Unit 4 (Module 25 and 26) - AP Human Geography (Vocab)

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

stare or country

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

independent state

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

sovereign state

a state that possesses the sole authority over the land and 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 national identity

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 pop. in any nation-state

multinational state

a country containing multiple national, ethnic, and religious groups within its boundaries

multistate nations

ethnic groups territoriality divided by one or more international boundaries

autonomous region

a subdivision or dependent territory of a country that has a degree of self-government, or autonomy, in its decision making

semiautonomous region

a subdivision or dependent territory of a country that has some degree of, but not complete, self-government

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

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 and varies over time and from country to country

devolution

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