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Political Geography: Key Terms

Terms in this set (35)

Balance of Power
Condition of roughly equal strength between opposing countries or alliances of countries.
Boundary
Invisible line that marks the extent of a state's territory.
City-State
A sovereign state comprising a city and its immediate hinterland.
Colonialism
Attempt by one country to establish settlements and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles in another territory.
Colony
Territory settled and ruled by people from another land.
Compact State
A state in which the distance from the center to any boundary does not vary significantly.
Elongated State
A state whose territory is long and narrow in shape.
Federal State
An internal organization of a state that allocates most powers to units of local government.
Fragmented State
A state that includes several discontinuous pieces of territory.
Frontier
A zone separating two states in which neither state exercises political control.
Gerrymandering
Process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power.
Imperialism
Control of territory already occupied and organized by an indigenous society.
Landlocked State
A state that does not have a direct outlet to the sea.
Microstate
A state that encompasses a very small land area.
Perforated State
A state that completely surrounds another one
Prorupted State
An otherwise compact state with a large projecting extension.
Sovereignty
Ability of a state to govern its territory free from control of its internal affairs by other states.
State
An area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government with control over its internal and foreign affairs.
Unitary State
An internal organization of a state that places most power in the hands of central government officials.
Antecedent Boundaries
A boundary line established before an area is populated
Buffer State
small country located between two hostile powers and whose presence decreased the possibility of conflict between them
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
confederacy of states of the former Soviet Union; it possesses coordinating powers in the realm of trade, finance, lawmaking, and security; also promotes cooperation on democratization and cross-border crime prevention. Some states are considered to be part of the "near-abroad", referring to states (e.g., Baltic states - Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania) with strong Russian ties linguistically and politically.
Devolution
a policy to remove a program from one level of government by delegating it or passing it down to a lower level of government, such as from the national government to the state and local governments
Domino Theory
Eisenhower's theory that if one nation comes under communist control then neighboring nations will also come under communist control
Enclave
an enclosed district, region, or area inhabited by a particular group of people or having a special character
Exclave
bounded territory that is part of a state but is separated by the territory of another state (e.g., Alaska, Kalingrad (part of Russia)
Geopolitics
The use of geography as an element of power, and the ideas about it held by political leaders and scholars
North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
Agreement that created an essentially free trade zone among Mexico, Canada, and the United States, in all hope of encouraging economic growth in all three nations; after difficult negotiations, went into effect January 1, 1994.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
An organization including nations of Western Europe, the United States, and Canada, created in 1949 to defend against Soviet expansionism.
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting (OPEC)
OPEC is a permanent intergovernmental organization of 12 oil-exporting developing nations that coordinates and unifies the petroleum policies of its Member Countries.
Countries Physical Boundary
An actual boundary in between two countries preventing acsess to each other. ex: a large mountain range in-between two countries.
Relic Boundaries
old political boundaries that no longer exist as international borders, but that have left an enduring mark on the local cultural or environmental geography
Subsequent Boundary
A political boundary that developed contemporaneously with the evolution of the major elements of the cultural landscape through which it passes.
Superimposed Boundary
A political boundary placed by powerful outsiders on a developed human landscape. Usually ignores preexisting cultural-spatial patterns, such as the border that now divides North and South Korea.
Supranational Organization
entity composed of three or more states that forge an association and form an administrative structure for mutual benefit and in pursuit of shared goals
THIS SET IS OFTEN IN FOLDERS WITH...