AP Human Geography Unit #4 Political Geography

Administered boundaries

a border that is actively managed, protected, and administered by a sovereign government.

African Union

The organization that replaced the Organization of African Unity in 2001; designed to bring about increased political and economic integration of African states.

American Indian reservations

A reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. ... Today, tribes possess tribal sovereignty, even though it is limited by federal and state/local law.

Anocracy (p.288)

Is a form of government that is loosely defined as part democracy and part dictatorship, or as a "regime that mixes democratic with autocratic features."

Antecedent boundaries

a political boundary that existed before the cultural landscape emerged and stayed in a place while people moved into occupy the surroundings.

Arctic Council

A multilateral organization composed of representatives
from the eight circumpolar states and six indigenous organizations.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

A trading alliance of 10 Southeast Asian nations

Autocracy (p.288)

Government in which one person has uncontrolled or unlimited authority over others; the government or power of an absolute monarch.

Autonomous regions

Areas that have limited self-government within a sovereign country; used especially of areas in China where ethnic minorities have been granted some autonomy.

Boundary

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

Chokepoints

Strategic narrow passageways on land or sea that may be easily closed off by force or even the threat of force.

Compact state

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

Consequent boundaries

Boundary that coincides with a particular cultural divide (such as religion, language, or ethnicity); a.k.a. cultural boundaries.

Defined boundaries

A mutually accepted border between two places

Delimited boundaries

Process of drawing political boundaries. Often controversial and changing.

Demarcated boundaries

A border that is physically marked off with a wall, fence, or other structure

Demilitarized zones

Area from which military forces are prohibited.

Democratization

A process of transition as a country attempts to move from an authoritarian form of government to a democratic one.

Devolution

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

Ethnic Cleansing

Process in which more powerful ethnic group forcibly removes a less powerful one in order to create an ethnically homogeneous region.

Ethnic separatism

The advocacy of a state of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group.

Ethnonationalism

The tendency for an ethnic group to see itself as a distinct nation with a right to autonomy or independence. A fundamental centrifugal force.

European Union (EU)

(syn Common Market) an economic association established in 1957 by a number of Western European countries to promote free trade among its members

Exclusive economic zones (EEZ)

An area from the shore in which a state has rights to explore, exploit, and manage natural resources in the seas.

Federal states

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

Fragmented State

A state that is not contiguous whole but rather separated parts.

Geometric boundaries

Political boundary defined and delimited (and occasionally demarcated) as a straight line or an arc.

Gerrymandering

Process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power.

Independent State

A state that is sovereign;
one that operates
independently
internationally

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.

Landlocked state

A state that is completely surrounded by the land of other states, which gives it a disadvantage in terms of accessibility to and from international trade routes

Legitimacy

Political authority conferred by law or by a state or national constitution

Maritime boundaries

A conceptual means of division of the water surface of the planet into maritime areas that are defined through surrounding physical geography or by human geography.

Multiethnic state

state that contains more than one ethnicity (ex. U.S.)

Multinational states

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.

Multistate nations

A single ethnic group divided into several different, independent political units or states.

Nations

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

Nation-states

a sovereign state whose citizens or subjects are relatively homogeneous in factors such as language or common descent.

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).

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

1949 alliance of nations that agreed to band together in the event of war and to support and protect each nation involved.

Perforated State

A state whose territory completely surrounds that of another state.

Prorupted State

A state that exhibits a narrow, elongated land extension leading away from the main territory.

Redistricting

The redrawing of congressional and other legislative district lines following the census, to accommodate population shifts and keep districts as equal as possible in population.

Relic boundaries

Old political boundaries that no longer exist as international borders, but that have left an enduring mark on the local cultural or environmental geography.

Self-determination

The ability of a government to determine their own course of their own free will

Semi-autonomous regions

Areas in China that want to be independent from the rest of China.

Shatterbelt region

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 with control over its internal and foreign affairs.

Stateless nations

People groups without established sovereign borders; such as Kurds or Palestinians

Subsequent boundaries

Boundary line established after an area has been settled that considers the social and cultural characteristics of the area

Superimposed boundaries

A boundary made through colonization without regard to prior ethnic/cultural patterns (e.g. borders of most African countries)

Supranationalism

A venture involving 3 or more national states political economic or cultural cooperation to promote shared objectives.

Supranational organizations

Organization of three or more states to promote shared objectives.

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.

Territorial seas

Zone of sovereignty extending 12 nautical miles from the coast of a country.

Terrorism

Acts of violence designed to promote a specific ideology or agenda by creating panic among an enemy population

United Nations (UN)

An organization of independent states formed in 1945 to promote international peace and security.

Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)

Defines the rights and responsibilities of nations with respect to their use of the world's oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine natural resources.

Unitary states

Political power is concentrated at the national level and local authority is limited.

Voting districts

Generic term adopted by the Bureau of the Census ... to define their State and local legislative districts, as well as the districts they.