Chapter 4, Section 3 Political Geography

Political Geography 4.3 State - an independent unit that occupies a specific territory and has full control of its internal and external affairs This control is known as sovereignty Sometimes we call a state a country Nation - a group of people with a common culture living in a territory and having a sense of unity When a nation and a state occupy the same territory, that territory is called a nation-state It is possible for a nation to not have a territory Called a stateless nation Palestinians, Kurds, Basques

Four general categories of government Democracy – power rests with the citizens, either directly or through elected representatives- example: USA Monarchy – a ruling family has the power and may or may not share with the people Constitutional Monarchy: United Kingdom Absolute Monarchy : Saudi Arabia Dictatorship – an individual or group hold complete political power – example: Myanmar Communism – based on an economic system, most political power and means of production are held by the government in the name of all people – example: Cuba

orange – parliamentary republics green - presidential republics, executive presidency linked to a parliament yellow - presidential republics, semi-presidential system blue - presidential republics, full presidential system red – parliamentary constitutional monarchies in which the monarch does not personally exercise power magenta – constitutional monarchies in which the monarch personally exercises power, often (but not always) alongside a weak parliament purple – absolute monarchies brown - republics where the dominant role of a single party is codified in the constitution beige - states where constitutional provisions for government have been suspended olive – military dictatorships grey - countries which do not fit any of the above systems

When describing a country geographers refer to three characteristics Size – large countries may have more potential (More people and resources), but small countries can be successful too (Singapore, Denmark) Shape- Compact – Germany Long – Chile Fragmented – Malaysia Relative location A landlocked country may be disadvantaged for trade Bolivia (landlocked) vs. Singapore (located on a major shipping lane) A nation surrounded by hostile neighbors must deal with issues of security and protection Israel

Boundaries or borders set limits of the nation-state Within borders a nation can collect taxes, set up legal code, declare official language and claim resources Natural Boundaries – formed by physical features such as rivers, lakes and mountains Easy to draw What if river changes course? Artificial boundaries – drawn by humans, often along a parallel or meridian Who draws the borders? Africa Pakistan/India

Regional political units Countries are often divided into smaller units: cities, town and villages, school districts Countries who have regional entities (states, provinces) that have powers not given to the national governments are called federal Countries where the national government has all the power are called unitary Countries that band together for certain purposes can be called confederations European Union, United Nations