The article analyzes the evolution of the study of boundaries, including the transformation of the research paradigm from the general to the specific, from the study of physical and geographical boundaries to the study of political, administrative and state boundaries. The article notes that such prominent specialists as B.B. Rodoman, V.L. Kagansky, V.E. Shuvalov, L.B. Vardomsky, N.S. Mironenko, L.V. Smirnyagin, V.S. Tikunov, S.E. Khanin, G.A. Gornostaeva, S.A. Tarkhov, P.M. Polyan, B.M. Eckel, L.K. Kazakov, N.S. Kasimov, V.N. Solntsev and others. The new methodological approaches appeared after the USSR’s collapse, introduced by the scientists as V.A. Kolosov, S.V. Golunov, O.V. Tsvetkova, O.F. Rusakova, V.M. Rusakov, Yu.K. Saranchin and others. The piece studied the definitions as the ‘pseudo-state borders’ (A.P. Vasiliev, M.I. Klyuchnikov, N.L. Turov), transboundary and border policy (M.Yu. Shinkovsky, A.A. Zykov, A.A. Kireev, F.S. Musin, I.N. Vorobieva, O.N. Tynyanova, V.V. Shumov, V.O. Korepanov, L. I. Popkov, N. P. Romanova and others). The article also discusses research approaches to various aspects of the Russian-Kazakh borderland (G.T. Kazhenova, P.S. Belan, A.M. Auanasova, A.M. Suleimenov, N.B. Seidin, K.G. Shaimerdenova, S.M. Akimbekov, V.A. Kolosov, Zh.E. Tokbulatova, S.V. Golunov, M.S. Karpenko, M. Yu. Semenenko, E.A. Semenov, D.V. Grigorevsky, A.A. Chibilev and others). The article also formulates the tasks of political limology in a rapidly changing geopolitical environment.