APHG- Unit 4 Political Geography

political map

States are the primary building blocks

nation

An ethnic group; A culturally defined group of people that share the same beliefs, language, history, religion, and region.

state

A country that has a sovereign government, defined borders, and is recognized by other states.

nation-state

A state dominated by one ethnic group.

stateless nation

An ethnicity that is dispersed as a minority across more than one state.

multistate nation

An ethnic group distributed across multiple state borders.

multinational state

A country diversified with more than one ethnicity represented by the state.

microstate

a state or territory that is small in both population and area

autonomous region

A formal region within a state that enjoys limited sovereignty; Similar to devolution.

colony

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

sovereignty

State control; Independence; Authority in internal domestic affairs.

physical-political border

natural boundaries: rivers, lakes, oceans, mountains, or deserts

cultural border

boundaries between nations or ethnic groups

geometric border

boundaries of straight lines that do not conform to natural or ethnic boundaries; Usually along lines of latitude or longitude.

superimposed border

A border defined by an outside force that may not reflect the cultural landscape

relic border

No longer a boundary because of political changes; Still leaves an imprint on the physical or cultural landscape.

supranational organization

An organization that operates across multiple states for political, economic, or military cooperation; States transfer some sovereignty to the union by joining.

UN

United Nations, a supranational organization.

League of Nations

Supranational organization established after World War I; Failed precursor to the United Nations.

IMF

International Monetary Fund, an economic supranational organization.

EU

European Union, an economic/political supranational organization.

ASEAN

Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a supranational organization.

NAFTA

North American Free Trade Agreement, an economic supranational organization.

OPEC

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, a supranational organization.

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a supranational organization based on mutual security.

Kuwait

A small, oil-rich gulf state; In 1990 invaded by Iraq because of a dispute over shared oil reserves.

Brexit

"British" + "exit"; 2016 referendum in the United Kingdom in which British voters voted to leave the EU.

Fertile Crescent

Called "the cradle of civilization"; The geographic location that supported the first city-states, the first agriculture, and some of the major world religions.

colonialism

Policy by which a nation administers a foreign territory and develops its resources for the benefit of the colonial power.

imperialism

A policy in which a strong nation seeks to dominate other countries politically, socially, and economically.

nationalism

Identifying with, becoming attached to, and pledging loyalty to one's nation.

mercantilism

Economic theory and practice common in Europe from the 16th to the 18th century that promoted governmental regulation of a nation's economy for the purpose of augmenting state power at the expense of rival national powers; Drove colonial competition.

centripetal force

Phenomena that bring a nation together to support the state.

centrifugal force

Phenomena that divide the state.

unitary state

Power concentrated in the hands of central government officials.

federal state

Shared power between a central government and local governments.

devolution

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

electoral district

a formal region in which citizens vote for an elected representative.

redistricting

Changing of the borders of an electoral district to meet population changes, i.e. migration.

gerrymandering

Redistricting for the benefit of one political party or group.

"Jewel of the Crown"

India, the most important colony of the British Empire; Its resources, labor, and market potential made it a source of great wealth for Britain; Became a British colonial holding after the Seven Years War.

Commonwealth of Nations

Supranational organization that replaced the British Empire.

Sykes-Picot Agreement

The 1916 secret agreement between Britain and France that divided up the Arab lands of Lebanon, Syria, southern Turkey, Palestine, Jordan, and Iraq.

Arab Nationalism

The belief that all Arabs should join together and form one large Arab state.

Arabs

Large, multi-state nation in the Middle East and Northern Africa.

Cyprus

An island state in the eastern Mediterranean Sea that is split between Greek and Turkish nations.

Laos

Landlocked state in Southeast Asia

landlocked state

A state without access to ocean resources.

compact

State shape that is most efficient.

elongated

State shape that can be challenging for communication because of its long form.

prorupted

State shape that has a protrusion in order to give the state access to resources.

perforated

State shape that completely surrounds another state.

fragmented

State shape that has separations either by ocean (islands) or an intervening state.

enclave

A state that is surrounded by another state or states.

autocracy

A state that is run according to the interests of the ruler rather than the people; Where stability is the primary function of the state.

Madrid

Capital of Spain

Catalonia and Basque

Separatist nations within Spain.

Balkanization

Process by which a state breaks down through conflicts among its ethnicities

Commonwealth

A self-governing territory associated with another country

Irredentism

The policy of a state wishing to incorporate within itself territory inhabited by people who have ethnic or linguistic links with the country but that lies within a neighboring state.

Neocolonialism

Also called economic imperialism, this is the domination of newly independent countries by foreign business interests that causes colonial-style economies to continue, which often caused monoculture (a country only producing one main export like sugar, oil, etc).

Self-determination

the right of people to choose their own form of government

Census

A complete enumeration of a population.completed every ten years.

Shatterbelt

an area of instability between regions with opposing political and cultural values

Boundary Disputes (Locational)

territorial dispute along the edge of two neighboring land owners

Boundary Disputes (Operational)

arises due to a conflict about the administration of a boundary

Boundary Disputes

definitional, locational, operational, allocational

ethnic cleansing

the mass expulsion or killing of members of an unwanted ethnic or religious group in a society.

separatism (autonomous nationalism)

A dissident minority that has total or partial secession from the state as its primary goal

Territoriality

In political geography, a country's or more local community's sense of property and attachment toward its territory, as expressed by its determination to keep it inviolable and strongly defended.

Berlin Conference

A meeting from 1884-1885 at which representatives of European nations agreed on rules colonization of Africa

Reapportionment

the process of reassigning representation based on population, after every census

define

the process of determining the boundaries and characteristics of political entities such as states or districts

delimit

to establish the boundaries of a political entity through legal or formal means.

demarcate

to mark the boundaries of a political entity with physical objects or signs.

choke point

a strategic narrow passage or channel that can be easily controlled or blocked, often important for trade or military movement.

democratization

the process through which a political system becomes more democratic, typically involving the expansion of rights and participation in governance.

semi autonomous

regions that have some degree of self-governance while remaining under the jurisdiction of a larger political entity.

allocational boundary

a type of boundary that involves disputes over the allocation of resources, such as water or minerals, often leading to conflicts between states or regions.

operational boundary

a line that defines the limits of a state's control or influence, often related to the administration of governance and services.

locational boundary

A boundary that is defined by specific geographic coordinates or physical features, such as mountains or rivers.

definitional boundary

A boundary that is established based on legal documents or treaties that precisely delineate the geographic boundaries of a territory.

United Nations Conference on the Law of the Seas

An international conference that established guidelines for the use and conservation of the world's oceans, including territorial waters and exclusive economic zones.

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)

A sea zone prescribed by the United Nations that extends up to 200 nautical miles from a coastal state's baseline, granting the state special rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources.

cracking

The practice of diluting the voting power of a particular group by spreading them across multiple districts in electoral politics.

packing

The practice of concentrating a particular group into a single electoral district to maximize their voting power in that district, often at the expense of their influence in others.