AP Human Geo Unit 4 (Ch 8)

Anocracy

A country that is not fully democratic or fully autocratic but rather displays a mix of the two types

Autocracy

A country that is run according to the interests of the ruler rather than the people

Balance of Power

A condition of roughly equal strength between opposing counties or alliances of countries

Boundary

An invisible line that marks the extent of a state's territory

City-State

A sovereign state comprising a city and its immediately surrounding countryside

Colonialism

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

Colony

A territory that is legally tied to a sovereign state rather than completely independent

Compact State

A state in which the distance from the center to any boundary does not vary significantly

Democracy

A country in which citizens elect leaders and can run for office

Elongated State

A state with a long, narrow shape

Federal State

An internal organization of a state that allocates strong power to units of local government

Fragmented State

A state that includes several discontinuous pieces of territory

Frontier

A zone separating two states in which neither state exercises political control

Gerrymandering

The process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power

Landlocked State

A state that does not have a direct outlet to the sea

Microstate

A state that encompasses a very small land area

Multiethnic State

A state that contains more than one ethnicity

Multinational State

A state that contains two or more ethnic groups with traditions of self-determination

Nation-State

A state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular ethnicity

Perforated State

A state that completely surrounds another state

Prorupted State

An otherwise compact state with a large projecting extension

Self-determination

The concept that ethnicities have the right to govern themselves

Sovereignty

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

State

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

Terrorism

The systematic use of violence by a group calculated to create an atmosphere of fear and alarm among a population or to coerce a government into actions it would not otherwise undertake or refrain from actions it wants to take

Unitary State

An internal organization of a state that places most power in the hands of central government officials