AP HUG UNIT 4 VOCAB

• state (country)


  political unit with a permanent population and boundaries that are recognized by other states that allows for the administration of laws, collection of taxes, and provision of defense
• nation


  people who think of themselves as one based on a sense of shared culture and history and who desire political autonomy
• nation-state


  a state with a single nation (very few exist), e.g. Japan, Iceland, Armenia, Lesotho
• stateless nation


  a nation who do not have their own independent state, e.g. Palestinians, Basque, Kurds, Hmong
• multinational state


  a state with two or more nations (includes most states), e.g. Germany, France, Mexico, China, U.S., Russia
• multi-state nation


  a nation living across states, e.g. Koreans, Kurds, Basque, Russians
• autonomous region


  an area which governs itself, but is not an independent country, e.g. Greenland, The Azores, Hong Kong, Catalonia and Basque region (Spain)
• semi-autonomous region


  an area which can govern itself in certain areas, but does not have complete power to govern, e.g. Nunavut (Canada), Native American reservations (U.S.)
• sovereignty


  final authority over a territory and the right to defend territorial integrity against incursion
• colonialism


  rule by an autonomous power over a subordinate people and place that creates unequal cultural and economic relations
• imperialism


  the drive toward creation and expansion of an empire and then once established, its perpetuation, e.g. Spain, Portugal, Great Britain, Japan, China, Russia
• self-determination


  the process by which a country determines its own statehood and forms its own allegiances and government
• independence movements


  an area that believes that it should be its own country
• political power


  expressed geographically as control over people, land, and resources
• government


  political system with governing authority
• authoritarian government


  gov't with a strong central power, no constitutional accountability, no individual freedoms, e.g. absolute monarchy (Saudi Arabia), dictatorship (North Korea), fascism (Germany)
• democracy


  government where power resides with the majority (Ancient Greece)
• republic


  government where power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected representatives responsible to them and governing according to law (U.S., Germany, France)
• democratization


  the process of moving from a non-democracy (authoritarian rule, colonial rule) to a democratic system
• neocolonialism


  form of indirect control through the use of economic/political pressures to control or influence other countries, especially former colonies in which they continue to be exploited
• shatterbelt


  region endangered by local conflicts within the state or between countries in the area, as well as the involvement of opposing great powers outside the region, e.g. Eastern Europe, Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Russia)
• choke points


  geographical feature (sea OR land) that has significant strategic importance, e.g. Straits of Gibraltar, English Channel, Panama Canal, Suez Canal
• human territoriality


  the connection of people, their culture, and their economic systems to the land creating a desire for ownership over a defined space
• boundary


  line that determines the limit of state jurisdiction that is a vertical plane that cuts through the subsoil and extends into the airspace above and often coincides with cultural, national or economic divisions
• boundary dispute


  disagreement over the location of a boundary/movement across the boundary (migration/smuggling) and can cause conflict
• irredentism


  when a state wants to annex territory whose population is ethnically similar, e.g. Russia annexation of Crimea
• antecedent boundary


  boundary in the natural landscape that existed before the cultural landscape emerged and stayed in place as people moved in
• consequent boundary


  boundary that coincides with cultural groups (religion, language)
• subsequent boundary


  boundary that evolves as the cultural landscape of an area takes shape and changes as cultural landscape changes, i.e. Northern Ireland and Ireland, i.e. Pakistan and India, i.e. Sudan and South Sudan
• superimposed boundary


  boundary that is drawn by powerful outsiders (e.g. colonizers) and ignores existing cultural groups, i.e. Israel and Palestine, i.e. Yugoslavia, i.e. Africa
• relict (relic) boundary


  boundary that no longer exists as an international border, but remnants of its existence remain, i.e. North and South Vietnam, i.e. Berlin Wall
• geometric boundary


  boundary that follows a straight line or arc, i.e. U.S. and Canada, western U.S., i.e. North and South Korea, i.e. colonial boundaries in Africa (Berlin Conference)
• Berlin Conference


  a meeting (1884-1885) between European nations to divide Africa among them for colonization with the intent of preventing conflict over the process

  
• demilitarized zone (DMZ)


  a buffer zone created by treaties/agreements between two or more military powers that falls on either side of the actual boundary

  
• Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)


  established rights and responsibilities of states concerning ownership/use of oceans/seas and their resources as developed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (includes 4 zones - Territorial Sea, Contiguous Zone, EEZ, High Seas)

  
• median-line principle


  method used to divide the waters between states that do not have 400 miles between them
• voting district


  subdivision for electing members to a legislative body
• redistricting


  when voting districts are redrawn due to changes in population
• gerrymander


  redistricting that is unfair and gives an advantage to a particular political party by concentrating voting strength

  
• unitary state


  state that is governed as a single unit with a central top down form of governance where local territories only have power that is granted by the central government, e.g. U.K., France, Spain, China, Italy