Intro to Political Geography

Introduction to Political Geography

• Overview of key terms: Nation, State, Nation-State

Key Concepts to Understand

• Nation: A community of people who share common cultural, historical, or ethnic characteristics.

• State: A political unit with defined territory and recognized sovereignty.

• Nation-State: A state whose territory corresponds to a specific nation.

• Multi-nation State: A state containing multiple ethnic groups with distinct national identities.

• Multi-State Nation: A nation that spreads across multiple state borders.

• Stateless Nation: A nation with no recognized sovereign territory or self-determination.

• Sovereignty: The authority of a state to govern itself, free from external interference.

Understanding States

• Definition: A state is an organized political unit governed by a recognized authority with defined borders and a permanent population.

• Sovereignty: States operate independently and manage their internal affairs.

  • Key points:

    • Equal abroad (recognition by other states)

    • Master at home (control over internal affairs)

Evolution of Nations

• Current state structures are relatively recent phenomena, changing through history.

• Examples of new nations: South Sudan (2011), Nepal (2008), and others since the 1990s.

Nations Defined

• A nation is formed by people who share common cultural ancestors, ethnicity, language, or religion.

  • Examples include Kurds, Cherokees, and Basques.

• Nations create a sense of identity and community, described as "imagined communities" by Benedict Anderson.

The Nation-State Concept

• A nation-state aligns its political boundaries with a nation’s territoriality.

• Self-determination: the idea that ethnicities should govern themselves.

• Historical significance: Nation-states defined at the Versailles Peace Conference post-WWI.

• Language as a primary factor in redrawing boundaries.

Modern Examples of Nation-States

• Denmark: A homogenous population mostly of ethnic Danes, schools promote multilingualism.

• Japan: Ethnic and cultural homogeneity with 99.5% ethnic Japanese, reflecting strong nationalism.

Multi-State and Multi-Nation States

• Multi-State Nation: A nation that exists within multiple states (e.g. North and South Korea).

• Multi-National State: Contains multiple ethnic groups that coexist (e.g. Former Yugoslavia).

Stateless Nations

• Stateless nations lack a defined state, exhibiting limited self-determination or sovereignty.

Struggle for Sovereignty

• Key examples of nations vying for sovereignty:

  • Kurds: Spread across Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Iran.

  • Palestinians: Reside mainly in Israel, Jordan, and Syria.

  • Basques, Chechens, Zulu, Hmong: Each holds a distinct identity desire for self-determination.

Examples of Nation-State Dynamics

• Nation without a State: Kurds without an independent state.

• Perfect Nation-State: Iceland, entirely composed of Icelanders.

• Bi-National State: Belgium, with Flemish and Walloon populations.

• Irredentism: The concept relating to ethnic affinities outside state boundaries (e.g., Albanians in Kosovo).

• Ethnic Exclave: Ethnic groups residing outside their main territory (e.g., Hungarians in Romania).

• Multi-State Nation: Germans in Germany and Austria, and a significant German-speaking population in Switzerland.

Microstates

• Defined as states with small land area and low population (e.g., Monaco, Maldives).

• Example: Size comparison to Washington, D.C. shows that power does not correlate with land area.