Political Geography Vocabulary

Flashcards to help you study the vocabulary terms from this lecture!

Annexation

The formal act of acquiring something (especially territory) by conquest or occupation

Apartheid

Laws (no longer in effect) in South Africa that physically separated different races into different geographic areas.

Autonomous region

A self-governing region.

Balkanization

The fragmentation or division of a region or state into smaller regions or states that are often hostile or uncooperative with one another.

Definitional Boundary Dispute

Disagreement over the interpretation of a boundary treaty.

Locational Boundary Dispute

Disagreement over the placement of a boundary.

Operational Boundary Dispute

Disagreement over how a boundary should function.

Allocational Boundary Dispute

Disagreement over the division of resources crossed by a boundary.

Antecedent Boundary Origin

A boundary line established before the area in question was well populated.

Subsequent Boundary Origin

A boundary line that is established after the area in question has been settled and that considers the cultural characteristics of the bounded area.

Consequent Boundary Origin

A boundary line that coincides with some cultural divide, such as religion or language.

Superimposed Boundary Origin

A boundary line placed over and ignoring an existing cultural pattern.

Relic Boundary Origin

A boundary line that no longer functions but still marks a former boundary.

Boundary Definition

The phase in which the exact location of a boundary is legally described and negotiated.

Boundary Delimitation

The process of drawing a boundary on a map.

Boundary Demarcation

The process of marking a boundary on the landscape.

Natural/Physical Boundary Type

A boundary that coincides with a natural feature, such as a river or mountain range.

Ethnographic/Cultural Boundary Type

A boundary that coincides with cultural traits such as religion or language.

Geometric Boundary Type

A boundary that is a straight line or arc.

Buffer state

A state that is situated between two rival states and that serves to prevent conflict between them.

Capital

The most important city or town of a country or region, usually its seat of government and administrative center.

Centrifugal

Forces that divide a state.

Centripetal

Forces that unite a state.

Choke Point

A strategic narrow route providing passage through or to another region.

City-state

A sovereign state comprising a city and its immediately surrounding territory.

Colonialism

Attempt by one country to establish settlements and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles in another territory.

Confederation

A union of sovereign states or communities united for common action or purpose.

Decolonization

The action or process of a state withdrawing from a former colony, leaving it independent.

Demilitarized Zone

An area in which treaties or agreements between nations, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities or personnel.

Democracy

A political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them.

Devolution

The transfer of powers and responsibilities from the federal government to the states.

Domino theory

A theory that if one nation comes under Communist control, then neighboring nations will also come under Communist control.

EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone)

An area from the shore in which a state has rights to exploration and use of marine resources.

Enclave

A piece of territory that is surrounded by another political unit of which it is not a part.

Exclave

A part of a country that is separated from the rest of the country and surrounded by foreign territory.

Ethnic cleansing

Process in which more powerful ethnic group forcibly removes a less powerful one in order to create an ethnically homogeneous region.

Ethnic enclave/Ethnic neighborhood

An area with a high concentration of a particular ethnic group distinct from those in surrounding areas.

Ethnicity

Affiliation or identity within a group of people bound by common ancestry and culture.

Ethnic conflict

A conflict between ethnic groups.

Electoral College

A body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president.

European Union

An international organization of European countries formed after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members.