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AP Human Geography Political Geography Vocabulary

Terms in this set (67)

Allocational Boundary Dispute
Conflict over resources that may not be divided by the border, such as natural gas reserves beneath the soil
Anocracy
A country that is not fully democratic or fully autocratic, but rather displays a mix of the two types
Antecedent Boundaries
Boundaries that were defined and delimited before present-day human landscape was developed
Autocracy
A country that is run according to the interests of the ruler rather than the people
Balance Of Power
A condition of roughly equal strength between opposing countries or alliances of countries
Boundary
An invisible line that marks the extent of a state's territory
Citadel
A large raised portion of a city
City-state
A sovereign state comprising a city and its immediately surrounding countryside
Colonialism
An attempt by one country to establish settlements and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles in another territory.
Colony
A territory that is legally tied to a sovereign state rather than completely independent
Compact State
A state in which the distance from the center to any boundary does not vary significantly
Confederate Governmental Structure
A collection of territories tied together by a treaty for a goal but are still separate.
Cultural Boundaries
Borders based on culture traits, like language and religion
Definitional Boundary Dispute
Conflict over the language of the border agreement in a treaty or boundary contract
Delimitation
Drawing the boundary on a map
Demarcation
A physical setting or marking of a boundary
Democracy
A country in which citizens elect leaders and can run for office
Economic Zone
A state has certain rights to economic exploitation for any natural resources in the economic zone which extends 200 miles from the shore
Elongated State
A state with a long, narrow shape
Enclave
A distinct region or community enclosed within a larger territory
Ethnonationalism
The identification and loyalty a person may feel for his or her nation
EU
(European Union) an international organization of European countries formed after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members
Euro Zone
The 12 EU countries that currently use the euro as the official currency with Germany as the head
Excess Gerrymandering
Drawing boundaries that concentrate the opposing party into a few districts
Exclave
A part of a country that is separated from the rest of the country and surrounded by foreign territory
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
Geometric Boundaries
Straight line boundaries unrelated to physical or cultural landscape
Three Types of Gerrymandering
Wasted, excess, and stacked
Imperialism
A policy in which a strong nation seeks to dominate other countries politically, socially, and economically
Landlocked State
A state that does not have a direct outlet to the sea
League of Nations
An earlier form of the United Nations
Locational Boundary Dispute
Conflict over the location or place of a boundary
Microstate
A state that encompasses a very small land area
Multiethnic State
A state that contains more than one ethnicity
Multinational State
A state that contains two or more ethnic groups with traditions of self-determination that agree to coexist peacefully by recognizing each other as distinct nationalities
NAFTA
(North American Free Trade Agreement) a trade agreeement signed by Canada, the United States and Mexico
Nation-state
A state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular ethnicity that has been transformed into a nationality
NATO
(North Atlantic Treaty Organization) an alliance of democratic nations following WWII
OAS
(Organization of American States) an international organization that promotes social, cultural, political, and economic links among all 35 countries of the Western Hemisphere
OPEC
(Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) an international organization that controls worldwide oil prices
Operational Boundary Dispute
Conflict over the way a boundary should operate or function, such as the conflict over allowing migration across the border
Perforated State
A state that completely surrounds another state
Personal Space
The buffer zone we like to maintain around our bodies
Prorupted State
An otherwise compact state with a large projecting extension
Political Geography
Areas organized into independent political units or countries
Reapportionment
The process of reallocating seats in the House of Representatives every 10 years on the basis of the results of the census
Relic Boundary
A former boundary line that is still discernible and marked by some cultural landscape feature
Satellite State
An independent nation under the control of a more powerful nation
Self-determination
The concept that ethnicities have the right to govern themselves
Shatterbelt
An area of instability between regions with opposing political and cultural values
Sovereignty
Ability of a state to govern its territory free from control of its internal affairs by other states
Stacked Gerrymandering
Drawing circuitous boundaries to enclose pockets of strength or weakness of the group in power
State
An area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government with control over its internal and foreign affairs
Subsequent Boundaries
Boundaries that evolved as the cultural landscape of an area took shape
Superimposed Boundaries
Political borders placed over existing cultural borders that tend to separate groups of common language, religion, and ethnicity
Supranationalism
Association of three or more states for a common purpose
Territoriality
A country's or more local community's sense of property and attachment toward its territory, as expressed by its determination to keep it inviolable and strongly defended
Territorial Morphology
The relationship between a state's geographic shape, size, relative location and political situation
Terrorism
The systematic use of violence by a group in order to intimidate a population or coerce a government into granting its demands
Theocracy
A government controlled by religious authorities
UNCLOS
(United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) a code of maritime law approved by the United Nations in 1982 that authorizes, among other provisions, territorial waters extending 12 nautical miles from shore and 200-nautical-mile-wide exclusive economic zones
Unitary State
An internal organization of a state that places most power in the hands of central government officials
Warsaw Pact
An alliance of communist dictatorships following WWII
Wasted Gerrymandering
Drawing boundaries that include few of the opposing party to waste their votes
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