APHG Unit 4

WE yes WE are getting 5's on the AP test #yay

antecedent boundary

A boundary drawn across an area before it was significantly populated or before the cultural landscape developed.

African Union

A continental supranational organization of 55 member states in Africa established to promote unity, socio-economic integration, and political stability across the continent.

Arctic Council

A high-level intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation, coordination, and interaction among the Arctic states, Arctic Indigenous communities, and other Arctic inhabitants.

ASEAN

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations; a regional supranational organization established to accelerate economic growth, social progress, and regional stability in Southeast Asia.

authoritarian government

A system of government characterized by centralized power, strict control, and limited or suppressed political freedoms and opposition.

autonomous region

An area within a state that has been granted a high degree of self-governance and freedom from external central authority, often designated for distinct ethnic or cultural groups.

balance of power

A geopolitical condition in which competing nations or alliances possess roughly equal strength, preventing any single state from dominating the others.

boundary

An invisible vertical plane that cuts through the subsoil, surface, and airspace, dividing one state or political territory from another.

Brexit

The political withdrawal of the United Kingdom from membership in the European Union.

capital (forward capital, also in urban geography unit)

A symbolically relocated capital city, deliberately moved to a geographically peripheral or developing region for strategic, economic, or national integration reasons.

centrifugal forces

Cultural, political, or economic forces and attitudes that pull people apart, divide a population, and destabilize the unity of a state.

centripetal forces

Cultural, political, or economic forces and attitudes that tend to unify people, promote national identity, and strengthen support for a state.

choke point

A strategic, narrow physical passage (such as a strait or canal) through which maritime or land trade must pass, making it vulnerable to military blockade or closure.

Cold War

The period of geopolitical and ideological rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies from the end of World War II until the early 1990s.

colonialism

The practice by which one country establishes settlements in another territory and imposes its political, economic, and cultural control.

colony

A territory that is legally tied to, administered by, and dependent upon a sovereign external state rather than being completely self-governing.

Conference of Berlin

An 1884–1885 meeting where major European powers established rules for the colonization of Africa and partitioned the continent with superimposed boundaries.

consequent boundary

A boundary drawn to accommodate existing cultural divisions, such as differences in language, religion, or ethnicity (also called a cultural boundary).

cracking (gerrymandering)

A gerrymandering method in which opposition voters are dispersed across multiple voting districts to dilute their influence and prevent them from forming a majority.

democratization

The transition of an authoritarian or non-democratic regime into a more participatory, representative democratic political system.

demilitarized zone (DMZ)

A specified strip of land where treaties or agreements between opposing military powers prohibit military forces, activities, or installations (notably between North Korea and South Korea).

devolution

The decentralization or transfer of governmental power and decision-making authority from a central sovereign government to regional or local administrations.

ethnic cleansing

The systematic, forced removal or elimination of a specific ethnic, racial, or religious group from a geographic area through violent means or intimidation.

ethnonationalism

A form of nationalism wherein the nation and political identity are defined primarily in terms of a shared ethnic heritage.

European Union

A supranational political and economic alliance of European democratic states designed to foster economic cooperation, open borders, and common regulatory policies.

failed/fragile state

A state whose central government has fractured, collapsed, or lost effective sovereignty, rendering it unable to maintain law, order, or basic public services.

federal state

A political structure that allocates significant governmental powers and autonomy to subnational or regional units of governance.

geometric boundary

A straight-line or arc boundary established without regard to physical terrain or cultural landscape features, typically aligned with lines of latitude or longitude.

gerrymander

The deliberate redrawing of electoral district boundaries to give one political party or group an unfair electoral advantage.

governance

The mechanisms, processes, and rules by which political authority is exercised and public affairs are managed within a state or community.

imperialism

A national policy or ideology of extending power and sovereignty over foreign territories and populations through direct colonization or economic and military control.

irredentism

A political or national movement seeking to reclaim or annex foreign territory based on historical claims or the presence of shared ethnic ties.

median line principle

A legal method used to delimit maritime boundaries by drawing an equidistant line between two states whose coastal territorial waters or exclusive economic zones overlap.

multinational state

A sovereign state that contains two or more distinct cultural or national groups that coexist and recognize each other as distinct nations.

multistate nation

A nation or culturally cohesive group of people that is distributed across the borders of multiple sovereign states.

nation

A culturally unified group of people bound by a shared identity, history, language, customs, and attachment to a homeland.

nation-state

A politically organized sovereign state whose population is culturally homogeneous, meaning the geographic extent of the state matches the territory of the nation.

NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization; an intergovernmental military alliance between North American and European states committing member nations to mutual collective defense.

neolcolonialism

The practice of using indirect economic, financial, or political pressures and globalization to control or dominate sovereign, developing countries.

packing (gerrymandering)

A gerrymandering technique that concentrates like-minded or opposition voters into as few voting districts as possible to limit their political sway elsewhere.

reapportionment

The periodic redistribution of legislative seats among administrative regions or states based on changes in population determined by a census.

redistricting

The redrawing of geographic boundaries for electoral districts within an administrative division following a census to ensure roughly equal population per district.

relic boundary

A political boundary that is no longer functionally recognized or maintained, but whose mark and cultural landscape consequences remain visible.

semi autonomous regions

Subnational territories within a sovereign state that exercise a degree of administrative and political self-government, though not fully independent.

shatterbelt

A region caught between stronger external geopolitical powers, characterized by persistent instability, conflict, and shifting alliances.

sovereignty

The supreme political power and legal authority of an independent governing body to control its territory, make laws, and conduct foreign policy free from external intervention.

state

An independent, legally recognized political unit characterized by a defined territory, permanent population, government, and full sovereignty.

stateless nation

A nation or culturally distinct group of people that possesses a shared national identity and desires self-determination but lacks a recognized, sovereign state of its own.

subsequent boundary

A boundary drawn after the cultural landscape has developed, which often evolves as cultural, religious, or linguistic groups shift over time.

superimposed boundary

A political boundary forcibly imposed upon an area by outside or colonial powers without regard to established cultural, ethnic, or indigenous divisions.

territoriality

The effort by an individual, group, or state to assert control, influence, and ownership over a defined geographic area.

terrorism

The calculated use of unlawful violence, threat, or intimidation against civilians by non-state actors to achieve ideological, religious, or political objectives.

unitary state

A sovereign state governed as a centralized entity, in which virtually all policy and decision-making power rests within a single national government.

supranational organizations

Alliances composed of three or more sovereign states that agree to yield a degree of individual authority to pursue collective economic, political, or military aims.

United Nations

A global supranational organization founded in 1945 to promote international peace, foster security, facilitate diplomacy, and support human rights and economic cooperation.

UNCLOS

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; a global treaty defining maritime zones, rights of navigation, and ownership of marine resources.

The USSR

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; a federal socialist state that spanned Eurasia from 1922 to 1991, dissolved into 15 independent republics.