Ch. 8 – Political Geography
I. Polit Culture Regions
A. Define terms
1. State – self-governing political entity.
Has territory with internationally
recognized boundaries, sovereignty
2. Nation - Cultural entity
Group of people with common ancestry.
May or may not be a sovereign territory
3. Nation-state- When a nation’s homeland
corresponds to a state's territory (political
and cultural entities are same)
4. Multinational state – potential for
centrifugal forces
UK- Wales, Scotland, N Ireland, England
China - Flower Mt. Festival
B.Trouble defining states
How many are there?
Antarctica
National Claims
Ethnic Groups in Southwest Asia
Fig. 8-15: Ethnic boundaries do not match country boundaries, especially in Iraq, Iran,
Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The mismatch has affected many of the
conflicts in the area.
II. Development of state concept
A. Territoriality – natural or learned
Independence Day
B. Rise of States
1. Ancient states – Mesopotamia, China
2. Europe
3. Colonialism – gold, God, glory
4. Modern states – UN 192
Colonial Possessions, 1914
Fig. 8-4: By the outbreak of World War I, European states held colonies throughout the
world, especially throughout Africa and in much of Asia.
Colonial Possessions, 2006
Fig. 8-5: Most of the remaining colonies are small islands in the Pacific or Caribbean.
United Nations Members
Fig. 8-1: The UN has increased from 51 members in 1945 to 192 in 2007.
II. State shapes (morphology)
A. Compact
B. Protruded or
prorupted
C. Elongated
D. Fragmented
E. Perforated
III. Types of Boundaries
A. Frontier
B. Boundary types
1. Physical / Natural
2. Cultural / Ethnographic
3. Relic
India: The Tin Bigha Corridor
Fig. 8-7: The Tin Bigha corridor fragmented two sections of the country of Bangladesh.
When it was leased to Bangladesh, a section of India was fragmented.
North and South
Korea
Haiti / Dominican
Republic
C. Internal boundaries (state
organization)
1. Unitary
2. Federal
IV. Electoral Geography
A. Functional electoral regions
B. Gerrymandering
C. US voting patterns -
Nominee George Bush Al Gore
Party Republican Democratic
Electoral vote 271 266
States carried 30 20+DC
Popular vote 50,456,002 50,999,897
Percentage 47.9% 48.4%
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/calculator/
2000 Election
Bush Gore
Counties won 2,434 677
Pop of counties 143 million 127 million
Area won (sq mi) 2,428,000 580,000
V. Devolution
VI. Supranationalism
A. Define - voluntary cooperation of 3 or
more countries
B. Military cooperation
UN, NATO, Warsaw Pact
C. Economic - NAFTA, EU