Chapter 9, Political Boundaries and Forms of Governance

Physical Geographic Boundaries

Natural barriers between areas such as oceans, deserts, and mountains

Cultural Boundaries

Divide people according to some cultural division, such as language, religion, or ethnicity

Antecedent Boundary

Preceded the development of the cultural landscape

Subsequent Boundary

The cultural landscape is evolving and is subject to change over time

Ethrographic

They are usually related to cultural phenomena

Superimposed Boundary

Drawn by outside powers and may have ignored existing cultural patterns

Berlin Conference

Paved the way for colonization of Africa or what Europeans regarded as "effective occupation" of the continent

Land Locked States

Without territory connected to an ocean

Relic Boundary

Has been abandoned for political purposes, but evidence of it still exists on the landscape

Geometric Boundary

A straight line or arc drawn by people that does not closely follow any physical feature

Consequent Boundary

A type of subsequent border that takes into account already-existing cultural or physical landscape

Cultural Consequent Boundary

A border that is drawn taking into account language, ethnicity, religion, or other cultural traits

Open Boundary

Unguarded and people can cross it easily, with little or no political intervention

Militerized Boundary

One that is heavily guarded and discourages crossing

Defined Boundary

Established by a legal document, such as a treaty, that divides one entity from another

Delimited Boundary

Drawn on a map by a cartographer to show the limits of a space

locational boundary

Boundary disputes that center on where a boundary should be, how it is delimited or demarcated

Territorial Disputes

The fundamental question of who possesses the land

Irredentism

A type of expansionism when one country seeks to annex territory where it has cultural ties to part of the population or historical claims to the land

Operational Boundary Dispute or Functional Dispute

Centers not on where a boundary is but how it functions

Allocational Boundary Dispute or resource dispute

When a boundary separates natural resources that may be used by both countries

Administered Boundary

How a boundary will be maintained, how it will function, and what goods and people will be allowed to cross

Controlled Boundary

Boundaries that have checkpoints where a passport or Visa are required to enter the country

Enclaves

Territories that are part of a state, yet geographically separated from the main state by one or more countries

Political Enclaves

States, territories, or parts of a state or territory that are completely surrounded by the territory of another state

Shatterbelt

A place located between two very different and contentious regions

United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea

Between 1973 and 1982, the UNCLS was signed by more than 150 countries

Territorial Sea

This area extends up to 12 nautical miles pf sovereignty where commercial vessels may pass, but noncommercial vessels may be challenged

Congituous Zone

Costal states have limited sovereignty for up to 24 nautical miles where they can enforce laws on customs, immigration, and sanitation

Exclusive Economic Zone

Costal states can explore, extract minerals, and manage natural resources up to 200 nautical miles

High seas

Water beyond any country's EEZ that is open to all states

Small Island Developing States

The 200-mile EEZ is very valuable economically to the many SIDA in the world's oceans

Internal Boundaries

Used at the subnautical scale to divide countries into smaller units

Electoral Geography

Use spatial thinking techniques and tools to analyze elections and voting patterns

Voting Districts

Internal boundaries that divide a country's elecorate into subnautical regions

electorate

People of a country who are eligible to vote

Census

A count of the population, every 10 years, to ensure the national congressional districts have approximately the same amount of people.

Reapportionment

Changing the number of representatives granted to each state so it reflects the state's population

Redistricting

State legislature or state committees then redraw district boundaries so that each district contains roughly the same number of people

Gerrymandering

The drawing of boundaries for political districts by the party in power to protect or increase it's power

Cracking

Dispersing a group into several districts to prevent a majority

Packing

Combining like-minded voters into one district to prevent them from affecting elections in other districts

Stacking

Diluting a minority-populated district with majority populations

Hijacking

Redrawing two districts in order to force two elected representatives of the same party to run against each other

Kidnapping

Moving an area where an elected representative has support to an area where he or she does not have support

Federal Sate

Unites separate political entities into an overcharging system that allows each entity to maintain some degree of sovereignty

Unitary State

Most or all of the governing powers is held by the national government

Annexation

The process of legally adding territory to a city

Demarcated Boundary

One identified by physical objects placed on the landscape

definitional boundary dispute

occurs when two or more parties disagree over how to interpret the legal documents or maps that identify the boundary