border, edge

国境(こっきょう)	Border between two countries

境(さかい)	Boundary – can be used with countries OR property lines (say, between Tanaka’s farm and Ishii’s farm). 境 is usually used when talking about crossing a boundary, or being within the boundary.

境界(きょうかい)	80% the same usage as 境, but a bit more formal. BOTH WORDS ARE often used in the figurative sense – like “This film pushes the envelope of good taste” or “His art blurs the boundary between painting and sculpture”. Also used in science.

縁(ふち)	Rim or edge of table, cup, picture frame (emphasis is that it’s not a point on the edge, it’s the ENTIRE edge).

端(はし)	Edge (of your seat, edge of the plank) (always literal, never figurative). In contrast to 縁、端 usually refers to one point on the edge, the most extreme point (i.e. edge of the cliff, tip of the peninsula).

末(すえ)	The end of something- end of the month, the end of a story. 末期, for instance, means last-stage-of-life. 末梢 means peripheral, on the edge of a structure.

先(さき)	The tip of a sharp thing.

外れ(はずれ)	ONE OF the meanings of 外れ is ‘on the edge of something ‘:example:町の外れ　（edge of town).

際(きわ)	SUFFIX. When attached to a place or thing, it means ‘close to’ or ‘on the border or edge of’ something - usually used with locations: ‘I’m standing on the edge of the ocean, where it meets the shore.’ When used as a suffix, it’s pronounced GIWA, not kiwa.