nation states

• nation state is a country or territory that's recognised as an independent, sovereign nation by its citizens - some are made up of citizens who are very similar to each other through language, ethnicity and culture
• Diversity In Iceland

  • homogenous population - 93% of population is ethnically icelandic and very little cultural diversity with Christianity being dominant religion and 96% of population speak Icelandic
  • also have a naming system where father gives his children his first name as last name, if its a boy you add son, if its a girl you add dottir
  • the lack of diversity is down to the country's isolation making it hard for migrants to get to
  • they also encouraged assimilation as up until 1996 immigrants had to change their name to an Icelandic name
• Diversity in Singapore

  • there is no single Singaporean ethnicity, population is made up of people from China, Malaysia and India - these groups are diverse meaning several languages are spoken and many religions
  • diversity is a result of Singapore's long history of migration and its central location on trade routes between India and China
  • before it became an independent nation, Singapore was colonised by uk, the growth of their economy encouraged migrants from surrounding countries to provide labour
• colonisation brought many new borders as they drew the line themselves and was mostly a straight line that did not take into account the social differences of people living in the area
• national borders mainly form from physical geography for example the mountain ranges between Spain and France or historical development such as conflicts and treaties
• Iraq border

  • 1916, UK and France drew up plans called Sykes-Picot agreement to divide up the middle east between them with boundary between Syria and Iraq
  • the plans took little notice for ethnic groups which left 3 distinct ethnic groups within the borders, Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish factions. Uk supported Sunni Muslims which made them more powerful
  • there has been years of tension, civil conflict and disputes have undermined countries sovereignty
• they are many contested borders which can lead to tensions and conflict and big population movements as people migrate to avoid conflict
• Ukraine and Russia border?

  • From 1783 to 1954 Crimean peninsular was part of Russia, in 1954 Crimea became part of Ukraine and in 1991 Ukraine became independent
  • in 2014 Russia annexed the Crimean peninsular and conflict between Russia and Ukraine intensified
  • armed conflict began in April 2014 and in 2022 conflict escalated when Russia launched full invasion of Ukraine which led to around 7.8 million population movements of Ukrainian refugees throughout Europe
• Conflict between China and Taiwan?

  • during the civil war, China's government was defeated by Chinese communist party and the government fled to Taiwan
  • China's communist government do not recognise them as a sovereign state and they are still part of China despite their attempts to take back China
  • China have reinforced the message by saying anyone who recognises Taiwan, they will refuse diplomatic relations, only 20 countries officially recognise Taiwan
  • there's risk of conflict as USA always visit Taiwan despite not recognising them + China send missiles near the sea between China and Taiwan