Ap human Geography Unit 4 vocab

Political Geography

studies the spatial distribution of political processes, boundaries, and territories, analyzing how they impact societies and international relations.

state

A politically organized community living under a government; is a body of people occupying a specific territory with recognized borders.

sovereignty

refers to the supreme authority of a state to govern itself without interference from external sources.

Nation

A large body of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, typically inhabiting a particular country or territory.

nation-state

A sovereign state inhabited by people who share a common identity, culture, and history within defined borders.

Multistate nation

A group of people sharing a common culture or identity spread across multiple states, often facing challenges due to political boundaries.

Irredentism

a political movement to reclaim lost or disrupted territory.

Mutlinational state

A country with multiple distinct ethnic or cultural groups, each with significant political representation and autonomy within the state.

Autonomous

A state that has the freedom to govern itself independently without external control.

Semiautonomous

A state with some degree of self-governance or independence but is still ultimately under the authority or control of a larger governing body.

Stateless nation

A group of people who share a common culture, language, or history but do not have their own independent state.

Territorality

the behavior or attitude of individuals or groups that perceive and defend certain areas as their own.

Colonalism

A system where one country controls and exploits another country for economic gain and power. Often involves cultural assimilation and political domination.

Neocolonalism

The practice of using economic, cultural, and political influence to control or exploit former colonies indirectly, maintaining dominance.

Choke point

A narrow area that controls important transportation routes.

Shatterbelts

areas with diverse ethnicities that often experience conflict because they are situated between powerful countries or civilizations.

self-determination

The right of all people to choose their own political choice.

Imperalism

The policy of extending a country's power and influence through colonization, military force, or economic control over other territories.

Devolution

Transfer of power from a central government to regional governments within a state, granting them autonomy to govern specific areas independently.

Delimit

Establishing and defining boundaries of geographic regions, territories, or concepts, often using physical, cultural, or political criteria.

Demarcated Boundary

A boundary that is physically indefinable on a landscape.

Administer

To manage or oversee tasks and rules within a system or organization.

Antecedent boundaries

Boundaries that were established before present-day human settlements or cultural patterns developed in an area.

Subsequent boundaries

Boundaries that are established after human settlement or cultural patterns have developed in an area.

Consequent boundary

Boundaries that reflect cultural differences in a region.

Superimposed Boundaries

Boundaries that are forcibly imposed by external power without regard for existing divisions.

Geometric boundaries

boundaries that are defined and delimited by straight lines or arcs, often based on longitude and latitude.

Relics

Remnants or artifacts of past cultures, traditions, or historical periods that still exist in the present landscape or society.

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

An international treaty that governs the use of the worlds oceans and seas.

Exclusive economic zone

An area that gives a country exclusive rights to resources within 200 nautical miles of its coastline.

Federal state

A country with power shared between a central government and smaller political units.

Unitary state

A political system in which power is concentrated in a central government, and subnational entities have limited autonomy.

Concurrent

Refers to powers that are shared between the central government and regional governments in a federal systems.

Reappointment

The process of redistributing seats in a legislative body.

Electoral college

The method used to elect the president of the United States, and it can be studied within the context of political geography and electoral systems.

Redistricting

The process of adjusting the boundaries of electoral districts to ensure each district has roughly equal population representation.

Gerrymandering

The manipulation of electoral district boundaries to favor one political party or group.

majority-minority districts

Electoral districts where the majority of the population belongs to a racial or ethnic minority group.

Ethnic separatism

A movement or ideology advocating for the separation or independence of a particular ethnic group from a larger political entity or state.

Ethnic cleansing

Forcefully removing a specific ethnic group from an area to make it ethnically homogenous.

Supernational organization

A union or alliance of multiple countries that agree to work together on issues that transcend national boundaries.

Economies of scale

The cost advantages that businesses gain as they produce more goods or services.

Centrifugal force

A force that tends to divide a state or a group of people.

Centripetal force

A force that tends to bring a state or group of people together.