AP Human Geography Unit 4 Vocabulary

Balance of power

Condition of roughly equal strength between opposing countries or alliances of countries.

Boundary

Invisible line that marks the extent of a state's

tertitry.

City-state

A sovereign state comprising a city and its immediate hinterland.

Colonialism

Attempt by one country to establish settlements and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles in another territory.

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.

Elongated State

A state with a long, narrow shape

Federal State

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

Fragmented State

A state that includes several discontinuous pieces of territory.

Frontier

A zone separating two states in which neither state exercises political control.

Gerrymandering

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

Imperialism

Control of territory already occupied and organized by an indigenous society.

Landlocked State

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

Microstate

A state that encompasses a very small land area.

Perforated State

A state that completely surrounds another one.

Prorupted State

An otherwise compact state with a large projecting extension.

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.

Unitary State

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