[phreeza]

I don't think it is really about straight lines, most borders are probably where they are due to some circumstances involving lots of violence. It's just that straight lines are a modern concept, so the related violence is more present in our minds.

[dwaltrip]

Geographical features, such as mountains and rivers, don't form straight lines on the map.

[phreeza]

Yea, but just as an example, determining that the Rhine forms the border between Germany and France probably goes back to Roman times, and probably also involved a lot of genocide.