Unit 4 Human Geo Vocab

Geopolitics

study of government and its policies as affected by physical geography

Territoriality

the defense of a bounded physical space against encroachment by other individuals

Defined Boundary

boundary is created in agreement between two parties in a treaty or other legal document

Delimited Boundary

boundary is drawn on a map by cartographers and cartographers and “agreed” to by two sides

Demarcated Boundary

a boundary marked by some visible means on the ground

EX: wall posts, fence, etc

Natural Boundary

a boundary created by physical features, such as mountain, river, or strait; Missouri River

Geometric Boundary

political boundaries that are defined and delimited by straight lines; Libya and Egypt

Cultural Boundary

a boundary that follows the distribution of cultural characteristics; rice or wheat based food in China

Antecedent Boundary

a boundary line establishes before the area in question is well populated; US and Canada’s use of 49th parallel

Subsequent Boundary

a boundary drawn after a cultural landscape is already in place; N. Ireland and Republic of Ireland

Relic Boundary

a former boundary line that is still discernible and marked by some cultural landscape features; boundary between West and East Germany

Superimposed Boundary

a boundary line placed over and ignoring an existing cultural pattern; Berlin Conference dividing Africa

Militarized Boundary

a boundary that is heavily guarded and discourages movement; N & S Korea

Open Boundary

a boundary where crossing is unimpeded; Schengen Agreement areas of Europe

Definitional Boundary

conflict over how to interpret the language of the border agreement in a treaty or boundary contract; mountain areas of Chile and Argentina

Locational Boundary

a boundary dispute on where a boundary should be; post-WWI Germany and Poland

Operational Boundary

a boundary dispute that involves how the boundary functions; Syrian refugees crossing into Europe

Allocational Boundary

a boundary dispute that involves conflicting claims to the natural resources of a border region; Iraq invaded Kuwait for digging horizontal oil wells

United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea

establishes how far into the ocean a state’s influence extends

Territorial Sea

a belt of coastal waters extending at most 12 nautical miles from the baseline of a coastal state

Contiguous Zone

24 nautical miles from baseline, state can enforce laws in areas of customs, taxation, immigration or pollution

Exclusive Economic

to 200 nautical miles in which state has right to explore, exploit, conserve, and manage its resources

High Seas

refers to areas of the sea beyond the national jurisdiction of any state. also called open waters

Electorate

all of the people entitled to vote in a given election

Census

a periodic official count of a country’s population. in the US, this happens every 10 years

Reapportionment

the process of reassigning representation based on population, after every census

Redistricing

the drawing of new electoral district boundary lines in response to population changes

Gerrymandering

process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefitting the party in power

Cracking

dividing an opponent’s voters into other districts to weaken the opponent’s voter base

Packing

drawing the lines so they include as many of the opposing party’s voters as possible

Shatterbelt

a politically unstable region where differing elements come into contact and conflict

Unitary State

a state with a strong central government that retains most of the political power

Federal State

an internal organization of a state that allocates most powers to units of local government

Compact State

a state in which the distance from the center to any boundary does not vary significantly

Elongated

a state with a long, narrow shape

Prorupted State

an otherwise compact state with a large projecting extension

Fragmented State

a state whose territory contains isolated parts, separated and discontinuous

Annexation

the adding of a region to the territory of an existing political unit

Supranationalism

term applied to associations created by three or more states for their mutual benefit, NATO, EU, UN

Devolution

transferring responsibilities for policies from the federal government to state and local governments

Subnationalism

regional and other alliances within a state that rival the state’s dominant nationalism

Balkanization

process by which a state breaks down through conflicts among it ethnicities

Democratization

the transition to a more democratic political regime

Homogeneous

all of the same or similar kind or nature

State

a nation or territory considered as an organized political community under one government

Sovereignty

ability of a state to govern its territory free form control of its internal affairs by other states

Nation

a group of people with a common culture living in a territory and having a strong sense of unity

Nation-State

a country whose population possesses a substantial degree of cultural homogeneity and unity

Multinational State

state with more than one nation within its borders

Autonomous region

self ruled within another country- examples: Honk Kong in China, Northern Ireland in the UK

Stateless Nation

nation that does not have a state

Multistate Nation

nation that stretches across borders and across states

Nationalism

a strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one’s country

Centripetal Forces

forces that tend to unite and bind a country together together, PET

Centrifugal Forces

forces that tend to divide a state

Imperialism

domination by one country of the political, economic, or cultural life of another country or region

Colonialism

an attempt by one country to establish settlements and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles in another terriotory

Berlin Conference, 1884

European powers divided up Africa without worrying about borders or cultures

Decolonization

the process by which former colonies gain their independence from the mother country

Neocolonialism

the continuation, in a former colony, of colonial exploitation without formal political control

Genocide

deliberate extermination of a racial, religion, ethnicity, or nation group

Cold War

the power struggle between the Soviet Union and the United States after World War II

Satellite State

a country that is economically and politically dependent on another country

Ethnic Cleansing

the systematic killing or extermination of an entire ethnicity