AP Human Geo Unit 4
Key Point 1 : Where are States Distributed?
The United Nations was created after WW2, their goal is to maintain international peace. starting with 49 member states. (now 193 states in 2024)
It is hard to do peacekeeping because no one wants to provide funds for troops, even though it is meant to be a shared ‘burden’.
A sovereign is an organized political unit, has control with domestic and internal affairs/foreign affairs. They are an independent state.
Self determination is when you want to self determine your own country, (ex. Yugoslavia) wanted independence + autonomy and wanted borders/boundaries drawn to support their own country.
Semi Autonomous, is when they don’t have complete control over their own government, (ex. Native American Reservations) U.S government cannot go on reservation property unless they are invited on the land, like crimes.
Largest Landmass (Brazil, Australia, Canada, Russia, China.)
A microstate is a very small state (Monaco is the smallest state in the world.)
Taiwan is the most populous state in the world that is not recognized by the UN as a state.
In 1971, the US recognized Taiwan as an independent country
Taiwan manufacturer necessary ingredients for the worlds technology + their government is democratically elected
Western Saharas is on the west coast of Northern Africa, between Morocco and Mauritania. Both countries claim the land, which made the US call for a referendum. Asking the people if they want to be a part of the two lands. The referendum has been delayed for years, it is still protected by the UN. The potential oil reserves attract the countries for control.
The Arctic circle is surrounded by Russia, Canada, U.S, Greenland, and Scandanivia.
The Arctic circle melting is exposing new resources that we can use
Russia is trying to lay claim on the Arctic Circle because of the water passages (military bases, reaching europe faster)
There is an international agreement that countries are allowed to send research teams to Antarctica.
The fertile crescent is an area in the middle east, where we believe civilization establishes itself to govern itself. Building tribes with each other and then building walls, from there they became cities to states.
A city state is a city and its surrounding countryside that creates their sovereign state.
A nation is a group of people that share cultural heritage. Like the oneida indian nation, they are descendants of the oneida tribe.
Key Point 2 : Why are nation states difficult to create?
A nation state is a country with a significant pure ethnicity race (80% or more)
Every country in the world is multi-ethnic, a country with many ethnicities in it.
Some countries are multinational, a country that has more than one tradition of self rule. It has groups that have had a historic tradition of self rule. (The UK is a multinational country, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland have history as being sovereign nations but come together.)
Irredentism is a political policy, in which a country extends their boundaries/borders to “swallow” up another countries ethnicity. (Ex. A Strong leader/country wants more of their ethnic people to live near the motherland, they will take action to extend their borders so that more ethnics live within the motherland. Hitler is a prime example of this ideology and Putin.)
A Centripetal force pulls you together, like a strong leader, an external threat, or how you were educated, political philosophy, promoting nationalism.
Centrifugal forces or Devolutionary forces divide us , religion, language, rich vs poor, geography, cultural and ethnicity differences.
Denmark is a nation state, meaning 80% of the population are Dens. Denmark does not like immigrants at all, they prefer staying ‘pure’. Excellent health care, jobs, and education.
The Soviet Union was formed after the Russian revolution, and the goal is communism. It was the largest multinational state, had 15 different republics but was united by communism.
The boundaries did not match the ethnicities, Russia recognizes 30 nationalities, and over 20 % of the population is not purely Russian.
Challenges to Sovereignty
Devolution means breaking/ transferring power to a different level of government.
Ethnonationalism is when the nation is divided because of ethnicity
A stateless nation of people is a group of people who have a history of self rule and do not have a place to call their own to be sovereign (Palestine, Kurds, Hmong, Chechens, Romas or Gypsies.)
A colony is a territory that is legally tied to a sovereign state. They are not independent but have some semi-autonomy.
Imperialism vs Colonialism.
Imperialism is cultural and economic control, European countries imperialized/ claiming economic control of countries.
Coloinism includes political control.
After WW2 there were only 15 African and Asian countries who were autonomous and controlled power in the state. During the 60s and 90s many counties in afro asia gained independence.
The French and British were the biggest colonizers of the times.
After countries gained independence, new countries are formed but colonizers set tribal groups up to fight amongst themselves (Rwanda)
Superimposed boundaries are drawn political boundaries but do not match ethnicities, since the match up is wrong, ethnic conflicts are created. (AFRICA)
Neocolonialism is economic, cultural, and political pressure on former colonies. The French put pressure on North Africa, the British put pressure on Sub Saharan Africa/India. The colonies still have significant resources that the companies of imperialist nations still want. So they keep these connections and get (secretly) involved in elections.
Puerto Rico is an American colony, are U.S citizens, Pay taxes, but are not able to vote in their land, and has no representation in congress.
Key Point 3 : Why do Boundaries cause problems?
Boundaries are invisible lines or walls to identify where their lands begins and where they end
Typically boundaries start as zone, where nobody had actual claim to it at first,
If you have a physical boundary that demarks your state from another, there are usually mountains (big to cross, sparsely inhabited). An example of a mountain boundary is the Andes mountain in between Chile and Argentina
Deserts are also a physical boundary, very dry and hard to cross.
There is also water/seas, one of the most common boundary conditions.
When you have a water boundary, they use a median point or the mid way point.
Law of the Seas is international law of what happens where, almost every single country has signed it, upsetting the United States. (Many conservative republicans are trying to block it because they don't believe they should respond to international law).
Rules: What belongs to your country is 12 nautical miles, or 13.5 miles is sovereign territory. These miles are a part of their country/ the water coast line.
EEZ, Exclusive Economic Zone, 200 hundred nautical miles, this gives the country economic rights to what there is(oil, fishing, salvaging shipwrecks).
After 200 nautical miles, there are the high seas. The high seas belong to no one. It is unregulated (fishing), anyone can go out there and go fishing except whaling/whales. Because there is no regulation in the high seas, crimes are committed (think Somali Pirates). The Navy can’t help in situations like these because there is no military from countries that can help.
Relic (left over) Boundaries are old boundaries/reference points used to separate the country (ex. Great Wall of China, Berlin Wall)
A superimposed boundary, the imperialist ignore cultural groups and just draws a new map who live in a less fortunate country
A subsequent boundary is drawn once they see who's living there, a more peaceful boundary. (Northern Ireland, Bangladesh)
Antecedent (before) boundary has existed before the permanent settlement of people was there (49th Parallel for Canada and United States. It’s natural because of the water and rocky land.)
Consequent Boundaries are some that exist because of a cultural divide (Vatican, Palestine, Gaza Strip)
Geometric Boundaries are linear, like drawing nice lines on a map (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea)
Cultural boundaries due to language and religion, (Pakistan and India, Walloons and Flanders.)
Cyprus is divided by culturally Greek in the south and culturally Turkey in the north. Even though they are all Cypriots, they cannot get along because of their cultural differences.
The Capital Nicosia (Which is where the cultures are divided) is guarded by the UN.
A Unitary Government is a centralized government (France), A federal government is shared power between the states and the national government (US, Poland).
For A democracy people vote for what they want and in the Autocracy, there is an authoritarian leader.
Enclaves are a smaller homogeneous group of people (same ethnicity, same culture) That live in a very specific era of our county. (Enclaves of Mandarin Chinese in Quebec)
Exclave is when you have a part of your country that isn’t attached to the mainland of your country (Hawaii, Alaska in the US).
A Buffer State is a neutral county, their job is to separate conflicting countries (Ex. Belgium between France and Germany)
The Shatter belt Theory is when there is too much pressure on the buffer state, its close to breaking or ‘shatter’
A choke-point is a geographic feature (canal, bridges) a narrow area to where soldiers may be forced to walk through which makes them incredibly vulnerable to attacks.
The Heartland Theory is if you can control all of Europe, you can control the world. Hitler used this belief..
The Rimland Theory is if you can control the edge of Europe and Asia + the Ocean, you can control the world. Japan used this belief.
Compact Shapes are Eco centered, an example would be Poland. This allows for easier navigation and excellent communication, but requires extensive border protection.
Protruded Shapes are states this is a body of land that extends from one side, an example would be Thailand. There are many resources but requires defense on the extended area.
Elongated States are states that are much longer than they are wide, which can create challenges in transportation and communication. An example of an elongated state is Chile, where the distance from north to south is significant.
Fragmented States consist of several disconnected pieces of territory, which can complicate governance and resource distribution. An example of a fragmented state is Indonesia, where many islands are spread over a vast area.
Perforated States are completely surrounded by another state. An example of a perforated state is South Africa, which surrounds the nation of Lesotho.
Landlocked States are countries that do not have any coastline or access to the ocean. An example of a landlocked state is Switzerland, which relies on neighboring countries for access to maritime trade routes.
Key Point 4 : Why do States Cooperate with each other?
Supra-nationalism, is when states give up a little bit of autonomy to join a larger group. (Military action, economics, political) Examples would be NATO, World Trade Center, European Union, et cetera.
The United Nations is a good example of supra-nationalism, it is based on agreements and the fair share the countries need to give away (at least their supposed to)
NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty organization, this is a military group established during the Cold War by the former allies. If a NATO member is attacked, the group is permitted to defend the country in a military war.
The AU or African Union promotes economic integration and some military bases set up for economic issues.
The European Union is an economic and military union, each of the members are independent countries but have chosen to create an umbrella organization to handle judicial, political, and economic goals. Germany has the strongest economy so they lead by default.
They decided they would have a common currency, the Euros. Britain never changes over, keeping pounds before leaving permanently.
The EUros is based on all the member countries economy, so if one member country goes down/bankrupt it can affect the value of the Euro.
Having a passport of an EU member country, you can travel freely. This led to the problem of immigrants being free to travel all over the Western Europe. Some countries did not like these new immigrants coming in (like Denmark).
The major problem is that countries do not want to lose their national identity. They still want to be acknowledged as their own country, not just as the EU.
The Eurozone Crisis is based on the member countries economy, Greece’s economy almost went bankrupt. They heavily rely on tourism, many workers work 3-4 days a week. Greece was threatened that if they did not increase their economy, they would have to leave. (Had to work 5 days a week, could not retire young, et cetera).
Brexit is the name given to Great Britain wanting to leave the EU. Their issue was immigration, similar to Trump rhetoric on immigration. England was having similar political challenges. Britain has better social welfare programs, so immigrants were attracted to that.
Ireland did not agree with the decision for Brexit to leave. They couldn’t freely travel to other European countries anymore.
The Arab Spring is an example of how protest can lead to change, citizens of different countries (Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, and Egypt) start to use tech to share information to change their government to being less restrictive. This was called the Arab Spring.
Terrorism is system violence intended to intimidate a population in order to get their government to make change. It isn’t directed just to political figures, it is directed towards the average citizens. This is so people can put pressure on the government to make changes.
They are groups dedicated to violence against citizens. Individuals who live in a country they disagree with, they deserve it.
State sponsored Terrorism is when a government of a country directly or indirectly supports terrorist. (Discreetly providing weapons, Acting oblivious to their presence, Sending funds, Providing intelligence.)