AP Human Geo Vocab Unit 4.9.1 and 4.9.2

political geography

the study of the ways in which the world is organized as a reflection of the power different groups hold over territory

state

a politically organized independent territory with a government, defined borders, and a permanent population; a country

sovereignty

the right of a government to control and defend its territory and determine what happens within its borders

nation

a cultural entity made up of people who have forged a common identity through a shared language, religion, heritage, or ethnicity-often all four of these

nation-state

a politically organized and recognized territory composed of a group of people who consider themselves to be a nation

multistate nation

people who share a cultural or ethnic background but live in more than one country

irredentism

attempts by a state to acquire territories in neighboring states inhabited by people of the same nation

multinational state

a country with various ethnicities and cultures living inside its borders

autonomous

having the authority to govern territories independently of national government; for example, by having a separate currency

semiautonomous

describing a region that is given partial authority to govern its territories independently from the national government

stateless nations

a people united by culture, language, history, and tradition, but not possessing a state

territoiality

the attempts to influence or control people and events by delimiting and asserting control over a geographic area; the connection of people, their culture, and their economic systems to the land

choke point

a narrow, strategic passageway to another place through which it is difficult to pass

colonialism

the practice of claiming and dominating oversea territories

neocolonialism

the use of economic, political, cultural, or other pressures to control or influence other countries, especially former dependencies

shatterbelts

a region where states form, join, and break up because of ongoing, sometimes violent, conflicts among parties and because they are caught between the interests of more powerful outside states