definition of border states
Freebase (0.00 / 0 votes) Rate this definition: Border states. Border states is a term referring to the European nations that won their independence from the Russian Empire after the Russian Revolution, the treaty of Brest-Litovsk, and ultimately the defeat of the German Empire in World War I.
The border states are actually Northern states that have some Southern qualities and characteristics. For example, there were plenty of black slaves in every one of these states, and much of the economy was quite agricultural-based.