Unit 4 AP Human Geography

• The term 'devolution' is used to describe the process by which power is transferred from central government to regional or local authorities.
• Territorial Sea


  Up to 12 nautical miles of sovereignty; commercial vessels may pass, but non-commercial vessels may be challenged.
• Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)


  the seazone extending 200 nautical miles from the coast over which a state has special rights as to the exploration and use of marine resources
• House of Representatives


  the lower house of Congress, consisting of a different number of representatives from each state, depending on population/ 435 Members
• Gerrymandering


  Process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power.
• voting districts


  generic term adopted by the Bureau of the Census to include the wide variety of small polling areas, such as election districts, precincts, or wards, that State and local governments create for the purpose of administering elections
• State Government


  the organization through which political authority is exercised at the state level, government of a specific state
• local government


  the administration of the civic affairs of a city, town, or district by its inhabitants rather than by the state or country at large
• central government


  a form of government in which the national government has most of the power, while the states have little power
• Unitary System


  A government that gives all key powers to the national or central government
• Federal System


  a system of government in which power is divided between a central authority and a number of individual states
• Effects of the Berlin Conference

  rival African tribe groups fought wars, fragmented traditional groups and culture, african economies become dependent of european nations
• Berlin Conference


  Meeting at which Europeans agreed on rules for colonizing Africa
• Effects of Colonization

  Negative effects: Africans lose control of land, Death toll, Diseases, resistance to Europeans, famines, breakdown of traditional cultures, division of the continent with artificial boundaries

  Positive Effects: Reduction of local warfare, humanitarian efforts- schools, hospitals, sanitation, increased quality of life, increased literacy, economic expansion, sale of African goods, railroads, dams, communication lines
• Colonization


  physical process whereby the colonizer takes over another place, putting its own government in charge and either moving its own people into the place or bringing in indentured outsiders to gain control of the people and the land
• Imperialism


  A policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.
• Consequent Boundary


  a boundary line that coincides with some cultural divide, such as religion or language
• Subsequent Boundary


  a boundary line that is established after the area in question has been settled and that considers the cultural characteristics of the bounded area
• Geometric Boundary


  a boundary that follows a geometric pattern
• Antecedent boundary


  a boundary line established before the area in question is well populated
• Superimposed Boundaries


  A boundary made through colonization without regard to prior ethnic/cultural patterns (e.g. borders of most African countries)
• Relic Boundaries


  A political boundary that has ceased to function but the imprint of which can still be detected on the cultural landscape.
• Examples of chokepoints

  straights of Hormuz, Gibraltar, Bosphorus, and Malacca
• Choke point


  geographic locations where the flow of people and goods can be constricted and choked off in the event of a conflict/ The choking point is a road or strategic channel that can be closed or blocked to stop maritime traffic (especially oil). This kind of aggression can certainly cause an international incident.
• Chokepoint examples

  Straight of Hormuz, Panama Canal
• Examples of neocolonialism


  foreign companies dominate oil extraction in the Middle East; foreign companies exploit cheap labor for factories in South East Asia; Foreign countries loan money to developing countries that they are unable to repay; Developed countries exert political and military power over developing countries; treaties w/ former colonies allow for military bases to be located in a developing country; developed countries exerting cultural power over developing countries.
• Neocolonialism


  A new form of global power relationships that involves not direct political control but economic exploitation by multinational corporations
• Examples of Devolution

  -Czechoslovakia breaking into Czech Republic and Slovakia

  -Yugoslavia breaks up into several countries

  -London ceding power to Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales
• Examples of Devolution

  Under President Nixon, he switched from having specific and strict federal funds (called categorical grants) being given to the states to using block grants that allowed the states to use the money how they wanted to.
• Examples of multinational states

  Soviet Union, Russia, United Kingdom, Yugoslavia
• Examples of Multistate Nations

  Koreans (there are Koreans in North and South Korea), Arabs (throughout North Africa and Middle East), Germans (in Germany, parts of Switzerland, northern Italy, Belgium, Poland), Kurds (they are also a stateless nation)
• Examples of stateless nations

  Kurds and Palestinians
• Examples of nation-states


  Japan and Iceland are over 95% made up of people with similar nationality
• Examples of nations


  Kurds, Catalans
• Berlin Conference


  A meeting from 1884-1885 at which representatives of European nations agreed on rules colonization of Africa
• Autonomous Regions (ARs)


  an area of a country that has a degree of autonomy, or has freedom from an external authority
• Devolution


  the transfer of powers and responsibilities from the federal government
• Balkanization


  Process by which a state breaks down through conflicts among its ethnicities
• ethnic separatism

  desired regional autonomy expressed by a culturally distinctive group within a larger, politically dominant culture
• Self-determination


  Concept that ethnicities have the right to govern themselves