Key Issues 8.1

Question 1

Territoriality

Answer 1

how groups of people (nations) or states use space to communicate ownership or occupancy of areas

Question 2

State

Answer 2

an area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government

Question 3

Sovereignty

Answer 3

independence from control of a state’s internal affairs by other states; 196 recognized states and 10+ disputed states

Question 4

Defining Statehood

Answer 4

Criteria for Statehood:

1) Permanent population
2) Defined territory
3) A government from from outside interference
4) Recognition by other sovereign states

Question 5

Self-Determination

Answer 5

process by which a country determines its own statehood and forms its own allegiances and government

Question 6

Disputed State

Answer 6

when a group/territory declares independence from a state but has not been recognized by a majority of the world community

Question 7

Korea

Answer 7

nationality divided between 2 separate and distinct states: North Korea and South Korea

+Split along the 38th parallel (DMZ)

Question 8

China

Answer 8

both the People’s Republic of China (communist China) and the Republic of China (Taiwan) claim legitimacy as the sovereign authority in the mainland; the UN officially recognizes Taiwan as part of PRC whereas Taiwan functions as a sovereign state

Question 9

Western Sahara

Answer 9

disputed frontier claimed by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Polisario Front) and Morocco; former Spanish colony that isn’t officially administered by a single government

Question 10

Largest States

Answer 10

Largest states by land area:

1) Russia
2) China
3) Canada
4) the United States of America
5) Brazil

Question 11

Smallest States

Answer 11

Smallest states by land area:

1) the Vatican City
2) Monaco
3) Nauru
4) Tuvalu
5) San Marino

Question 12

Microstate

Answer 12

a sovereign state having a very small population or very small land area (usually both); most microstates are located in Europe, the South Pacific, or the Caribbean

Question 13

City-State

Answer 13

a city that with its surrounding territory forms and independent state

Modern Examples: Monaco, Singapore, Vatican City, Gibraltar

Question 14

Mesopotamia

Answer 14

a historical region situated within the Tigris-Euphrates river system; hearth of early city-states (Sumeria, Assyria, Babylonia)

Question 15

Empire

Answer 15

an extensive group of states or territories ruled over by a single monarchy, an oligarchy, or a sovereign state

Examples: Akkadian Empire, Roman Empire, Qing Dynasty, Mongol Empire, British Empire, Ottoman Empire

Question 16

Feudalism

Answer 16

following the collapse of the Roman Empire (476 CE), a power vacuum existed in much of Europe; feudalism became the dominant social/political/economic system in medieval Europe; the king/queen rented land to nobles, who provided him with soldiers and taxes

Question 17

Peace of Westphalia

Answer 17

a series of peace treaties in 1648 that ended the Thirty Year’s War and the Eighty Year’s War; new political order in Europe was based on the concept of co-existing sovereign states

Question 18

French Revolution

Answer 18

following overthrow of France’s monarchy and nobility (1789), the people rather than a monarch become the source of France’s sovereignty; gave us new language about nationality and nationalism

Question 19

Colony

Answer 19

a territory under full or partial political country of another country, typically a distant one, and occupied by settlers from their “mother” country

Examples: Australia (Great Britain), India (Great Britain), Macau (Portugal), Philippines (Spain), Alaska (Russia)

Question 20

Colonialism

Answer 20

the policy of acquiring full or partial control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically

Question 21

Colonialism - Wave I

Answer 21

16th Century; Spain, Portugal, Britain, France, and Belgium; began when maritime powers began searching for a shorter route to Asia, accidentally discovered the West Indies (Western Hemisphere)

Question 22

Colonialism - Wave II

Answer 22

19th Century; Britain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Italy; European powers exploited Africa and Asia for economic gain; “the sun never sets on the British Empire”

Question 23

Imperialism

Answer 23

the attempt of one country to control another country, especially by political and economic methods

Question 24

Colonial Strategies

Answer 24

French assimilation: imposed French culture and government structure on colonies, creating close ties with colonies after independence

British decentralization: government structures and policies varied, preserving cultures and customs of locals

Question 25

Berlin Conference/Scramble for Africa

Answer 25

meeting at which the major European powers negotiated and formalized claims to territory in Africa; African leaders were not provided any input over the partitioning of their homelands, leading to arbitrary and unstable boundaries being drawn