The article is an insight into the history of the use of the term "limitrophe" in Russian literature on geopolitics. The etymology of this term is considered in detail. It turns out, who and when for the first time in the literature used it, putting a geopolitical sense. Shows the General historical background of the era (1920-1930) when the "border States" were widely used by many authors in the Soviet Russia/USSR and in the Russian Diaspora. Examines the question of when and why the second "coming" of the term "border States" in the Russian geopolitical literature. In the context of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Pax Sovietica shows how has changed geopolitical interpretation of the term "limitrophe". In this regard, given the outline of the concept of the Great Limitrophe.

Keywords: the global geopolitical space, regions, rigid clusters, intermediate space, border States, the collapse of the Russian Empire, the Baltic-black sea area