AP Human Geography Unit 4

State

the largest political entity and the formal term for a country. A state must have a defined boundary, a permanent population, maintain sovereignty over affairs, and must be recognized by other states

Sovereignty

the power of a political, or government, to rule over its own affairs

Nation

a group of people who have certain things in common: a common cultural heritage, a set of beliefs/values that unify them, a traditional claim to a particular space as their homeland, and a desire to establish their own state or express self-rule

Nation-State

a nation of people who fulfill the qualifications of a state

Multinational State

a country that contains more than one nation

Autonomous Region

a defined area within a state that has a high degree of self-government and freedom from its parent state

Semi-autonomous Region

a region that has a degree of, but not complete self-rule

Stateless Nation

a cultural group that has no independent political entity

Multistate Nation

when a nation has a state of its own but stretches across borders of other states

Nationalism

a nation’s desire to create and maintain a state of its own

Centripetal Force

a force that helps unify people within a country

Centrifugal Force

a force that divides people within a country

Imperialism

influencing another country or group of people by direct conquest, economic control, or cultural dominance

Colonialism

a type of imperialism in which people move into and settle onto the land of another country

Berlin Conference

sometimes known as the Congo Conference, it was a meeting in which representatives from major European empires laid claims on the continent of Africa

Self-Determination

the right of people in a colony to choose their own sovereign government without external influence

Decolonization

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

Genocide

an organized mass killing in which people are targeted because of their race, religion, ethnicity, or nationality

Cold War

a period of diplomatic, political, and military rivalry between the U.S and the USSR. It started at the end of WWII, continued through the collapse of the Berlin War, and ended with the breakup of the Soviet Union

Satellite State

a state dominated by another state politically or economically

Devolution

the process in which one or more regions are given increased autonomy by the central political unit