AP Human Unit 4 Vocab

Administer

to manage the way borders are maintained and how goods and people cross them

Antecedent boundary

a border established before an area becomes heavily settled

Autonomous

having the authority to govern territories independently of the national government; for example, by having a separate currency

Choke point

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

Colonialism

the practice of claiming and dominating overseas territories

Concurrent

sharing authority

Consequent boundary

a type of subsequent boundary that takes into account the differences that exist within a cultural landscape, separating groups that have distinct languages, religions, ethnicities, or other traits

Define

to explicitly state in legally binding documentation such as a treaty where boundaries are located, using reference points such as natural features or lines of latitude and longitude

Delimit

to draw boundaries on a map, in accordance with a legal agreement

Demarcate

to place physical objects such as stones, pillars, walls, or fences to indicate where a boundary exists

Devolution

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

Economies of scale

cost reductions that occur when production rises

Electoral college

a set of people, called electors, who are chosen to elect the president and vice president of the United States

Ethnic cleansing

the process by which a state attacks an ethnic group and tries to eliminate it through expulsion, imprisonment, or killing

Ethnic nationalism

the process by which the people of a country identify as having one common ethnicity, religious belief, and language, creating a sense of pride and identity that is tied to the territory; also called ethnic nationalism

Ethnic separatism

the process by which people of a particular ethnicity in a multinational state identify more strongly as members of their ethnic group than as citizens of the state

Ethnonationalism

the process by which the people of a country identify as having one common ethnicity, religious belief, and language, creating a sense of pride and identity that is tied to the territory; also called ethnic nationalism

Exclusive economic zone (EEZ)

an area that extends 200 nautical miles from a state’s coast; a state has sole access to resources found within the waters or beneath the sea floor of its EEZ

Federal state

the organization of a state in which power is shared between the federal government and its internal regional units

Geometric boundary

a mathematically drawn boundary that typically follows lines of latitude and longitude or is a straight-line arc between two points

Gerrymandering

the drawing of legislative boundaries to give one political party an advantage in elections

Imperialism

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

Irredentism

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

Majority-minority district

an electoral district in which the majority of voters are members of an ethnic or racial minority

Multinational state

a country with various ethnicities and cultures living inside its borders

Multistate nation

people who share a cultural or ethnic background but live in more than one country

Nation

a cultural entity made up of people who have forged a common identity through a shared language, religion, heritage, or ethnicity—often all four of these

Nation-state

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

Neocolonialism

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

Political geography

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

Reapportionment

the redistribution of representative seats among states based on shifts in population

Redistricting

the redrawing of internal territorial and political boundaries

Relic

a former boundary that no longer has an official function

Self-determination

the right of all people to choose their own political status

Semiautonomous

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

Shatterbelt

a region 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

Sovereignty

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

State

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

Stateless nation

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

Subsequent boundary

a border drawn in an area that has been settled and where cultural landscapes exist or are in the process of being established

Superimposed boundary

a border drawn over existing accepted borders by an outside or conquering force

Supranational organization

an alliance of three or more states that work together in pursuit of common goals or to address an issue or challenge

Territoriality

the attempt to influence or control people and events by delimiting and asserting control over a geographic area; the connection of people, their culture, and their economic systems to the land

Unitary state

an organization of a state in which power is concentrated in a central government

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

the international agreement that established the structure of maritime boundaries