The essay is a contribution to the theory of border effects, offering a synthetic view in the form of a typology. It thematizes the changing nature of the role of borders and their spatial impact: from contiguous territories of traditional boundaries to the functional area of economic and political relationship now inserted into globalization. Following the illustration of the construction of the typological table and the concepts that are at the base, each case is briefly presented in there characteristics on the role of the borders, its effects and possible governance of discontinuities.