Unit 4: Political Geography

These flashcards cover key vocabulary terms and definitions about geopolitical concepts.

Annex

The formal acquisition of territory by conquest or occupation.

Antecedent Boundary

A boundary drawn before a large population was present.

Autonomous Region

Regions that have their own local and legislative bodies to govern a population that is an ethnic minority within the state.

Balkanization

The breaking of a state into smaller, often hostile, states along ethno-linguistic lines.

Berlin Conference

An 1884 meeting of the major colonial powers in which they divided Africa into colonies without any consultation of Africa leaders.

Census

A count of the population that is required by the US Federal Government every 10 years.

Centrifugal Force

A force that tends to break states apart or prevent them from forming.

Centripetal Force

A force that unites people together, leading to the creation or strengthening of a state.

Choke Point

A strategic strait or canal which would be closed or blocked to stop sea traffic.

City State

A small sovereign state that is made up of a town or city and the surrounding area.

Cold War

A period of diplomatic, political, and military rivalry between the US and USSR that started at the end of WWII and lasted until the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the break up of the USSR in 1991.

Colonialism

A particular type of imperialism in which people move into and settle on the land of another country.

Consequent Boundary

A boundary created to accommodate a region’s cultural diversity.

Decolonization

When colonized nations win their independence from a colonizing force.

Defined Boundary

A boundary established by a legal document such as a treaty that divides one entity from another.

Delimited Boundary

A boundary line drawn on a map to show the limits of a space.

Demarcated Boundary

A boundary identified by physical objects placed on the landscape (signs, fences, walls, etc.).

Democratization

The transition from autocratic to more representative forms of politics.

Devolution

The transfer of political power from the central government to lower, subnational levels of government.

Domino Theory

The idea that if one country came under the influence of Communism, then surrounding countries would follow suit.

Ethnic Cleansing

The forced removal of a major ethnic group from a territory.

Failed State

A state within which the government has lost the ability to provide the most basic of public services.

Federal State

A country where governmental authority is shared among a central government and various other smaller regional authorities.

Forward Capital

A symbolically relocated capital city, usually for economic or strategic reasons.

Geometric Boundary

A boundary that is a straight line drawn by people that does not follow any physical feature closely.

Genocide

The deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that group.

Geopolitics

The study of the effects of geography on politics and relations among states.

Gerrymandering

The drawing of boundaries for political districts by the party or group in power to extend or cement their advantage.

Heartland Theory

The idea that land-based power is essential in achieving global domination.

Imperialism

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

Irredentism

The process by which part of an existing state breaks away and merges with another.

Microstate

A country that is small in terms of both population and area.

Militarized Boundary

A boundary that is heavily guarded and discourages crossing and movement.

Multinational State

A country that contains more than one nation.

Multi-State Nation

When a nation has a state of its own but stretches across the borders of other states.

Nation

A group of people who have a common cultural heritage and attachment to a homeland.

Nationalism

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

Nation-State

A singular nation of people who fulfill the qualifications of a state.

Natural Boundary

A boundary based on physical features to separate entities (rivers, mountains, deserts, etc.).

Neocolonialism

When control of developing countries is exerted through indirect means, whether economic, political, or cultural.

Open Boundary

A boundary where crossing is unimpeded.

Organic Theory

States are born and need nourishment and living space to survive, which they get by annexing territory from weaker states.

Reapportionment

Changing the number of representatives granted to each district so it reflects the district’s population.

Redistricting

Redrawing district boundaries so that each district contains roughly the same number of people.

Relic Boundary

A boundary that no longer exists or functions, but evidence of it can still be seen on the landscape.

Rimland Theory

The idea that power is derived from controlling strategic maritime areas of the world.

Satellite State

When one state is dominated by another politically and economically.

Self-Determination

The process by which a group of people form their own state and choose their own government.

Shatterbelt

A region that suffers from instability because it is located between two larger powers that work in opposition to each other.

Sovereignty

The power of a political unit to rule over its own affairs.

State

In international relations, the formal term for a country. It has established boundaries, a permanent population, and sovereignty over its domestic and international affairs.

Stateless Nation

Nations that have no independent political entity.

Subnationalism

When peoples’ primary allegiance is to a traditional group or ethnicity rather than the state.

Subsequent Boundary

A boundary drawn to accommodate religious, linguistic, ethnic, or economic differences.

Superimposed Boundary

A boundary drawn by outside powers.

Supranational

Outside or beyond the authority of one national government.

Supranational Organization

An organization of three or more countries that transcend national boundaries to make decisions on a geopolitical level.

Territoriality

A willingness by one person or a group of people to defend the space they claim.

UN Convention on the Law of the Sea

A convention that governs relations among countries about how to use and control the oceans.

Unitary State

A country where governmental authority is held primarily by the central government.