EBGP peers are sometimes called “Border” or “Edge” Routers. Most of the time, they are directly connected to each other (but there are exceptions to that rule).
EBGP connections are typically made between customer and ISP, or between two ISPs. The peers must reside in different autonomous systems. The IP addressing used on the connection between the two peers must be reachable to each of them. TCP must establish before BGP can exchange routes.
Load-balancing is not possible with BGP, but by manipulating metrics, load-sharing between circuits on a per-route basis is possible.
An IGP cannot be used to reach the IP address specified in the neighbor command. If not directly connected, static routing must be used.
Stuck-in-Active: Journal of an IT-Network Administrator 