AP Human Geography Unit 4

state

an area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government that has control over internal and foreign affairs, occupies defined territory + has a permanent population

microstates

states with very small land areas

sovereignty

state has the supreme authority to govern itself and make decisions within its own borders without interference from other states or international organizations

korea’s deal

• divided into 2 by soviet union + US

• pro-communist (north)

• pro-US (south)

• both govts wanna reunite but want to be the one to have sovereignty

china/taiwan’s deal

• most countries consider china and taiwan separate states but china says taiwan is part of it

• civil war rose between nationalists and communists

• nationalists lost and fled to taiwan

• taiwan is largest state not in UN

western sahara’s deal

• considered to be a sovereign state by most african countries

• morocco claims this territory and has built a wall around it to keep out rebels

• morocco and the polisario front both control the area

• un tried to resolve but failed

nation-state

state who’s territory corresponds to a single ethnicity

examples of nation-states

japan, germany, greece, china, france,

where were states developed

fertile crescent

city-state

a small sovereign state that is made up of a town or city and the surrounding area

city-state examples

vatican, monaco, singapore

self-determination

concept that ethnicities have the right to govern themselves

multi-ethnic state

a state that has more than one ethnicity (every state is to a degree this)

multinational state

a state that has two or more national groups within its borders, with no single group being dominant in terms of culture, politics, or demographics

multinational state examples

indonesia, nigeria, belgium, afghanistan

colony

territory that is legally tied to a sovereign state

colony examples

bermuda, british virgin islands, cayman islands

religious boundary examples

india/pakistan

ethnic boundary examples

cyprus

geometric boundary examples

us/canada

law of the sea

identifies 3 types of water boundaries:

territorial waters, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone

territorial waters law

up to 12 miles from shore, a state can set laws regulating passage of ships from other states

contiguous zone law

between 12-24 miles from shore, a state can enforce laws concerning pollution, taxes, immigration, and customs

exclusive economic zone law

between 24-200 miles from shore, a state has the sole right to the fish and other marine life

prorupted state

a compact state with a large extension that extends out from one side of the state more than any other part (thailand, myanmar)

why is a state prorupted

access to resources (democratic republic of congo, water), seperate 2 states that would share a boundary (namibia caprivi strip, was part of germany and disrupted communication between the british colonies of southern africa)

perforated state

state that completely surrounds another one

fragmented states

have several discontinuous pieces of territory

landlocked states

lacks a direct outlet to a sea because it’s completely surrounded by several other countries

democracy

country where citizens elect leaders and can run for office

autocracy

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

anocracy

a country that is not fully democratic or fully autocratic but displays a mix of the to types

unitary state

most power is in the hands of central government officials

federal state

allocates strong power to units of local government within the country

gerrymandering

redrawing legislative boundaries to benefit the party in power

united nations

created at the end of ww2 to maintain peace and security in the world.

league of nations

established after ww1 but wasnt effective

unsc

china, france, russia, uk, us

cold war era military alliances

nato, the warsaw pact,

nato

military alliance among 16 democratic states (US, Canada, 14 european states)

the warsaw pact

a military agreement among communist eastern european countries, disbanded in 1991 following end of communism in eastern europe

cold war era economic alliances

eu, council for mutual economic assistance

eu

designed to heal scars from ww2, main task is to promote development within the member states through economic and political cooperation

council for mutual economic assistance

designed to promote trade and sharing of natural resources in communist eastern europe, disbanded in 91

organization of american states (oas)

all 35 countries in western hemisphere, promotes social, cultural, political, and economic links among member states

au

54 countries in africa, promotes economic integration in africa

commonwealth

uk + 52 countries that were once british colonies, seeks economic and cultural cooperation

how have states in southwest asia provided support for terrorism

providing sanctuary, supplying weapons, money, and intelligence, planning attacks using terrorists

nation

a group of people with a shared culture, language, history, homeland, and self-determination

multistate nation

a nation that has a state of its own, but also resides in other states

multi state nation examples

korea, kurds

stateless nation

a nation that has a history of self-determination but does not have a recognized state

what does a stateless nation lack

control over political boundaries, govt with sovereign rule, control over internal/external affairs, and recognition

examples of statless nation

kurds, palestinians

autonomous region

an area located within a state and has a high degree of freedom/self governance from the state

examples of autonomous region

native american reservations

semi-autonomous region

an area controlled by another state but only has a moderate degree of self-governance (national gov will step in when they need to)

semi-autonomous region examples

hong kong,

colonialism

one nation taking over another nation's land or territory, establishing political and/or economic control over that land, moving their own population into that land, and usually eradicating or forcing out the native populations

imperialism

one nation taking over another nation's land or territory and establishing political and/or economic control over that land and its native population

devolution

transfer of power from national govt to regional govts

balkanization

when a state breaks up into different states

neocolonialism

the use of political, cultural, or economic power to influence/control other countries

decolonization

when colonies become independent of the colonizing country

chokepoint

a strategic narrow route, providing passage through/to another region

shatterbelt

a larger geographic area which is caught between larger external points that are fighting

demarcated boundary

boundary which is marked with a physical structure

antecedent boundary

boundary which existed before human settlement and creation of cultural landscape

relic boundary

boundary that doesnt exist anymore but still has impact on cultural landscape

superimposed boundary

boundary created by a foreign state or group

subsequent boundary

boundary which develops along with the cultural landscape

consequent boundary

boundary created to divide different ethnic, religious, and linguistic groups

definitional boundary dispute

dispute which takes place over the interpretations over original documents that define the boundary

locational boundary dispute

dispute over the location of the boundary and ownership of the land

operational boundary dispute

dispute on how to manage the boundary and handle different issues/situations that occur on the boundary

allocational boundary dispute

dispute which happens over the use of what is in/in the boundary

redistricting

process of redrawing districts after census

cracking

the process of spreading like-minded voters across multiple districts

packing

like-minded voters are all put into the same few districts to reduce impact of their vote in other districts

forces that lead to devolution

physical geography, culture, irredentism

ethnic separatism

when a person/group starts to identify more with their own ethnic group than state

irredentism

movement by a nation to unite other parts of its nation that are located in a different states