HGAP Vocab Unit 4

Political geography

A branch of human geography concerned with the spatial analysis of political systems

Political map

A map that shows the spatial organization of the countries and territories on the entire globe at a given point in time.

State/Country

An independent political unit with a centralized authority that claims sole legal, political, and economic jurisdiction over a region with defined boundaries.

Independent state

A state that rules itself and is not subject to the authority of another state.

Sovereign states

A state that possesses the sole authority over the land and people within its boundaries.

Nation

A community of people bound to a homeland and possessing a common identity based on shared cultural traits such as language, ethnicity, and religion.

Nation-state

The ideal political geographical unit; one in which the nation's geographic boundaries exactly match the state's territorial boundaries.

Nation-state ideal

The idea that political authorities govern in the name of all a country's citizens, modern mass communications link all residents, and state-based citizenship rights reinforce the idea of a national identity.

Nationalism

Sense of belonging to and self-identifying with a national culture; people with a strong sense of nationalism derive a significant part of their social identity from a sense of belonging to a nation.

Stateless nation

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

Multinational states

A country containing multiple national, ethnic, and religious groups within its boundaries.

Multistate nations

Ethnic groups territorially divided by one or more international boundaries.

Autonomous region

A subdivision or dependent territory of a country that has a degree of self-government, or autonomy, in its decision-making.

Semiautonomous region

A subdivision or dependent territory of a country that has some degree of, but not complete, self-government.

Self-determination

A nation's ability to determine its own statehood and form its own allegiances and government.

Core areas

A small territorial nucleus from which a country grows in area and over time.

Escarpments

Abrupt slopes that break up the general continuity of the terrain.

Effective sovereignty

The idea that a state's power to enforce its sovereignty may extend beyond its territory and varies over time and from country to country.

Devolution

The movement of power from the central government to regional governments within the state.

Ethnonationalism

A form of nationalism in which the nation is defined in terms of ethnic identity.

Neocolonialism

The set of economic and political strategies by which wealthy and powerful countries indirectly maintain or extend their influence over less wealthy areas.

Peripheral states

States that have relatively little industrial development, simple production systems focused mostly on agriculture and raw materials.

Core states

States that have the most advanced industrial and military technologies, complex manufacturing systems, external political power, and the highest levels of wealth and mass consumption.

Shatterbelt

A region of continuing and persistent fragmentation due to devolution and centrifugal forces.

Choke point

A narrow passage that restricts traffic to another region.

Strait

A narrow body of water connecting two larger bodies of water.

Boundary

A clearly demarcated line that marks both the limits of a territory and divisions between territories.

Median line principle

An approach to dividing and creating boundaries at the midpoint between two places.

Borderland

A region straddling both sides of an international boundary where national cultures overlap and blend to varying degrees.

Frontier

A region at the margins of state control and settlement.

Enclave

A territory surrounded by a country but not ruled by it.

Exclave

Part of a national territory separated from the main body of the country to which it belongs.

Delimited

Describing how boundaries are fixed or defined to identify their limits.

Demarcated

Describing how boundaries are set apart to distinguish their limits.

Relic boundary

A boundary that no longer functions as an international border.

Superimposed boundary

A boundary that is placed on an area without regard to existing boundaries.

subsequent boundary

a political boundary that developed with the cultural landscape

Antecedent boundary

A boundary that was identified before an area was settled.

Geometric boundary

A boundary that has regular, often perfectly straight, lines drawn without regard for an area's physical or cultural features.

Consequent boundary

A boundary that is drawn to accommodate existing cultural differences.

Demilitarized zone (DMZ)

An area in which treaties or agreements between nations forbid military installations, activities, or personnel.

Buffer state

A politically and economically weak independent country that lies between the borders of two powers.

Satellite state

A nominally independent country that is politically, militarily, and economically controlled by a more powerful state.

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)

Conference organized to define territorial boundaries and rights to the sea.

Exclusive economic zone (EEZ)

A zone that extends 200 nautical miles from the shoreline in which coastal states have the sole right to exploit, develop, manage, and conserve all water resources lying beyond the land.

Arctic Circle

Area defined by the 66 degrees, 34 minutes north latitude line.

Electoral geography

A subfield of political geography that analyzes the geography of political preferences and how geography can shape voting outcomes.

Voting district

A territorial division for casting votes in public elections; generally, only those who live in the voting district are permitted to cast their votes there.

Electoral college

A body of 538 electors in the United States; a majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the president; a state's number of electors equals the number of members in its congressional delegation (one for each member in the House of Representatives plus two for its senators).

Reapportionment

The process by which the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are divided proportionately by population among the 50 states following every U.S. census.

Redistricting

The process of drawing new boundaries for U.S. congressional districts to reflect the population changes since the previous U.S. census.

Gerrymandering

The manipulation of voting district boundaries to favor a particular political party, group, or election outcome.

Packing

Gerrymandering a voting district by concentrating all of the opposition party into one district, thereby creating a large majority of that party in the district, while ensuring that it cannot win any election.

Cracking

Gerrymandering a voting district by dividing opposition votes into many districts, thus diluting the opposition's vote to ensure it does not form a majority in any district.

Subnational units

The smaller areas into which a larger state is divided (e.g., states in the U.S., provinces in Canada).

Unitary state

An independent state that concentrates power in the central government and grants little or no authority to its subnational units.

Federal state

An independent country that disperses significant authority among subnational units.

Irredentism

The political claim to territory in another country based on ethnic affiliations and historic borders.

Terrorism

The calculated use of violent acts against civilians and symbolic targets to publicize a cause, intimidate or coerce a civilian population, or affect the conduct of the government.

Democratization

Occurs when a sovereign state moves from a non-democracy to a democracy.

Supranationalism

Occurs when a collection of nation-states and their citizens relinquish some sovereign rights to a larger-scale body that exercises authority over its member states.

Supranational organization

An international political body that nation-states establish in cooperation with their neighbors for mutual political, military, economic, or cultural gain.

United Nations (UN)

An international organization that's responsible for maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations, achieving international cooperation, and harmonizing the actions of nations.

European Union (EU)

A political, economic, and social union of 28 independent European countries that promotes the free movement of people, goods, services, and capital among its members.

African Union (AU)

A continental organization of African states that seeks to drive Africa's growth and economic development through cooperation and integration of member states.

Arctic Council

An international governmental forum that promotes interaction among the Arctic states and indigenous communities on common Arctic issues, particularly sustainable development and environmental protection.

Regional trading bloc

A multi-country agreement that reduces or eliminates taxes to promote the free flow of goods and services across international borders.

Economies of scale

Cost advantages that can come with a larger scale of operations.

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA-USMCA)

An intergovernmental military alliance among 29 North American and European countries to guarantee the freedom and security of its members.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

A regional intergovernmental organization comprising 10 countries in Southeast Asia to promote intergovernmental cooperation and facilitate economic growth, social progress, and cultural development in the region.

Failed state

A state whose political or economic system has become so weak that the government is no longer in control.

Uneven development

Occurs when core states have advanced economies and a high standard of living, while peripheral states have relatively little industrial development, simple production systems based mostly on raw materials, and low levels of consumption of manufactured goods.

Allegiance

Loyalty or commitment to a country.

Cultural cohesion

Cultural unity, occurs when the members of a society are culturally united.

Iconography

A set of traditional symbols or symbolic forms associated with a country and its citizens.