Ap Human Geography Unit 4 Vocabulary

State

An area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government with control over its internal and foreign affairs.

Nation

A group of people with a common culture living in a territory and having a strong sense of unity

Nation-state

A country who's population share a common identity.

Multinational State

A state with more than one nation within its borders

Autonomous Region

An area of a country that has a degree of autonomy, or has freedom from an external authority

Semiautonomous Region

An area inside of a country that has some power to control itself more than other areas in the country

Stateless Nation

A nation that does not have a state.

Example: Palestinians, Kurds, Basque.

Multistate Nation

A nation that stretches across borders and across states

Sovereignty

Ability of a state to govern its territory free from control of its internal affairs by other states.

Berlin Conference (1884)

A meeting at which Europeans agreed on rules for colonizing and dividing territory in Africa

Self-determination

The right to choose their own sovereign government without external influence

Decolonization

The undoing of colonization

Devolution

The process in which one or more regions are given increased autonomy by the central political unit

Territoriality

A willingness by a person or a group of people to defend space they claim

Neocolonialism

Also called economic imperialism, this is the domination of newly independent countries by foreign business interests that causes colonial-style economies to continue, which often caused monoculture (a country only producing one main export like sugar, oil, etc).

"New" colonialism

Shatterbelts

A place located between two very different and contentious region

Often experiences tons of unrest and is very unstable

Balkanization

The fragmentation of a state or region into smaller, often hostile, units along ethno-linguistic lines

Choke point

A place of physical congestion between wider regions of movement and interaction. Valuable areas to control by countries as trade often goes through here

Antecedent Boundary

Boundary that precedes the development of a cultural landscape

Subsequent Boundary

Created while the cultural landscape is evoloving and is subject to change over time

Consequent Boundary

A type of subsequent boundary that is drawn to accommodate existing linguistic, cultural, or religious boundaries

Superimposed Boundary

A boundary drawn by outside powers and may have ignored existing cultural patterns

Geometric Boundary

A straight line of arc drawn by people that does not closely follow any physical feature

Relic Boundary

Boundary that has been abandoned for physical purposes, but evidence of it still exists on the landscape

Defined

Established by a legal document

Delimited

Drawn on a map

Demarcated

Physical objects visible on the landscape

Administered

Boundary is enforced and maintained

Definitonal Boundary Dispute

Disagreement on how a boundary was defined and how to interpret it

Locational Boundary DIspute

Dispute on who posseses the land

Operational Boundary Dispute

Dispute on how a boundary is controlled or how it functions

Allocational Boundary Dispute

Dispute on how boundary separates natural resources

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)

Treaty that defines ocean boundaries and zones

Territorial Seas

Extends 12 NM, country has sovereignty until here, commercial vessels may pass but noncommercial vessels may not

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)

Extends 200 NM, country can explore, extract, and manage natural resources

Census

A count of the population

Reapportionment

Changing the number of representatives granted to each state so it refletcs the state's population

Electoral College

A group of people named by each state legislature to select the president and vice president

Redistricting

The redrawing of congressional and other legislative district lines following the census, to accommodate population shifts and keep districts as equal as possible in population.

Gerrymandering

The drawing of boundaries for political districs by the party in power to protect or increase its power

Packing

Combining like-minded voters into one district to prevent them from affecting elections in other districts

Cracking

Dispersing a group into several districts to prevent a majority

Federal

Each subnational unit has some degree of sovereignty

Unitary

Most or all governing power is held at the central national government

Ethnic Seperatism

The advocacy of full politcal separation from the larger group along cultural, ethnic, tribal, or governmental lines

Ethnic Cleansing

A purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent or terror-inspiring means the civilian population of anoher ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas

Terrorism

Organized violence aimed at governhment and civilian targets to create fear for the advancement of political goals

Irredentism

A type of expansionism when one country seeks to annex territory where it has cultural ties to part of the population or historical claims to the land

Administered

Legal managemnt of border

Electoral College

Organization that utilizes the popular vote to then vote for President

State

An area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government with control over its internal and foreign affairs.

Nation

A group of people with a common culture living in a territory and having a strong sense of unity

Nation-state

A country who's population share a common identity.

Multinational State

A state with more than one nation within its borders

Autonomous Region

An area of a country that has a degree of autonomy, or has freedom from an external authority

Semiautonomous Region

An area inside of a country that has some power to control itself more than other areas in the country

Stateless Nation

A nation that does not have a state.

Example: Palestinians, Kurds, Basque.

Multistate Nation

A nation that stretches across borders and across states

Sovereignty

Ability of a state to govern its territory free from control of its internal affairs by other states.

Berlin Conference (1884)

A meeting at which Europeans agreed on rules for colonizing and dividing territory in Africa

Self-determination

The right to choose their own sovereign government without external influence

Decolonization

The undoing of colonization

Devolution

The process in which one or more regions are given increased autonomy by the central political unit

Territoriality

A willingness by a person or a group of people to defend space they claim

Neocolonialism

Also called economic imperialism, this is the domination of newly independent countries by foreign business interests that causes colonial-style economies to continue, which often caused monoculture (a country only producing one main export like sugar, oil, etc).

"New" colonialism

Shatterbelts

A place located between two very different and contentious region

Often experiences tons of unrest and is very unstable

Balkanization

The fragmentation of a state or region into smaller, often hostile, units along ethno-linguistic lines

Choke point

A place of physical congestion between wider regions of movement and interaction. Valuable areas to control by countries as trade often goes through here

Antecedent Boundary

Boundary that precedes the development of a cultural landscape

Subsequent Boundary

Created while the cultural landscape is evoloving and is subject to change over time

Consequent Boundary

A type of subsequent boundary that is drawn to accommodate existing linguistic, cultural, or religious boundaries

Superimposed Boundary

A boundary drawn by outside powers and may have ignored existing cultural patterns

Geometric Boundary

A straight line of arc drawn by people that does not closely follow any physical feature

Relic Boundary

Boundary that has been abandoned for physical purposes, but evidence of it still exists on the landscape

Defined

Established by a legal document

Delimited

Drawn on a map

Demarcated

Physical objects visible on the landscape

Administered

Boundary is enforced and maintained

Definitonal Boundary Dispute

Disagreement on how a boundary was defined and how to interpret it

Locational Boundary DIspute

Dispute on who posseses the land

Operational Boundary Dispute

Dispute on how a boundary is controlled or how it functions

Allocational Boundary Dispute

Dispute on how boundary separates natural resources

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)

Treaty that defines ocean boundaries and zones

Territorial Seas

Extends 12 NM, country has sovereignty until here, commercial vessels may pass but noncommercial vessels may not

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)

Extends 200 NM, country can explore, extract, and manage natural resources

Census

A count of the population

Reapportionment

Changing the number of representatives granted to each state so it refletcs the state's population

Electoral College

A group of people named by each state legislature to select the president and vice president

Redistricting

The redrawing of congressional and other legislative district lines following the census, to accommodate population shifts and keep districts as equal as possible in population.

Gerrymandering

The drawing of boundaries for political districs by the party in power to protect or increase its power

Packing

Combining like-minded voters into one district to prevent them from affecting elections in other districts

Cracking

Dispersing a group into several districts to prevent a majority

Federal

Each subnational unit has some degree of sovereignty

Unitary

Most or all governing power is held at the central national government