Unit 4 AP HuG
ADVANCED PLACEMENT HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
UNIT IV: STUDY GUIDE: POLITICAL ORGANIZATION OF SPACE
✓ BIG IDEA 1: Patterns and Spatial Organization
How historical and current events influence political structures globally.
✓ BIG IDEA 2: Impacts and Interactions
How balances of power reflect in political boundaries and government power structures.
✓ BIG IDEA 3: Spatial Patterns and Societal Change
How political, economic, cultural, or technological changes challenge state sovereignty.
TOPIC 4.1: INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY
✓ Essential Knowledge
Independent states are the primary building blocks of the world political map.
Types of political entities:
Nation: a group of people with shared culture, history, and homeland.
Examples: Kurds, Japanese, Basques, Navajo.
Nation states: a state whose borders closely match a nation.
Examples: Japan and Iceland.
Multinational states: one state with multiple nations inside.
Examples: Russia, United Kingdom, Canada, India.
Multi-state nations: one nation divided across multiple states.
Examples: Koreans (North & South), Arabs (across Middle East), Kurds (Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria).
Autonomous regions: self-rule granted within a state.
Examples: Hong Kong, Greenland, Nunavut, Basque Country (Spain).
Stateless nations: nations without a state of their own.
Examples: Kurds, Palestinians, Catalans, Rohingya.
Other entities: American Indian Reservations, Alaskan Native Corporation Lands, Hawaiian Home Lands.
TOPIC 4.2: POLITICAL PROCESSES
✓ Essential Knowledge
Key concepts shaping the contemporary world: sovereignty, nation-states, and self-determination.
Influences on contemporary political boundaries: colonialism, imperialism, independence, and devolution along national lines.
Colonialism examples:
England / UK: American colonies, India, South Africa, Australia, Canada.
France: West Africa, Vietnam, Algeria, Haiti.
Spain: Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Cuba.
Portugal: Brazil, Angola, Mozambique.
Italy: Libya, Eritrea, Somalia.
United States: Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico.
TOPIC 4.3: POLITICAL POWER AND TERRITORIALITY
✓ Essential Knowledge
Political power: expressed geographically as control over people, land, and resources.
Illustrated by: neocolonialism, shatterbelts, and choke points.
Territoriality: the connection of people, their culture, and their economic systems to land.
Neocolonialism: indirect control of a country by more powerful countries, often through economic means.
Context: Foreign leasing of farmland in Africa where food is produced for wealthier nations.
Major Shatterbelt Regions: Areas of instability due to competing interests and conflicts.
Middle East: Religious conflict, oil politics, ethnic divisions.
Balkans: Long history of ethnic tension.
Caucasus: Armenia–Azerbaijan, Georgia–Russia conflicts.
Korea: Cold War division leading to ideological conflict.
Ukraine: Russia–Ukraine war; competing cultural & geopolitical influence.
TOPIC 4.4: DEFINING POLITICAL BOUNDARIES
✓ Essential Knowledge
Types of political boundaries:
Relic boundary: No longer functions, but visible in landscape (e.g., Great Wall of China, Berlin Wall line).
Superimposed: Drawn by outside power, ignoring existing cultures (e.g., Borders in Africa from Berlin Conference).
Antecedent: Established before population settled or developed (e.g., U.S.–Canada 49th parallel).
Geometric: Straight-line boundary unrelated to physical/cultural features (e.g., Many African borders, U.S.–Canada).
Subsequent: Formed after settlement to reflect cultures (e.g., China–Vietnam border).
Consequent: Drawn to accommodate cultural differences (e.g., Northern Ireland boundary; India–Pakistan).
Militarized: Heavily guarded, armed boundary (e.g., North/South Korea DMZ).
TOP 4.5: THE FUNCTION OF POLITICAL BOUNDARIES
✓ Essential Knowledge
Boundaries are defined, delimited, demarcated, and administered to establish limits of sovereignty and are often contested.
Boundaries coincide with cultural, national, or economic divisions, or are created by demilitarized zones (e.g., Berlin Conference).
UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS): Defines rights and responsibilities of nations in international waters, establishing territorial seas and exclusive economic zones.
Lasting impact of the Berlin Conference on Africa: Created artificial borders, split ethnic groups, led to ongoing conflict, and facilitated colonial exploitation.
TOPIC 4.6: INTERNAL BOUNDARIES
✓ Essential Knowledge
Voting districts, redistricting, and gerrymandering affect results at various scales.
Gerrymandering:
Negative impacts: Reduces fair representation, dilutes minority voting strength, helps incumbents, causes political polarization.
Positives: Can increase representation for minority groups (majority-minority districts).
TOPIC 4.7: FORMS OF GOVERNANCE
✓ Essential Knowledge
Unitary states: More top-down, centralized governance.
Examples: Japan, France.
Efficiency: More efficient for small, homogeneous states (e.g., Japan, uniform policy).
Federal states: More locally based, dispersed power centers.
Examples: USA, Canada.
Efficiency: More efficient for large, diverse countries (e.g., United States, regional governments handle varied needs).
TOPIC 4.8: DEFINING DEVOLUTIONARY FACTORS
✓ Essential Knowledge
Devolution: Transfer of power from central to regional governments.
Examples: Scotland (Europe), Hong Kong (Asia), Nigeria (Africa), Nunavut (North America).
Factors that can lead to devolution: physical geography divisions, ethnic separatism, ethnic cleansing, terrorism, economic and social problems, and irredentism.
Key Terms:
Irredentism: desire to reclaim land with your ethnic group (e.g., Russia in Crimea).
Redlining: refusing loans/services to certain neighborhoods (e.g., U.S. cities in mid-1900s).
Terrorism: violence for political goals (e.g., ISIS, 9/11 attacks).
Separatism: desire to break away and form a new state (e.g., Catalonia, Spain).
Ethnic Cleansing: forced removal of an ethnic group (e.g., Bosnian genocide).
Context for ethnic separatism: Collapse of a multinational state in regions like the Balkans/Southeastern Europe.
TOPIC 4.9: CHALLENGES TO SOVEREIGNTY
✓ Essential Knowledge
Devolution occurs when: states fragment into autonomous regions or subnational units, or when states disintegrate.
Examples of fragmentation: Spain, Belgium, Canada, Nigeria.
Examples of disintegration: Eritrea, South Sudan, East Timor, former Soviet Union states.
Advances in communication technology facilitate devolution, supranationalism, and democratization.
Global efforts (transnational/environmental challenges, economies of scale, trade agreements, military alliances) further supranationalism.
Supranational organizations: Challenge state sovereignty by limiting economic or political actions of member states.
UN (United Nations): Peacekeeping, human rights, global cooperation.
EU (European Union): Economic + political union, free movement, common currency.
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization): Military alliance; collective defense.
OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries): Controls oil production + prices.
World Bank: Development loans.
Amnesty International: Human rights advocacy.
ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations): Economic cooperation + stability.
African Union: Economic integration, conflict resolution.
TOPIC 4.10: CONSEQUENCES OF CENTRIFUGAL AND CENTRIPITAL FORCES
✓ Essential Knowledge
Centrifugal forces: Lead to failed states, uneven development, stateless nations, and ethnic nationalist movements.
Example in Middle East: Ethnic divisions (Sunni vs. Shia, Arab vs. Kurdish), uneven oil wealth, territorial/political conflicts.
Example in U.S.: 2020 election tensions, debates over policing/racial justice.
Centripetal forces: Lead to ethnonationalism, more equitable infrastructure development, and increased cultural cohesion.
Example in Middle East: Shared religion (Islam), Arabic language uniting states.
Example in U.S.: 9/11 national unity, early COVID-19 response shared struggle.
Economic Alliances
An economic alliance is a type of supranational organization or agreement among countries designed to achieve shared economic goals. These alliances often involve reducing trade barriers, harmonizing economic policies, and fostering economic integration to facilitate growth and stability among member states.
Examples of Economic Alliances (from note's supranational organizations):
EU (European Union): An economic and political union promoting free movement of goods, services, capital, and people, and featuring a common currency (Euro) for many members.
OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries): Controls oil production and prices among its member countries.
ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations): Focuses on economic cooperation and regional stability in Southeast Asia.
African Union: Aims for economic integration and conflict resolution across the African continent.
Benefits of Economic Alliances:
Increased Trade and Larger Markets: Member countries gain access to a wider market for their goods and services by reducing tariffs and other trade barriers.
Economies of Scale: Increased production volumes for a larger market allow industries to produce goods more efficiently at lower per-unit costs.
Enhanced Bargaining Power: United, member states have a stronger voice in global trade negotiations and can better influence international economic policies.
Economic Integration and Stability: Promoting common economic policies and a shared currency (like the EU) can lead to greater economic stability and reduced transaction costs.
Resource Sharing: Collaboration can lead to more efficient allocation and sharing of resources, technology, and expertise.
Drawbacks of Economic Alliances:
Challenge to State Sovereignty: Membership in an economic alliance can limit the economic or political actions of individual member states, as decisions are often made at the supranational level.
Loss of National Control: Countries may lose some control over their domestic economic policies, such as monetary policy or fiscal regulations, to the alliance.
Economic Disparities: Uneven economic development among member states can lead to internal tensions and inequalities, with some members benefiting more than others.
Bureaucracy and Decision-Making Complexity: Large alliances can develop complex bureaucratic structures, making decision-making slow and difficult.
Trade Diversion: Formation of a trade bloc might divert trade from more efficient non-member producers to less efficient member producers due to internal preferences.
Application of Economies of Scale in Economic Alliances:
Economies of scale are a crucial factor driving supranationalism and the formation of economic alliances. When countries form an economic alliance, they effectively create a larger, integrated market. This enables businesses within the alliance to:
Increase Production Volume: Companies can produce on a larger scale to serve the expanded market, leading to lower average costs per unit (economies of scale).
Specialization: Countries and regions can specialize in producing goods and services where they have a comparative advantage, further increasing efficiency and reducing costs across the alliance.
Reduced Barriers to Trade: The elimination or reduction of tariffs and other trade barriers within the alliance lowers the cost of doing business across borders, optimizing supply chains and facilitating larger-scale operations.
Shared Infrastructure and Resources: Alliances can pool resources to develop shared infrastructure (e.g., transportation networks, energy grids) or fund research and development, which would be prohibitively expensive for individual nations. This collective investment also achieves economies of scale in public goods.