Balkanization
The term which refers to the event which occurred in 1991, where Yugoslavia broke up into several smaller ethnic based countries.
Binational or Multinational state
A state which contains more than one nation within its boundaries.
Boundary
Invisible lines that mark the extent of a state's territory and the control the state's leaders have.
Centripetal force, Centrifugal force
A recurring set of forces that affect all nation-states people, they bind the people of the state together.
Cold War
A conflict that was between the US and the Soviet Union from 1945 to 1991.
Colonies
Settlements that are constructed on another land, which is owned and regulated by the country which controls it.
Command economy
An economic system in which the government controls the economy of the state.
Compact states
A state that has a general shape of a circle, in which the distance from the center to any other end is equal. They generally have the most easiest locations to regulate.
Confederal states
virtually no power held by the central government, almost all power in regional or local government.
Consequent boundaries
Cultural boundaries, set between some states using ethnic differences; alternative name for Cultural boundaries.
Core area
Areas in which a countries' economic, political, intellectual, and cultural focus is.
Core-periphery
Core countries have high levels of development, a capacity at innovation and a convergence of trade flows. Periphery countries usually have less development and are poorer countries.
Cultural boundary
Boundaries between some states which are based by significant ethnic differences between two groups.
Democratization
The process which converts a country into a democratic country.
Devolution
The transfer of some powers from central governments to sub-governments.
Disputes
Disagreements.
Economic force
economic inequalities that may destabilize a nation-state, especially when the inequalities are regional.
Electoral geography
The study of how the spatial configuration of electoral districts and voting patterns affect social and political affairs.
Elongated states
States with a long and narrow shape, sometimes because of physical geography and other times for economic and political reasons.
Enclaves, exclaves
Exclaves are small bits of territory that lie on the coasts separated from the state by territory of another state.While exclaves are landlocked.
Ethnic force
An ethnic group that shares a well developed sense of belonging to the same culture.
Ethnonationalism
The tendency for an ethnic group to see itself as a distinct nation with a right to autonomy/independence.
European Constitution
A document which the EU tried to pass, which marked an important recognition of the EU's sovereignty.
European Monetary Union
An organization which attempts to persuade all of the EU members to use one form of currency.
European Union
A regional organization based in Europe which unites all of Europe into one sovereign alliance.
Federal system
A system which divides the power between the central government and the sub-units.
Forward capital
If the capital city serves as a model for national objectives.
Fragmentation
Divisions based on ethnic or cultural identity.
Fragmented states
States that are connected through a government, but have several discontinuous pieces of territory.
Frontiers
A geographic zone where no state exercises power.
Geometric boundary
Straight, imaginary lines that have generally good reasons behind their creation.
Gerrymandering
The act of redrawing boundaries to improve the chances of its supporters to win seats.
Geopolitics
The study of the effects of economic geography on the powers of the state.
Globalization
A trend in which democratization and market economies indicate growing commonalities among states.
Government
An organization which indicates leadership and institutions that make policy decisions for a country.
Heartland theory
The pivot area of the Earth (Eurasia) holds the resources, both natural and human, to dominate the globe.
Imperialism
The colonization of an area that has already been settled by the indigenous people.
Institutions
Stable, long lasting organizations that help to turn political ideas into policy.
Integration
A process in which states pool their sovereignty in order to gain political, economic, and social clout.
Internal boundaries
Boundaries inside a state, and the state divides itself up into smaller divisions.
Irredentism
When a nation claims a land that they don't own as their own because some of its ethnic groups reside on the land.
Landlocked countries
Countries that do not have access to the sea, they are surrounded by countries.
Market economy
A variant of economy which allows the people to arrange prices for goods; no government control.
Marketization
A term that describes the state's re-creation of a market in which property, labor, goods, and services can all function in a competitive environment to determine their value.
Median-line principle
Lines made to distribute water ways when states are within two hundred miles of each other.
Microstates
Countries that span a few miles in length and width.
Minority/majority districting
A rule by which the design of new electoral boundaries, must where possible, create electoral districts which have a majority population of some group which is a national minority.
Mixed economy
One that does not have a pure market economy or command economy.
Monetary policy
The control of the money supply using government force.
Multicore state
States with more than one core area.
Nation
A group of people that is bound together by a common political identity.
Nation-state
A term which refers to a state whose territorial extent coincides with the occupied by a certain nation of people.
Nationalism
One centripetal force which unites a group of people with the same cultural identity.
Perforated states
A state that completely surrounds another one.
Physical boundary
Boundaries that utilize physical features to mark a state's borders.
Political geography
The study of the political organization of the planet.
Political culture
The collection of political beliefs, values, practices, and insitutions that the government is based on.
Politicization of religion
The use of religious principles to promote political ends and vise versa.
Politics
Social relations involving authority or power.
Primate city
A city with the largest size and influence.
Privatization
The transfer of state-owned property to private-ownership.
Ratzel, Friedrich
Friedrich Ratzel (August 30, 1844 - August 9, 1904) was a German geographer and ethnographer.
Relative location
The noting of a location using directions or landmarks to mark a location.
Rimland theory
A theory that challenged the heartland theory, which said that Eurasia's rim held the key to to global power.
Security council
The five permanent members of the U.N (U.S., Britain, France, China, and Russia)
Separatist movement
Nationalities within a country demand independence.
Shatter belts
Zones of great cultural complexity containing many small cultural groups who find refuge in isolation created by rough terrain.
Sovereignty
The ability to carry out actions or policies within their borders independently from interference either from the inside or outside.
Spatial force
Spatially, devolutionary events most often occur on the margins of the state.
Stateless nation
People without a state
States
Countries.
Supranational organization
A venture involving three or more nation-states involving formal political, economic, and/or cultural cooperation to promote shared objectives.
Territorial morphology
A state's geographical shape, which can affect its spatial cohesion and political viability.
Territoriality
The tendency for a area's inhabitants to defend their nation, if they feel their way of life is threatened.
Third wave of democratization
The surge in democratic transitions that have occurred around the world since 1974.
Three pillars
1. Trade and other economic matters, including economic and monetary union into a single currency, and the creation of the European Central Bank. 2. Justice and home affairs, including policy governing asylum, border crossingmimmigration, and judicial coo
Unitary state
One system that concentrates all policy making powers in one central geographic place.