Political Geography Unit 4

anocracy

a country that is not fully democratic or fully autocratic, but rather displayes a mix of the two types

Antecedent boundary

a boundary that existed before the cultural landscape emerged and stayed in place while people moved in to occupy the surrounding area

autocracy

a country that is run according to the interests of the ruler rather than the people

balance of power

a condition of roughly equal strength between opposing countries or alliances of countries

boundary

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

Buffer State

a relatively small/weak country sandwiched between two larger powers. They can help to prevent dangerous conflicts or be exploited by either/both neighboring powers

Centrifugal Force

factors that disrupt internal order and destabilize a state

Centripetal Force

factors that promote national unity and stability in a state

Choke point

a strategic narrow route on land or sea providing passage through or to another region; significant for military and/or economic activity

city-state

a sovereign state comprising a city and its immediately surrounding countryside

colonialism

an attempt by one country to establish settlements and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles in another country

colony

a territory that is legally tied to a sovereign state rather than completely independent

compact state

a state in which the distance from the center to any boundary does not vary significantly

Consequent boundary

a boundary that coincides with a cultural divide such as religion or language

Defined Boundary

a legally recognized boundary

Delimited Boundary

a boundary noted on a map by cartographers

Demarcated Boundary

physical markers or barriers on earth's surface that identify a boundary

Democracy

a country in which citizens elect leaders and can run for office

Devolution

the movement of power from the national government to regional governments within a country

elongated state

a state with a long, narrow shape

Enclave

a territory surrounded by, but not part of, a country; e.g. Lesotho, San Marino

Exclave

a piece of national territory separated from the main body of a country by the territory of another country; e.g. Alaska

federal state

an internal organization of a state that allocates most powers to units of local government

Federalism

a political system in which powers are separated between various states and these states are unified under an overarching political system that has some, but not all, sovereign power within the boundary of the overarching state

fragmented state

a state that includes several discontinuous pieces of territory

frontier

a zone separating two states in which neither state exercise political control

Geometric Boundary

a political boundary that is formed by arcs or straight lines irrespective of the physical and cultural features of the land it passes through

Geopolitics

the study of the effects of Earth's geography (human and physical) on politics and international relations

gerrymandering

the process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power

Irredentism

a national group controls one country while also seeking control of an adjacent area of a second country

landlocked state

a state that does not have a direct outlet to the sea

microstate

a state that encompasses a very small land area

multiethnic state

a state that contains more than one ethnicity

multinational state

a state that contains two or more ethnic groups with traditions of self-determination that agree to coexist peacefully by recognizing each other as distinct nationalities

nation-state

a state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular ethnicity that has been transformed into a nationality

Neocolonialism

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

perforated state

a state that completely surrounds another one

Physical Boundary

a boundary that coincides with deserts, mountains, or bodies of water

prorupted state

an otherwise compact state with a large projecting extension

Relic Boundary

a boundary that has ceased to function but can still be detected on the cultural landscape. It no longer exists as an international boundary

self-determination

the concept that ethnicities have the right to govern themselves

Shatterbelt

a region caught between stronger colliding external cultural-political forces, under persistent stress, and often fragmented by aggressive rivals.

sovereignty

ability of a state to govern its territory free from control of its internal affairs by other states

state

an area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government that has control over its internal and foreign affairs

Stateless Nation

a group of people with a common culture occupying a particular territory that does not operate as an independent political unit with a defined, permanently populated territory and has no sovereign control over its internal and foreign affairs. Essentially, a people without a state

Subsequent boundary

a boundary that is established after the settlement in that area occurred. It developed with the evolution of the culture of the cultural landscape and is adjusted as the cultural landscape changes.

Superimposed Boundary

a boundary that has been imposed on an area by an outside or conquering power. This boundary ignores the cultural organizations on this landscape

Supranationalism

an alliance involving 3 or more countries for their mutual benefit such as economic, cultural or political/ military; a large amount of power given to an authority which in theory is placed higher than the individual states that make up the alliance

Territoriality

the connection of people, their culture, and their economic systems to the land

terrorism

the systematic use of violence by a group in order to intimidate a population or coerce a government into granting its demands

unitary state

an internal organization of a state that places most power in the hands of central government officials