Human Geography

Country

An identifiable land area that is often connected to an independent political state.

State

A population under an autonomous government.

Nation

A group of people who share a common genetic and cultural heritage.

Stateless nations

A cultural or ethnic group that lacks its own sovereign state and formal political representation.

Nationalism

The love of one’s nation, people, and history.

Physical boundaries

Separations between people marked by large distances and natural geographic features.

Confederations

Larger nations made up of smaller political entities where political authority is divided among smaller units of organization.

Microstates

Tiny countries that share a land border with one or two other countries.

Sovereign government

A government that controls a certain amount of land, and possesses authority over the people who live on that land.

Citizenship

A person who is considered a full-fledged member of a country, receiving legal identification of belonging to that country.

Naturalization

The process of becoming a citizen in a new nation.

Diplomatic/consular missions

A way for sovereign nations to provide services for their citizens who are traveling or living abroad.

Enclave

A province, region, or district that is home to an ethnic minority or physically separated from the nation that controls it politically.

Exclave

Territories that are surrounded by foreign land or separated from their main body by a foreign territory.

United Nations

The world’s premier supranational organization which deals with trade agreements, migration, military cooperation, diplomacy, and health and environmental protocols.

UNCLOS

UN Conference of the Law of the Seas, introduced in 1982 and ratified in 1994, it created standard ocean boundaries for all UN member states.

International Whaling Moratorium

A ban on commercial whaling.

EEZ

The Exclusive Economic Zone Principle, states that within 200 nautical miles from its shores, a country controls different aspects of natural resource exploration and extraction.

1652 Act of Union

The union of Scotland and England.

Superimposed borders

Political borders that are created without regard for the cultural, religious, or ethnic makeup of the people living in that area.

Kuril Islands

islands which Japan and the Soviet Union signed a treaty concerning the control of, however neither country could agree on how to administrate the treaty

Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta

a delta which underwent physical changes, causing a blurred border between India and Bangladesh

Operational Dispute

a military meddling of a settled border by opposing factions

Allocational Dispute

two factions competing to control the natural resources along a border passage, with either wishing to forfeit access to profitable resources

Conference of Berlin (1884-1885)

Solidified the lines of colonial control in Africa, lumping together different tribal and cultural groups where it was deemed convenient by the standards of European imperial powers

“Tyranny of the Map”

a term for the Conference of Berlin

Kashmir

A territory in South Asia that is officially controlled by India, while also being claimed by Pakistan

Algerian War of Independence

The war in which Algeria gained its independence from France

Morphology

Refers to the physical shape of a territory, created by man-made borders or contour lines imposed by natural features like water

Annex

Forcible incorporate bordering lands for the purpose of territorial expansion

Incorporation

The process by which residents in an annexed territory are afforded full citizenship by the country carrying out the annexation

Supranational organization

When two or more sovereign nations enter into a formal alliance

Hanseatic League

a supranational organization of trading states along the Baltic coast, functioned as an early supranational trading system

League of Nations

the first modern supranational organization, where member nations would meet to debate borders, trade, military relations, and refugee resettlement

United Nations

replaced the league of nations and is now the world’s premier supranational organization, dealing with trade agreements, migration, military cooperation, diplomacy, and health and environmental protocols

NATO

the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a military alliance created after WWII

Warsaw Pact

the Soviet created counterpart of NATO, and is another military alliance formed after WWII

European Coal and Steel Community

brought together France, Italy, West Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium in an arrangement for limited free trade

Tariffs

taxes imposed on goods made outside a country in which they are being sold

European Union

the world’s largest economic, political, and diplomatic supranational organization, united in a free trade zone, has open borders, a single currency, is a judicial union, and has many overriding regulatory bodies

Schengen Agreement

the agreement which opened borders between EU nations

European Court of Justice

an appeals court that takes up cases mostly involving commercial disputes and civil rights issues from any of the EU member states

Brexit

the vote which led the UK to exit the European Union by popular referendum

NAFTA

the North American Free Trade Agreement, which ended tariffs between the US, Canada, and Mexico

Zapatista Uprising

an uprising of Mexican workers who were not being treated fairly, put down by Mexican federal forces

Atlantic Charter

an outline of the UK’s and US’s goals for the world post-WWII

Athens

the birthplace of democracy

Democracy

comes from the Greek terms “demos” and “kratos” which when put together translates as “commoners rule,” which is essentially what democracy is

Representative democracy

citizens do not serve in government directly, but select representatives to act as legislators by proxy

Direct democracy

initially involved male property owners over the age of 20 convening to pass laws

Age of Enlightenment

the intellectual movement in 17th and 18th century Europe, in which many progressive political theories were formulated, the idea of citizenship was a novel concept on a continent still largely ruled by monarchies

Subject (vs citizen)

the individual residents of a kingdom or empire, and not necessarily considered citizens

Glorious Revolution

happened in Great Britain, and updated the laws of the Magna Carta of 1215 which had afforded certain rights to the noble classes

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

the constitution of France, written after the French Revolution by Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson

Apartheid

happened in South Africa, where Black citizens were denied the right to vote, which mixed race and Indian people were given few local voting rights, and white people were given full voting privileges

Seneca Falls Convention

the first convention advocating for women’s rights in the US

Suffragette

nickname for women’s suffrage activists

Bicameral legislature

two-body legislature, modeled after the British Parliament

Electoral College

a system that involves electoral delegates from each state casting their votes for one of the two finishing candidates

Gerrymandering

a controversial trend in American politics where congressional districts are reapportioned and state legislatures overseeing the adjustments draw districts in physically irregular boundaries to consolidate control by certain candidates or parties within a district

Political economy

the study of economics in the context of a political entity’s system of governance

Feudalism

medieval system of political economy which dealt with allocations of land, regulations of labor, and arrangements involving the production and trading of goods

Guilds

associations of craftsmen in specific trades in Britain, France, and the Holy Roman Empire

Mercantilism

an economic system which became favored by the monarchies of Europe, particularly those conquering resource-rich lands in Asia, Africa, and the Americas

Adam Smith

the Anglo-Scottish economist who came up with the idea of an economic system based on supply and demand unencumbered by the meldings of an elite birthright class or overpowering government

Capitalism

an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit

Joint stock company

involves a number of investors who pool their funds and resources together for various different investment and exploration projects, ensuring that both risks and rewards will be evenly distributed amongst a number of vested parties

Laissez-faire capitalism

“Laissez-faire” is a French term for “leave alone” which is what the laissez-faire encouraged the government to do in reference to the economy in order to let it operate naturally

Karl Marx

the German philosopher who founded Marxism, which is the basis of communism

Communism

based off Marxism, the theory advocating for class war, leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs

Planned (or command) economy

where the state directs all production goals rather than there being a system of supply and demand by consumers

Socialism

where major industries are controlled by the government, while certain public services are afforded equally to all citizens

Market socialism (in Yugoslavia)

Yugoslavia political economy during the Cold War period where large industries were publicly owned and workers were given varying degrees of say in how their industries were run, which boosted production

Civil conflict

conflict within a sovereign nation state

American Civil War

the civil war in the US between the North and South, or the Union and Confederation, fighting for an end to slavery as well as other political freedoms

“Reconstruction”

the process of rebuilding the US after the civil war

Centripetal Forces

points of unity and agreement

Centrifugal forces

have the ability to create division and conflict within a country

Balkanization

a term stemmed from the Balkan peninsula, a region with a long history of political conflict

Josip Broz Tito

the then president for life of Yugoslavia, who acted as a centripetal political force

Chechnya

a region in Russia which fought for its independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but ultimately failed at doing so

The “Velvet Divorce”

the split between the Czech Republic and Slovakia, formerly Czechoslovakia, called the velvet divorce due to the lack of bloodshed in the political conflict

Manifest Destiny

when the United States set off west to expand the country, displacing Native populations

Irredentism

when a country or nationality has ambitions to expand its current territorial holdings, either into new areas or reclaim historic lands

Reunification

when nations that were politically divided for long periods of time reunify

Nomadism

the practice of seasonal migration in pursuit of crops and animals of prey

Irrigation

the practice of creating infrastructure to direct and control the flow of freshwater to land sections where crops are being grown

Primary economy

consists of farming, fisheries, timber, and natural resource extraction

Staple crops

make up the bulk of a regional diet, and are usually hearty crops that provide their consumers with a great deal of energy

Animal husbandry

the rearing and care of animals for meat, milk, eggs, and hides

Intensive agriculture

requires a great deal of labor and is generally focused on small areas of land

Extensive agriculture

requires much less labor input, and is usually spread across a much broader area of land

Subsistence farming

the practice of growing just enough food to feed one’s family or community

Monoculture cultivation

the reliance on one major crop

General farming

when monoculture cultivation gave way to multi-crop cultivation along with animal husbandry

Kimchi

made from cabbage leaves that are preserved in a brine of salt, vinegar, and peppers that are stored inc lay jars and then buried for a period of time

Fermentation

a metabolic process, often involving microorganisms like yeast or bacteria, that converts sugars (or other organic compounds) into acids, gases, or alcohol

Cash cropping

involves the production of large amounts of agricultural product, most of which is sold for profit

Plantations

large farming estates typically staffed by slave labor or poorly-paid sharecroppers, and tend to have a monoculture cash crop focus

Human ecology

how humans interact with their environments and nature