Types of States
a group of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory.
Nation
Political boundary defined and delimited (and occasionally demarcated) as a straight line or an arc
Geometric Boundary
an economic and political association established in 1957 by a number of Western European countries to promote free trade among its members
the European Union
generic term adopted by the Bureau of the Census to include the wide variety of small polling areas, such as election districts, precincts, or wards, that State and local governments create for the purpose of administering elections
voting districts
An international organization formed after WWII to promote international peace, security, and cooperation.
A state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular ethnicity that has been transformed into a nationality (ex. Japan)
A boundary made through colonization without regard to prior ethnic/cultural patterns (e.g. borders of most African countries)
Superimposed Boundary
The term for the British Exit from the European Union.
Brexit
political power is concentrated at the national level and local authority is limited
unitary state
1949 alliance of Western European and North American nations that agreed to band together in the event of war and to support and protect each nation involved.
NATO
nation that stretches across borders and across states
multi-state nation
a political boundary that existed before the cultural landscape emerged and stayed in a place while people moved into occupy the surroundings
antecedent boundary
term applied to associations created by three or more states for their mutual benefit and achievement of shared objectives
supranationalism
Process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power.
gerrymandering
Also called economic imperialism, this is the domination of newly independent countries by foreign business interests that causes colonial-style economies to continue, which often caused monoculture (a country only producing one main export like sugar, oil, etc).
Neocolonialism
State that contains two or more ethnic groups with traditions of self-determination that agree to coexist peacefully by recognizing each other as distinct nationalities.
multinational state
Old political boundaries that no longer exist as international borders, but that have left an enduring mark on the local cultural or environmental geography.
relic boundary
according to the UNCLOS, the EEZ for maritime countries located closer to each other than 200 miles is located halfway in between.
Median Line Principle
The redrawing of congressional and other legislative district lines following the census, to accommodate population shifts and keep districts as equal as possible in population.
redistricting
Process by which a state breaks down through conflicts among its ethnicities. Originally referring to the former Yugoslavia in the Balkan region.
Balkanization
Areas of some countries that feel they ought to have a special status partly because of their cultural distinctiveness and are given more autonomy by their government.
autonomous/semi-autonomous region
Drawn boundaries made with regard to ethnic differences (e.g. border between China and Vietnam)
Subsequent/Consequent Boundary
area in which resources found up to 200 nautical miles offshore belong exclusively to the geographically bordering country (fishing, oil...)
Exclusive Economic Zones
An internal organization of a state that allocates strong power to units of local government
federal state
regions that are politically fragmented and are often areas of competition between two ideological or two religious realms
shatterbelts