Unit IV Ap Human Geo

Border landscapes

1. Exculsionary- Meant to keep people out 2. Inclsionary- Meant to facillitate trade and movement

Antecedent boundaries

A boundary line established before an area is populated

Cold War

A conflict that was between the US and the Soviet Union. The nations never directly confronted eachother on the battlefield but deadly threats went on for years.

Territorial disputes

A disagreement over the possession/control of land between two or more states, or over the possession or control of land

Imperialism

A policy in which a strong nation seeks to dominate other countries poitically, socially, and economically.

Relict boundaries

A political boundary that has ceased to function but the imprint of which can still be detected on the cultural landscape.

Landlocked states (disadvantages)

A state that does not have a direct outlet to the sea.

Fragmented state

A state that includes several discontinuous pieces of territory.

Compact state (definition and examples)

A state that posses a roughly circular shape from which the geometric center is relatively equal in all directions.

Perforated state

A state whose territory completely surrounds that of another state.

Elongated state

A state whose territory is long and narrow in shape.

Gateway state

A state, by virtue of its border location between geopolitical power cores, that absorbs and assimilates cultures and traditions of its neighbors without being dominated by them.

Frontier

A zone separating two states in which neither state exercises political control.

Federal states

An internal organization of a state that allocates most powers to units of local government.

Unitary state (adv & dis)

An internal organization of a state that places most power in the hands of central government officials

Supranationalism

Association of three or more states.

Physical boundaries

Boundaries based on mountains, rivers, deserts.

Superimposed boundaries

Boundary line drawn in an area ignoring the existing cultural pattern.

Subsequent boundaries

Boundary line established after an area has been populated that considered the social and cultural characteristics of the area.

Water as a boundary

Boundary usually in center of water

Satellite states

Eastern European states under the control of the Soviet Union during the Cold War

Centripetal forces

Forces that bond a country together.

Mackinder

Heartland Theory (1904)

Heartland/Rimland Theory

Hypothesis proposed by Halford MacKinder that held that any political power based in the heart of Eurasia could gain enough strength to eventually dominate the world./ Nicholas Spykman's theory that the domination of the coastal fringes of Eurasia would provided the base for world conquest.

Nation-state concept

It is impossible to form a perfect nation-state, only come close

Law of the Sea

Law establishing states rights and responsibilities concerning the ownership and use of the earth's seas and oceans and their resources.

NAFTA

North American Free Trade Agreement; allows open trade with US, Mexico, and Canada

Balkanization

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

Deserts as boundaries

Sometimes impassable (good in that case)

Mountains as boundaries

Sometimes impassable (good in that case)

Partition of India

The Partition of India is the process that led to the creation, on 14 August 1947 and 15 August 1947, respectively, of the sovereign states of Dominion of Pakistan (later Islamic Republic of Pakistan) and Union of India (later Republic of India) upon the granting of independence from the British Empire, marking the end of the British rule of India.

Decolonization

The acquisition, by colonized peoples, of control over their own territory.

Irredentism

The policy of a state wishing to incorporate within itself territory inhabited by people who have ethnic or linguistic links with the country but that lies within a neighboring state.

City-state

a city with political and economic control over the surrounding countryside

Exclave

a part of a country that is seperated from the rest of the country and surrounded by foreign territory.

Manifest destiny

a policy of imperialism rationalized as inevitable (as if granted by God)

Iron Curtain

a political barrier that isolated the peoples of Eatern Europe after WWII, restricting their ability to travel outside the region

state

a politically organized body of people under a single government

Shatterbelt

a region caught between stronger colliding external cultural-political forces, under persistent stress, and often fragmented by aggressive rivals (e.g., Israel or Kashmir today; Eastern Europe during the Cold War,...).

Immigrant state

a type of receiving state which is the target of many immigrants. Immigrant states are popular because of their economy, political freedom, and opportunity (e.g., US, Germany,...).

Enclave

an enclosed territory that is culturally distinct from the foreign territory that surrounds it

Balance of Power

an equilibrium of power between nations

European Union

an international organization of European countries formed after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members

Cultural boundaries

borders based on culture traits, like language and religion

Linguistic boundaries

borders based on language

Religious boundaries

borders based on religion

Geometric boundaries

boundaries that follow regular, geometric patterns

Forward capital

capital city positioned in actually or potentially contested territory usually near an international border, it confirms the states determination to maintain its presence in the region in contention.

Locational disputes

definition is not in dispute, the interpretation is; allows mapmakers to delimit boundaries in various ways

Colonialism

exploitation by a stronger country of weaker one, Attempt by one country to establish settlements and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles in another territory.

Definitional disputes

focus on legal language (e.g. median line of a river: water levels may vary)

Centrifugal forces

forces that tend to divide a country.

Core/periphery

national or global regions where economic power, in terms of wealth, innovation, and advanced technology, is concentrated

Stateless nations (examples)

nations without states (Palestinians)

Operational disputes

neighbors differ over the way the boundary should function (migration, smuggling) (e.g., US/Mexico)

Boundary disputes

territorial dispute along the edge of two neighboring land owners

Self-determination

the ability of a government to determine their own course of their own free will

Devolution

the delegation of authority (especially from a central to a regional government)

Gerrymandering

the drawing of legislative district boundaries to benefit a party, group, or incumbent

Territory

the geographical area under the jurisdiction of a sovereign state

Reapportionment

the process of reassigning representation based on population, after every census

Geopolitics

the study of the effects of economic geography on the powers of the state

Confederation

An alliance of independent states

Capital (location)

a seat of government

Apartheid

a social policy or racial segregation involving political and economic and legal discrimination against non-whites

Prorupted state

a state that exhibits a narrow, elongated land extension leading away from the main territory

Sovereignty

ability of a state to govern its territory free from control of its internal affairs by other states

Buffer state

small country located between two hostile powers and whose presence decreased the possibility of conflict between them

Wasted vote

spreads opposition across many districts thinly so that they are the minority

Micro-states (examples and challenges)

states with very small land areas