Shapes Of States Flashcards
Five basic state shape
Compact Proprupted Elongated Fragmented Perforated
How does shape affect communication and conflict
Shape controls how long boundary is
Boundary controls how much communication between states
Compact state
Distance from center to any boundary does not vary significantly
Ideally a circle with capital in center and shortest possible boundaries to defend
Most efficient shape
Compact
Elongated state
Long narrow shape
Potential isolation
Elongate state
Exams of elongate states
Malawi Chile Italy Gambia Panama- after USA with draw from canal
Cons of elongate state (communication)
Poor internal communication
Extreme ends can be isolated from capital
Access or disruption
Prorupted state
Prorupted state
Compact state with large projection
Why are prorupted states created
Give state access to resources like water
Separate two states that otherwise would share a boundary
Example of prorupted sTates
Afghanistan has proruption created to prevent Russia from sharing border with Pakistan
Congo with proruption along Congo river ( the Belgians created this to have access to the Atlantic
Namibia has proruption called capricious strip that disrupted communications of British colonies in Southern Africa
Perforated state
State that completely surrounds another
Example of perforated state
South Africa一Surrounds Lesotho
Senegal — surrounds Gambia ( an elongate state)
Most problematic states
Fragmented states
