Political Geography - Unit 4

Multinational State

Country that has citizens of many different ethnic groups; Canada

Nation

Tightly knit group of people that share a common culture; the English, the Scots

Nation-State

A country that has only one ethnic group; Japan

Multi-State Nation

A nation that transcends the borders of two or more states; the Koreas

Microstates

Very small countries; San Marino, Vatican City, Singapore

Stateless nation

A group of people without a home state; Palestinians, Kurds

Territories

Not states because they do not have sovereignty

Supranational organizations

A collection of states created to act as one political or economic unit; European Union, UN

The United Nations

An organization that tries to resolve conflicts peacefully; includes almost all the worlds States; tries to solve global problems

The Modern State idea

Began in the 1600s and diffused to the rest of the world from Europe

The UN believes…

There are 195 states in the world; 193 belong to the UN.

Example of Delimiting

Russia uses Google Maps to draw a solid line between Crimea and Ukraine; to show ownership of an area

Definition of Demarcating

Making a wall or fence to mark a boundary

Boundaries

Lie on the ground; extend into subsoil; extend into airspace and extend 200 miles into the ocean

Physical-Political Boundary

Pyrenees Mts between France and Spain

Cultural-Political Boundary

Ireland and Northern Ireland(UK) are divided into 2 different countries religion; Catholic and Protestants

Geometric-Political Boundary

USA and Canada have the longest undefended border in the world, much of it stretching along the 49th degree N latitude line. * Conflicts often arise when international borders are drawn as geometric boundaries.

Major causes of Political conflict in the world

Competing feelings of nationalism, cultural differences - such as religion, and economic issues.

Authoritarian Governments

Ruled by 1 or few people (EX: absolute Monarchy, dictatorships)

Democratic Governments

Ruled by the people voting; (ex: the USA has a representatives to make decisions)

Theocracy

State whose government is either believed to be divinely guided or a state under the control of a group of religious leaders.

Berlin Conference

A meeting of European States in 1884-85 to establish boundaries in Africa for European colonial power

After effect of Berlin Conference

Led to many decades of conflict because they were geometric boundaries

Next Census

2030; after each census, the number of constituents that a member of the US House of Representatives represents. Happens every ten years.

Reapportionment

Determining the number of seats in the US House of Representatives and subsequently the number of electoral votes for each US state

Redistricting

Drawing the boundaries of US congressional and state legislative districts

Gerrymandering

Political districts are drawn in such a way that they purposely favor one political party

Electoral Votes in MN

10

Electoral Votes needed to win

270 votes needed, but it’s not necessary to win the popular vote.

Political Geographers

Study how control of Earths surface is divided

Compact States

Create the fewest difficulties with communication, transportation, and government; the center to the boundaries is almost equal

Exclaves

Alaska; a portion of a State that is separated from the main state.

Enclave

State that is completely surrounded by another State; lesotho

Frontier

No one state exercises total political control.

Elongated

State that is completely long and narrow; Chile

Perforated

State that completely surrounds another State; South Africa and Italy

Fragmented

State that is split into many pieces; Indonesia

Landlocked

State not having direct access to the ocean; Mongolia

Geo-Politics

How geography (Human and Physical) affects international affairs and politics

DMZ

Demilitarized zone - between North Korea and South Korea

Sovereignty

The supreme and absolute authority of a state or government body to govern its territory and people without external interference

State recognized by United Nations

193

Superimposed Boundary

A border that is drawn over existing and accepted borders by and outside force

Subsequent Boundary

Drawn in areas that have been settled by people, typically due to changes that have occurred over time

Antecedent Boundary

Established before there has been a major settlement by people in a territory

Delimit

Put it officially on a map

Definitional

Regarding legal description of boundaries

Reasons why States have political conflicts

Nationalism, Difference in Cultural Traits, How a place is governed, and economic issues

Prorupted State

Occur when a compact state has a portion of its boundary extending outward exceedingly more than other parts of the boundary

Boundary

Vertical planes extending below the ground into airspace