Especially how does the US mainly, possibly somewhere else, keep borders that are literal boxes, like Wyoming. Or the straight line that is the Canada-Alaska border. Or like the northern African borders, which some of simply seem to run through a random place in the desert. Especially the Newfoundland and Quebec border, it doesn’t look like it follows anything and just goes in random directions.
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Those borders are typically set in a law, and line up with some specific latitude and longitude coordinates. The law says that the border is there, so it’s there.
When international borders get disputed, we call that war, and typically the stronger side decides where the line is, and then a treaty is signed declaring that the border. If the fighting goes on for long enough, the two sides wind up setting up fortifications on either side, like the Korean border between north and south. Those fortifications have a tendency to stay put for a long time.
Respect for law sustains all borders. Where respect for the law fails, either force defends the border, or it eventually moves elsewhere.
We have a coordinate system, latitude and longitude, that everybody agrees on. When both sides agree on a border they both put it on their maps in the same place and tell the rest of the world where the border is for good measure. Gps is very good and cheap now so most people can pull out Google maps and know where a border is if they need to. The problems come in when neighboring countries dispute territory and publish competing maps. Then everybody else has to take a side when they make their maps until it’s resolved
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