UNIT 4 STUDY REVIEW

Mr. Misciasci
 4.1 INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY

Key Ideas:
• Independent states are the primary building blocks of the world
political map
• Types of political entities include nations, nation-states, stateless
nations, multinational states, multistate nations, autonomous or
semiautonomous regions (American Indian reservations)
Independent states are the primary building
blocks of the world political map
• Remember, unless specified, questions referring
to states are typically looking at countries
• Need four things to be considered a state
• Territory
• Population
• Government
• *Sovereignty (most important and difficult)
Types of Political Entities Include:
• Nations: Group of PEOPLE united by common history, culture, language, inhabiting a
particular territory who have or desire sovereignty
• States: Area of LAND with defined borders, population, government that is recognized as
sovereign by other states
• Nation-States: A territory (state) occupied by one single ethnicity (nation)
• Stateless-Nations: A group of people with a national identity who want their own state but
do not have one
• Multinational States: Consist of multiple ethnic groups who have different national
identities but agree to co-exist in one state
• Multistate Nations: A group of people with a single national identity but are split up into
two or more states
• Autonomous/Semiautonomous Regions: Defined area within a state that is granted a high
degree of freedom and self government
Nation States
• North Korea (99% Korean) YES
• Japan (98.5% Japanese)
• Iceland (94% Icelandic)
• US is NOT even close

NO!
YES
Stateless Nations
• Kurds
• Palestinians
• Catalonians
• Basque
• Taiwan
Multinational States
• Canada
• United Kingdom
• Belgium
• Spain
Multistate Nations
• Many are stateless nations
• Kurds
• Palestinians
• But not always
• Koreans
Autonomous Regions
• Native American Reservations (US)
• Hong Kong (China)
• Nunavut (Canada)
• Scotland (UK)
 4.2 POLITICAL PROCESSES

Key Ideas:
• Concepts of sovereignty, nation-states and self-determination shape the
contemporary world
• Colonialism, imperialism, independence movements, and devolution along
national lines have influenced contemporary political boundaries
Concepts of sovereignty, nation-states and self-determination shape the
contemporary world
• Post WWII: decolonization, colonies seek sovereignty
• Post Cold War: self-determination of former Soviet controlled states
Colonialism, imperialism, independence movements, and devolution along
national lines have influenced contemporary political boundaries

America’s Independence
 4.3 POLITICAL POWER AND
TERRITORY

Key Ideas:
• Political power is expressed geographically as control over people, land, and
resources as illustrated by neocolonialism, shatterbelts, and choke points
• Territoriality is the connection of people to their culture, and their economic
systems to the land
Political power is expressed geographically as control over people,
land, and resources as illustrated by:
• Neocolonialism: modern domination of countries economically, culturally or politically
rather than via armed force
• Shatterbelts: region caught between stronger colliding external cultural-political forces,
under persistent stress, and often fragmented by rivals
• Choke points: a strategic, narrow route providing passage to another region
• Territoriality: the connection of people to their culture, and their economic systems to the
land
 4.4 DEFINING POLITICAL BOUNDARIES

Key Ideas:
• Types of boundaries include relic, superimposed, subsequent, antecedent,
geometric, and consequent
Types of boundaries include:
• Relic: no longer exists but evidence of it still exists on the landscape
• Superimposed: drawn by outside powers often forced on those countries
• Subsequent: drawn to accommodate existing cultural differences
• Consequent: for our purposes, same as subsequent
N. Ireland is part of
• Antecedent: drawn before a large population was present in the area UK, boundary
corresponds to
• Geometric: drawn as a straight line ignoring existing geographic features religion

The UN chose the Korean border

The 49th parallel is

both antecedent
and geometric

In spite of fall of
Berlin wall and
unification of
Germany, differences
still exist
 4.5 FUNCTION OF POLITICAL BOUNDARIES

Key Ideas:
• Boundaries are defined, delimited, demarcated, and administered to establish limits of
sovereignty, but they are often contested
• Political boundaries often coincide with cultural, national, or economic divisions. However
some are created by demilitarized zones or policy such as the Berlin Conference
• Land and maritime boundaries and international agreements can influence national or regional
identity and encourage or discourage international or internal interactions and disputes over
resources
• The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea defines the rights and responsibilities of nations in
the use of international waters, establishing territorial seas, and Exclusive Economic Zones
(EEZ)s
Boundaries are defined, delimited, demarcated, and administered 6 Countries
to establish limits of sovereignty, but they are often contested claim the
• Defined: established by a legal document such as a treaty Spratly
Islands. A
• Delimited: a line drawn on a map to show the limits of a space second
• Demarcated: identified by physical objects placed on the landscape example is
Taiwan…
(signs, walls, etc.)
• Contested boundaries: disputed by one or more parties

Western Sahara claims it

is an independent
territory, Morocco claims
that it is part of Morocco

Don’t tell China I said that..

Boundaries often coincide with cultural, national, or economic divisions. However some
are created by demilitarized zones or policy such as the Berlin Conference.
Land and maritime boundaries and international
agreements can influence national or regional
identity and encourage or discourage international
or internal interactions and disputes over resources Problems often
occur over Oil
or other
resources

So far so good in Antarctica

The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)
defines the rights and responsibilities of nations in the use of
international waters, establishing territorial seas, and
Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ)s
 4.6 INTERNAL BOUNDARIES

Key Ideas:
• Voting districts, redistricting, and gerrymandering affect election results at
various scales
 Voting districts, redistricting, and gerrymandering affect
election results at various scales
• Steps to gerrymandering
• Census: every 10 years (including this year) US counts population
• Reapportionment: # of Representatives determined by state population, some lose or gain
seats in the House
• Redistricting: if a state gains or loses representatives, districts must be redrawn
• Gerrymandering: when boundaries are drawn to benefit a political party

• Impact varies by scale

• Local
• Representatives may not reflect ethnic/socioeconomic demographics of the area they
represent
• Reduced voter participation (applies to all scales)
• State
• Leads to one political party dominating state government
• Can strengthen or weaken candidates
• Leads to more extreme positions on issues
• Court challenges/cases
• National
• Leads to more extreme positions on issues
• Court challenges/cases reaching Supreme Court
 4.7 FORMS OF GOVERNANCE

Key Ideas:
• Forms of governance include unitary states and federal states
• Unitary states tend to have a more top-down, centralized form of governance,
while federal states have more locally based, dispersed power centers
Forms of governance include unitary states and
federal states
• Unitary: all government power concentrated at the national level
and clustered in one single location in the state
• Federal: government power is spread between multiple levels and is
dispersed throughout the state
• While dictatorships are always unitary, this has little to do with
democracy as both unitary and federal states can be democracies

Presence of
provinces or states
indicate a Federal
state, lack of them
indicates Unitary

Green: Federal
Blue; Unitary
Notice larger states tend
to be Federal states
Unitary states tend to have a more top-down, centralized form
of governance, while federal states have more locally based,
dispersed power centers
• Unitary Benefits
Many unitary
• Standardized laws in country states have
• More efficiency, fewer decision makers/steps gone through
devolution
• Reduced taxes, less levels, less government due to ethnic
• Promotes nationalism IF one nationality (centripetal forces) minority
groups
• Unitary Problems
• Favoring ethnic majority over minorities, capital over other regions
• Slow responses to problems outside of capital region
• Poor availability of services to other regions
• Promotes devolution IF multiple nationalities (centrifugal forces)
• Benefits of Federalism
• Better represents multiple ethnicities/cultures, divides power
• More responsive to remote geographic areas
• Easier to govern a larger state, power spread more evenly
 4.8 DEFINING DEVOLUTIONARY FACTORS

Key Ideas:
• Factors that can lead to devolution of states include the division of groups by
physical geography, ethnic separatism, ethnic cleansing, terrorism, economic
and social problems and irredentism
• Devolution occurs when states fragment into autonomous regions; subnational
political-territorial units, such as those within Spain, Belgium, Canada, and
Nigeria; or when states disintegrate like Eritrea, South Sudan, East Timor and
former Soviet Union states
Factors that lead to devolution of states
Devolution: transfer or delegation of power from central
governments to local ones (Unitary to Federal)
Devolutionary forces include:
• Physical geography: regions isolated from capital area
(mountains, etc.)
• Ethnic separatism: ethnic minorities seek more power or
wish to break away due to treatment by majority
• Ethnic cleansing: extreme cases where majority group is
seeking to kill or remove ethnic minorities
• Terrorism: extreme cases where ethnic minorities
engage in terrorism
• Economics: wealthy regions may feel as though they
support rest of country, poorer regions may feel neglected
• Irredentism: ethnic groups may wish to be united with
same ethnicity in a different country
Devolution occurs when states fragment by
either:
• Sharing power with autonomous regions or
subnational units
• Spain: shared with Catalonia and Basque regions
• Belgium: split power into Dutch/French areas
• Canada: gave power to Quebec (French) and Nunavut
(Native)
• Nigeria: moved capital to Abuja, more centralized to
share power with ethnic/religious minority groups

• States disintegrate
• Eritrea: broke away from Ethiopia
• South Sudan: broke away from Sudan
• East Timor: broke away from Indonesia
• Soviet Union: broke into numerous states
• Yugoslavia: broke into numerous states
 4.9 CHALLENGES TO SOVEREIGNTY

Key Ideas:
• Advances in communication technology have facilitated devolution, supranationalism, and
democratization
• Global efforts to address transnational and environmental challenges and to create
economies of scale, trade agreements, and military alliances to help further
supranationalism
• Supranational organizations- including the United Nations (UN), North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO), European Union (EU), Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN), Arctic Council, and African Union can challenge state sovereignty by limiting
the economic or political actions of member states
Advances in communication technology led to
• Devolution: transfer of power from central governments to local ones
• Minority groups can see lifestyles in “free” countries via internet,
social media, etc.
• Easier communication to organize resistance/independence/protests
• Supranationalism: process of states organizing politically or
economically into organizations or alliances
• Easier to communicate and cooperate with other countries
• Globalization of economics, culture, politics made possible by
technology
• Democratization: introduction of democracy of democratic ideas to
states that did not have them
• People can see freedoms of other countries, desire to change
authoritarian rule
• Easier to organize resistance/protests/etc.
• Contributed to “Arab Spring” democracy movements in Middle East
• Has led to censorship of media technology in totalitarian countries
such as China and North Korea
Global efforts to address transnational and environmental
challenges and to create economies of scale, trade agreements, and
military alliances to help further supranationalism
• Climate change
• Globalization of trade, transnational companies
• Cold War and military alliances
Supranational organizations- including the United Nations (UN),
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), European Union
(EU), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Arctic
Council, and African Union can challenge state sovereignty by
limiting the economic or political actions of member states
• Supranational organizations can force member states to adopt
policies and give up some of their control (lose sovereignty)
• Military alliances (such as NATO) could force countries into war
• European Union
• States give up borders, free travel in all EU member states
• This includes immigration which led Britain to leave (Brexit)
• States give up their currency, replaced by Euros
• States give up some economic control, caused anger in Greece
• Why join? Removal of all trade barriers or tariffs between member
states, huge opportunity for economic advancement
 4.10 CONSEQUENCES OF CENTRIPETAL
AND CENTRIFUGAL FORCES

Key Ideas:
• Centrifugal forces may lead to failed states, uneven development, stateless
nations, and ethnic nationalist movements
• Centripetal forces can lead to ethnocentrism, more equitable infrastructure
development, and increased cultural cohesion
Centrifugal forces may lead to failed states, uneven
development, stateless nations, and ethnic nationalist
movements
• Centrifugal forces are anything that reduces loyalty, happiness,
divides people inside of a state (they are negative)
• Economic examples
• Poverty, wide gap between wealthy and poor
• Lack of job opportunities, large scale unemployment
• Cultural examples
• Multiple ethnic (history of conflict, competition to dominate country)
• Multiple competing religions (that are not peacefully coexisting)
• Multiple competing languages (when people do not want diversity)
• Gender issues, roles of women in the country
• Political examples
• Government laws or actions to persecute minority groups (ethnicity,
religion, etc.)
• Unpopular political leader
• Government overly strict, totalitarian, causing rebellion
Centripetal forces can lead to ethnocentrism, more
equitable infrastructure development, and increased
cultural cohesion
• Centripetal forces are anything that improve loyalty, make
people happy, bring people together inside of a state (they are
positive)
• Economic Examples
• Wealth, job opportunities, successfully economy
• Full employment, high pay, etc.
• Culture Examples
• Ethnic homogeneity, one ethnic group OR people support diversity
• One single, shared religion OR history of religious acceptance
• One single, shared language
• Gender equality
• Political Examples
• Government supports freedom, treats groups equally
• Ethnic groups feel they have a say in government, representation
• Federal states, creation of autonomous regions
Federal States