Unit 4 Gradesavers

State

the **largest political unit**, the formal term for a country

Nation

a **group of people** who have certain things in common. Ex: cultural heritage, beliefs/values, etc.

Nation-state

when the **borders of the nation match the borders of the state** - a state with (ideally) only one nation within it.

Stateless Nation

nations of **people without a state to occupy** or a cultural group that has no independent political entity

Multinational State

a country with **various ethnicities and cultures** within its borders (country with more than one nation)

Multi-state nation

a nation of people that live in **more than one state**

Autonomous region

region within a state that is given authority to govern independently from the national government. **Has a high degree of self government** and freedom from its parent state

Semi-autonomous region

an area that has a degree of self-authority but **not complete self-rule**

Sovereignty

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

Self-determination

The right of people/country to **choose their own sovereign government without external influence**. Usually, a nation, ethnicity, or former colony wants to govern itself and establish sovereignty over its own state.

Decolonization

the **undoing of colonization** in which indigenous people reclaim sovereignty over their territory

Genocide

**organized mass killings** because of race, ethnicity, religion, or nationality

Devolution

Due to centrifugal forces, **power is shifted from the central government or administration to regional authorities** which are usually reflective of nations.

Neocolonialism

The use of economic, political, cultural or other **pressures in order to control or influence other countries**. (Europe over Africa)

Shatterbelt

**Instability** within a region that is geographically located between states with **overlapping territoriality** and political power.

Choke Point

A place of **physical congestion** between which can be narrow or hard to pass through and has competition for use.

Territoriality

A person or groups **willingness to defend their space** and the control and influence over a specific geographic space

Superimposed Boundary

boundaries drawn over existing and **borders by an outside force**

Subsequent Boundary

Borders that are drawn in areas that have been settled by people, **after groups have settled somewhere**

Antecedent Boundary

Borders that are **established before there has been major settlement by people in a territory**. This could include rivers and mountain ranges that existed before human development but also just **borders created before a permanent population**

Geometric Boundary

Borders that are established on straight lines of latitude and longitude instead of physical or cultural boundaries

Consequent Boundary

takes into account the existing cultural distribution of the people living in the territory and redevelops boundary lines to more closely align with cultural boundaries (**Consequence of some type of divide**) (type of subsequent)

Defined Boundary

Countries **legally define** and agree to where borders are located through an agreement or treaty.

Delimited Boundary

**Lines on a map** drawn by a cartographer to show the defined boundaries

Demarcated Boundary

Visible **marking** the landscape with physical objects

Demilitarized zone

An area in which treaties or agreements between nations, military powers or contending groups **forbid military installations, activities, or personnel**

Berlin Conference

A meeting from 1884-1885 at which representatives of European nations agreed on rules of colonization for **Africa and placed boundaries.**

Maritime Boundary

division of Earth’s **water** surface

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)

was signed by more then 150 countries. It defined four zones: territorial sea(12 naut. miles), contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone (EEZ, 200 naut. miles), and high waters

International waters

areas of the sea that are **not under the jurisdiction of any country**

territorial sea

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

Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ)

Extends up to **200 nautical miles** to which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources such as fishing, whaling, as well as natural resources like natural gas, oil, energy.

voting district

internal boundaries that **divide a country's electorate into subnational regions**

Redistricting

**redrawing distinct boundaries** so that each district contains around the same number of people

Gerrymandering

Process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of **benefiting the party in power.**

Unitary State

most or all of the governing **power is held by the central/national government**

Federal State

unites separate political entities into an overarching system that **allows each entity to maintain some degree of sovereignty**

Ethnic Separatism

the minority fights for independence and has full political **separation** (or **secession**) from the larger group along cultural, ethnic, tribal, or government lines

Ethnic Cleansing

a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic/religious group to **remove another group** from certain geographical areas (genocide)

Terrorism

**organized violence** aimed at government and civillian targets to create fear for the advancement of political goals

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 (reunite a nation or reclaim a lost territory)

supranationalism

the practice of **multiple countries forming an organization** for the benefit of all members

democratization

the spread of representative government to more countries and the process of making governments more representative (regime **becomes more democratic**)

economies of scale

cost per unit of production decreases as volume of production increases

trade agreements

any **contractual arrangement** between states concerning their trade relationships

military alliances

organizations of countries who agree to **help each other militarily**

supranational organizations

represent their members on the world stage and act in the political interests of the member countries (UN, EU, etc)

United Nations (UN)

China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Its mission is to promote **peace, security and human rights**

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

US, Canada, Iceland, most countries in western and central Europe, and turkey. Mission is to **provide mutual defense of member states**

European Union

Mostly countries in western and central Europe. Mission is to **integrate member states politically and economically**

Association of Southeast Asian Nations

Southeast Asian countries, Mission is to **advance economic growth, peace, social progress and cultural and economic development in the region**

Arctic Council

Only countries in Artic-Canada, Russia, US, northern Europe. Mission to foster **cooperation, coordination, and interaction among the artic states with participation of artic indigenous communities**

African Union

All countries of Africa. Mission to advocate **peace, security, stability, on the continent through greater cooperation, economic development, and global integration**

failed state

a state within which the government has lost the ability to provide the most basic of public services. **Unable to perform the two fundamental functions** of the sovereign nation-state in the modern world system.

ethnic nationalist movement

a movement of a specific ethnic group to **promote rights for that ethnicity**

centripetal force

force that **unifies people** and enhances support for a state

ethnonationalism

a group of people (nation) that is the same ethnicity that is represented on a state/national level

infrastructure development

A process of **improvement in installations**, facilities, services, and more for the better of the people

cultural cohesion

different national and ethnic groups to **making a mutual commitment to live together** as citizens of the same state.

Relic Boundary

Border that has been abandoned for political reasons but **still present on the cultural landscape**