Question 1

Political Geography

Accepted Answer

The study of political organizations of the world

Question 2

(Modern) State

Accepted Answer

An area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government that has control over its internal and foreign affairs.  A state occupies a defined territory, contains a permanent population, has sovereignty, and recognition.

Question 3

Sovereignty

Accepted Answer

Independence from control of its internal affairs by other states.
(Right of a state to rule over itself)

Question 4

What's a synonym for state?

Accepted Answer

Country

Question 5

Early political states were..

Accepted Answer

not well defined

Question 6

Allegiance

Accepted Answer

Devotion/Loyalty to a group, cause, political party, etc.

Question 7

Formalized Divisions

Accepted Answer

Borders drawn between countries that were agreed on to set boundaries that are well defined and known to not cause conflicts.

Question 8

Imposed Divisions

Accepted Answer

Borders forced onto a country/countries by an outside power with complete disregard for existing, religious, ethnic, and cultural boundaries that were already there.

Question 9

Decolonization

Accepted Answer

A process where colonies gain independence from colonial powers, where they then usually end up as a state/country.

Question 10

Is Sealand technically a state?

Accepted Answer

Sealand is technically a state, but not taken very seriously. However, over the years, they are more accepted as a proper state.

Question 11

Is Taiwan a part of China or are they separate states?

Accepted Answer

Taiwan claims they are separate while China claims they are one, but most nations view them as separate sovereign states.

Question 12

Is Western Sahara part of Morocco?

Accepted Answer

Morocco is in control of Western Sahara, but many African nations recognize Western Sahara as the legitimate state.

Question 13

Microstates

Accepted Answer

An official, legal state with sovereignty but with small land area or population of people.

Question 14

Micronation

Accepted Answer

Nation of homogeneous people that claim to be an independent state with sovereignty but actually has no sovereignty.

Question 15

Nation

Accepted Answer

A large body of homogeneous people united by history, culture, language, religion, etc.

Question 16

Nation-State

Accepted Answer

A sovereign state with a relatively homogeneous population with a shared language, culture, and history.

Question 17

Stateless Nation

Accepted Answer

A nation with political aspirations but has no sovereignty over it's homeland and no recognization

Question 18

Multi-Ethnic State/Multinational State

Accepted Answer

A state with more than one ethnicity that agrees to coexist peacefully. However, this may lead to secession, separatism, or devolution due to future conflicts between ethnicity.

Question 19

Multi-State Nation

Accepted Answer

Nation that is spread across multiple sovereign states

Question 20

Irredentism

Accepted Answer

Political goal to unify a nation across existing state borders

Question 21

Ethnicity

Accepted Answer

Identity with a group of people who share the cultural traditions of a particular homeland or hearth.

Question 22

Race

Accepted Answer

Identity with a group of people who are perceived to share a physiological trait (skin color)

Question 23

Nationality

Accepted Answer

Identity with a group of people who share legal attachment to a particular country.

Question 24

Self-Determination

Accepted Answer

The concept that ethnicities have the right to self govern themselves.

Question 25

Nation-State examples:

Accepted Answer

Japan, Iceland, and South Korea

Question 26

Balkanization

Accepted Answer

A larger country breaks up into smaller countries because of conflicts of ethnicities

Question 27

Yugoslavia broke up into.. (Balkan States)

Accepted Answer

Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Kosovo

Question 28

Why did Yugoslavia collapse?

Accepted Answer

All of their states were looking for Self-Determination

Question 29

Why are Catalans and Basque people fighting against Spain?

Accepted Answer

They are fighting for self-determination and independence from Spain.

Question 30

Political Boundaries are based off of political processes like:

Accepted Answer

Self-Determination, Nation-States, and Sovereignty.

Question 31

Colonialism

Accepted Answer

The practice of claiming territories and settling there to exert economic, social, and political control

Question 32

Imperialism

Accepted Answer

The idea of creating an empire by exerting force to control other nations to gain economic and political power without establishing settlements.

Question 33

What lasting cultural effects can Colonialism and Imperialism have?

Accepted Answer

Language and religion

Question 34

What lasting economic effects can Colonialism and Imperialism have?

Accepted Answer

Commodity Dependence

Question 35

Commodity Dependence

Accepted Answer

When a country's exports are mainly made up of raw materials or commodities. This can lead to economic underdevelopment and vulnerability to price changes.

Question 36

What lasting social effects can Colonialism and Imperialism have?

Accepted Answer

Ethnic divisions and genocides

Question 37

Genocide

Accepted Answer

Deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.

Question 38

What lasting political effects can Colonialism and Imperialism have?

Accepted Answer

Borders and changed government system

Question 39

Independence movements

Accepted Answer

Group of people in a particular part of an area advocating for separation from larger political entities on the basis of ethnicity, religion, nationality, etc.

Question 40

Independence movements Examples

Accepted Answer

Catalonia, Spain; Scotland, UK; Kurds from Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria

Question 41

Devolution

Accepted Answer

Breaking up of a state into smaller units or the passing of power from central to lower governments

Question 42

Devolution Examples

Accepted Answer

Spain into Catalonia and Basque; Yugoslavia into Balkan States; Quebec and Nunavut, Canada

Question 43

Berlin Conference 1884-1885

Accepted Answer

Also called scramble for Africa, where European colonizers decided who was gonna get which parts of Africa by splitting it up. (Colonization)

Question 44

South Asia British Colonization/Independence Movements

Accepted Answer

There was a huge Independence movement led by Gandhi for self-determination in India, it was successful as they gained Independence in 1947. Still there is a major territorial dispute in the northern part of Kashmir from ethnic religion.

Question 45

Kurds (Part 1)

Accepted Answer

Kurds are an ethnic group living in Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. They have been striving for independence for a long time as they have different languages, cultures, etc.

Question 46

Kurds (Part 2)

Accepted Answer

However, almost every state denied them their wish for their own separate state from all of them. However, independence movements are still continuing so there is still a chance for Kurds to get a country of their own.

Question 47

Political Power

Accepted Answer

Expressed geographically as control over people, land, and resources.

Question 48

Territoriality

Accepted Answer

The connection of people, their culture, and their economic systems to the land, often leads to conflicts as they give a sense of ownership and control of their land.

Question 49

Neocolonialism

Accepted Answer

Developed countries exert economic, military, and cultural power over developing countries.

Question 50

Shatterbelt

Accepted Answer

An unstable regional area and a geographically strategic region where larger powers fight each other for influence in that particular area (Example: Kashmir Region)

Question 51

Chokepoints

Accepted Answer

Limits access to people, land and resources when CONTROLLED by a power making control of these access points crucial for countries.

Question 52

Territoriality

Accepted Answer

The connection of people, their culture, and their economic systems to the land. Often lead to conflicts as groups disagree over borders, practice different cultures, or have competing economic interests in the area.

Question 53

Balkanization

Accepted Answer

The process by which a state breaks down into other states or regions because of its conflicts among its multiple ethnicities.

Question 54

Relic Boundary

Accepted Answer

Former boundary that no longer exists but still holds some kind of significance. (Example: Berlin Wall)

Question 55

Superimposed Boundary (Cultural)

Accepted Answer

Boundaries that are drawn by outside powers and tend to ignore existing boundaries of social, cultural or ethnic differences. (Example: Scramble for Africa/Berlin Conference)

Question 56

Antecedent Boundary (Cultural)

Accepted Answer

Boundaries drawn before many people live in an area and establish a cultural landscape. (Example: USA, Canada)

Question 57

Geometric Boundary (Cultural)

Accepted Answer

Boundary that follows a straight line, often latitude or longitude lines. They can also be superimposed or antecedent. (Example: US states, some states of Africa)

Question 58

Subsequent Boundary (Cultural)

Accepted Answer

Boundaries drawn where people have already settled with cultures already established (distinguished from antecedent). (Example: Boundary between Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland)

Question 59

Consequent/Religous Boundary (Cultural)

Accepted Answer

A kind of subsequent boundary that is drawn to accomodate existing differences among people such as ethnicity, language, religion, and more. (Example: India and Pakistan, Balkans after Yugoslavia's fall)

Question 60

Religious Boundaries (Cultural)

Accepted Answer

Religious differences often coincide with boundaries between states, but in only a few cases has the religion been used to set the actual border.

Question 61

Mountain Boundaries (Physical)

Accepted Answer

Are only effective if they’re difficult to cross.  They sometimes isolate nationalities on either side of the mountains.

Question 62

Desert Boundaries (Physical)

Accepted Answer

A boundary drawn in a desert can also effectively divide two states.  Like mountains, deserts are hard to cross and are sparsely inhabited.

Question 63

Water Boundaries (Physical)

Accepted Answer

Rivers, lakes, and oceans are the physical features most commonly used as physical boundaries.  Water boundaries are visible on a map and are relatively unchanging.  They also offer good protection.

Question 64

Frontier

Accepted Answer

Zones where no state exercises complete political control. Frontiers are tangible, act as a buffer zone, and are now getting replaced by borders almost universally except for Antarctica and the Arabian Peninsula.

Question	Answer
Political Geography	The study of political organizations of the world
(Modern) State	An area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government that has control over its internal and foreign affairs. A state occupies a defined territory, contains a permanent population, has sovereignty, and recognition.
Sovereignty	Independence from control of its internal affairs by other states. (Right of a state to rule over itself)
What's a synonym for state?	Country
Early political states were..	not well defined
Allegiance	Devotion/Loyalty to a group, cause, political party, etc.
Formalized Divisions	Borders drawn between countries that were agreed on to set boundaries that are well defined and known to not cause conflicts.
Imposed Divisions	Borders forced onto a country/countries by an outside power with complete disregard for existing, religious, ethnic, and cultural boundaries that were already there.
Decolonization	A process where colonies gain independence from colonial powers, where they then usually end up as a state/country.
Is Sealand technically a state?	Sealand is technically a state, but not taken very seriously. However, over the years, they are more accepted as a proper state.
Is Taiwan a part of China or are they separate states?	Taiwan claims they are separate while China claims they are one, but most nations view them as separate sovereign states.
Is Western Sahara part of Morocco?	Morocco is in control of Western Sahara, but many African nations recognize Western Sahara as the legitimate state.
Microstates	An official, legal state with sovereignty but with small land area or population of people.
Micronation	Nation of homogeneous people that claim to be an independent state with sovereignty but actually has no sovereignty.
Nation	A large body of homogeneous people united by history, culture, language, religion, etc.
Nation-State	A sovereign state with a relatively homogeneous population with a shared language, culture, and history.
Stateless Nation	A nation with political aspirations but has no sovereignty over it's homeland and no recognization
Multi-Ethnic State/Multinational State	A state with more than one ethnicity that agrees to coexist peacefully. However, this may lead to secession, separatism, or devolution due to future conflicts between ethnicity.
Multi-State Nation	Nation that is spread across multiple sovereign states
Irredentism	Political goal to unify a nation across existing state borders
Ethnicity	Identity with a group of people who share the cultural traditions of a particular homeland or hearth.
Race	Identity with a group of people who are perceived to share a physiological trait (skin color)
Nationality	Identity with a group of people who share legal attachment to a particular country.
Self-Determination	The concept that ethnicities have the right to self govern themselves.
Nation-State examples:	Japan, Iceland, and South Korea
Balkanization	A larger country breaks up into smaller countries because of conflicts of ethnicities
Yugoslavia broke up into.. (Balkan States)	Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Kosovo
Why did Yugoslavia collapse?	All of their states were looking for Self-Determination
Why are Catalans and Basque people fighting against Spain?	They are fighting for self-determination and independence from Spain.
Political Boundaries are based off of political processes like:	Self-Determination, Nation-States, and Sovereignty.
Colonialism	The practice of claiming territories and settling there to exert economic, social, and political control
Imperialism	The idea of creating an empire by exerting force to control other nations to gain economic and political power without establishing settlements.
What lasting cultural effects can Colonialism and Imperialism have?	Language and religion
What lasting economic effects can Colonialism and Imperialism have?	Commodity Dependence
Commodity Dependence	When a country's exports are mainly made up of raw materials or commodities. This can lead to economic underdevelopment and vulnerability to price changes.
What lasting social effects can Colonialism and Imperialism have?	Ethnic divisions and genocides
Genocide	Deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.
What lasting political effects can Colonialism and Imperialism have?	Borders and changed government system
Independence movements	Group of people in a particular part of an area advocating for separation from larger political entities on the basis of ethnicity, religion, nationality, etc.
Independence movements Examples	Catalonia, Spain; Scotland, UK; Kurds from Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria
Devolution	Breaking up of a state into smaller units or the passing of power from central to lower governments
Devolution Examples	Spain into Catalonia and Basque; Yugoslavia into Balkan States; Quebec and Nunavut, Canada
Berlin Conference 1884-1885	Also called scramble for Africa, where European colonizers decided who was gonna get which parts of Africa by splitting it up. (Colonization)
South Asia British Colonization/Independence Movements	There was a huge Independence movement led by Gandhi for self-determination in India, it was successful as they gained Independence in 1947. Still there is a major territorial dispute in the northern part of Kashmir from ethnic religion.
Kurds (Part 1)	Kurds are an ethnic group living in Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. They have been striving for independence for a long time as they have different languages, cultures, etc.
Kurds (Part 2)	However, almost every state denied them their wish for their own separate state from all of them. However, independence movements are still continuing so there is still a chance for Kurds to get a country of their own.
Political Power	Expressed geographically as control over people, land, and resources.
Territoriality	The connection of people, their culture, and their economic systems to the land, often leads to conflicts as they give a sense of ownership and control of their land.
Neocolonialism	Developed countries exert economic, military, and cultural power over developing countries.
Shatterbelt	An unstable regional area and a geographically strategic region where larger powers fight each other for influence in that particular area (Example: Kashmir Region)
Chokepoints	Limits access to people, land and resources when CONTROLLED by a power making control of these access points crucial for countries.
Territoriality	The connection of people, their culture, and their economic systems to the land. Often lead to conflicts as groups disagree over borders, practice different cultures, or have competing economic interests in the area.
Balkanization	The process by which a state breaks down into other states or regions because of its conflicts among its multiple ethnicities.
Relic Boundary	Former boundary that no longer exists but still holds some kind of significance. (Example: Berlin Wall)
Superimposed Boundary (Cultural)	Boundaries that are drawn by outside powers and tend to ignore existing boundaries of social, cultural or ethnic differences. (Example: Scramble for Africa/Berlin Conference)
Antecedent Boundary (Cultural)	Boundaries drawn before many people live in an area and establish a cultural landscape. (Example: USA, Canada)
Geometric Boundary (Cultural)	Boundary that follows a straight line, often latitude or longitude lines. They can also be superimposed or antecedent. (Example: US states, some states of Africa)
Subsequent Boundary (Cultural)	Boundaries drawn where people have already settled with cultures already established (distinguished from antecedent). (Example: Boundary between Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland)
Consequent/Religous Boundary (Cultural)	A kind of subsequent boundary that is drawn to accomodate existing differences among people such as ethnicity, language, religion, and more. (Example: India and Pakistan, Balkans after Yugoslavia's fall)
Religious Boundaries (Cultural)	Religious differences often coincide with boundaries between states, but in only a few cases has the religion been used to set the actual border.
Mountain Boundaries (Physical)	Are only effective if they’re difficult to cross. They sometimes isolate nationalities on either side of the mountains.
Desert Boundaries (Physical)	A boundary drawn in a desert can also effectively divide two states. Like mountains, deserts are hard to cross and are sparsely inhabited.
Water Boundaries (Physical)	Rivers, lakes, and oceans are the physical features most commonly used as physical boundaries. Water boundaries are visible on a map and are relatively unchanging. They also offer good protection.
Frontier	Zones where no state exercises complete political control. Frontiers are tangible, act as a buffer zone, and are now getting replaced by borders almost universally except for Antarctica and the Arabian Peninsula.
Buffer Zone	Area that physically separates two or more powers from each other. Is a neutral area that can reduce tension.
Barrier	Borders are invisible, bring neighboring countries into direct contact which increase chances for violence, and can be both physical and cultural.
Defined Boundary (Political)	Defined Boundaries are established by a legal document and agreement
Delimited Boundary (Political)	Delimited boundary is a line drawn on a map that shows the limits of the government’s jurisdiction.
Demarcated Boundary (Political)	Demarcated boundary is identified by physical markers or barriers
Types of boundaries..	Cultural, Physical, and Political
Types of Boundary Disputes:	Definitional (Positional) Boundary, Locational (Territorial) Boundary, Operational (Functional) Boundary, Allocational (Resource) Boundary Disputes.
Definitional (Positional) Boundary Dispute	Conflicts over the interpretation of documents defining a boundary or the way it is shown on the ground.
Locational (Territorial) Boundary Dispute	Conflicts between states or regions over the ownership of a given area.
Operational (Functional) Boundary Dispute	Conflicts over the national policies applied at a border
Allocational (Resource) Boundary Dispute	Conflicts over the use of resources created or complicated by a boundary.
What does UNCLOS stand for ?	The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
What was UNCLOS made for?	To settle disputes between countries.
What does UNCLOS regulate ?	Maritime boundaries and resources. They also establish territorial claims, regulate resource claims, and allow anyone to travel in international waters. (also called high seas)
What are some of the territorial claims the UNCLOS made?	A country’s territory extends 12 nautical miles from shore and a country’s contagious zone extends 12 to 24 nautical miles from shore.
What is one of the resource claims the UNCLOS made?	A country’s exclusive economic zone extends to 200 to 350 nautical miles from shore.
Internal Boundaries	Boundaries that are within states, like states/countries in the US
What do Internal Boundaries form?	Voting Districts.
Voting Districts	Local geographic area of a larger country in which you vote for representatives to congress.
Gerrymandering	A form of redistribution in which electoral district or constituency boundaries are deliberately modified for electoral advantage.
Redistricting	Internal Political boundaries are redrawn after a census, which determine voting districts for legislatures
How are voting Districts determined?	By redistricting and gerrymandering, which then affect politics and elections at various scales.
Packing (Gerrymandering Method)	making a district full of the opposition party voters
Cracking (Gerrymandering Method)	spreading out the opposition party voters throughout many districts
Majority-Minority District (Gerrymandering Method)	Minorities are the majority voters in a district; race is often a major factor in determining which party you will vote for.
Ethnic Enclaves	A place with a high concentration of an ethnic group that is distinct from those in the surrounding area.
Ethnoburbs	Movement from inner-city enclaves to suburbs
Unitary Government	Unitary governments hold almost all authority and have a strong centralized government structure. Very little power is given to local governments as their power is concentrated.
Federal Government	Federal governments share political power with lower levels of governments, they have a decentralized government structure. They share their power so it's more spread out not centralized
Federal Government Examples	US and Australia
Unitary Government Examples	Japan, France, UK.
Autonomous Regions	A geographic area within a state and has a high degree of self-governance from a state. (Example: Native American Reservations in the US)
Semi-Autonomous Regions	A geographic area that is controlled by another state, but only has a moderate degree of self governance. (Example: Hong Kong)
Ethnic Cleansing	process in which a more powerful ethnic group forcibly removes a less powerful one in order to create an ethnically homogeneous region.
Ethnic Separatism	When there are many ethnic groups in a country and one ethnic group wants stronger political power, especially if there is a history of self-rule.
Terrorism	focuses specifically on terrorizing a group to give their requested demands, with little attention paid to individuals
Acts of Terror	can be directed at an individual, rather than a group, with the terrorizing of a group coming as a side-effect
What was Saddam Hussein accused of creating?	Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Apartheid	The physical separation of races into different areas.
Stateless Nation Examples:	Kurds, Palestinians, Basques, etc.
Socioeconomic Problems	Economic and social problems that a certain part of a country does not agree with.
Socioeconomic examples:	Catalonia, Spain; Scotland, UK
Irredentism examples	China, Taiwan; Russia, Ukraine-Crimea.
how regional economic differences contribute to devolutionary pressure within a country?	If a country feels as if they are not compensated or given more autonomy for their contribution for their state, that can lead to devolutionary pressure on them to be a separate state with sovereignty.
What factors can lead to devolution?	Terrorism, socioeconomic problems, and Irredentism
How have advances in communication lead to facilitated devolutionary actions?	Social media can organize protests, internet can attract new members and communicate with outside world, and videos taken by protesters can show abuses by government forces to gain sympathy for themselves.
Supranationalism	Where several countries form an organization to achieve common goals and benefits for all the countries. These organizations are often political, military, economic, or environmental. They give as well as take.
Supranationalism examples	United Nations, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), The European Union (EU) and the Paris Climate Accords.
Communication technologies effect on Supranationalism:	Technologies can connect people and countries faster over time and space, efficiently link countries involved in military alliances, and link the markets and banks of economic alliances.
Communication technologies effect on democratization	Technologies bring outside information to people who live in autocratic countries and make it easier for groups to send information and get support from outside forces
democratization	process of moving a nation's government from an authoritarian to a democratic system
Supranational Organizations	Similar to international organizations, but to some extent member nations must relinquish some level of state sovereignty in favor of group interests.
International Organization	alliance of two or more countries seeking cooperation with each other without giving up either’s autonomy or self-determination.
Forward Capital	A symbolically relocated capital city usually because of either economic or strategic reasons
Centrifugal Forces	Forces that divide a state, forces vary at different scales.
Centripetal Forces	Forces that divide a state, forces vary at different scales.
Failed State Examples	South Sudan, Yemen, Syria
Failed states	Where a state is unable to perform basic governmental responsibilities and lacks proper authority over its land.
Uneven development	Economic development throughout the state (or larger geographic area) is not equal in all places.
Uneven Development Examples	Wealthy city center next to a rural more run down area.
Stateless Nation Examples	Kurds, Palestinians.
Uneven development	Economic development throughout the state (or larger geographic area) is not equal in all places.
Ethnic Nationalist Movement Examples	Catalans, Basque, Balkanization
Ethnic Nationalist Movements	A specific group may want more autonomy or full separation from a country based on ethnicity or nationality.
Centrifugal Forces can lead to	Failed States, uneven development, stateless nations, and ethnic nationalist movements.
Centripetal Forces can lead to	Ethnonationalism, More equitable infrastructure & development, and Increased cultural cohesion
Ethnonationalism	National identity is based on a common ethnicity or attempt to tie an ethnicity with nationality.
Ethnonationalism example	India’s governments attempting to make a Hindu ethno nationalist identity.

Unit 4 Vocab Terms

AP Human Geography (10 Subsections)

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