Political Systems -> Human Geo

State

A politically organized independent territory with a government, defined borders, and a permanent population; a country

Nations

Cultural entities made up of people who have forged a common identity through a shared language, religion, heritage, or ethnicity

Nation-State

A politically organized and recognized territory composed of a group of people who consider themselves to be a nation

Multistate Nation

A nation spread over multiple states, sharing a cultural or ethnic background but living in more than one country

Multinational State

A country with various ethnicities and cultures living inside its borders

Stateless Nation

A people united by culture, language, history, and tradition but not possessing a state

Sovereignty

The right of a government to control and defend its territory and determine what happens within its borders

Autonomous

Having the authority to govern territories independently of the national government

Semi Autonomous

Describing a region that is given partial authority to govern its territories independently from the national government

Irredentism

Attempts by a state to acquire territories in neighboring states inhabited by people of the same nation

Colonialism

The practice of claiming and dominating overseas territories

Imperialism

The push to create an empire by exercising force or influence to control other nations or peoples

Neocolonialism

The use of economic, political, cultural, or other pressures to control or influence other countries especially former dependencies

Shatterbelts

Regions where states form, join, and break up because of ongoing, sometimes violent conflicts among parties and because they are caught between the interests of more powerful outside states

Devolution

The process that occurs when the central power in a state is broken up among regional authorities within its borders

Self-Determination

The right of all people to choose their own political status

Political geography

The study of the ways in which the world is organized as a reflection of the power different groups hold over territory

Territoriality

The attempt to influence or control people and events by delimiting and asserting control over a geographic area

Choke point

A narrow, strategic passageway to another place through which it is difficult to pass