Unit 4 Key Terms

Question 1

What is Political Geography?

Answer 1

the world is divided based on the power a group claims over an area

Question 2

What is a state?

Answer 2

a country boundary created by humans

Question 3

What is a nation?

Answer 3

a group with shared traits/identity

Question 4

What is a Nation-State?

Answer 4

a common group of people that claim a state(like Japan)

Question 5

What are stateless nations?

Answer 5

demanding separation with legitimate support, but no independence

Question 6

What is a Multistate Nation?

Answer 6

people who share a dedicated background, but live in various countries

Question 7

What is a Multinational State?

Answer 7

a country with a variety of ethnicites/cultures within it

Question 8

What is Sovereignty?

Answer 8

fully independent, ability to make decisions and the chance to defend

Question 9

What is self-determination?

Answer 9

the people’s right to make decisions

Question 10

What does it mean to be autonomous?

Answer 10

a region of a country that is given some authority to govern themselves

Question 11

what does it mean to be semi-autonomous?

Answer 11

areas of the country that operate under specified political differences

Question 12

What is territoriality?

Answer 12

attempt at claiming an area to influence or control; demonstration of power(“flex”)

Question 13

What is imperialism?

Answer 13

the push to expand influence into weaker territories

Question 14

What is Colonialism?

Answer 14

European establishment of power and control starting in the 16th century(colonies)

Question 15

What is Neocolonialism?

Answer 15

modern day influence(political/economic) in sovereign states

Question 16

What is a choke point?

Answer 16

a heavily used passageway that promotes conflict/competition - POWER (passes or straits)

Question 17

What is a shatterbelt?

Answer 17

long standing instability within a state typically caused by outside powers/influence(Balkan Pennisula or Southwest Asia)

Question 18

What is Devolution?

Answer 18

the powerful nation is removed or falls apart and a sovereign state is created

Question 19

What is a Delimit?

Answer 19

borders drawn on a map by humans

Question 20

What is demarcated?

Answer 20

borders based on walls or rivers

Question 21

What does it mean to administer?

Answer 21

to monitor border passages

Question 22

What is an antecedent?

Answer 22

a boundary decided upon prior to the arrival of many people (boundary between US and Canada)

Question 23

What is a Subsequent?

Answer 23

when something is decided by people already living in a location

Question 24

What is a Consequent?

Answer 24

take into account cultural differences

Question 25

What does it mean when something is Superimposed?

Answer 25

when an outside group draws borders

Question 26

What are relics?

Answer 26

borders no longer used

Question 27

What is Maritime?

Answer 27

a boundary that exists miles off the coastline allowing countries access/resources

Question 28

What is the United Nations Convention On The Law of the Sea(UNCLOS)

Answer 28

established in 1982 that a Maritime border extends 12 nautical miles out

Question 29

What are international waters?

Answer 29

the area beyond...

Question 30

What is a Federal State?

Answer 30

when power is held in regional unit (United States or Canadian Provinces)

Question 31

What is a Unitary State?

Answer 31

when power is heavily held by a central group (UK or Japan)

Question 32

What is Theocracy?

Answer 32

when power is guided via a divine being

Question 33

What is Autocracy?

Answer 33

when one person rules, gained by ruthless military fore or extreme tactics

Question 34

What are States' Rights?

Answer 34

in a Federal government, individual states can make their own decision

Question 35

What is Democratization?

Answer 35

an expanding ideology that promotes people's representation via elections

Question 36

What is communism?

Answer 36

elimination of class system (No Rich/poor)

Question 37

What is the East/West Divide?

Answer 37

PAST seperation of the largely democratic West versus the communist East (Cold War)

Question 38

What is the Domino Theory?

Answer 38

a Western fear that if one state falls to communism then others will follow

Question 39

What was the North/South Divide?

Answer 39

wealthy nations in Northern hemisphere versus the poorer nations in the South (money)

Question 40

What is Reapportionment?

Answer 40

seats in the House of Representatives are relocated when populations change

Question 41

Who is the Electoral College?

Answer 41

U.S. citizens do not directly elect the president, instead they vote for electors who cast their votes based on majority in their state (538 votes in electoral college / 270 to win)

Question 42

What is Redistricting?

Answer 42

after each census is complete political boundaries are changed(redrawn)

Question 43

What is Gerrymandering?

Answer 43

redrawing of district boundaries to benefit a single political party

Question 44

What is packing and cracking?

Answer 44

Gerrymandering districts to either pack one group into a single district or splitting them into multiple districts ; sway votes and power

Question 45

What are Majority-Minority Districts

Answer 45

Gerrymandering districts that were designed to be made up of mostly minority groups has led to better balance

Question 46

What is Ethnic Separatism?

Answer 46

People of a particular ethnicity demand a 'break-up' from a sovereign state

Question 47

What is Balkanization?

Answer 47

the idea based on the separation of one state breaking into smaller states (Balkan Peninsula)

Question 48

What is Nationalism?

Answer 48

a sense of national pride in one's state

Question 49

What is an Enclave?

Answer 49

a separate region with differences surrounded by a bigger region (aka : Microstate)

Question 50

What is an Exclave?

Answer 50

a portion of a state that is located mostly in another state (Hawaii or Alaska)

Question 51

What are Buffer States?

Answer 51

a small country between two larger countries that are often at odds with one another