Political Geography

1
Political Geography
2
Political Architecture

• What is a State?
• State
• Population Territory Govenrment Soverignty
• A state is a place, but is also a concept
  represented by certain symbols and demanding
  (though not always obtaining) the loyalty of
  people.

3
4 steps to becoming a state

• 1. Territory
• 2. Resident Population
• 3. Government that ensures sovereignty
• 4. Recognition by the international community

4
Political Architecture

• What is a Nation-State?
• Nation Territory Government Sovereignty
• A nation with a state wrapped around ita nation
  with its own state, a state in which there is no
  significant group that is not part of the nation.

5
The Nation-State Triangle

• Nation-states sit on a three-legged stool.
  Stability requires that each leg be strong and in
  place.

6
The Nation-State Triangle
Unified People

• Picture the stool as a triangle with the
  following vertices

Sovereignty
Attachment tocontrol of Territory
7
Without all three legs the stool will fall!
8
Nation-State Triangles

• Some entities on the world political map are
  sitting on a very un-stable two-legged stools
• 1. Palestinians A nation with a
  government, but not a state
• 2. Nigeria A state with a
  government, but not a
  nation (not
  a national identity)

9
Nation-State Triangles

• 3. Somalia A nation (Somalis) with a state, but
  no effective government (anarchy)
• 4. Iraq A state divided among three
  nations
• Sunni Kurds,
• Sunni Muslims, the
• Shiite Muslims

10

• There are few ideal nation-states in the sense
  of being culturally homogeneous
• 1. Iceland
• (language, ethnicity, history)
• 2. Denmark
• (language, ethnicity, history)
• 3. Japan
• (language, ethnicity, history, religion)
• 99.5 of people are ethnic Japanese
• (Ainu or Ryukyans)

11
The World Political Map is a Lie!

• When we think of most states on the world
  political map as nation-states, we draw
  conclusions that may not be true
• 1. We assume that people who live in Israel are
  Israelis.
• 2. We assume that people who live in Nigeria
  are Nigerians.
• 3. We assume that all Somalis live in Somalia.
• We assume that people who live in Canada are
  Canadians.
• We assume that all those in China areChinese.
• 5. We assume that people who live in
• the United States are ____________.

12
How was the worlds territory political organized
by 2011?

• The building blocks of the world political map
  are
• 1. Independent states
• (countries or nation-states)
• 2. Dependencies of independent states (colonies
  or protectorates)
• 3. Global commons
• (The high seas and Antarctica)

192 UN Members 193 Vatican City 194 Taiwan
13
Lets ReviewIndependent States

• An independent state is a territorial entity
  occupied by a unified population.you can find
  its boundaries on the map. The population need
  not be unified by culture!
• An independent state has a government that has
  full authority over its internal and external
  affairs.
• An independent state is sovereign and may be
  referred to as a sovereign state because it has
  full authority over its internal and external
  affairs.

14
Dependencies (or colonies?)

• Dependencies are external possessions of the
  worlds independent states. We used to call them
  colonies or protectorates. The most general
  term today might be territories
• 1. The largest in land area is Greenland, a
  self-governing possession of Denmark. It is the
  worlds largest island, but it has only 56,000
  people. Its official name is Kalaallit Nunaat
• 2. The largest in population is Puerto Rico, a
  possession of the United States. It is an island
  in the Caribbean Sea and has almost 4 million
  people.

15
Global Commons

• 1. Oceans
• The High Seas beyond the 12-mile territorial
  limits of coastal states and the International
  Seabed beyond 200 miles.
• No state owns the open ocean
• It is governed under the rules laid down in the
  UN Convention on the
• Law of the Sea (1973-82)

16
Global Commons

• 2. Antarctica. Although the political map of
  Antarctica looks like a pie cut into many wedges,
  these zones are simply territorial claims.
• Under the Antarctica Treaty (1959), no state owns
  any part of Antarctica all states have the right
  to conduct scientific research there.
• The US recognizes NO territorial claims to
  Antarctica and has none of its own.
• The US does have research stations in Antarctica.

17
The worlds largest countries

• 1. Russia 6.6 million sq. mi. 2 continents
  11.5 of land 11 time zones
  (out of 24)
• 2. Canada
• 3. China
• 4. United States
• 5. Brazil
• 6. Australia
• 7. India
• 8. Argentina
• 9. Kazakhstan
• 10.Sudan

18
The worlds smallest countries

• 1. Vatican City (109 acres)
• 2. Monaco (368 acres)
• 3. Nauru (8 sq. mi.)
• 4. Tuvalu (10 sq. mi.)
• 5. San Marino (23 sq. mi.)
• 6. Liechtenstein (61 sq. mi.)
• 7. Marshall Islands (70 sq. mi.)
• 8. St. Kitts Nevis (104 sq. mi.)
• 9. Maldives (115 sq. mi.)
• 10. Malta (122 sq. mi)
• ___________________________
• City of Virginia Beach 248 sq. mi.
• City of Richmond 60 sq. mi.

19
Advantages Disadvantages
Large State Large Population More talent Large Army More Natural Resources Economic Self-sufficiency Difficult to Unify Population More culturally diverse Transportation difficult
20
Advantages Disadvantages
Small State Easier to Unify population Homogeneous Population Less culturally diverse Transportation easy Closer together Small Population Less Talent Small defense force Vulnerable to Attack Fewer Natural Resources Economic vulnerability
21
Changing World Map

• Todays world political map is much different
  than it was 100 years ago, 200 years ago etc.
• City-states developed slowly (beginning in the
  Fertile Crescent) and often attacked each other
  to form empires.
• States that exist today began forming after the
  middle ages as areas of people of common cultural
  backgrounds joined together to form governments.

22
Changing World Map

• In 1900the British King the Russian Czar alone
  controlled 1/3rd of the land on earth.
• You also had the French, Austro-Hungarian,
  German, Dutch, Danish, Belgian, Italian,
  American, Ottoman, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese,
  and Spanish Colonial Empires

23
Colonialism v. Imperialism

• A colony is a territory tied to an independent
  state and occupied by its citizenstherefor
  colonialism is simply an extension of a state.
• Imperialism is the control of a territory that
  was previously occupied by and organized by an
  indigenous population.
• There is a fine line between the two!!!!!

24
Changing World Map

• How will the worlds territory be politically
  organized in 2100?
• Some countries are coming together European
  Union, NAFTA, etc.
• Some countries are breaking apart East Timor
  (2002), Montenegro (2006), South Sudan(2011)
  etc.
• We will talk about this morelater!!!

25
SIZE SHAPE OF STATES

• Every independent state on the world political
  map has a size and a shape
• The size and shape of a state may encourage
  either unity or division
• Size quantitative data, measured in square miles
  or square kilometers
• Shape qualitative data, measured according to
  how much it looks like a known shape or geometric
  form

Do you see the shapesor do you see the wordor
both???
26
SHAPE

• Compact
• circular to hexagonal
• Uruguay, Poland, Switzerland
• Communication and transportation are relatively
  easy in a compact country, as is the mobilization
  of the military.
• A disadvantage is a lack of natural resources b/c
  compact countries tend to be smaller in size

27
SHAPE

• Elongated
• Long, usually skinny
• Nepal, Italy, Vietnam, Chile
• Distance can cause problems with the
  Transportation of raw materials to industrial
  centers.
• Those living in the ends of the countries can
  feel isolated, which can lead to separatist
  movements.

28
SHAPE

• Prorupt
• with a panhandle appendage attached to main
  territory
• Thailand, Namibia, Mexico, India, Florida is a
  proruption from the US.
• One advantage of having a proruption is that it
  usually provides the country with access to a
  useful raw material. It may also provide trade
  opportunities.
• The disadvantage is that the proruptions are
  usually fiercely fought over.
• Proruptions are usually the doings of colonial
  powers and therefore, hard to justify.

Caprivi Strip
29
SHAPE

• Fragmented
• several non-continuous pieces
• Indonesia (13,000 islands 3,000 miles), USA,
  Russia
• A fragmented country is in pieces that are not
  attached to each other. Usually islands.
• USA when it added Alaska and Hawaii in 1959.
• Alaska is an exclave an area separated from its
  state by another state.
• Kaliningrad is an exclave of Russia separated
  by Latvia, Lithuania, and Belarus from Russia

30
SHAPE

• Advantages to being fragmented???
• The advantage of being fragmented is that another
  country would have a hard time trying to occupy
  and control your country.
• For example, invading Indonesia would involve
  invading thousands of separate islands.
• However, communications and the transportation
  between the separated areas can be difficult,
  especially if another country is in the way.

31
SHAPE

• Perforated
• with a hole
• South Africa (Lesotho) Italy (Vatican City
  San Marino)
• Lesotho, Vatican city are called enclaves a
  country that is completely surrounded by another
  political state. They are always landlocked
  countries with no access to the sea.

32

• The advantage to having a country completely
  within your borders is that the ethnic group of
  the enclave has its own state.
• If those people were part of the perforated
  country, there might be tensions.
• The disadvantage of having a country completely
  within your borders is that it may get in the way
  of transportation and communication.

33
What about landlocked states?

• With no direct outlet to the sea international
  trade is limited and cooperation with neighbors
  is crucial!