AP Human Geography - The Cultural Landscape: Chapter 8 - Vocabulary

Anocracy

A country that is not fully democratic or fully autocratic but rather displays a mix of the two types.

Autocracy

A country that is run according to the interests of the ruler rather than the people.

Balance of power

A condition of roughly equal strengths between opposing countries or alliances of countries.

Boundary

An invisible line that marks the extent of a state's territory.

City-state

A sovereign state comprising a city and its immediately surrounding countryside.

Colonialism

An attempt by one country to establish settlements and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles in another territory.

Colony

A territory that is legally tied to a sovereign state rather than completely independent.

Compact state

A state in which the distance from the center to any boundary does not vary significantly.

Democracy

A country in which citizens elect leaders and can run for office.

Elongated state

A state with a long, narrow shape.

Federal state

An internal organization of a state that allocates most powers to units of local government.

Fragmented state

A state that includes several discontinuous pieces of territory.

Frontier

A zone separating two states in which neither state exercises political control.

Gerrymandering

The process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power.

Landlocked state

A state that does not have a direct outlet to the sea.

Nation

A large group of people who are united by common cultural characteristics, such as language and ethnicity, or by shared history.

Nation-state

A state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular nation.

Perforated state

A state that completely surrounds another one.

Prorupted state

An otherwise compact state with a large projecting extension.

Self-determination

Concept that ethnicities have the right to govern themselves

Sovereignty

Ability of a state to govern its territory free from control of its internal affairs by other states.

State

An area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government with control over its internal and foreign affairs.

Terrorism

The threatened or actual use of illegal force and violence by a non state actor to attain a political, economic, religious, or social goal through fear, coercion, or intimidation.

Unitary state

An internal organization of a state that places most power in the hands of central government officials.

Weapon of mass destruction

A nuclear, biological, chemical, or other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans or cause great damage to human-made structures, natural structures, or the biosphere.