From 1961 to 1989 the Berlin Wall sealed off West Berlin completely. How many kilometres long was the entire barrier around it?
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Answer
About 155 km
Only about 43 km of it actually divided the city in two. The rest separated West Berlin from the surrounding East German countryside.
How to estimate it
West Berlin covered about 480 square kilometres. A circle of that area has a radius of √(480 / 3.14) = 12.4 km and a perimeter of 2 × 3.14 × 12.4 = 78 km. That is the minimum. Real borders follow lakes, canals and old district lines, which easily adds 75 percent: 78 × 1.75 = 136 km. The full barrier was about 155 km long.
Source: Berlin Wall Foundation (Stiftung Berliner Mauer)
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