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AP Human Geography Chapter 8; Political Geography

Terms in this set (72)

African Union
A group of peacekeeping soldiers from various African nations mandated to report violations of cease- fire agreements, atrocities and killings occurring in Sudan in Darfur.
Allocational Boundary Disputes
A boundary dispute that involves conflicting claims to the natural resources of a border region.
Antecedent Boundaries
a boundary line established before an area is populated
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
Buffer State
A relatively small country sandwiched between two larger powers. The existence of buffer states may help to prevent dangerous conflicts between powerful countries
Choke Point
A geographical land feature such as a valley or water way narrowing causing a decrease in forces making their way through.
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
A territory that is legally tied to a sovereign state rather than completely independent.
Commonwealth
a political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them
Commonwealth of Independent States
Confederacy of independent states of independent states of the former soviet Union that have united because of their common economic and administrative needs.
Compact State
A state in which the distance from the center to any boundary does not vary significantly.
Confederation
A form of an international organization that brings several autonomous states together for a common purpose.
Cultural Boundaries
boundaries based on cultural traits such as religion and language.
Decolonization
The collapse of colonial empires to independent states. Between 1947 and 1962, practically all former colonies in Asia and Africa gained independence.
Definitional Boundary Disputes
Conflict over the language of the border agreement in a treaty or boundary contract
Delimitation
the translation of the written terms of a boundary treaty (the definition) into an official cartographic (map) representation.
Demarcation
The setting or marking of boundaries or limits, as a line of demarcation
Devolution
An effort to shift responsibility of domestic programs to the states in order to decrease the size &activites of the fed. govt; some states have attempted to shift responsibilities further to local govts
Elongated State
A state whose territory is long and narrow in shape.
Enclave
(n.) an enclosed district, region, or area inhabited by a particular group of people or having a special character
European Union
An international organization of European countries formed after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members
Exclave
A part of a country that is seperated from the rest of the country and surrounded by foreign territory.
Exclusive Economic Zone
area in which resources found up to 200 nautical miles offshore belong exclusively to the geographically bordering country
Federal State
An internal organization of a state that allocates most powers to units of local government.
Fragmented States
A state that includes several discontinuous pieces of territory
Frontier
A zone separating two states in which neither state exercises political control.
Geometric Boundaries
boundaries of convenience drawn along lines of latitude or longitude without consideration for cultural or ethnic differences in an area
Geopolitics
A foreign policy based on a consideration of the strategic locations or products of other lands
Gerrymandering
Process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power.
Heartland Territory
A central region, especially one that is politically, economically, or militarily vital to a nation, region, or culture.
High Seas
The portion of oceans considered beyond territorial waters.
Imperialism
Control of territory already occupied and organized by an indigenous group.
International Organizations
An alliance of two or more countries seeking cooperation with each other without giving up either's autonomy or self-determination.
Landlocked State
A state that does not have a direct outlet to the the sea.
Locational Boundary Disputes
These disputes arise when the definition of the border is not questioned but the interpretation of the border is.
Maritime Boundaries
boundaries in the world's oceans; move by the League of Nations that had critical impact in the late 20th century.
Median Lines
an approach to dividing and creating boundaries at the mid-point between two places.
Micro-State
A state that encompasses a very small land area
Multinational State
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.
Nation
A large area of land that is controlled by it's own government.
Nation-State
A state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular ethnicity that has been transformed into a nationality
North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA)
An economic pact that combined the economies of the United States, Canada, and Mexico into one of the world's largest trading blocs.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Created in 1949, an organization whose members include the United States, Canada, most Western European nations, and Turkey, all of whom agreed to combine military forces and to treat a war against one as a war against all.
Operational Boundary Disputes
Conflict over the way a boundary should operate or function, such as the conflict over allowing migration across the border
Organic Theory
The view that states resemble biological organisms with life cycles that include stages of youth, maturity, and old age.
Organization of American States (OAS)
Formed in 1948 to promote democracy, economic cooperation, & human rights; Members pledged not to interfere with one another; The US often dominated this organization
Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
(OSCE) when founded in 1975 comprised primarily western European countries. Although the OSCE does not directly command armed forces it can call upon member states to supply troops
Perforated State
a state that completely surrounds another one
Physical Boundaries
political boundaries that correspond with prominent physical features such as mountain ranges, rivers or deserts
Prorupted State
an otherwise compact state with a large projecting extension for access
Reapportionment
Process by which representative districts are switched according to population shifts, so that each district encompasses approximately the same number of people
Redistricting
The redrawing of congressional and other legislative district lines following the census, to accommodate population shifts and keep districts as equal as possible in population.
Relic Boundary
A political boundary that has ceased to function but the imprint of which can still be detected on the cultural landscape
Religious Boundaries
boundary that separates different religions (Ex. Muslims are reorganized into Pakistan and Hindus into India.)
Rimland Theory
Nicholas Spykman's theory that the domination of the coastal fringes of Eurasia would provided the base for world conquest.
Satellite States
Nations controlled by the Soviet Union/served as the Buffer Zone; Included: Poland, Czech., Hungary, Romania, and East Germany
Self-Determination
Concept that ethnicities have the right to govern themselves
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.
Stateless
A nationality that is not represented by a state.
State Morphology
size and shape of a state and what that means in national political life, a state's geographical shape, which can have a decisive impact on its spatial cohesion and political viability
Subsequent Boundaries
Boundary line established after an area has been settled that considers the social and cultural characteristics of the area
Superimposed Boundaries
Boundary line drawn in an area ignoring the existing cultural pattern.
Supranational Organizations
A venture involving three or more nation-states involving formal political, economic, and/or cultural cooperation to promote shared objectives. The European Union is one such organization
Territorial Sea
states' territory extending 12 nautical miles (1 nautical mile = 1.15 statute miles) from the coast (since 1982); regarded as the sovereign territory of the state, although foreign ships (both military and civilian) are allowed innocent passage through it; this sovereignty also extends to the airspace over and seabed below.
Terrorism
Acts of violence designed to promote a specific ideology or agenda by creating panic among an enemy population
Unitary State
An internal organization of a state that places most power in the hands of central government officials
United Nations (UN)
An institution dedicated to promoting dialogue among countries with the goal of maintaining world peace
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
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
Warsaw Pact
An alliance between the Soviet Union and other Eastern European nations. This was in response to the NATO
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