GEOG110 Territories, Regions, and Networks

When considering territories and regions beyond the state, both human and non-human factors connect large areas. Examples include:

Language: Widely spoken languages like English, Spanish, French, and Mandarin.
Religion: Religions like Islam connect disparate regions.
Culture: Cultural practices adapt and spread.
Climate and Non-Human Life: Biosphere reserves spanning multiple countries, polar regions, desert regions, and migrating wildlife.

Substate regions are defined by the governing body and impact our lives significantly. Three types:

Enclaves and Exclaves:
- Enclaves: Territories completely surrounded by another state (e.g., Vatican, San Marino, Lesotho).
- Exclaves: Parts of a state geographically separated from the mainland (e.g., Kaliningrad, Nakhchivan).
- Second-order enclaves (enclaves within enclaves) exist, such as between Belgium and The Netherlands.
- Historically, dysfunctional examples existed between India and Bangladesh due to lack of open borders.
Formal/Administrative Regions:
- These regions are used by governments to allocate resources and gather data.
- Examples include voting districts, census tracks, and school zones.
- Systems can be federal (shared sovereignty) or unitary (central government).
- In New Zealand, administrative boundaries include regional councils, territorial authorities, wards, statistical areas, and mesh blocks.
- The modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP) highlights how different scales of analysis can produce different patterns.
- Gerrymandering is the manipulation of boundaries to advantage a particular group.
Informal Substate Regions:
- Based on social, economic, cultural, and ethnic factors, often reinforcing wealth and privilege.
- Examples: Residential patterns, gated communities, gang-controlled territories, ethnic enclaves (e.g., Chinatowns).

Networks connect places and involve interactions and the spread of ideas. Two types:

Spatial Interaction:
- Locations interacting through movement of people, freight, services, etc.
- Three conditions: complementarity, lack of intervening opportunities, and transferability.
Cultural Diffusion:
- Spread of culture; two main types:
  - Relocation diffusion: Spread through migration (e.g., cuisine, music).
  - Expansion diffusion: Grows as it spreads; subcategories:
    - Contagious: Person-to-person contact.
    - Hierarchical: Spreads through levels of power.
    - Stimulus: Underlying idea spreads, but specific characteristics change (e.g., McDonald's).

Digital networks connect people globally but still rely on infrastructure and are subject to state regulation, leading to a digital divide.