AP Human Geography Unit 4

Balkanization

• Process by which a state breaks down through conflicts among its ethnicities.

Binational or Multinational State

• State that contains more than one nation.

Boundary

• Invisible line that marks the extent of a state's territory.

Centripetal Force

• Unifies people and enhances support for a state.

Centrifugal Force

• Divides people and countries.

Cold War

• Conflict between the US and the Soviet Union with no direct confrontation.

Colonies

• Settlement subject to or connected with the parent nation.

Compact States

• State where the distance from the center to any boundary does not vary significantly.

Core Area

• The portion of a country that contains its economic, political, intellectual, and cultural focus.

Core-Periphery

• Model where underdeveloped countries depend on a developed core region.

Cultural Boundary

• Invisible boundary made by cultural beliefs and traits.

Democratization

• Spread of representative government.

Locational Disputes

• Conflict over location, usually associated with physical boundaries.

Territorial Disputes

• Disagreement over the control of land between two or more states.

Allocation Disputes

• Disagreements over the control or use of shared resources.

Operational Disputes

• Disagreements over policies applied to a common border.

Electoral Geography

• Study of the geographical elements of elections.

Elongated States

• State with a long narrow shape.

Enclave

• A distinct region enclosed within a larger territory.

Exclave

• Part of a country separated from the rest and surrounded by foreign territory.

Ethnic Force

• Sense of belonging to the same culture within an ethnic group.

European Union

• International organization to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation.

Federal Systems

• Government systems dividing powers between national and state governments.

Fragmentation

• Adherence to regional and local political authority and divisions.

Fragmented States

• State that includes several discontinuous pieces of territory.

Frontier

• Zone separating two states in which neither exercises political control.

Geometric Boundary

• Political boundaries defined by straight lines.

Gerrymandering

• Redrawing legislative boundaries to benefit the party in power.

Geopolitics

• Interest in land for its strategic location or products.

Government

• System by which a community or political unit is governed.

Heartland Theory

• Political power in Eurasia could dominate the world.

Imperialism

• Strong nation dominating other countries politically, socially, and economically.

Internal Boundaries

• Boundaries dividing the interiors of a country into sections.

Landlocked States

• State surrounded by land with no direct outlet to the sea.

Median-Line Principle

• Lines to distribute waterways when states are within 200 miles of each other.

Microstate

• Small state in size and population.

Minority Districting

• Rearranging districts to allow a minority representative to be elected.

Majority Districting

• Area where the majority are racial or ethnic minorities, used to sway electoral votes.

Nationalism

• Pride in and devotion to one's country.

Nation-State

• Country whose population shares a common identity.

Perforated States

• State that completely surrounds another.

Physical Boundary

• Boundary defined by a physical landmark.

Friedrich Ratzel

• Father of modern political geography, created the Organic Theory.

Rimland Theory

• Domination of coastal fringes of Eurasia would provide the base for world conquest.

Security Council

• Five permanent members with veto power in the UN.

Sovereignty

• Ability of a state to govern its territory free from external control.

Stateless Nation

• Nationality not represented by a state.

State

• Politically organized territory with a sovereign government.

Supranational Organization

• Organization of states to promote shared objectives.

Territoriality

• Country's sense of attachment toward its territory.

Unitary State

• State with most political power at the national level.

Organic Theory

• States resemble biological organisms with life cycles.

Sea Power Theory

• Control of the sea lanes leads to national strength.

Fortified Boundary

• Boundary created by building a physical structure.

Irredentism

• State wishing to incorporate territory with ethnic/linguistic links.

Terrorism

• Use of violence for political aims.

Subnational

• Derivatives of the federal system, designated portions of a country.