1. Political Geography Chapter 8 An Introduction to Human Geography
The Cultural Landscape, 9e
James M. Rubenstein
Chapter 8
Political Geography
Geog 1050
Victoria Alapo, Instructor

2. United Nations Members
The UN has increased from 51 Member-States in 1945 to 192 in 2007.
There are also some Stateless Nations in the world (next slide).

3. Stateless Nations Nations of people with no official State boundaries.
A State is a territory on the ground, usually an official line on a map.
A Nation is the people who live within the territory, which means not all nations have STATES. E.g.? Pg 242.

4. Antarctica: National Claims
Antarctica is the only large landmass that is not part of a state, but several countries claim
portions of it. Read Treaty, pg Treaty prevents countries from ever fighting over it.
The countries promised that it will be used for peaceful purposes, forever.

5. (Babylonian, Persian, Sumerian, Assyrian, etc).
The Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent was the site of early city-states and a succession of ancient empires
(Babylonian, Persian, Sumerian, Assyrian, etc).

6. especially throughout Africa and in much of Asia.
Colonial Possessions, 1914
By the outbreak of World War I, European states held colonies throughout the world,
especially throughout Africa and in much of Asia.

7. Colonial Possessions, 2006
Most of the remaining colonies are small islands in the Pacific or Caribbean, pg 265.

8. Boundaries and Boundary Problems of States
Shapes of states
Five basic shapes (see next slide and pg 264 to 267)
Landlocked states (define and see next slide)
Boundaries inside states
Electoral geography
Gerrymandering: the act of creating district boundaries in such a way that one gains unfair political advantage. See slides.

9. Southern, central, and eastern Africa include states that are
African States
Southern, central, and eastern Africa include states that are
compact, elongated, prorupted, fragmented, and perforated. What shape is the U.S.?

10. Gerrymandering: Florida and Georgia
State legislature boundaries were drawn to maximize the number of legislators for
Republicans in Florida and Democrats in Georgia.

11. Cooperation among States
Suprationational Organizations – 3 or more countries/states involved together.
This could political, military or economic cooperation e.g.
The United Nations
Regional alliances: the European Union (EU), NAFTA, OAU, ECOWAS, SADC, AU, Arab League, Andean Community, ECOWAS, SADC, NATO, etc.

12. European Boundary Changes
Twentieth-century boundary changes in Europe, 1914 to Germany’s boundaries changed after each world war and the collapse of the Soviet Union, pg 279.