Boundaries
Packing areas of minority group voters into a single legislative representative’s district is an example of which practice?
Gerrymandering
True or False: Ethnicity and religion lead to devolutionary pressures in a country by politically dividing regions.
True
Which type of state is often characterized by a large land area and the presence of multiple ethnic groups?
Federal
Admittance to the European Union could be a threat to a state’s sovereignty at the national scale, while holding a region together at the global scale. The E.U. is an example of what concept?
Supranational organization
What is the formal term for a country?
State
The Berlin Conference established the borders of North African countries including Egypt, Libya, and Sudan. These borders were drawn using lines that did not account for cultural features. The straight lines were drawn for the ease of boundary demarcation and mapping in shifting desert sands. This is an example of which type of boundary?
Geometric
Variation of language within a country is an example of which type of force?
Centrifugal
A state with a strong central government and no power given to regions is an example of which type of state?
Unitary
The devolution and Balkanization of what country in the 1990s occurred primarily along national lines, resulting in countries with a defined ethnic majority such as Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia?
Yugoslavia
What is defined as an area of instability located between regions with opposing political and cultural values?
Shatterbelt
The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, but people in the former East and West Germany still feel its influence. Geographers would say that where the wall once stood now acts as which type of boundary?
Relict boundary
The high level of economic difference between the regions in Italy is an example of a ___ force and that may lead to ___. Which two terms best complete the blanks?
Centrifugal, devolution
Historically, Iceland had only one period of human migration. The country has never been invaded and possesses a common culture and language. As a result, Iceland is regarded as an example of which political entity?
Nation state
Many countries in Africa have private investors and foreign governments that have leased farmland for large-scale commercial farming. Usually much of the food produced is bound for wealthier nations. This is an example of what concept?
Neocolonialism
What are companies that conduct business on a global scale?
Transnational corporation
In 1999, Canada created the province of Nunavut to provide greater autonomy for the First Nations. The boundaries between Nunavut and the other provinces were drawn to accommodate the existing cultural landscape. This is an example of which type of boundary?
Consequent (Subsequent)
Devolutionary movements in which Canadian province focuses mainly on cultural differences?
Quebec
Some territories within the Russian Federation are characterized by concentrated populations of ethnic groups with some political control over their homelands while preserving Russia’s territorial integrity. What term best describes these territories?
Autonomous republics
According to UNCLOS, a state can claim national economic jurisdiction over 200 nautical miles of water extending from its coast. What is this zone called?
EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone)
What is defined as annexation of another state’s territory on the basis of shared culture, history, or ethnicity?
Irredentism
How often are the boundaries of congressional districts in the United States redrawn?
Every 10 years.
What autonomous region of northeastern Spain accounts for approximately one-fifth of Spain’s economy and is an important industrial and banking center? These economic resources give viability to the idea of independence.
Catalan
This stateless nation, perhaps the best example of such, comprises people living in southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq, northwestern Iran, and northern Syria.
Kurds
The provisions of the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea give coastal countries navigational and economic sovereignty over which zone?
Twelve-nautical-mile territorial sea zone
What are the three geopolitical theories regarding the viability of a state we discussed in our notes?
Organic, Heartland, Rimland