AP Human Geography - Unit 4 Review Guide Notes

Political Geography

  • Political geography: Study of how the world is divided and arranged through political power and boundaries.
  • State: Territory politically organized under a single government.
    • Examples: United States, India, France.
    • Sovereignty: Power to determine actions within borders and defend territory.

Nation-State

  • Nation-state: A state made up of only one, unified nation.
    • Idealized concept, as most states have ethnic minorities.

Nation

  • Nation: Group of people sharing common language, history, and culture.

Stateless Nation

  • Stateless nation: Group sharing cultural values and history but lacking a formal state.
    • Example: Kurdish people (Kurds) divided over six Middle Eastern countries.

Multi-State Nation

  • Multi-state nation: Nation living in more than one state.
    • Example: Germans before World War II spread across Germany, Poland, and Belgium.

Autonomous Region

  • Autonomous region: Region within a state operating independently of the national government.
    • Example: Hong Kong, part of China but with independent operations and freedoms.

Multinational State

  • Multinational state: State containing multiple cultures and ethnicities.
    • Most countries today fit this description.

Semi-Autonomous Region

  • Semi-autonomous region: Region with limited authority granted by the national government to operate independently.

Right of Self-Determination

  • Right of self-determination: Right of people to choose their own form of government without external imposition.

Partition of India

  • Partition of India: Creation of Pakistan for the Muslim minority due to fears of marginalization in an independent, majority-Hindu India.
    • Resulted in violence and changed the map.

Territoriality

  • Territoriality: People's connection and claim to a piece of land.
    • Desire to control the land, people, economic systems, and resources within that space.

Shatterbelt Regions

  • Shatterbelt regions: Strategically important and divided regions subject to competition between powerful states.
    • Often divided by internal conflict.
    • Territoriality plays a role as rival groups claim the same land.

Choke Point

  • Choke point: Narrow geographic passageway of immense strategic value, especially for trade.
    • Control can lead to economic gain, causing states to compete for control.

Political Boundaries

  • Defined, delimited, demarcated, and administered.

UNCLOS

  • United Nations Conference on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS): Established international law governing sea boundaries.
    • 12 nautical miles from shore.
    • Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) extend 200 nautical miles from maritime borders.

Boundary Disputes

  • Definitional.
  • Locational.
  • Operational.
  • Allocational.

Types of Boundaries

  • Antecedent Boundary.
  • Subsequent Boundary.
  • Consequent Boundary.
  • Superimposed Boundary.
  • Geometric Boundary.
  • Relic Boundary.

Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)

  • Demilitarized zone: Area between two states with no military presence allowed by treaty.
    • Example: DMZ between North and South Korea.

Subsequent Boundary

  • Drawn AFTER a territory has been populated where people live with established cultural landscapes.
    • Established through conflict or diplomacy.
    • Example: Border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Consequent Boundary

  • Subtype of subsequent boundaries.
  • Drawn with consideration of different cultural landscapes.
    • Example: Boundaries drawn around each distinct ethnic group in Yugoslavia after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Superimposed Boundary

  • Drawn by an outside conquering force without respect to cultural landscapes.
    • Example: The Berlin Conference and the colonization of Africa.

Geometric Boundary

  • Mathematical boundaries following lines of latitude and longitude.
    • Example: States such as Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah.

Relic Boundary

  • Boundaries that once existed but no longer function as borders.
    • Divisions created can still be observed.
    • Example: Former boundary between West and East Germany.
      • West Germany's economy flourished due to Western powers while East Germany struggled under Soviet domination.
      • The effects of the division can still be seen today; housing in Western Germany is varied and vibrant while Eastern housing is dull and drab.

Unitary State

  • Political power centralized in the national government with a top-down structure.
    • National government makes policy decisions carried out by regions.
    • Example: France.

Internal Boundaries

  • Internal boundaries can affect voting outcomes in democratic countries.
    • Voting Districts.
    • Redistricting.
    • Census.
    • Gerrymandering.

Federal State

  • Political power is shared between a central and smaller regional governments.
    • Power is more locally based and dispersed into many centers of power.
    • Example: The United States has the tenth amendment stating that all powers not expressly laid out in our constitution falls to the state level.

Friction of Distance Principle

  • greater the distance between two locations, the weaker their connection.
    • Physical barriers can pose challenges to national unity.
    • Diminished by communication and transportation technologies but still a factor.

Devolution

  • Transfer of power from a central political authority to smaller regional authorities.

Ethnic Separatism

  • Ethnic group identifies more closely with their people than the political state where they live.

Devolutionary Factors

  • Friction of distance.
  • Separatism.
  • Ethnic cleansing.
  • Terrorism.
  • Economic problems.
  • Social problems.
  • Irredentism.

Ethnic Cleansing

  • State attempts to eliminate a particular ethnic group through imprisonment, expulsion, or mass killing.
    • Goal is to eliminate ethnic tensions by removing ethnic diversity.

Irredentism

  • Movement to politically unite an ethnic group divided by a boundary.

Subnational Political Unit

  • Smaller regional powers like states or provinces.

Terrorism

  • Violence against a government and its citizens to change political policies.
    • Example: Attacks on the twin towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2001.

Balkanization

  • Division of a multinational state into smaller ethnically homogeneous entities.
    • Example: This happened in Sudan after the civil war began in 1955, and attempts to install a democratic government failed; The years of fighting between the northern and southern forces ultimately ended up breaking the country into two states, Sudan and South Sudan.

Arab Spring

  • Internet and social media used to organize pro-democracy protests in 2010 and 2011 in the Middle East and North Africa.
  • Governments restricted internet access, testifying to the power of communication technology in devolution.

Supranationalism

  • Rise facilitated by transnational and environmental problems, desire for economies of scale, international trade agreements, and military alliances.
  • Independent states relinquish power to participate in a larger political body.
  • Four developments:
    • Transnational and environmental problems.
    • Desire to create global economies of scale.
    • Rise of international trade agreements.
    • International military alliances.

World Trade Organization (WTO)

  • Sets rules for international trade and works to keep trade flowing around the globe.

Climate Change

  • Carbon emissions are heating up the planet but are not equally distributed.
  • Example: The United States holds about 5%5\% of the world’s population but is responsible for 28%28\% of all carbon emissions.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

  • Facilitates trade among Southeast Asian countries by keeping trade barriers low.
    • Member nations experienced significant economic growth.

Objectives of Major Supranational Organizations

  • United Nations. International forum for diplomatic resolution of disputes.
  • European Union. Common trade policies, citizenship rights, environmental policies, and judicial rulings.
  • Arctic Council. Sustainable development and environmental issues among Arctic states.
  • African Union. Fosters cooperation among African states, including resolving border disputes.

Military Alliance

  • Countries band together for mutual military defense.
  • An attack on one nation is an attack on all.
  • Example: North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO).

Brexit

  • Departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union in 2020.

Centripetal Forces

  • Unite people and support the sovereignty of a state.

Ethnonationalism

  • Sense of pride and identity tied to a territory composed of a singular ethnic group.

Centrifugal Forces

  • Divide people and undermine the sovereignty of a state, can lead to stateless nations and ethnic nationalist movements.
    • Example: Kurds, an ethnic group divided by the borders of Iran, Turkey, Iraq, and Syria.