AP Human Geo Unit 4

Country

An identifiable land area

Nation

A population with a single culture

State

A population under a single government

Nation-State

A single culture under a single government

Sovereignty

State is fully independent, holds territory, and has international recognition from other states.

Multi-national state

State with multiple different nations represented by culture groups who have migrated and intermixed.

Nationalism

Can derive from cultural groups who that wants political representation or independence, or from a political state that unifies cultures

Stateless nation

A cultural group that is not included in the state political process

Example of stateless nation

Kurds, a nation in the middle of turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Egypt that is not able to gain independence due to the surrounding states resisting sovereignty

Autonomous regions

Defined area within state with high degree of self-government and freedom from parent state.

Semiautonomous regions

Has a degree but not full self rule

Multi-state nation

Nation has state of its own but stretches across borders of other states.

Imperialism

Influencing group of people through conquest, economic control, or cultural dominance.

Colonialism

People settling in land of another state for economic control

Self-Determination

To choose sovereign government without external influence, imperialism, and colonialism.

Independence movements

Group of people trying to get away from larger political entity because of ethnicity, religion, nationality, etc. Ex: Scotland trying to move out UK to stay in Europe

Devolution

Breaking to smaller units or passing power from federal to local goverments.

Berlin conference/African scramble

European colonizers decided who got what parts of Africa through colonialism.

Shatter belts

Groups of political and ethnic states located between larger states that eagerly want control over small states.

Choke points

Narrow, highly strategic geographic pathways that restrict passage from one region to another.

Suez Canal / water around East China

Important for European trade to reduce time, but sometimes close it due to Chinas decisions.

Territoriality

People’s connection and claim to particular piece of land

Antecedent Boundaries

Boundaries drawn before territory is populated. Ex: 49th parallel

Subsequent Boundries

Boundaries drawn after territory is settled, often reflects development of cultural landscapes.

Consequent Boundaries

Drawn based on cultural landscapes and divides people of different ethnicities, language, and religion.

Superimposed Boundaries

Drawn by outside conquering force without respect towards cultural landscapes. Ex: Berlin conference.

Relic boundaries

Once existed boundaries but no longer functions as boundaries. Ex: Berlin Wall

Geometric boundaries

Boundaries following lines of longitude and latitude and don’t consider natural or cultural features.

Physical geographic Boundaries

Natural barriers between oceans, deserts and mountains.

Ethnographic

Usually related to cultural phenomena. (Relates to subsequent boundaries)

Open Boundry

Unguarded border, people can cross easily.

Military boundary

Heavily guarded border. Ex: border between north and South Korea.

Landlock states

without territory connected to an ocean

Defining Boundary

Countries explicitly state where their boundaries are located through legal documentation like treaties, and they often reference natural features like rivers or mountains or lines of latitude and longitude

Delimiting Boundary

Draw legal boundaries in map

Demarcating Boundary

Boundary is marked not in a map, but with physical objects like pillars or walls on landscape.

Definitional boundary dispute