Political Geography Vocab 1-41 Flashcards
Autonomous Region
a defined area within a state that has a high degree of self-government and freedom from its parent state
Annexation
process of legally adding territory to a city
Contiguous Zone
(1/4 zones in Law of Sea)
Coastal states have limited sovereignty for up to 24 nautical miles where they can enforce laws on customs, immigration, and sanitation
Census
count of the population
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
systematically addressed water boundaries, was signed by more than 150 countries between 1973-1982, defined 4 zones
Allocation boundary dispute
when a boundary separates natural resources that may be used by both countries
Operational boundary dispute
centers not on where a boundary is but how it functions
Locational boundary dispute
boundary disputes that center on where a boundary should be, how it is delimited (mapped), or demarcated
Definitional boundary dispute
occurs when 2+ parties disagree over how to interpret legal documents or maps that identify the boundary
Demarcated boundary
one identified by physical objects placed on the landscape
Delimited boundary
drawn on a map by a cartography to show the limits of a space
Defined boundary
established by legal document, such as a treaty , that divides one entity from another
Militarized boundary
one that is heavily guarded and discourages crossing
Geometric boundary
straight line/arc drawn by people that does not closely follow any physical feature
Open boundary
unguarded, people can cross easily, with little to no political intervention
Relic boundary
has been abandoned for political purposes, but evidence of it still exits on the landscape
Berlin Conference
paved the way for colonization of Africa or what Europeans regarded of effective occupation of the continent (result=series of superimposed boundaries are established)
Superimposed boundary
drawn by outside powers and may have ignored existing cultural patterns (often lack conformity to natural features, therefore were super imposed)
Subsequent boundary
typically created while the cultural landscape is evolving and is subject to change over time (usually related to cultural phenomenon)
Antecedent bouundary
preceded the development of the cultural landscape, based on physical features
Cultural boundary
divide people according to some cultural division such as language, religion, or ethnicity
Core region
centers of economic, political and /or cultural power within a given territory entity
Confederation
a form of an international organization that brings several autonomous states together for a common purpose
Compact state
state that possesses a roughly circular shape from which the geometric center is relatively equal in all directions (ex: Kenya)
Colony
territory that is legally tied to a sovereign state rather than completely independent
Civil divisions
governmental divisions that divide citizens
City-State
sovereign state compromising a city and its immediate hinterland
Buffer state
small country between 2 larger-usually conflicting- powers
Boundary dispute
disagreement between states over the control of surface area
Natural boundary
boundary based on physical features to separate entities
Border landscape
boundary that exists before cultural landscape emerged and stayed in place while people moved to occupy the surrounding area
Cold War
period of diplomatic, political, and military rivalry between US and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Balance of power
condition of roughly equal strength between opposing/alliances of countries
Capital
the money invested in land equipment, and machines
Democratization
the transition from autocratic to more representative forms of politics
Devolution
process in which one or more regions are given increased autonomy by the central political unit
Decolonization
undoing of colonization, in which indigenous people reclaim sovereignty over their territory
Colonialism
particular type of imperialism in which people move into and settle on the land of another country
Centrifugal Force
(counter to centripetal force) tends to divide people, break states apart, or even prevent states from forming (ex:language barriers, land disputes, etc)
Centripetal Force
helps unify people within a country (ex: nationalism, shared religion, common language, external threats, etc)
DMZ
(Demilitarized Zone) area in which treaties/agreements between nations, military powers, or contending groups forbid military installments
