1. Political Geography
Chapter 8

2. How is Space Politically Organized into States and Nations?

3. Political Geography
Political Geography – the study of the political organization of the world.

4. State
State – a politically organized territory with a permanent population, a defined territory, and a government. To be a state, an entity must be recognized by such by other states.
There are currently 213 states in the world that have claimed sovereignty. The US recognizes 195.

5. Nations
Nation – a group of people who share a common cultural heritage, have beliefs and values that help unify them, claim a particular space based on tradition as their homeland, and desire to establish their own state or express self-determination in another way.
People construct nations to make sense of themselves.
Nations are “imagined communities”
-Benedict Anderson
imagined = you will never meet all the people in your nation
community = you see yourself as part of it

6. Territorial Integrity –
Territoriality –
delimiting and asserting control over a geographic area
Sovereignty –
having control over a territory
Territorial Integrity –
a government has the right to keep the borders and territory of a state in tact and free from attack.

7. The Modern State Idea The Peace of Westphalia
What defined the European continent as territorially defined states
1648- came out of years of fighting over religion (Thirty Years’ War)
The idea of a state that is tied to a particular territory with defined boundaries came out of Europe
Diffused through colonialism

8. The nations we perceive as “natural” and “always existing” are relatively recent phenomena.
In 1648, Europe was divided into dozens of small territories.

9. Nation-States
A politically organized area in which nation and state occupy the same space.
- Ethnically homogeneous
Where at least 95% of the population in the state is of one ethnicity.
Examples:
Iceland
Japan

10. A nation that lives in more than one state.
Multistate Nation –
A nation that lives in more than one state.
Hungarians – Most live in Hungary but a lot also live in a region in Romania called Transylvania.
Koreans- divided primarily between two states- the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea). Many Koreans also live in China and the USA.

11. A state with more than one nation.
Multinational State –
A state with more than one nation.
- In essence, a state where there is more than one kind of ethnicity comprising the population.
The Former Yugoslavia
Canada

12. Stateless Nation – a nation without a state… a group of people without a defined state to live in
Kurds- Kurdistan
*largest stateless nation*
Basques- NE Spain and SW France
Palestinians- Gaza Strip and West Bank

13. Autonomous regions
A defined area within a state that has a high degree of self-government and freedom from its parent state
A state may grant this authority to geographically, ethnically, or culturally distinct areas.
Ex: Aland- group of islands in the Baltic Sea that is part of Finland but lies near Sweden.
Most residents are ethnically Swedish and speak Swedish.
Ex: Canada and the indigenous nations.
Territory of Nunavut, created in far northern Canada where over 80% of the population consider themselves Inuit.

14. Types and shapes of states

15. Types & Examples
Fragmented- states broken up into lots of small pieces
Elongated- stretched thin
Rectangular- shaped like a rectangle with straight lines
Compact- relatively round with the capital located in the center
Perforated- country that complete surrounds another smaller country
Fiji, Hawaii, Indonesia
Chile, Vietnam
Angola
Poland, Belgium, Lesotho
Italy, South Africa

17. Types & Examples Landlocked- completely surrounded by other countries
Prorupted- part is jutting out from the rest of the territory
Microstate- very very small
Enclave- a country that is surrounded by another region
Exclave- a detached piece of a country lies completely within another country
Buffer state- occupies space between two larger, potentially hostile countries
Nepal, Mongolia, Chad
Thailand, Myanmar
Vatican City, San Marino
Lesotho, Vatican City
United States (Hawaii, Alaska), Malaysia
Mongolia (b/w China and Russia)

19. Enclaves and Exclaves Vatican City Explained
Countries inside Countries?!?!

20. Warm-Up Question
A _______ is a group of people with a common political identity, and a ________ is a country with recognized borders.
A. nation…state
B. territory…federalism
C. nation…territory
D. state…nation
E. territory…state

21. Dominant Colonial Influences, 1550-1950
This map shows the dominant influence, as some places were colonized by more than one power in this time period.

23. European Colonialism and the Diffusion of the Nation-State Model
a physical action in which one state takes over control of another, taking over the government and ruling the territory as its own.
Two Waves of European Colonialism:
1500 – 1825 (Americas)
1825 – 1975
(Africa & Asia)

24. Imperialism & Colonialism
Broad concept of ways to influence another country or people
Particular type of imperialism where people move into and settle on the land of another country
Early Colonialism
First wave led by Spain and Portugal, and then by France and Britain
Established large empires in the Americas
Motivated by “God, gold, and glory”
Wanted: economic wealth from exploiting land, labor, and capital, religious influence, and political power
Resulted in the dispossession of indigenous people– “uncivilized land”
Later Colonialism
Led by Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, and Germany
Focused on controlling lands in Africa and Asia
Berlin Conference (aka the Congo Conference) split up Africa with no regard to existing ethnic, linguistic, cultural, or political boundaries

25. Effects of colonization
Colonists resisted the rule of the Europeans, sometimes with violence.
People in the colonies wanted their own economic control over natural resources (ex. Petroleum, precious metals), free elections, and changes in society (ex. Racial equality, religious freedom)

26. Two Waves of Decolonization
First wave – focused on decolonization of the Americas
Second wave – focused on decolonization of Africa and Asia

27. Modern colonialism
Many colonies gained independence politically, but not economically.
Transnational corporations based in the former colonial powers continued to control the extraction of natural resources through mining and the cultivation of agriculture (ex. Coffee, cacao, bananas, etc.)
New form of colonization, called neocolonialism, emerged in which control over developing countries was exerted through indirect means, whether economic, political, or even cultural power

28. After effects of decolonization
colonial territories in Africa gained independence.
Independence was won by the colonies and not the cultural groups and the European-made boundaries remained.
As a result, cultural boundaries and political boundaries did not match.
Cultural conflicts within countries led to many civil wars.
Many civil wars spilled over into neighboring countries because cultural groups were not confined.
Ex: Rwandan Genocide in 1994
Ex: Sudan

29. How are Boundaries Established, and Why do Boundary Disputes Occur?

30. Boundary – a vertical plane that cuts through the rocks below and the airspace above, dividing one state territory from another.

31. Boundaries often divide resources, such as oil between Kuwait and Iraq

32. Establishing Boundaries
Define- usually through a treaty or legal document using the lines of lat. and long.
Delimit- done by cartographers who draw the boundary on a map.
Demarcate- if either party chooses to, they can use a means to visibly mark the boundary on the ground.
Administrate- determine how the boundary will be maintained

33. Types of Boundaries
Geometric boundaries – based on grid systems and have straight lines no matter the physical landscape.
Ex- Boundary between the US and Canada, western part of US
Weird Border!
Physical boundaries – follow an agreed-upon feature in the physical geographic landscape.
Ex- Boundary between the US and Mexico (wall separating Tijuana and San Diego county)

34. Types of boundaries
Relic boundary- a former boundary line that is still visible and marked by some cultural landscape.
Ex: Great Wall of China, the Berlin Wall
Antecedent boundary- established before an area is well populated.
Ex: Western border between U.S. and Canada

35. Types of boundaries
Subsequent/consequent boundary- established after an area is well populated and respects the existing cultures.
Ex: Boundary between Chile and Argentina, and China and Vietnam
Superimposed boundary- established after an area is populated and ignores cultural and tribal differences across space.
Ex: much of Africa due to Colonization
Berlin Conference

36. Using walls as borders Pros Cons Visible Protection Intimidating?
Buffer zone?
Creates jobs
Less migration
Limiting/controlling
Illegal items/people
Cons
Increase tension
Isolation
Stigmatizing the excluded ppl
Illegal items/people become more dangerous
Reduces migration
Cost
Loss of job opportunities for those excluded
Loss of cheap labor
Impact on natural habitats
Visible

37. Using walls as borders Examples: U.S.-Mexico wall- 1990
Berlin Wall (separating East Berlin [Communist]-West Berlin [Democratic])
North Korea-South Korea Demilitarized Zone- 1953
Israel-Palestine- separating the West Bank, Gaza