Chapter 9 | The Contemporary Political Map

9.1 The Complex World Political Map

Organizing Space

When studying a map or globe, human geographers look to understand how and why countries and regions are organized politically.
- The world political map has changed greatly since first civilizations first started to mark boundaries.
Political geography: The study of the ways in which the world is organized as a reflection of the power different groups hold over territory
Maps are not settled, so they can show interpretations of the world.
- Some countries recognize other countries/entities while some do not. Maps can reflect this.

States

States are manmade as a way to organize and manage humans.
State: A politically organized independent territory with a government, defined borders, and a permanent population; a country
- Also called a ‘country,’ especially in the U.S., where ‘state’ has another meaning.
State governments have power over a population that works to contribute to an economy, and is connected by transportation and communication systems.
A state has sovereignty.
Sovereignty: The right of a government to control and defend its territory and determine what happens within its borders
If a state is not recognized as an independent country by other states, it is not considered sovereign.
- The word ‘state’ in this context can be confusing for people from the United States: An independent state such as Sweden is not the same as a U.S. state.
The world is organized into a number of diverse sovereign states.
- Some cover vast territories while others are small in size.
- The number of independent states around the globe often changes in response to pressures from political circumstances.
There is no general agreement on the number of independent states around the globe.
- The United Nations recognizes 195 countries, but not every member state of the UN agrees on which countries are independent.

Nations

Nation: A cultural entity made up of people who have forged a common identity through a shared language, religion, heritage, or ethnicity—often all four of these
Whereas states are political entities, nations are cultural entities.
- Made of individuals with a forged common identity.
Some define a nation as including a “reasonably large population,” while others argue that the size of the population does not matter.
The people of a nation share a common vision of the future, which produces an undeniable feeling of togetherness.

Nation-States

Nation-state: A politically organized and recognized territory composed of a group of people who consider themselves to be a nation
The concept of a nation-state is an ideal; no existing country can be described as a pure nation-state
Some countries are closer to this definition than others.
- Estonia is often viewed as a nation-state because most of its people share an identity.
- Japan is also a common example, because nearly all its people share a culture.

Multistate Nations and Multinational States

Multistate nation: People who share a cultural or ethnic background but live in more than one country
- Ethnic Russians are considered to be a multistate nation, because sizeable numbers of them live outside of Russia.
- Some consider the two Koreas as one nation but two states, while others disagree with this view.
Multistate nations can pose challenges to political borders because people may feel more affinity for another state that is home to others of their ethnicity.
- Sometimes this situation leads governments to establish a policy of irredentism
Irredentism: Attempts by a state to acquire territories in neighboring states inhabited by people of the same nation
Multinational state: A country with various ethnicities and cultures living inside its borders
Multinational states sometimes struggle to create a sense of unity among different peoples.
Other times, multinational states are able to forge a national identity despite the presence of many different cultures.
- Although there has sometimes been conflict, the United States is broadly successful in integrating different groups.
Because of global migration and the diverse nature of boundaries, most countries today are multinational states.

Autonomous and Semiautonomous Regions

Semiautonomous: Describing a region that is given partial authority to govern its territories independently from the national government
- In China, the territory of Hong Kong has been autonomous, using a system of government and currency that differs from China’s
- In the United States, American Indian reservations are semiautonomous places that can operate under different laws.

Stateless Nations

Stateless nation: A people united by culture, language, history, and tradition but not possessing a state
Tribal nations in the United States are stateless nations.
The Basque people in Spain have a unique culture and language, but they do not have an independent state.
The Palestinians are considered a stateless nation because much of the world does not recognize Palestine.

9.2 Political Power and Geography

Issues of Space and Power

Beyond person space, there are countless ways different groups claim their territories.
- For example, schools typically have unique courts or fields, mascots, logos, and slogans.
Communities of all sizes also define themselves using markers such as signs, slogans, and sometimes nicknames.
- Gated communities are neighborhoods surrounded by literal fences to ensure that only residents can enter
At the national scale, countries control their land by forming borders, and establish a national identity in a variety of ways.
Territoriality: The attempt to influence or control people and events by delimiting and asserting control over a geographic area; the connection of people, their culture, and their economic systems to the land
- This is the basis for the power people try to exert and the political spaces they create.
Governments form around these spaces, build political power, and establish sovereignty.
- Sovereign countries, under international law, are permitted to defend their borders and establish laws governing their people

Controlling People, Land, and Resources

To assert and maintain political power, states impose control over their people, and, and resources.
- At times, states also attempt to control resources outside of their territory.

Neocolonialism

Colonialism: The practice of claiming and dominating overseas territories
Although most former colonies have declared independence and claimed their sovereignty, neocolonialism endures
Neocolonialism: The use of economic, political, cultural, or other pressures to control or influence other countries, especially former dependencies
- Neocolonialism is seen in many former African colonies that are free but have economies that rely on outside investment

Choke Points

Choke point: A narrow, strategic passageway to another place through which it is difficult to pass
Because they are limited in size and competed over, choke points can be sources of power.
- Waterway choke points can be straits, canals, or other restricted passages.
Choke points have historically played a significant role in military campaigns, as large armies or navies have difficulty moving through narrow passages.
Today, waterway choke points command the most attention and are a cause for international concern.
- High volumes of crucial commodities, such as food and oil, pass through them.
Countries that control choke points sometimes use them to expand their global influence or gain political advantages.

Shatterbelts

Shatterbelt: A region where states form, join, and break up because of ongoing, sometimes violent, conflicts among parties and because they are caught between the interests of more powerful outside states
- Can be caused by territoriality and a quest for political power.
Shatterbelts often exist in areas that have seen violence for many years, due to prolonged conflict between groups in the area.
- These hostilities may be worsened by outside powers seeking to expand their own influence over the region.

9.3 Political Processes Over Time

The Complicated Nature of Sovereignty

The concepts of sovereignty, nation-states, and self-determination shape the contemporary world.
Self-determination: The right of all people to choose their own political status
- States can sometimes be independent but not entirely sovereign.
Sometimes a country’s right to self-determination is violated, such as when other countries interfere with its natural development.

Legacies of Colonialism and Imperialism

Imperialism: The push to create an empire by exercising force or influence to control other nations or peoples
- Spain, Portugal, Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium took control of territories already inhabited by others.
They sent colonists that imposed their cultural values on those who lived there, exploiting the lands and people for economic advantage.
Two of the largest empires were controlled by Spain and Britain.
- Spanish territories spanned the globe, including land in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia, and even Oceania.
- The British said theirs was “the empire on which the sun never sets” because they controlled territory throughout the world.
The impacts of this imperialist wave endure today, with some of the most obvious colonial exports being language and religion.
- People speak English in the United States and Australia because these lands were settled by British colonists.
- Spanish is spoken throughout much of Central and South America for the same reason
- Latin America also has the world’s largest percentage of Catholics, due to the Portuguese and Spanish colonists and missionaries.
Imperialism hit Africa in the late 19th century, when European empires were looking to extend their power.
- In 1884, European leaders met at the Berlin Conference to define the boundaries between their conquered African possessions.
- Some of these boundaries still exist today.
- No Africans were present at the meeting, and no consideration was given for centuries-old ethnic boundaries and governance structures.
Many believe the economic and social problems affecting Africa today can be traced back to imperialism and the Berlin Conference.
- By extracting wealth, establishing export-driven economies, and creating conditions for conflict, European powers laid the groundwork for a troubled future.
In countries or regions affected by imperialism, peoples have sought self-determination through independence movements.
Devolution: The process that occurs when the central power in a state is broken up among regional authorities within its borders
- Devolution tends to happen along national lines, allowing members of a nation to claim greater authority over their territory.

9.4 The Nature and Function of Boundaries

Defining Political Boundaries

The amount of territory that falls within a state is defined by the boundaries that surround it.
- International boundaries are the outcome of geopolitical relationships and expressions of territoriality.
Boundaries are subject to change when relationships among countries change, or when people assert a claim to territory.
Even boundaries based on physical features can fluctuate.
- Features such as rivers, in fact, make notoriously poor borders because they often change course.
Countries establish boundaries by defining, delimiting, demarcating, and defending them.
Define (Boundaries): To explicitly state in legally binding documentation such as a treaty where boundaries are located, using reference points such as natural features or lines of latitude and longitude
- Definitional boundaries are typically straightforward and all interested parties agree on them.
Delimit: To draw boundaries on a map, in accordance with a legal agreement
Demarcate: To place physical objects such as stones, pillars, walls, or fences to indicate where a boundary exists
- Many stretches of border have no demarcation at all, because physical markers are thought to be impractical, unnecessary, or hard to construct.
Administer: To manage the way borders are maintained and how goods and people cross them
- Most of the world’s borders are, to some extent, restricted, or closed.
- Permission to enter a country typically comes in the form of documentation such as a visa.
- In rare cases, where borders are completely restricted, people are not permitted to cross at all.

Types of Boundaries

Geographers define many types of boundaries by considering both their physical and how, when, and why they were created.
Antecedent boundary: A border established before an area becomes heavily settled
Subsequent boundary: A border drawn in an area that has been settled and where cultural landscapes exist or are in the process of being established
- These types of boundaries are the most common, since the process of establishing them is lengthy and related to territoriality.
Consequent boundary: A type of subsequent boundary that takes into account the differences that exist within a cultural landscape, separating groups that have distinct languages, religions, ethnicities, or other traits
Superimposed boundary: A border drawn over existing accepted borders by an outside or conquering force
- This occurred in Africa when European colonial powers met at the Berlin Conference.
Geometric boundary: A mathematically drawn boundary that typically follows lines of latitude and longitude or is a straight-line arc between two points
- Many states in the western United States, such as Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah, have geometric boundaries.
- Geometric boundaries may be superimposed, as in Africa, or they may be antecedent.
- Geometric boundaries can be flawed and cause conflict when they are applied without thought for the people living on the land being delimited.
Relic: A former boundary that no longer has an official function
- These borders illustrate how the control and management of geographic space changes over time.

Sea Boundaries

Not all boundaries exist on land, many are miles out to sea.
Also called maritime boundaries, sea boundaries allow countries access to offshore resources like oil and coastline for wind farms.
Countries with sea boundaries are typically more economically developed because having maritime ports makes it easier to trade with other countries.
- Landlocked countries have also suffered from not receiving a flow of people and ideas.
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS): The international agreement that established the structure of maritime boundaries
Exclusive economic zone (EEZ): An area that extends 200 nautical miles from a state's coast; a state has sole access to resources found within the waters or beneath the sea floor of its EEZ
- UNCLOS also specifies rules for determining how territorial seas and EEZs should be measured and delimited.
- Countries exert different levels of control over their territorial seas and their EEZs.
States have complete sovereignty over their territorial seas, covering down to beneath the seabed and up into the airspace above the water.
The restriction on this sovereignty is that countries must permit “innocent passage” of foreign ships through their waters.
- Innocent passage is defined as direct travel through territorial waters between two points outside of a country’s borders or from a point outside the country’s borders to one of its ports.
States do not have full sovereignty over their EEZ, but they do have sole access to resources found within it.
- Countries also have the exclusive right to generate energy from the waves, wind, or currents.
Along with the rights governing territorial waters and EEZs come certain responsibilities.
- UNCLOS requires coastal countries to employ sound environmental practices in the waters they control.
- In addition, states are required to make public any dangers to navigation that they know of.

Why do Boundaries Matter?

Political boundaries are the result and the reflection of the ways humans divide space.
Some boundaries come from balanced negotiation, while others demonstrate power imposed by one group over another.
Sometimes boundaries follow ethnic or cultural lines in an attempt to delimit nation-states, and sometimes they divide nations among multiple countries.
- Boundaries can be sources of both conflict and harmony.