Almeida, Portugal the current name was first used, in the form of the Arabic "al-Ma'ida" ('the plateau'). The village of Almeida was captured from the Moors by the second king of Portugal, Sancho I in the 12th century because of its strategic position on the new country of Portugal's border with Spain. So important to the security of the country, Sancho had the village heavily fortified. The castle was refortified on three further occasions by King Dinis, King Manuel I and by King João VI. The present 12 pointed star fortification was constructed in 1641 to a Vaubanesque plan on which the
Poland–Russia border border is 232 km long. For most of this length, the Polish side is in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship; the extreme east is in the Podlaskie Voivodeship, and the westernmost segment (on the Vistula Spit) in the Pomeranian Voivodeship. 210 km of the border is land and 22 km is sea. The official demarcation of the boundary was finalized March 5, 1957, in the following terms: When Poland joined the European Union in 2004, this border became one of the borders between the European Union and the non-EU countries. It is one of the five borders that Russia shares with the