Chapter 8 Vocab - Political Geography

A sovereign state comprising a city and its immediately surrounding countryside (Singapore)

A state that encompasses a very small land area (Vatican, Monaco)

A state that contains two or more cultural groups with traditions of self determination that agree to coexist peacefully by recognizing each other as distinct nationalities (Russia, most states today)

Group of people who share a common culture (language, religion, charged history, territory) and identify as a cohesive group (Native Americans, Serbs, Kurds, French)

State with one nation in borders (Japan, Iceland)

Political unit with permanent population, recognized territorial boundaries, government, economy, control over internal and foreign affairs, and sovereignty

An internal organization of a state that places most power in the hands of central government officials (China, France)

An internal organization of a state that allocates most powers to units of local government (Russia, Canada, Brasil, India, The United States, Belgium)

Members of a nation in many countries (Serbs, Kurds)

Nation with no state to call its own (Kurds in ME, Muslim Arabs Palestine)

Ability of a state to govern its territory free from control of its internal affairs by other states; internationally recognized control of own people and territory in boundary

(Sovereign: Syria, Turkey, Germany, any country; Non-Sovereign: South Ossetia Puerto Rico, Somali-land, Taiwan, Hong-Kong, Palestine, California)

Study of human political organization

A country that is not fully democratic or autocratic but rather a mix

A country that is run according to the interests of the ruler rather than the people

A country in which citizens elect leaders and can run for office

An invisible line that marks the extent of a state’s territory

An attempt by one country to establish settlements and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles in another territory

A territory that is legally tied to a sovereign sate rather than completely independent

A zone separating two states in which neither state exercises political control

The process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power

The concept that ethnicities have the right to govern themselves

The threatened or actual use of illegal force and violence by a non state actor to attain a political, economic, religious, or social goal through fear, coercion, or intimidation

A nuclear, biological, chemical, or other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of human or cause great damage to human-made structures, natural structures, or the biosphere

Ranking of nations based on stability and pressures faced

Code of maritime law saying that states have sovereignty in territorial seas (12 nautical miles), limited sovereignty in the contiguous zone (24 nm), resource extraction in the Exclusive Economic Zone (200 nm), and anything beyond 200 nm is considered high seas

Congressional districts are redrawn and seats are redistributed among states in the House → Gerrymandering

Creating ownership over defined space (bedroom, country, personal space, emotional response, → conflict: Persian Gulf War 1990’s, WWII Germany Invasions)

A uniting force

A dividing force

Transfer of power from central to regional gov; more power, autonomy, control, or sovereignty at the regional level

When a centrifugal force breaks apart a state along ethnic/cultural lines (Soviet Union - political, former Yugoslavia - cultural/ethnic)

Movement by nation to reunite across borders (Nazi Germany retake territory after WWI)

Caught between external cultural or politcal forces; stress from rivals (USSR + Western EU, Caucasus, Crimea/Ukraine, parts of ME, parts of East Asia)

Alliances of multiple states/countries (UN)