Unit 4 AP Human Geography

A comprehensive set of unit 4 vocabulary flashcards derived from lecture notes on geopolitics and international relations.

Annex

The formal acquisition of territory by conquest or occupation.

Antecedent Boundary

A boundary drawn before a large population was present.

Autonomous Region

Areas that have their own local and legislative bodies to govern an ethnic minority within the state.

Balkanization

The breaking of a state into smaller, often hostile, states along ethno-linguistic lines.

Berlin Conference

An 1884 meeting of colonial powers that divided Africa into colonies without consulting African leaders.

Census

An official count of the population, typically recording various details of individual citizens.

Centrifugal Force

A force that tends to break states apart or prevent them from forming.

Centripetal Force

A force that unites people together, leading to the creation or strengthening of a state.

Choke Point

A strategic strait or canal which could be closed or blocked to stop sea traffic.

City State

A small sovereign state consisting of a town or city and surrounding territory.

Cold War

A period of rivalry between the US and USSR from the end of WWII until the collapse of the Berlin Wall.

Colonialism

A type of imperialism involving the settlement on the land of another country.

Consequent Boundary

A boundary created to accommodate a region's cultural diversity.

Decolonization

When colonized nations win their independence from a colonizing force.

Defined Boundary

A boundary established by legal documents such as a treaty.

Delimited Boundary

A boundary line drawn on a map to show the limits of a space.

Demarcated Boundary

A boundary identified by physical objects placed on the landscape.

Democratization

The transition from autocratic to more representative forms of government.

Devolution

The transfer of political power from the central government to lower, subnational levels.

Domino Theory

The idea that if one country fell to Communism, surrounding countries would follow.

Ethnic Cleansing

The forced removal of a major ethnic group from a territory.

Failed State

A state where the government has lost the ability to provide basic public services.

Federal State

A country where governmental authority is shared among a central and regional authorities.

Forward Capital

A symbolically relocated capital city, usually for economic or strategic reasons.

Geometric Boundary

A boundary that is a straight line drawn by people, not following physical features.

Genocide

The deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group.

Geopolitics

The study of how geography affects politics and relations among states.

Gerrymandering

The drawing of political district boundaries by those in power to cement their advantage.

Heartland Theory

The idea that land-based power is essential for global domination.

Imperialism

Influencing another country by direct conquest, economic control, or cultural dominance.

Irredentism

The process by which part of a state breaks away to merge with another.

Microstate

A country that is small in both population and area.

Militarized Boundary

A heavily guarded boundary that discourages crossing and movement.

Multinational State

A country that contains more than one nation.

Multi-State Nation

When a nation stretches across the borders of several states.

Nation

A group of people with a common cultural heritage and attachment to a homeland.

Nationalism

A nation's desire to create and maintain a state of its own.

Nation-State

A singular nation of people who fulfill the qualifications of a state.

Natural Boundary

A boundary based on physical features like rivers and mountains.

Neocolonialism

When control of developing countries is exerted through indirect means.

Open Boundary

A boundary where crossing is unimpeded.

Organic Theory

States need nourishment and living space to survive, which they attain by annexing territory.

Reapportionment

Changing the number of representatives granted to each district reflecting its population.

Redistricting

Redrawing district boundaries to contain approximately the same number of people.

Relic Boundary

A boundary that no longer exists but evidence of it can still be seen.

Rimland Theory

The idea that controlling the Rimland is crucial to global power.

Satellite State

A state dominated by another politically and economically.

Self-Determination

The process by which a group of people form their own state and government.

Shatterbelt

A region suffering instability due to being located between larger powers in opposition.

Sovereignty

The power of a political unit to rule over its own affairs.

State

A formal term for a country in international relations.

Stateless Nation

Nations that have no independent political entity.

Subnationalism

When people's primary allegiance is to a group rather than the state.

Subsequent Boundary

A boundary drawn to accommodate religious, linguistic, ethnic, or economic differences.

Superimposed Boundary

A boundary drawn by outside powers.

Supranational

Outside or beyond the authority of one national government.

Supranational Organizations

Organizations of three or more countries that transcend boundaries to make decisions.

Territoriality

The willingness by a person or group to defend the space they claim.

UN Convention of the Law of the Sea

A convention governing relations among countries about how to use and control the oceans.

Unitary State

A country where governmental authority is held primarily by the central government.