AP HUG Unit 4 Vocab

autonomous region

an area of a country that has degree of autonomy, or has freedom from an external authority.

ethnicity

a group of people (often of the same race) who have a shared culture; the cultural component of race

failed state

a country where the government has become so weak it has lost control and can no longer provide basic government functions

irredentism

a movement to reclaim land by a group who feels they have a claim on that land

multinational state

a country that has substantial amounts of more than one ethnicity

multistate nation

a nation that controls at least one country but that a substantial portion of that group lives in an adjacent country

nation

a very cohesive ethnicity - the distinction between the two is not clear

nation-state

a country where the vast majority of the people are of the same ethnicity (nationality)

semiautonomous region

an area inside of a country that has some power to control itself more than other areas in the country

separatist movement

a group advocating for independence for a nation inside a state

sovereignty

the ability of a country to govern itself without outside influence

state

a country that has sovereignty (not what we think of in the United States!)

stateless nation

a nationality that does not have a country and isn't the majority in any country which implies that they "should" have a country

territoriality

the perceived connection of people, their culture, and their economic systems to the land

colonialism

when a more powerful country acquires full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically

imperialism

when one country dominates colonies far from their home country and often imposes their culture on them

independence movement

people that are trying to gain political independence for some area that they think should be its own country

self determination

the idea that nations should rule themselves instead of being controlled by others

chokepoint

a strategic narrow route providing passage through or to another region

neocolonialism

gaining indirect control of another country through economic or cultural pressures

shatterbelt

a region caught between stronger colliding external forces, under persistent stress, often fragment by aggressive rivals

antecedent boundary

a border that has divided people since before history was written

boundary

a border that separates administrative units such as countries or provinces

consequent boundary

a type of subsequent boundary that tries to divide the existing groups of people between two countries

geometric boundary

a border that is a straight line and drawn without taking into account the physical and cultural features of the land

relic boundary

a former border between countries that can still be detected on the cultural landscape

subsequent boundary

a border drawn after an area is settled

superimposed boundary

a boundary that is imposed on the cultural landscape which ignores pre-existing cultural patterns

maritime boundary

the extensions of a country’s territory that extend into the oceans around them

electoral college

the system used in American presidential elections that assigns a number of votes to states by population. It encourages candidates to not only focus on populated areas

gerrymandering

redrawing voting district boundaries to benefit one political party over another

redistricting

in the United States, after each census redrawing voting district due to population changes

reapportionment

process in which U.S. House of Representatives seats are re-allocated to different states, based off of population change

federalism

a country where the national government is strong and the regional governments are also strong so they share power

unitary state

a country where the national government is strong and the regional governments are weak