separating people. Rivers are among the most important geographies of the global struggle due to their geoeconomic, geostrategic and geopolitical importance. From past to present, the world has been divided into various political divisions due to factors such as ethnicity, religion and language, as well as geographical features, geographical discoveries and wars. These divisions are often artificial boundaries imposed arbitrarily. Today, a significant part of the borders on the world have been determined by the pens of the European colonialists in the last century. While determining these boundaries, mostly rivers were accepted as natural boundaries. After the Second World War, many new states were established. The establishment of new states in river basins that were managed under a single administration during the colonial period caused problems with the use of transboundary or border-forming streams. Today, the waters of 263 river basins cross national borders. The number of countries with borders in all or some of these watersheds is 145. 30 of these countries are completely within the borders of these basins. About 40% of the world's population lives in river and lake basins spanning two or more countries. In addition, approximately 2 billion people worldwide are dependent on groundwater, which includes approximately 300 transboundary aquifer systems. Since 1948, there have been violent conflicts over 37 watersheds. On the other hand, approximately 295 international water agreements were signed in the same period. The aim of this study is to investigate the current situation of the rivers forming the border in the world. When the relevant literature on borders is examined, it is seen that a significant part of the studies are related to land borders. Until recently, studies on the boundaries of rivers have been neglected. With this study, which is a descriptive research in the scanning model, it is aimed to contribute to the literature.

Country, borders, rivers, political geography