AP HUG

• Nation: Cultural unit with common ancestry occupying a particular territory (Example: Kurds)
• Nation-state: A state in which the cultural borders of a nation correspond with the state borders of a country, where territory matches culture (Example: Japan, Denmark, Poland)
• Stateless nation: A nation of people without a state that it considers home (Example: Kurds, Basques, Palestinians)
• Multinational state: A state that contains more than one nation, and no single ethnic group dominates the population (Example: Former Yugoslavia, former USSR, Lebanon)
• Multistate nation: Nation stretches across borders and across states, where people share a common characteristic and live in multiple states (Example: Kurds, Koreans)
• Autonomous region: Sections of a nation that have a degree of independence in several issues, control over certain affairs, make own decisions (Example: Many regions in China, Aland islands)
• Semi-autonomous region: Having a degree of, but not complete, self-government, such as Native American reservations
• Sovereignty: The political authority of a state to govern itself
• Neo-colonialism: the practice of using capitalism or globalization to influence other countries rather than previous methods of colonization.
• Self-determination: The process by which a group of people form their own state and choose their own government
• Colonialism, imperialism, independence movements, and devolution have influenced contemporary political boundaries
• Colonialism: The policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country
• Imperialism: Extending a country's rule over foreign nations, often by military force or gaining political and economic control
• Independence movement: Effort by people to create a new sovereign state in a place inside of another state
• Devolution: Process of transferring some power from the central government to regional government
• Boundaries are defined, delimited, demarcated, and administered to establish limits of sovereignty
• Types of political boundaries include relic, superimposed, subsequent, antecedent, geometric, and consequent boundaries
• Boundaries can be fortified, demarcated, and delimited
• Land and maritime boundaries, international agreements, and organizations like the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea influence national or regional identity
• Law of the Sea: UN laws establishing states' rights and responsibilities concerning the ownership and use of the Earth's waters and resources
• Exclusive economic zone: A sea zone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources
• Median-line principle: A line drawn equidistant from competing parties to settle sea resource access conflicts
• Internal boundaries, voting districts, redistricting, and gerrymandering affect election results
• Redistricting: Process of drawing electoral district boundaries
• Gerrymandering: Drawing political boundaries to give one party a numeric advantage over another
• Forms of governance include unitary states, federal states, and confederal states
• Unitary states: Centralized government with power in the hands of one central government
• Federal states: Allocates strong power to units of local government within the country
• Confederal states: Consists of a league of independent states with essentially sovereign powers
• Factors that can lead to the devolution of states include physical geography, ethnic separatism, ethnic cleansing, terrorism, economic and social problems, and irredentism
• Devolution: Process of transferring some power from the central government to regional governments
• Ethnic separatism: Advocacy of separation from a larger group due to cultural or linguistic differences
• Ethnic cleansing: Mass expulsion or killing of members of an unwanted ethnic or religious group
• Terrorism: Unlawful use of violence and intimidation for political aims
• Irredentism: Movement seeking to claim or reclaim a "lost" territory from their nation's past
• Advances in communication technology have facilitated devolution, supranationalism, and democratization
• Supranationalism: Nation states organizing politically and economically into one organization or alliance
• Centripetal and centrifugal forces may lead to failed states, uneven development, stateless nations, and ethnic nationalist movements
• Supranationalism: the process of nation states organizing politically and economically into one organization
• Neo-colonialism: the practice of using capitalism or globalization to influence other countries rather than previous methods of colonization.