Political Geography
A state must meet these four criteria in order to be defined as a state.
1. defined boundary
2. permanent population
3. maintains sovereignty
4. recognized by other states
DOUBLE JEOPARDY: identify an example of a country whose statehood is still in question.
The willingness of a person or group of people to defend and express power over a geographic area is called ___________.
Territoriality.
This type of boundary is one that precedes the settlement of a population and tends to be based on physical features.
Antecedent boundary.
When a district is redrawn to clearly favor one political party, this is called ________.
gerrymandering
True or false: Member states of the EU share a common currency, make up a single-market free-trade zone, and exist as an open-border region.
True.
DOUBLE JEOPARDY: What economic supranational treaty, formally know as NAFTA, allows free trade between 3 major North American states?
Iceland, Japan, and France all qualify as an example of this type of political entity.
Nation-state
Korea is an example of a ________ ________, a group of people with a common ethnicity that span across political borders of states.
multistate nation
While ___________ involves controlling a country through land settlement, _________ is a broader term that includes economic and political control as well.
colonialism, imperialism
Redistricting is done every 10 years through the US ______.
census
Supranationalism challenges state sovereignty at these scales.
National, regional, global.
A _______________ is a country that contains more than one nation, while a ____________ is a nation has a state of its own but stretches across borders of other states.
multi-national state, multistate nation
_________, or the reallocation/transfer of government power, can change political boundaries due to newly granted independence, causing new states to appear on the world map.
Devolution
As a result of the _______ _______, African nations were separated into states through ____________ boundaries.
Berlin Conference, superimposed
DOUBLE JEOPARDY: True or false? A superimposed boundary takes into account the cultural, ethnic, or linguistic traits of the local populations.
US states whose populations have shifted or grown will need to redistrict their internal boundaries in order to reapportion their number of __________ in the _______.
representatives, House
DOUBLE JEOPARDY: True or false? An individual local voter will have more impact voting in state elections than in national elections.
Language is a cultural _________ force in Canada, as residents of _______ have led ethnonationalist movements and advocated for ethnic separatism.
True or false: Native American reservations are considered autonomous regions within the U.S.
While these can be land-based (e.g. naturaly valleys or bridges), the most vital ______ _____ in the world today are predominantly water-based, such as straits and canals.
choke points
The _________ _________ of Palestine is currently engaged in a ________ or territorial boundary dispute.
stateless nation, locational
While ______ states tend to be smaller and have populations with few cultural differences, _______ states tend to be larger and have multiple ethnic groups with significant minority populations.
unitary, federal
Technological changes, such as the Internet and cell phone use, can challenge state sovereignty at these scales.
Local, national, regional, and global.
The indigenous tribes of the United States and the Palestinians are an example of this type of political entity.
Stateless nation
DOUBLE JEOPARDY: what is the largest stateless nation recognized today and where are they regionally located?
An example of a _______ ______ would be in Eastern Europe, where the violent and complicated breakup of Yugoslavia lead to instability.
shatter belt
A _______ boundary, like a ________ boundary, is identified by physical objects on the landscape, however the latter no longer serves a political purpose.
demarcated, relict
True or false? Gerrymandering is federally legal in all 50 states.
TRUE. The Supreme Court has never made gerrymandering illegal and instead has left it up to individual states. Some states prohibit gerrymandering. Residents of other states can legally challenge their legislators' redistricting in court if they feel gerrymandering has occurred.
Russia's invasion of the Crimean peninsula is an example of a movement that sought to unite a common nation divided by political boundaries. This type of movement is called _______.
irredentism