vocab unit 4 ap human geography

Political geography

Political geography

A subdivision of human geography focused on the nature and implications of the evolving spatial organization of political governance and formal political practice on the Earth's surface. It is concerned with why political spaces emerge in the places that they do and with how the character of those spaces affects social, political, economic, and environmental understandings and practices.

State

A politically organized territory that is administered by sovereign government and is recognized by a significant portion of the international community. A state has a defined territory, a permanent population, a government, and is recognized by other states.

Territoriality

In political geography, a country's or more local community's sense of propertyand attachment toward its territory, as expressed by its determination to keep it inviolable and strongly defended

Sovereignty

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

Nation

a large aggregate of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting an area

Nation-state

a sovereign state whose citizens or subjects are relatively homogeneous in factors such as language or common descent.

Democracy

government based on the principle that the people are the ultimate soverign and have the final say over what happens within the state.

Multinational state

States with more than one nation within its borders

Multistate nation

Nation that stretches across borders and across states

Colonialism

rule by an autonomous power over a subordinate and alien people and place.

Centripetal

forces that tend to unify a country- such as widespread commitment to a national culture, shared idealogical objectives, and a common faith

Centrifugal

forces that tend to divide a country- such as internal religious, inguistic, ethnic, or ideologiacal differences.

Unitary State

centralized government and administration that exercises power equally over all parts of the state

Federal State

shares power between the federal government and the local governments

Devolution

the transfer of powers and responsibilities from the federal government to the states

Reapportionment

process by which representative districts are switched according to population shifts, so that each district encompasses approximately the same number of people

Balance of power

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

Balkanization

Process by which a state breaks down through conflicts among its ethnicities (usually referencing Yugoslavia)

Gerrymandering

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.

Chokepoint examples

Straight of Hormuz, Panama Canal

irrendentism

the policy of a state wising to incorporate within itself territory inhabited by people who have ethnic or linguistic links with the country but that lies within a neighboring state

Shatterbelt

an area of instability between regions with opposing political and cultural values

consequent boundary

boundaries that are based on traits like religion and language

geometric boundary

Political boundaries that are defined and delimited by straight lines.

physical boundary

Political boundaries that correspond with prominent natural features such as mountain ranges or rivers.

superimposed boundary

a boundary line placed over and ignoring an existing cultural pattern (ex: former colonizers in Sub-Saharan Africa drew borders around many ethnicities without any regard for these differences)

relic boundary

a former boundary line that is still discernible and marked by some cultural landscape features

antecedent boundary

A boundary line established before an area is populated

subsequent boundary

a boundary line that is established after the area in question has been settled and that considers the cultural or political characteristics of the bounded area

United Nations

An international organization formed after WWII to promote international peace, security, and cooperation.

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

A 1949 defense alliance initiated by the US, Canada, and 10 Western European nations

European Union (EU)

an economic association established in 1957 by a number of Western European countries to promote free trade and open borders among its members

Brexit

a term for the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union.

NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)

Allows open trade between the US, Mexico, and Canada.

South China Sea disputes

China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei all have competing claims sovereignty over ocean areas and the Paracels and the Spratly Islands

ETA

Basque terrorist group that seeks to separate Basque country from Spain and France

ISIS

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, terrorist group

Boko Haram

a Nigerian militant Islamist group that seeks the imposition of Shariah law throughout all 36 states of Nigeria

Arab Spring 2011

Organized by social media--Wave of pro-democracy revolts that led to three North African dictators being overthrown. Tunisia (he fled), Egypt (he was arrested), Libya (he was killed).

IMF (International Monetary Fund)

organization which gives loans to poor countries

Bosnian Genocide

Between April 1992 and November 1995, Serbia set out to "ethnically cleanse" Bosnian territory by systematically killing Muslims and Croats.

Holocaust

A methodical plan orchestrated by Hitler to ensure German supremacy. It called for the elimination of Jews, non-conformists, homosexuals, non-Aryans, and mentally and physically disabled.

Taiwan

an island to the east of mainland China; NOT recognized as a state; Chinese nationalists

DMZ

A zone from which military forces or operations or installations are prohibited; 38th parallel between North and South Korea

Berlin Conference

A meeting from 1884-1885 at which representatives of European nations agreed on rules colonization of Africa

Satellite States

Countries in Eastern Europe that were independent but became politically and economically influenced/dependent on the Soviet Union. Also known as the Eastern Bloc.

Elongated State

A state with a long, narrow shape.

Prorupted State

an otherwise compact state with a large projecting extension

Perforated State

a state that completely surrounds another one

Microstate

A state that encompasses a very small land area.

Fragmented State

can be linguistically and culturally diverse

Compact State

a state that is reasonably small and centralized; it usually somewhat resembles a square

Kurdistan

a stateless nation that is spread throughout Turkey, Iraq and Syria

Palestine

stateless nation feuding with territory with Israel

Kashmir

A region in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent; India and Pakistan dispute control of it. Predominantly Muslim.

Chechnya

stateless nation in the Caucasus region of Russia

stateless nation

A nationality that is not represented by a state.

Exclaves

A segment of land that is apart from the mainland of its country (other examples: Hawaii and Alaska)

Enclaves

Any small and relatively homogenous group or region surrounded by another larger and different group or region

UNCLOS

A code of maritime law approved by the United Nations in 1982 that authorizes, among other provisions, territorial waters extending 12 nautical miles (22km) from shore and 200-nautical-mile-wide (370-km-wide) exclusive economic zones.

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)

the seazone extending 200 nautical miles from the coast over which a state has special rights as to the exploration and use of marine resources

Territorial Zone

12 mile zone belonging to a nation that no one may enter without permission

Northern Ireland/ Ireland

countries are separated by Catholicism and Protestantism

Argentina/ Chile

has the Andes mountain as a physical boundary.

India/Pakistan

countries are separated by religion Hinduism and Islam

USA/ Canada

countries are separated by a line of latitude for a portion which is a geometric boundary

USA/ Mexico

countries are separated by a physical boundary the Rio Grande for a portion

autonomous region

an area of a country that has a degree of autonomy, or has freedom from an external authority

This country is an example of a unitary state

China

This country is an example of a federal state

Switzerland

ethnic cleansing

Process in which more powerful ethnic group forcibly removes a less powerful one in order to create an ethnically homogeneous region

Syrian Civil War

An ongoing armed conflict in Syria between forces loyal to the government and those seeking to oust it. The conflict began on 15 March 2011, with popular demonstrations that grew nationwide by April 2011. Protesters demanded the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad, whose family has held the presidency in Syria since 1971.

Arctic boundary

five maritime boundaries between Russia, USA, Canada, Norway, and Denmark (Greenland)

Consequences of illegal immigration

refugee camps, increased employment in receiving country, poverty, hazardous conditions, difficulty gaining citizenship or asylum

Haiti and Dominican Republic

borderline is a product of French and Spanish colonialism