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Nation
A term encompassing all the citizens of a state; a tightly knit group of people having bonds of language, ethnicity, religion, and other shared cultural attributes.
States
A politically organized territory that is administered by a sovereign government and is recognized by a significant portion of the international community.
Nation-states
A recognized member of the modern state system possessing formal sovereignty and occupied by people who see themselves as a single, united nation.
Stateless nations
Nations that do not have a state.
Multinational states
A sovereign state which is viewed as comprising two or more nations.
Multistate nations
A nation that stretches across borders and across states.
Autonomous region
Sections of a nation that have a degree of independence in several issues.
Sovereignty
Ability of a state to govern its territory free from control of its internal affairs by other states.
Self Determination
The process by which a country determines its own statehood and forms its own allegiances and government.
Semi-Autonomous region
Largely self-governing within a larger political or organizational entity.
Colonialism
Rule by autonomous power over subordinate people and places.
Imperialism
The extension or imposition of power, authority, or influence.
Independence Movement
Effort by people to create a new sovereign state in a place inside of another state.
Devolution
The process whereby regions within a state demand and gain political strength and growing autonomy at the expense of the central government.
Neocolonialism
The entrenchment of the colonial order, such as trade and investment under a new guise.
Shatterbelt
A region whose internal fragmentation is compounded by pressures from external major powers.
Choke point
A strategic narrow route providing passage through or to another region.
Territoriality
The connection of people, their culture, and their economic systems to the land.
Boundary
A line that marks the limits of an area; a dividing line.
Relic boundary
A boundary that has ceased to function but can still be detected on the cultural landscape.
Superimposed boundary
A boundary that has been imposed on an area by an outside power, ignoring existing cultural organizations.
Subsequent boundary
A boundary established during the process of intensive settlement.
Geometric boundary
A boundary formed by one or more straight lines and/or arcs.
Consequent boundary
A subsequent boundary created to accommodate a region’s cultural diversity.
Antecedent boundary
A boundary drawn before the cultural landscape emerged and before a large population was present.
Demilitarized zones
An area from which weapons and military forces have been removed.
Maritime Boundary
A conceptual division of the Earth's water surface areas using physiographic or geopolitical criteria.
UNCLOS
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, defining rights and responsibilities in international waters.
District
A territorial division for administrative or electoral purposes.
Reapportionment
The reassignment of representatives proportionally among states according to population changes.
Redistricting
To revise legislative districts.
Majority-minority districts
Districts where the majority of the population comes from the minority.
Gerrymandering
The process of redrawing legislative boundaries to benefit the party in power.
Federal state
A state with more locally based, dispersed power centers.
Unitary state
A state with a more top-down, centralized form of governance.
Ethnic separatism
The advocacy of separation from a larger group based on cultural, ethnic, religious, or gender differences.
Ethnic cleansing
A policy designed to remove by violent means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group.
Irredentism
A movement seeking to reclaim land considered a 'lost' territory from a nation’s past.
Subnational political-territorial units
Units made up of a small area with its own local government, e.g., a city or town.
Supranational organizations
A venture involving three or more nation-states promoting shared objectives.
Democracy
Government based on the principle that the people are the ultimate sovereign.
Centripetal
Forces that tend to unify a country.
Centrifugal
Forces that tend to divide a country.
Ethno nationalism
Support for the political interests of a specific ethnic group.
