AP Human Geography Unit 4 Vocabulary Notes

AP Human Geography Unit 4- Political geographers use the spatial perspective to study political systems from local and regional politics, to national politics, to international politics. At local scales, political geographers study issues like territorial organization, representation, and voting patterns.

Superimposed Boundary

Political barriers drawn in an area with complete disregard for the cultural, religious, and ethnic divisions within the people living there.

Defined/delimited/demarcated Boundaries

Boundaries are drawn on a map and boundaries that are identified by physical objects, like walls, signs, and fences. Any boundary is also determined by either natural or geometric lines. Natural boundaries are based on physical features, like rivers, mountains, and coastlines.

Supranational Organizations

Organization of three or more states to promote shared objectives.

State Devolution

The movement of power from the central government to regional governments within the state or breakup of a large state (balkanization) into several independent ones

Neocolonialism

The continued economic dependence of colonies on their former occupiers.

Internal Boundaries

Boundaries/borders within a country.

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.

Sovereignty

The political authority of a state to govern itself.

Nation State

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

Stateless Nation

An ethnic group or nation that does not possess its own state and is not the majority population in any nation state.

Relic Boundary

Boundaries that used to exist and can still be detected on the landscape

Colonialism

The policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.

Antecedent Boundary

A boundary that already existed before the present settlement in that area occurred. The cultural landscape emerged and stayed in place while people moved in to occupy the surrounding area.

Subsequent boundary

A political boundary that was created after two groups have already settled there. This type of boundary is often used to separate different groups of people based on their ethnicity or cultural background, and so it is often also called an ethnographic boundary.

Superimposed boundary

A boundary that is imposed on the cultural landscape which ignores pre-existing cultural patterns (typically a colonial boundary).