Political Geography Vocab 1-41

Question 1

Autonomous Region

Answer 1

a defined area within a state that has a high degree of self-government and freedom from its parent state

Question 2

Annexation

Answer 2

process of legally adding territory to a city

Question 3

Contiguous Zone

Answer 3

(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

Question 4

Census

Answer 4

count of the population

Question 5

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

Answer 5

systematically addressed water boundaries, was signed by more than 150 countries between 1973-1982, defined 4 zones

Question 6

Allocation boundary dispute

Answer 6

when a boundary separates natural resources that may be used by both countries

Question 7

Operational boundary dispute

Answer 7

centers not on where a boundary is but how it functions

Question 8

Locational boundary dispute

Answer 8

boundary disputes that center on where a boundary should be, how it is delimited (mapped), or demarcated

Question 9

Definitional boundary dispute

Answer 9

occurs when 2+ parties disagree over how to interpret legal documents or maps that identify the boundary

Question 10

Demarcated boundary

Answer 10

one identified by physical objects placed on the landscape

Question 11

Delimited boundary

Answer 11

drawn on a map by a cartography to show the limits of a space

Question 12

Defined boundary

Answer 12

established by legal document, such as a treaty , that divides one entity from another

Question 13

Militarized boundary

Answer 13

one that is heavily guarded and discourages crossing

Question 14

Geometric boundary

Answer 14

straight line/arc drawn by people that does not closely follow any physical feature

Question 15

Open boundary

Answer 15

unguarded, people can cross easily, with little to no political intervention

Question 16

Relic boundary

Answer 16

has been abandoned for political purposes, but evidence of it still exits on the landscape

Question 17

Berlin Conference

Answer 17

paved the way for colonization of Africa or what Europeans regarded of effective occupation of the continent (result=series of superimposed boundaries are established)

Question 18

Superimposed boundary

Answer 18

drawn by outside powers and may have ignored existing cultural patterns (often lack conformity to natural features, therefore were super imposed)

Question 19

Subsequent boundary

Answer 19

typically created while the cultural landscape is evolving and is subject to change over time (usually related to cultural phenomenon)

Question 20

Antecedent bouundary

Answer 20

preceded the development of the cultural landscape, based on physical features

Question 21

Cultural boundary

Answer 21

divide people according to some cultural division such as language, religion, or ethnicity

Question 22

Core region

Answer 22

centers of economic, political and /or cultural power within a given territory entity

Question 23

Confederation

Answer 23

a form of an international organization that brings several autonomous states together for a common purpose

Question 24

Compact state

Answer 24

state that possesses a roughly circular shape from which the geometric center is relatively equal in all directions (ex: Kenya)

Question 25

Colony

Answer 25

territory that is legally tied to a sovereign state rather than completely independent

Question 26

Civil divisions

Answer 26

governmental divisions that divide citizens

Question 27

City-State

Answer 27

sovereign state compromising a city and its immediate hinterland

Question 28

Buffer state

Answer 28

small country between 2 larger-usually conflicting- powers

Question 29

Boundary dispute

Answer 29

disagreement between states over the control of surface area

Question 30

Natural boundary

Answer 30

boundary based on physical features to separate entities

Question 31

Border landscape

Answer 31

boundary that exists before cultural landscape emerged and stayed in place while people moved to occupy the surrounding area

Question 32

Cold War

Answer 32

period of diplomatic, political, and military rivalry between US and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Question 33

Balance of power

Answer 33

condition of roughly equal strength between opposing/alliances of countries

Question 34

Capital

Answer 34

the money invested in land equipment, and machines

Question 35

Democratization

Answer 35

the transition from autocratic to more representative forms of politics

Question 36

Devolution

Answer 36

process in which one or more regions are given increased autonomy by the central political unit

Question 37

Decolonization

Answer 37

undoing of colonization, in which indigenous people reclaim sovereignty over their territory

Question 38

Colonialism

Answer 38

particular type of imperialism in which people move into and settle on the land of another country

Question 39

Centrifugal Force

Answer 39

(counter to centripetal force) tends to divide people, break states apart, or even prevent states from forming (ex:language barriers, land disputes, etc)

Question 40

Centripetal Force

Answer 40

helps unify people within a country (ex: nationalism, shared religion, common language, external threats, etc)

Question 41

DMZ

Answer 41

(Demilitarized Zone) area in which treaties/agreements between nations, military powers, or contending groups forbid military installments