Unit 4 Vocabulary Political Geography w/Culture

Culture

The shared practices, technologies, attitudes, and behaviors that a society transmits from one generation to the next.

Cultural landscape

The built forms that cultural groups create in inhabiting Earth, and the meaning, values, representations, and experiences associated with those forms.

Ethnicity

A people of common ancestry and cultural tradition; characterized by a strong feeling of group identity.

Race

Historically defined by the physical characteristics of a group, especially skin color.

state (country)

An independent political unit with a centralized authority that makes claim to sole legal, political, and economic jurisdiction over a region with defined boundaries.

Nation

A community of people bound to a homeland and possessing common identity based on shared cultural traits such as language, ethnicity, and religion.

Autonomy

The capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision.

Nation-state

The ideal political geographical unit; one in which the nations geographic boundaries (a people and its culture) exactly match the state's territorial boundaries, governance, and authority).

stateless nation

An ethnic group or nation that does not possess its own state and is not the majority population in any nation-state.

multinational state

A country containing multiple national, ethnic, and religious groups within its boundaries.

multi-state nation

A sovereign entity that comprises two or more nations.

multi-ethnic state

a sovereign entity that comprises two or more states.

autonomous region.

A subdivision or dependent territory of a country that has a degree of self-government, or autonomy, in its decision making.

semi-autonomous region

A subdivision or dependent territory of a country that has some degree of, but not complete, self-government.

Ethnocentrism

To apply one's own culture or ethnicity as a frame of reference to judge other cultures, instead of using the standards of the particular culture involved.

Sovereignty

A principle of international law that codifies an individual state's right to control its political and economic affairs within the state's boundaries without external interference.

Colonialism

The act of forcefully controlling a foreign territory, which becomes known as a colony.

Imperialism

The motivating impulse to control greater amounts of territory.

Self-determination

A nation's ability to determine its own statehood and form its own allegiances and government; the freedom of culturally distinct groups to govern themselves in their own territories and form their own states.

independence movements

If a country has or gains independence, it has its own government and is not ruled by any other country.

authoritarian government

Any political system that concentrates power in the hands of a leader or a small elite that is not constitutionally responsible to the body of the people.

Democracy

A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.

Republic

A state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.

Democratization

Occurs When a sovereign state moves from a non-democracy to a democracy.

Globalization

The process by which businesses and other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale.

Neocolonialism

The set of economic and political strategies by which wealthy and powerful countries indirectly maintain or extend their Influence over less wealthy areas.

Shatterbelt

Region of continuing and persistent fragmentation due to devolution and centrifugal forces.

choke points

A narrow passage that restricts traffic to another region.

boundary

A clearly demarcated line that marks both the limits of a territory and divisions between territories: often called a border at the global scale.

boundary definition

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

boundary delimitation

The process in which cartographers put the boundaries on the map.

boundary demarcation

The process of physically representing a boundary on the landscape.

boundary administration

The enforcement of a boundary by government or people.

Irredentism

The political claim to territory in another country based on ethnic affiliations and historic borders.

antecedent boundary

A boundary that was identified before an area was settled.

consequent boundary

A boundary that is drawn to accommodate existing cultural differences.

subsequent boundary

A political boundary that developed with the cultural landscape.

superimposed boundary

A boundary that is placed on an area without regard to existing boundaries.

relict (relic) boundary

A boundary that no longer functions as an international border.

geometric boundary

A boundary that has regular, often perfectly straight lines drawn without regard for an area's physical or cultural features.

Berlin Conference

Regulated European colonization and trade in Africa during the New Imperialism period and coincided with Germany's sudden emergence as an imperial power.

Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)

Conference organized to define territorial boundaries and rights to the sea.

median-line principle

An approach to dividing and creating boundaries at the midpoint between two places.

gerrymander

The manipulation of voting district boundaries to favor a particular political party, group, or election outcome.

voting district

A territorial division for casting votes in public elections; generally, only those who live in the voting district are permitted to cast their votes there.

redistricting

The process of drawing new boundaries for U.S. congressional districts to reflect the population changes since the previous U.S. census.

unitary state

An independent state that concentrates power in the central government and grants little or no authority to its subnational units.

federal state

An independent country that disperses significant authority among subnational units.

devolution

The movement of power from the central government to regional governments within the state.

supra-nationalism

Occurs when a collection of nation-states and their citizens relinquish some sovereign rights to a larger-scale body that exercises authority over its member states.

- United Nations (UN)

International organization that is responsible for maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations, achieving international cooperation, and harmonizing the actions of nations.

- European Union (EU)

A political, economic, and social union of 28 independent European countries that promotes the tree movement of people, goods, services, and capital among its members.

- North American Free Trade Agreement /USMCA

A 1994 trade agreement between Canada, the United States, and Mexico: revised as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in 2020.

- African Union (AU)

A continental organization of African states that seeks to drive Africa's growth and economic development through cooperation and integration of member states.

- NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

An intergovernmental military alliance among 29 North American and European countries with the purpose of guaranteeing the freedom and security of Its members.

- ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)

A regional intergovernmental organization comprising 10 countries in Southeast Asia to promote intergovernmental cooperation and facilitate economic growth, social progress, and cultural development in the region.

- Arctic Council

An international governmental forum that promotes interaction among the Arctic states and indigenous communities on common Arctic issues, particularly sustainable development and environmental protection.

Economies of scale

Cost advantages that can come with a larger scale of operations.

Centripetal forces

A force that brings people together and unifies a neighborhood. society, or country.

Centrifugal forces

A force that threatens the cohesion of a neighborhood, society, or country.

Dialect

A regional variation of a language that is understood by people who speak other variations of that language.

Lingua Franca

A language of communication and commerce spoken across a wide area where it is not a mother tongue.

Pidgin

A trade language, characterized by a very small vocabulary derived from the languages or at least two or more groups in contact.

Creole

A combined language that has a fuller vocabulary than a pidgin language and becomes a native language.

Official Language

A mutually agreed-upon system of symbolic communication.

Assimilation

Occurs when an ethnic or immigrant group blends in with the host culture and loses many culturally distinctive traits.

Acculturation

Occurs when an ethnic or immigrant group adopts enough of the ways of the host society to be able to function economically and socially.

Syncretism

The blending of beliefs, ideas, practices, and traits, especially in a religious context.

Universalizing religion

A religion that actively seeks new members and believes its message has universal importance and application.

Ethnic religion

A religion identified with a particular ethnic or tribal group that does not seek converts.

Popular culture

Heterogeneous culture that is more influenced by key urban areas and quick to adopt new technologies; the opposite of a local culture.

Folk culture

Traditional, often rural, cultural production in the form of symbolic practices and cultural artifacts.

Multiculturalism

A set of policies that promote the active participation and inclusion of minority groups in national histories, national politics, and cultural institutions with the goal of embracing difference within society.

Sacred Sites(spaces)

Natural or human-made sites that possess religious meaning and are recognized as worthy of devotion, loyalty, fear, or esteem.

Diffusion

The pattern by which a phenomenon such as the movement of people, or their ideas, technologies, or preferences, spreads from a particular location through space and time.

Hierarchical Diffusion

Occurs when ideas leapfrog from one important person, community, or city to another, bypassing other persons, communities, or rural areas.

Relocation Diffusion

Occurs when individuals or groups with a particular idea or practice migrate from one location to another, thereby bringing the idea of practice to their new homeland.

Stimulus Diffusion

Occurs when a specific trait is rejected, but the underlying idea is accepted.

Contagious Diffusion

The wavelike spread of ideas in the manner of a contagious disease or forest fire, moving throughout space without regard for hierarchy.

Globalization

The process by which businesses and other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale.

Distance decay

The effect of distance on cultural or spatial interactions.

Hearth

A center where innovations or new practices develop and from which the innovations or new practices spread or diffuse.