APHUG Unit 4 - Chapter 8 Political Geography Key Issues #2

Define the five groups of the 15 former Soviet States.

-Russia -Three Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania -Three European States: Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine -Five Central Asian States: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan -Three Caucasus States: Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia

Define Imperialism

A policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.

Define multi-ethnic state

A state that contains more than one ethnicity

Define city-state

An independent community consisting of a city and the surrounding land it controlled

define the multiethnic revival in Europe

WWII Germany was broken up into two states, due to massive forced migrations of people in Europe following WWII relocation of many ethnic groups into various nation-states. Typically, in multinational states one ethnicity tries to denominate the other especially if they are outnumbered. In the 21st century Europe is seeing a revival of ethnic identity.

Define nation-state

a sovereign state whose citizens or subjects are relatively homogeneous in factors such as language or common descent.

Define multinational state

a state that contains more than one ethnicity with traditions of self-determination and self-government

Summarize the three reasons Europeans sought colonies

a. To promote Christianity b. To extract useful resources and to serve as captive markets for their products c. To establish relative power through the number of colonies claimed

Why is Japan a near-perfect example of a nation-state?

ethnic composition is 98.5% Japanese, .05% Korean, .4% Chinese, and .6% other

Where are most of the states with the least amount of ethnic diversity? The most amount of ethnic diversity?

least: Europe and East and North Asia most: Africa and South America

Read "Sustainability & Our Environment" on page 273. How does the physical geography of island microstates like Nauru impact its sustainability?

read pg 273 and answer the question

Define colonialism

the effort by one country to establish settlements in a territory and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles on that territory

Define self-determination

the process by which a country determines its own statehood and forms its own allegiances and government.

Give a brief description of the Nation-States in the former Soviet Union by completing the following charts.

(Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) Most Lithuanians are Roman Catholic and speak a Baltic language. Latvians are mostly Lutheran, with a substantial Roman Catholic minority, and they speak a Baltic language. Most Estonians are Protestant (Lutheran) and speak a Uralic language related to Finnish.

Describe the multinational states of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)

- world's largest multinational state -15 republics, based on its 15 largest ethnicities -15 republics that once constituted the Soviet Union are now independent states -these 15 states consist of 5 groups

define colony

A territory that is legally tied to a sovereign state rather than being completely independent.

Complete the graphic organizer on the topics indicated as they relate to the history of the concept of political states and their developments.

Ancient states: - City-States - Walls created boundary to cities - City controlled agricultural land to produce food for urban residents - Countryside provided city with defense from other city-states States in 20th Century Europe: - Large # of estates owned by kings, barons, dukes & nobles - Handful of powerful kings became rulers of multiple European estates - Consolidation of estates under kings created basis for states Medieval States: -political unity reached it's peak with the Roman Empire -consisted of 38 provinces at its height - each used the same set of laws used in Rome - Massive walls helped the Roman army defend it's empire's frontiers - once the Roman empire fell due to internal strife and attacks on the outer frontiers it fell into the hands of some competing monarchs, dukes, barons, and other nobles

Give a brief description of the Nation-States in the former Soviet Union by completing the following charts.

Belarus and Ukraine: the ethnic distinction betwen the Belarusians, Ukrainians, and Russians is somewhat blurred. The speak similar East Slavic languages, and trace their ethnic heritage to the same roots in medieval Europe. The Mongolian, Pole, and Lithuanians invasions isolated the Belarusians, Ukrainians, and Russians. beginning in the early 13th century. Russians conquered the Belarus and Ukraine but after 5 centuries of exposure to non-Slavic influence they displayed significant cultural differences to consider themselves distinct from Russians. Moldova: Moldovans are ethnically indistinguishable from Romanians, and Moldova was part of Romania until the Soviet Union seized it in 1940. When Moldova became independent in 1992, many Moldovans wished to reunify with Romania to reunify the ethnic group and to improve the region's prospects for economic development

Compare and contrast the breaking up of the former multinational states of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia

Czechoslovakia was peacefully transformed into 2 nation states - Czechia (Czech Republic) and Slovakia. Slovaks comprise only 1% of Czechia's population and Czechs less than 1% of Slovakia's population. Yugoslavia - peaceful conversion of Slovenia in 1991 from a republic to a nation-state, other portions of former Yugoslavia became nation-states only after ethnic cleansing and other atrocities.

Give a brief description of the Nation-States in the former Soviet Union by completing the following charts.

Over 3,000 years ago Armenians controlled an independent kingdom in the Caucasus. Converted to Christianity in 303, they lived isolated for centuries under the rule of Turkish Muslims. A century ago, about 1 million Armenians were killed by the Turks in a genocide. After WWI the Allies created an independent state of Armenia, but it was soon swallowed by its neighbors. In 1921, Turkey and the USSR agreed to divide Armenia between them. Azeris trace their roots to Turkish invaders who migrated from Central Asia in the eighth and ninth centuries and merged with the existing Persian population. An 1828 treaty allocated northern Azeri territory to Russia and southern Azeri territory to Persia (now Iran). Armenians and Azeris both have achieved long-held aspirations of forming nation-states, but after their independence from the USSR, went to war over the boundaries between them. There was a ceasefire in 1994, but numerous clashes have still occurred since then. Ethnic Georgians comprise 71% of the population, Armenians 8%, etc. Georgia's cultural diversity has been a source of unrest, especially among the Ossetians and Abkhazians. During the 1990s, the Abkhazians fought for control of the NW portion of Georgia and declared Abkhazia an independent state. In 2008, the Ossetians fought a war with the Georgians that resulted in the Ossetians declaring the South Ossetia portion of Georgia to be independent.

Describe three examples of inhabited territories that the U.N. does not consider colonies because they have considerable autonomy in self-governing:

Puerto Rico: commonwealth of the US makes Puerto Ricans citizens of the U.S., but they do not vote in elections or have a voting member of Congress. Greenland: is an autonomous unit within Denmark. Greenland runs its internal affairs, but Denmark controls foreign affairs and defense. Hong Kong and Macau: was a colony of the U.K. until it returned to China in 1997, and in 1998 Portugal returned its colony of Macao. The two have some autonomy in economic matters, but China controls foreign affairs and defense

Where is Crimea? Give a brief description of the timeline of the ethnicity and sovereignty of Crimea up through today.

Russia took control of Crimea in 1783, and in 1921 it became an autonomous republic within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, which was a republic within the Soviet Union. In 1954, the Soviet government transferred responsibility for Crimea to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, which was then also part of the USSR. When the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, Crimea became an autonomous republic in the Ukraine. In 2014, Russia invaded Crimea and annexed it. Most countries recognize Ukraine's sovereignty over Crimea.

Give a brief description of the Nation-States in the former Soviet Union by completing the following charts.

The five states in Central Asia carved out of the former Soviet Union display varying degrees of conformance to the principles of a nation-state. Kazakhstan is a relatively peaceful multinational state divided between Kazakhs (67%) and Russians (18%). Kazakhs are Muslims who speak an Altaic language similar to Turkish. In contrast, Kyrgyzstan comprises 69% Kyrgyz, 15% Uzbek, and 9% Russian. The Kyrgyz and Uzbek are both Muslims who speak Altaic languages.

Which country had the largest empire? Second largest?

a. The U.K. planted colonies on every continent, including much of eastern and southern Africa, South Asia, the Middle East, Australia, and Canada. b. France had most of its overseas territory in West Africa and Southeast Asia. France attempted to assimilate its colonies into French culture and educate an elite group to provide local administrative leadership.