HGAP Unit 4 Flashcards

knowt vers.

Political geography

A branch of human geography concerned with the spatial analysis of political systems

Political map

A map that shows the spatial organization of the countries and territories on the entire globe at a given point in time

State or Country

An independent political unit with a centralized authority that makes claim to sole legal, political, and economic jurisdiction over a region with defined boundaries

Independent state

A state that rules itself and is not subject to the authority of another state

Sovreign state

A state that possesses the sole authority over the land & people within its boundaries

Nation

A community of people bound to a homeland and possessing a common identity based on shared cultural traits such as language, ethnicity, and religion

nation-state

The ideal political geographical unit, one in which the nation's geographic boundaries (a people and its culture) exactly match the state's territorial boundaries (governance and authority)

nation-state ideal

the idea that political authorities govern in the name of all a country's citizens, modern mass
communications link all residents, and state-based citizenship rights reinforce the idea of a national identity; a unified nation-state

Nationalism

Sense of belonging to and self-identifying with a national culture; people with a strong sense of nationalism derive a significant part of their social identity from a sense of belonging to a nation

stateless nation

An ethnic group or nation that does not possess its own state and is not the majority population in any nation-state (ex., Palestinians or Kurds)

multinational state

A country containing multiple national, ethnic, and religious groups within its boundaries (ex., the United Kingdom, including Wales, Scotland, and England)

autonomous region

A subdivision or dependent territory of a country that has a degree of self-government, or autonomy, in its decision-making (ex., Tibet, China)

multistate nations

Ethnic groups territorially divided by one or more international boundaries

semiautonomous region

A subdivision or dependent territory of a country that has some degree of, but not complete, self-government (ex., Catalonia, Spain)

Self-determination

A nation's ability to determine its own statehood and form its own allegiances and government; the freedom of culturally distinct groups to govern themselves in their own territories and form their own states

Core area

A small territorial nucleus from which a country grows in area and over time

Escarpments

Abrupt slopes that break up the general continuity of the terrain

Effective sovereignty

The idea that a state's power to enforce its sovereignty may extend beyond its territory & varies over time and from country to country. Globalization can either strengthen or weaken state sovereignty

Devolution

The movement of power from the central government to regional governments within the state

Ethnonationalism

a form of nationalism in which the "nation" is defined in terms of ethnicity (almost every country except the U.S.)

Neocolonialism

The set of economic and political strategies by which wealthy and powerful countries indirectly maintain or extend their influence over less wealthy areas

peripheral states

States that have relatively little industrial development, simple production systems focused mostly on agriculture and raw materials, and low levels of consumption of manufactured goods

Core States

States that have the most advanced industrial and military technologies, complex manufacturing systems, external political power, and the highest levels of wealth and mass consumption

Shatterbelt

Region of continuing and persistent fragmentation due to devolution and centrifugal forces

choke point

A narrow passage that restricts traffic to another region

strait

a narrow body of water that connects two larger bodies of water

boundary

A clearly demarcated line that marks both the limits of a territory and divisions between territories; often called a border at the global scale

Median-line principle

An approach to dividing and creating boundaries at the midpoint between two places.

Borderland

A region straddling both sides of an international boundary where national cultures overlap and blend to varying degrees (ex., the South U.S.)

Frontier

A region at the margins of state control and settlement

enclave

A territory surrounded by a country but not ruled by it (ex., Lesotho)

exclave

Part of a territory separated from the main body of the country to which it belongs.