diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/graphhopper/reader/osm/OSMReader.java b/core/src/main/java/com/graphhopper/reader/osm/OSMReader.java
index 04a1f93687a..635c2815187 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/graphhopper/reader/osm/OSMReader.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/graphhopper/reader/osm/OSMReader.java
@@ -328,7 +328,9 @@ protected void addEdge(int fromIndex, int toIndex, PointList pointList, ReaderWa
             throw new IllegalStateException("unaccepted way: " + way.getId());
 
         IntsRef relationFlags = getRelFlagsMap(way.getId());
-        IntsRef edgeFlags = encodingManager.handleWayTags(way, acceptWay, relationFlags);
+        // ORS-GH MOD START additional parameters for from and to node ids
+        IntsRef edgeFlags = encodingManager.handleWayTags(fromIndex, toIndex, way, acceptWay, relationFlags);
+        // ORS-GH MOD END
         if (edgeFlags.isEmpty())
             return;
 
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/graphhopper/reader/osm/WaySegmentParser.java b/core/src/main/java/com/graphhopper/reader/osm/WaySegmentParser.java
index 37464bce2f5..b6a2fa9bdc6 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/graphhopper/reader/osm/WaySegmentParser.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/graphhopper/reader/osm/WaySegmentParser.java
@@ -265,8 +265,13 @@ public void handleWay(ReaderWay way) {
             // ORS-GH MOD START - way preprocessor might have changed the way tags, so we need to check the filter again
             if (!wayFilter.test(way))
                 return;
+            try {
+                splitWayAtJunctionsAndEmptySections(segment, way);
+            } catch (Exception e) {
+                LOGGER.error("Error while processing way " + way.getId() + ": " + e.getMessage());
+                throw e;
+            }
             // ORS-GH MOD END
-            splitWayAtJunctionsAndEmptySections(segment, way);
         }
 
         private void splitWayAtJunctionsAndEmptySections(List<SegmentNode> fullSegment, ReaderWay way) {
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/graphhopper/routing/ev/Country.java b/core/src/main/java/com/graphhopper/routing/ev/Country.java
index 0569995f858..352daf7ed49 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/graphhopper/routing/ev/Country.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/graphhopper/routing/ev/Country.java
@@ -240,7 +240,14 @@ public enum Country {
     YEM("Yemen", "YE"),
     ZAF("South Africa", "ZA"),
     ZMB("Zambia", "ZM"),
-    ZWE("Zimbabwe", "ZW");
+    // ORS-GH MOD START additional ORS-specific territories
+    ZWE("Zimbabwe", "ZW"),
+    // the following values are for testing purposes only
+    XXA("Area 1", "XA"),
+    XXB("Area 2", "XB"),
+    XXC("Area 3", "XC"),
+    XXD("Area 4", "XD");
+    // ORS-GH MOD END
 
     public static final String KEY = "country";
 
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/graphhopper/routing/util/EncodingManager.java b/core/src/main/java/com/graphhopper/routing/util/EncodingManager.java
index 8593fd2b470..8a9321a61ad 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/graphhopper/routing/util/EncodingManager.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/graphhopper/routing/util/EncodingManager.java
@@ -599,7 +599,17 @@ public void handleTurnRelationTags(OSMTurnRelation turnRelation, TurnCostParser.
      * @param relationFlags The preprocessed relation flags is used to influence the way properties.
      */
     public IntsRef handleWayTags(ReaderWay way, AcceptWay acceptWay, IntsRef relationFlags) {
+        // ORS-GH MOD START additional parameters to provide from/to node ids to tag parsers
+        return handleWayTags(-1, -1, way, acceptWay, relationFlags);
+    }
+
+    public IntsRef handleWayTags(int fromIndex, int toIndex, ReaderWay way, AcceptWay acceptWay, IntsRef relationFlags) {
         IntsRef edgeFlags = createEdgeFlags();
+        // modified handler must be called before regular processing to ensure that "ors:country" tags set by the BorderParser are available for the downstream CountryParser
+        for (TagParser parser : edgeTagParsers) {
+            parser.handleWayTags(fromIndex, toIndex, edgeFlags, way, acceptWay.isFerry(), relationFlags);
+        }
+        // ORS-GH MOD END
         for (TagParser parser : edgeTagParsers) {
             parser.handleWayTags(edgeFlags, way, acceptWay.isFerry(), relationFlags);
         }
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/graphhopper/routing/util/parsers/CountryParser.java b/core/src/main/java/com/graphhopper/routing/util/parsers/CountryParser.java
index 999a7ea92e3..648cf7ca354 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/graphhopper/routing/util/parsers/CountryParser.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/graphhopper/routing/util/parsers/CountryParser.java
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@
 
 public class CountryParser implements TagParser {
     private final EnumEncodedValue<Country> countryEnc;
+    // ORS-GH MOD START
+    public static final String KEY_ORS_COUNTRY = "ors:country";
+    // ORS-GH MOD END
 
     public CountryParser() {
         this.countryEnc = Country.create();
@@ -41,6 +44,10 @@ public void createEncodedValues(EncodedValueLookup lookup, List<EncodedValue> re
     @Override
     public IntsRef handleWayTags(IntsRef edgeFlags, ReaderWay way, boolean ferry, IntsRef relationFlags) {
         Country country = way.getTag("country", Country.MISSING);
+        // ORS-GH MOD START override with country information set by ORS
+        if (way.hasTag(KEY_ORS_COUNTRY))
+            country = way.getTag(KEY_ORS_COUNTRY, Country.MISSING);
+        // ORS-GH MOD END
         countryEnc.setEnum(false, edgeFlags, country);
         return edgeFlags;
     }
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/graphhopper/routing/util/parsers/TagParser.java b/core/src/main/java/com/graphhopper/routing/util/parsers/TagParser.java
index be49a8e2806..ea805eadde4 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/graphhopper/routing/util/parsers/TagParser.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/graphhopper/routing/util/parsers/TagParser.java
@@ -33,4 +33,10 @@ public interface TagParser {
     void createEncodedValues(EncodedValueLookup lookup, List<EncodedValue> registerNewEncodedValue);
 
     IntsRef handleWayTags(IntsRef edgeFlags, ReaderWay way, boolean ferry, IntsRef relationFlags);
+
+    // ORS-GH MOD START additional method to provide from/to node ids
+    default IntsRef handleWayTags(int from, int to, IntsRef edgeFlags, ReaderWay way, boolean ferry, IntsRef relationFlags) {
+        return edgeFlags;
+    }
+    // ORS-GH MOD END
 }