State
a politically organized territory that is administered by a sovereign government and is recognized by a significant portion of the international community; has a defined territory, a permanent population, a government, and is recognized by others
Microstate
a state that encompasses a very small land area
Territoriality
in political geography, a country's or a local community's sense of property and attachment toward its territory, as expressed by its determination to keep it inviolable and strongly defended
Commonwealth
a political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them
Sovereignty
a principle of international relations that holds that final authority over social, economic, and political matters should rest with the legitimate rulers of independent states
Territorial Integrity
the right of a state to defend sovereign territory against incursion from other states
Nation
legally, a term encompassing all the citizens of a state; most definitions now tend to refer to a tightly knit group of people possessing bonds of language, ethnicity, religion, and other shared cultural attributes, such homogeneity actually prevails with
Nation-State
theoretically, a recognized member of the modern state system possessing formal sovereignty and occupied by a people who see themselves as a single, united nation; Most nations and states aspire to this form, but it is realized almost nowhere, nonetheless
Multinational State
state with more than one nation within its borders
Multistate Nation
nation that stretches across borders and across states
Stateless Nation
nation that does not have a state
Apartheid
a social policy or racial segregation involving political and economic and legal discrimination against non-whites
Colonialism
rule by an autonomous power over a subordinate and alien people and place, although often established and maintained through political structures, it also creates unequal cultural and economic relations; Because of the magnitude and impact of the European
Berlin Conference
the meeting of European powers in 1884-85 resulting in the Berlin Treaty and the partition of Africa into colonies of the attending nations
Forward Capitals
capital city positioned in potentially contested territory, usually near an international border, to confirm the state's determination to maintain it's presence in the region in contention ex. Brasilia
Self-Determination
right of national groups to their own territory and forms of government
Suffrage
the right to vote
Capitalism
economic model wherein people, corporations, and states produce goods and exchange them on the world market, with the goal of achieving profit
Core
processes that incorporate higher levels of education, higher salaries, and more technology; generate more wealth than periphery processes in the world-economy
Periphery
processes that incorporate lower levels of education, lower salaries, and less technology; and generate less wealth than core processes in the world-economy
Semi-Periphery
places where core and periphery processes are both occurring; places that are exploited by the core but in turn exploit the periphery
Centripetal Force
forces that tend to unify a country-such as widespread commitment to a national culture, shared ideological objectives, and a common faith
National Iconography
figural representations, either individual or symbolic, religious or secular; more broadly, the art of representation by pictures or images, which may or may not have a symbolic as well as an apparent or superficial meaning
Theocracy
a political unit governed by a deity (or by officials thought to be divinely guided)
Centrifugal Force
forces that tend to divide a country-such as internal religious, linguistic, ethnic, or ideological differences
Unitary Government
system of government in which all authority is placed in a central government; countries with unitary governments, such as Great Britain and France, have regional and local governments which derive their power from the central government
Federal Government
a form of government in which powers are divided between a central government and several local governments
Devolution
the process whereby regions within a state demand and gain political strength and growing autonomy at the expense of the central government
Regionalism
a foreign policy that defines the international interests of a country in terms of particular geographic areas
Electoral Regions
different voting districts that make up local, state, and national regions
Reappointment
process by which preventative districts are switched according to population shifts, so that each district encompasses approximately the same number of people
Gerrymander
redistricting for advantage, or the practice of dividing areas into electoral districts to give one political party an electoral majority in a large number of districts while concentrating the voting strength of the opposition in as few district as possib
Boundary
vertical plane between states that cuts through the rocks below, and the airspace above the surface
Geometric Boundaries
political boundary defined and delimited (and occasionally demarcated) as a straight line or an arc
Physical-Political Boundary
political boundary defined and delimited (and occasionally demarcated) by a prominent physical feature in the natural landscape-such as a river or the crest ridges of a mountain range
Ethnographic Boundary
state and national boundaries that are drawn to follow distinct differences in cultural traits such as religion, language, or ethnic identity
Border Landscape
two types; exclusionary and inclusionary. Exclusionary is meant to keep people out, such as the border between US and Mexico. Inclusionary is meant to facilitate trade and movement, such as the US-Canada Border.
Antecedent Boundary
a boundary line established before the area in question is well populated
Subsequent Boundary
a boundary that developed with the evolution of the cultural landscape and is adjusted as the cultural landscape changes
Superimposed Boundary
a boundary line placed over and ignoring an existing cultural pattern
Relic Boundary
a political boundary that has ceased to function but the imprint of which can still be detected on the cultural landscape
Reunification
bringing together two parts of a country under one government (ex: Germany)
Definitional Boundary Dispute
conflict over the language of the border agreement in a treaty or boundary contract
Locational Boundary Dispute
focus on delimitation or demarcation of boundary
Operational Boundary Dispute
arises due to a conflict about the administration of a boundary
Global Commons
those parts of our environment available to everyone but for which no single individual has responsibility--the atmosphere, fresh water, forests, wildlife, and ocean fisheries
Ethnic Conflicts
conflict between ethnic groups that struggle to achieve certain political or economic goals at each other's expense
Religious Conflicts
conflicts between religions that has often resulted in bloodshed ie: Roman takeovers, Muslim conquests, and the crusades
Balkanization
breaking up of an area in smaller (often hostile) units
Annexation
the adding of a region to the territory of an existing political unit
Compact Country
a country in which the distance from the center to any boundary does not vary significantly
Elongated Country
a country with a long, narrow shape
Fragmented Country
a country that includes several discontinuous pieces of territory
Perforated Country
a country that completely surrounds another state
Enclaves
a territory that is surrounded by another political unit of which it is not a part
Landlocked
a state that does not have a direct outlet to the sea; surrounded by land, cut off from the sea
Prorupted Country
an otherwise compact country with a large projecting extension
Geopolitics
the study of the interplay between political relations and the territorial context in which they occur.
Heartland
(theory) the control of the Eurasian continent was the key to world conquest
Rimland
(theory) the coastal rim of Eurasia held the key to global power
Satellite States
national state that is economically dependent and politically and militarily subservient to another- in its orbit, figuratively speaking
Iron Curtain
an impenetrable barrier to communication or information especially as imposed by rigid censorship and secrecy; a political barrier that isolated the peoples of Eastern Europe after WWII, restricting their ability to travel outside the region
Shatterbelt Regions
regions caught up in conflict between two superpowers
Buffer States
countries that separates two political enemies
Domino Theory
20th century American justification for limiting the spread of Communism; argued that if one country were allowed to fall to communists, other adjacent areas would likely follow
Irredentism
a policy of cultural extension and potential political extension aimed at a national group living in a neighboring country
Supranational Organization
a venture involving three or more nation-states involving formal political, economic, and/or cultural cooperation to promote shared objectives; ie: European Union
European Union
international organization comprised of Western European countries to promote free trade among members
Immigrant State
a type of receiving state which is the target of many immigrants; popular because of their economy, political freedom, and opportunity (e.g., US, Germany, etc.)
Fronteir
a zone separating two states in which neither state exercises political control
Manifest Destiny
the belief that the United States was destined to stretch across the continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean
Nunavut
an Arctic territory in northern Canada created in 1999 and governed solely by the Inuit