Unit 4: Political Geography

state

state

name for a country with boundaries, population, sovereignty, and recognized

sovereignty

ultimate power that isn’t always agreed on

nation

group of people who share heritage, beliefs, or land

nation-states

singular nation of people who meet requirements to be a state

stateless nations

nation of people without a state of their own

multi-national state

country with more than one nation

autonomous region

area in a state where the people there have high autonomy

multistate nation

nation has a state, but nation is divided among multiple states

nationalism

identification with one’s nation and support for it, especially to the detriment of the interest of other nations

centripetal force

unite people by pulling them together

centrifugal force

break apart states and push people away from each other

devolution/balkanization

state breaks down through struggles among groups with conflict sometimes happening

imperialism

ways of influencing a country or group

colonialism

people move into and settle on the land of another country

neocolonialism

transnational businesses control economy and make/sell products

genocide

planned mass killing/removal of a group because of race, religion, etc.

geopolitics

governors make laws based on geographic features and how places interact with each other

territoriality

people’s willingness to defend the land they claim

partition

dividing a territory into separate countries/regions

annexation

adding territory to a state

self-determination

ability/desire of a region to govern itself

gerrymandering

political borders are drawn to benefit a party/candidate

they use borders to give politicians power

fronteir

area where no one has authority

steps for creating a boundary

boundary evolution: wording of a treaty that creates a boundary

delimitation: drawing border on paper

demarcation: physically representing border

border landscape

area on either side of a boundary

inclusionary and exclusionary border

welcoming

not welcoming

antecendent boundaries

naturally occurring divisions

subsequent boundaries

created by people based on cultural differences

superimposed boundaries

created by a third party

relic boundaries

boundaries that have disappeared but people still act like its there

geometric boundaries

based on latitude and longitude

straight lines

irredentism

border splits ethnic groups and groups want reunification

definitional boundary dispute

center on wording of a treaty

locational boundary dispute

disagreement about actual border location

operational boundary dispute

disagreement on border’s use/abuse

allocation boundary dispute

challenge the use of a border’s natural resources

law of the sea (unclos)

UN agreement that created international law on the sea

territorial waters (law of the sea)

12 miles from borders coast is controlled by that country

exclusive economic zones (law of the sea)

200 miles from border’s coast and other countries can’t use resources

median-line principle (law of the sea)

if two country’s claims overlap, a line is drawn that splits exclusive economic zones

global commons (law of the sea)

no one can extract resources, but can do scientific research

china’s nine dash line

line the government drew that represents historical claims

landlock state

no access to sea and surrounded by other countries

coastal state

access to sea and global trade

unitary state

power is concentrated in federal government

federal state

power is split among different levels of government

enclaves

state that is completely surrounded by another

exclaves

land that is not connected to its state

chokepoint

place that’s hard to pass through

shatterbelt

region that is prone to breaking up

confederation government

multiple states agree to work together, but stay moslty independent

supranationalism

creates a government with certain powers that countries can be part of while maintaining almost total sovereignty

devolution

transfer of power from large to small government