AP Human Geography, Unit 4, Political Geography, Key Issue Packet – Flashcards
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Define a Nation
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-culturally defined group of people -shared past, common future -relate to a territory and have political goals
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Qualities of a Nation
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-single language -common history -similar ethnic background
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Examples of a Nation
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Germany, Scots, Greece, Israel, Iran, Palestinians
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What is a Nation-State
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-homogeneity of territory and culture
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Qualities of a Nation-State
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-clear territory -boundaries match one ethnicity (or close) -substantial population
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Examples of a Nation State
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Japan, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Israel, Turkey
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What is a State
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-politically organized territory -permanent population -defined territory -government
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Qualities of a State
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-provides services -demands taxes and adherence to laws
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Examples of a State
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Spain, United Kingdom, Russia, Iraq, Germany
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What is a Stateless-Nation
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-group of people with no state
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Qualities of a Stateless-Nation
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-found in and across nation-states -lack sovereignty -lack a territory
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Examples of a Stateless-Nation
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Kurds, Palestinians
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State Characteristics
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size: big vs small demography: big vs small organization: democracy, monarchy, dictatorship, etc resources: natural or skilled population development: subsistence to tertiary power: both economic and military
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Define sovereignty
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independence from control of its internal affairs by other states
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List the 6 largest states in order
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1. Russia 2. Canada 3. United States 4. China 5. Brazil 6. Australia
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How many micro states are recognized
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two dozen
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What do many micro states have in common
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-many are islands -less than 1,000 square kilometers -most in Southern Hemisphere
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Examples of micro states
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Monaco, Maldives, Bahrain, Dominica, Singapore, Barbados
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When was the United Nations (UN) established? By whom?
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-end of world war II -by the Allies
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Reasons memberships in the UN grew significantly
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1955- European countries liberated from Nazi Germany 1960- there were only 4 African states 1990's- break up of Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, & admission of several microstates
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Who are the five permanent members of the Security Council?
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China, Russia, France, United Kingdom, and United States
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Problem UN faces
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hard to keep peace
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What part of Earth's surface are not part of a state?
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south pole
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What states have laid claim to Antarctica
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Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, United Kingdom
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Describe the Antarctic Treaty signed in 1959
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-no military activities -no one can own the land -research stations are permitted
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What happened to the Arctic in 1982?
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Countries were permitted to submit a claim to it
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Why do states want to lay claim in the Arctic?
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thought to be rich in energy resources
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Define self-determination
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ethnicities have the right to govern themselves
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What is a multi ethnic state?
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state that contains more than one ethnicity
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What is a multinational state?
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country that contains more than one ethnicity with traditions of self-determination
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Why is Denmark a fairly good example of a nation-state
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90% are Danes
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List and describe the two regions of Denmark that prevent the country from being a perfect nation-state
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Faeroe Islands- 21 islands, nearly 50,000 inhabitants speak Faeroe Greenland- only 12% are considered Danish, the rest are Greenlanders who control their own affairs
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How did communists suppress the issues of ethnicity and nationalism?
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-discouraged expressing cultural uniqueness -organized religion was minimized -centripetal forces -use of Russian languages
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With the fall of Communist governments in the 1990's, what kind of problems have arisen in what places? Why?
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Problems occurred in the Balkans (Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia) where nation-states could not be outlined peacefully. Countries were dismantled because minority ethnicities opposed dominance by majority ethnicities
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When the Soviet Union dissolved, how many countries formed?
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-15 in the 1990's -countries based on ethnicities -other than Russia, they can be divided into 4 groups based on location
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Baltic Region of former Soviet Union created what 3 states
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Lithuania (closest to nation-state), Estonians, Lativans
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Eastern Europe of former Soviet Union created what 3 states
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Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova (all are examples of nation-states)
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Central Asia of former Soviet Union created what 5 states
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Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan
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Caucasus of former Soviet Union created what 3 states
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Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia
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Note the major religion and language of each of the Baltic States, (Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia)
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Estonia- Lutheran, speak Uralic, related to Finish Lithuania- Catholic, speak language in Balto-Slavic branch Latvia- Lutheran and catholic minority, speak language in Balto-Slavic branch
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The ethnic divisions among the Eastern European states are blurred for what reasons?
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They speak East Slavic languages and all are Orthodox Christians
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What did the majority of Moldovans want when they gained independence? Who opposed this?
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reunification with Romania Ukrainians and Russians in Moldova opposed
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Where are the ethnic problems in Central Asia?
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Tajikistan- tension between Tajiks and Uzbeks, fighting left 15% homeless Kazakhstan_ tension between Kazakhs and Russians, but coexist peacefully
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How many different nationalities (ethnicities) are found in the multinational state of Russia?
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39
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For what two reasons does Russia resist the independence movement of Chechnya?
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Chechnya has large petroleum deposits and doesn't want other ethnicities to start a movement
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What's the main problem with the Caucasus region?
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Territories occupied by the ethnicities don't match the boundaries
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Define colony
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territory that is legally tied to a sovereign state rather than being completely indepnedent
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define colonialism
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effort by one country to establish settlements in a territory and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles on that territory
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summarize three reasons Europeans sought colonies (GGG)
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God-promote Christianity Gold- extract useful resources and serve as captive markets for their products Glory- establish relative power through the number of their colonies
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Which country had the largest empire? Second largest?
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1- United Kingdom 2- France
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Contrast colonial policies of UK and France
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UK- on every continent, primarily eastern&southern Africa, S Asia, Canada, Middle East and Australia France- primarily in West Africa and SE Asia, attempted to assimilate French culture and educate an elite group for local administrative leadership
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List the largest remaining colonies in the world who possesses each
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Greenland possessed by Denmark Hong Kong possessed by UK and Portugal
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Define boundary
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An invisible line that marks the extent of a state's territory
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Define frontier
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a zone separating two states in which neither state exercises political control
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Define physical boudary
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coincide with significant features of the natural landscape
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Define cultural boundary
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follow the distribution of cultural characteristics
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What are 2 types of cultural boundaries that have often been used, give an example of each type of cultural boundary
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Geometric: straight lines drawn on a map Ex: U.S and Canada Ethnic: differences in ethnicity, especially language and religion Ex: Pakistan and India
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Describe a compact states greatest advantage, shape, and examples
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good communication distance from center does not vary significantly Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda
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Describe an elongated states biggest problem, shape, and examples
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poor internal communication long and narrow Malawi, Mozambique, Gambia
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Describe prorupted states reason for protupting, shape and examples
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to provide access to resource, or separate states who would share a boundary compact but with large, projecting extension Namibia, Democratic Republic of Congo
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Describe perforated states dependence of perforatee, shape, and examples
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must rely on for import and exports completely surrounds another state South Africa
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Describe fragmented states different kinds, shape, and examples
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separated by water, separated by intervening state several discontinuous pieces Angolia, Tanzania
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Define landlocked state
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lacks a direct outlet to a sea because it is completely surrounded by several other countries
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Where are most of the world's landlocked states? Why?
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Africa Britain and France built railroads when they had control
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What problems do landlocked states have?
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sending and receiving goods
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List Africa's landlocked states
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Mali, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland
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Define democracy
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a country in which citizens elect leaders and can run for office
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Define autocracy
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A country that is run according to the interests of the ruler rather than the people
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What are the three areas democracies and autocracies differ
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-selection of leaders -citizen participation -checks and balances
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Why has the world become more domocratic
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-diffusion from Europe and North America -widening of participation -replaces out of date structures -able to regulate tax and mobilize citizens in exchange for rights
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Explain the Arab Spring
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-major protests in SW Asia and N Africa began 2010, forced several countries to convert to democracy from an autocracy -social media really helped
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Define unitary state
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places most of its power in the hands of central government officials
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Define federal state
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allocates strong power to units of local government within the country
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Regarding unitary states, what are the two characteristics that tend to favor it for a country
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- few internal differences - strong sense of national unity
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Where are unitary states most common
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Kenya, Rwanda, because they are small
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Multinational states often adopt unitary systems for what reason? Example
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Values of one nationality imposed on others ex: Kenya and Rwanda, one ethnic group extends dominance over weaker groups
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Why is the federal state system more effective for larger states?
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National capital may be too remote to provide control effectively over isolated regions
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List good examples of federal states
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Russia, Canada, U.S, Brazil, India, Belgium
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Why has tiny Belgium adopted a federal system?
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to accommodate the two main cultural groups
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Why has an enormous China adopted a unitary system?
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to promote communist values
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Why are boundaries of legislative districts occasionally redrawn? How often is this done int the US?
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-to ensure each district has the same population -US does every 10 years, (following the census)
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What is gerrymandering?
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process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the political party in power
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Describe wasted vote gerrymandering
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spreads opposition supporters across many districts but in the minority
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Describe excess vote gerrymandering
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concentrates opposition supporters into a few distrits
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Describe stacked vote gerrymandering
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links distant ares of like-minded voters through odd shaped boundaries
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How is this type of boundary redrawing different in the US than in Europe
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US- done by state legislature Europe- done by an independent commission to create compact homogeneous regions
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How is gerrymandering combined with ethnicity for political use? (What type of gerrymandering and why)
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stacked vote gerrymandering because it is attractive for creating districts inclined to elect ethnic minorities By creating an ethnic district, it ensures the candidates election by that district
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What happened in 1985 concerning gerrymandering?
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US declared gerrymandering illegal, but didn't require dismantling of the existing ones
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Why is the idea of two superpowers a relatively new one?
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Before the Cold War there were more than two, specifically 8
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Define balance of power
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condition of roughly equal strength between opposing alliances
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Describe the history and purpose of NATO
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military alliance of 16 democratic states to prevent Soviet Union from overrunning smaller countries
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Describe the history and purpose of the former "Warsaw Pact" countries.
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-defend each other in case of attack -provides Soviet Union with buffer between it and Germany
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When was European Union formed
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1958
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By what states was the European Union formed
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Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and Federal Republic of Germany
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For what purpose was the European Union formed
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heal Western Europe's scars from WWII
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What are some important changes in the European Union in recent years
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started with 6 countries, now larger addition of former members of COMECON
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Briefly explain the Eurozone Crisis
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-single bank set interest rates -created euro -17 countries of the 27 in the European Union and 6 more
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Define terrorism
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systematic use of violence by a group in order to intimidate a population or coerce a government into granting its demands
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List typical methods/acts of terrorists
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-spread through fear -bombing, kidnapping, hijacking, taking hostages, assasination
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Members and purpose of OSCE (Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe)
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members- 56 including US, Canada, Russia, and most European countries purpose- end conflict in Europe
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Members and purpose of OAS (Organization of American States)
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members- all 35 Western Hemisphere states except Cuba purpose- promotes social, cultural, political, and economic links among members
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Members and purpose of AU (African Union)
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members- 53 African countries purpose- promoting economic integration in Africa
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Members and purpose of The Commonwealth
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members- UK and 52 other states once under British controls purpose- economic and cultural cooperation
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Why is terrorism different from other acts of political violence?
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attacks are aimed at ordinary people, not military targets or political leaders
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List some places in which Americans were attacked by terrorists in the late 20th century and early 21st century
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- World Trade Center 1993 -Oklahoma City 1995 -USS Cole 2000
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In what ways does Al-Qaeda, its religious and political views, and its methods pose a challenge to Muslims?
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How to express disagreements with US government policies yet renounce terrorism
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In what ways does Al-Qaeda, its religious and political views, and its methods pose a challenge to Americans and Europeans?
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distinguish what are peaceful Muslim practices and abuse of Islam by terrorists
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List three ways in which states (particularly in the Middle East in recent decades) have given support to terrorists.
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1. providing sanctuary for the terrorists 2. supplying weapons, money, and intelligence 3. planning attacks using terrorists
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Countries that have supported terrorism
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Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Libya
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Define fatwa
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religious decree that it was Muslims duty to wage war on US citizens
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What is the Jihad
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holy war recruit Muslims in the name of Jihad
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enclave
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country line within another country Ex: Lesotho (completely surrounded by South Africa)
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Exclave
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a territory legally or politically attached to a territory with which it is not physically contiguous ex: Kaliningrad (part of Russia but not attached)
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define supernational organization
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political, economic, and/or cultural cooperation among national states (two or more) to promote shared objectives Ex: EU, NATO, NAFTA, and UN
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what does NAFTA stand for
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North American Free Trade Agreement
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define devolution
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breakup of a state or regions within a state Ex: Yugoslavia, and former USSR
