APHG UNit 4

Choke Points

Geographic features on land or sea that are much narrower than the overall landscape, causing decreased combat power militarily; strategic targets for terrorism or colonial control.

Shatterbelt

A region whose internal geographical, cultural, religious, and political fragmentation is compounded by pressures from external powers attracted to its strategic location and/or economic resources.

Nation-State

A state whose borders coincide with the current distribution of the nationals of that state.

Nation

A group of people who share a common ethnic background and who seek or hold political self-determination.

Demilitarized Zones

An area where treaties or agreements forbid military installations, activities, or personnel.

Devolution

The process where regions within a state gain political strength and autonomy at the expense of the central government.

Self-Determination

The process by which a country determines its own statehood and forms its own governmental system.

Multistate Nation

A group of nationals living within two separate states.

Multinational State

A country whose people derive from many different national backgrounds.

Stateless Nation

An ethnic group that is dispersed between multiple states and does not have a state of their own.

Economies of Scale

Cost advantages obtained through the scale of operation, with per cost unit decreasing with an increasing scale.

Ethnic Cleansing

The attempt to create an ethnically homogeneous geographic area through expulsion, imprisonment, or killing of an ethnic minority.

Federal States

Governing systems with a division of power shared among various levels of governance.

Unitary State

A country whose governing power is rested in a central body.

Neocolonialism

A modern form of colonization where MDCs exert control over global affairs economically and culturally.

Irredentism

A policy aimed at establishing cultural cohesion and potential political expansion by targeting nationals in a neighboring country.

Redistricting

The redrawing of electoral districts to ensure equal representation in the House of Representatives.

Supranationalism

Political, economic, cultural, or military cooperation among multiple states to promote shared objectives.

Territoriality

Attitudes and behavior based on perceived control of a physical space, object, or idea, involving occupation and marking of territory.

Voting Districts

Territorial subdivisions for electing members of the legislative body.

Antecedent Boundary

A boundary that existed before the cultural landscape emerged.

Autonomous Regions

A region within another larger entity that has the power to govern itself.

Exclusive Economic Zones

Coastal waters up to 200 nautical miles from the territorial sea baseline where a country claims exclusive economic rights.

Ethnic Nationalism (Ethnonationalism)

The right of a distinct group to determine for themselves the state in which they will live.

Gerrymandering

The reapportionment of political boundaries to benefit one political party or class over another.

Imperialism

The practice of domination of one people over another through settlement, sovereignty, or indirect control.

Genocide

The deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group aimed at destroying that group in whole or in part.