APHuG Unit 5 Vocabulary

212. Anocracy: A political system that is not fully democratic or autocratic, but rather a mix of the two.

213. Autocracy: A political system where a single individual holds all power and authority.

214. Boundary: An invisible line that marks the extent of a state's territory.

215. City-state: A sovereign state that consists of a city and its dependent territories.

216. Colonialism: The policy or practice of acquiring full or partial control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.

217. Commonwealth: A political community founded for the common good; often refers to a group of countries with shared interests.

218. Compact state: A state in which the distance from the center to any boundary is relatively short, creating a roughly circular shape.

219. Democracy: A political system in which power is vested in the people, who rule either directly or through freely elected representatives.

220. Elongated state: A state with a long, narrow shape.

221. Federal state: A political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions under a central government.

222. Fragmented state: A state that includes several discontinuous pieces of territory.

223. Frontier: A zone where no state exercises complete political control, often a marginal or disputed area.

224. Gerrymandering: The process of redrawing legislative boundaries to benefit the party in power.

225. Landlocked state: A state that does not have a direct outlet to the sea.

226. Microstate: A very small state in terms of both population and land area.

227. Multiethnic state: A state that contains more than one ethnicity.

228. Multinational state: A state that contains two or more ethnic groups with traditions of self-determination.

229. Nation: A group of people with a common culture, history, and sense of identity, usually occupying a specific territory.

230. Nation-state: A state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular ethnicity that has been transformed into a nationality.

231. Perforated state: A state that completely surrounds another state.

232. Prorupted state: A compact state with a large projecting extension.

233. Self-determination: The concept that ethnicities have the right to govern themselves.

234. Sovereignty: The ability of a state to govern its territory free from control by other states.

235. Stateless nation: A nation that does not have a state.

236. State: An area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government with control over its internal and foreign affairs.

237. Unitary state: A state where most of the power is in the hands of the central government officials.

238. Annexation: The formal act of acquiring territory by conquest or occupation.

239. Antecedent boundary: A boundary that was created before the present day cultural landscape developed.

240. Berlin Conference (1884): A meeting where European countries agreed on rules for the colonization of Africa.

241. Border landscape: The physical and political landscape of a border area.

242. Brandt Line: A line that divides the world into the more developed "North" and the less developed "South."

243. Buffer state: A small neutral country situated between two larger, hostile countries to prevent conflict.

244. Capital: The city where a region's government is located.

245. Centrifugal force: A force that divides people and countries.

246. Centripetal force: A force that unites people and countries.

247. Confederation: A union of sovereign states with a weak central authority.

248. Consequent boundary: A boundary that coincides with some cultural divide, such as religion or language.

249. Decolonization: The process by which colonies gain their independence from the colonizing country.

250. Devolution: The transfer of power from a central government to regional governments.

251. Domino theory: The idea that if one country in a region falls to communism, surrounding countries will also fall.

252. Electoral regions: The distinct geographic areas that each elect representatives to a legislative body.

253. Enclave: A territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state.

254. Exclave: A portion of a state that is separated from the main territory and surrounded by another country.

255. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ): A sea zone over which a state has special rights regarding exploration and use of marine resources.

256. Forward capital: A capital city relocated to a remote or peripheral area for economic or strategic reasons.

257. Geopolitics: The study of the effects of geography on politics and international relations.

258. Growth pole: An area designated by government policies to spur economic development and growth.

259. Irredentism: The policy of advocating the restoration to a country of any territory formerly belonging to it.

260. Landlocked boundary: A boundary that does not touch any coastal waters.

261. Mackinder Heartland Theory: A theory that suggests the control of Eastern Europe is key to controlling the world.

262. Median-line principle: A boundary that is drawn midway between the coasts of two states.

263. Mercantilism: The economic theory that trade generates wealth and is stimulated by the accumulation of profitable balances.

264. Nation: A cultural-political community that has become conscious of its autonomy, unity, and particular interests.

265. National iconography: Symbols, imagery, and symbols that are reflective of a nation's identity.

266. Nationalism: A strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one's country.

267. NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a military alliance of European and North American democracies.

268. Nunavut: An autonomous territory of Canada created in 1999 for the Inuit people.

269. Raison d’être: The most important reason or purpose for someone or something's existence.

270. Ratzel Organic Theory: The theory that states are like organisms and need space to grow.

271. Reapportionment: The process of reallocating seats in a legislative body based on changes in population.

272. Regionalism: The practice of regional rather than central systems of administration or economic, cultural, or political affiliation.

273. Relict boundary: A boundary that no longer functions but can still be detected on the cultural landscape.

274. Reapportionment: The process of reallocating seats in a legislative body based on changes in population.

275. Satellite state: A country that is formally independent but under heavy influence or control by another country.

276. Separatism: The advocacy or practice of separation of a certain group of people from a larger body.

277. Shatterbelt: A region caught between stronger colliding external cultural-political forces.

278. Spykman’s Rimland Theory: The theory that the coastal fringes of Eurasia are key to controlling the world.

279. Subsequent boundary: A boundary that is established after the settlement in that area occurred.

280. Superimposed boundary: A boundary that is imposed on the cultural landscape, which ignores pre-existing cultural patterns.

281. Supranationalism: The idea of multiple states coming together to form a union or alliance for mutual benefit.

282. Territoriality: The effort to control pieces of the Earth's surface for personal, political, or social ends.

283. UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea): An international agreement that establishes the legal framework for marine and maritime activities.

284. Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory: A theory that suggests the world economy is divided into a hierarchy of three types of countries: core, semi-periphery, and periphery.

285. Warsaw Pact: A military alliance of communist nations in Eastern Europe organized in 1955 in response to NATO.