Nations/States
Defined territory/boundaries
Stable/permanent population (50% of countries have fewer than 5 million people)
Organizational structure or Gov’t
Sovereignty
State
An old boundary between countries that is no longer used
Relic Boundary
A type of "force" that can unite a state or nation but can also lead to a growth in nationalism.
Centripetal Forces
An internal organization of a state that allocates most powers to units of local government (states or provinces); de-centralized power
Federal State
An area of a state that is not contiguous with rest of the country and must be separated by foreign territory
Enclave
Common language
Common history
Ethnicity – shared ancestry and culture
Religion
Other cultural traits
Nation
Drawn by and outside or conquering state or states who show little to no interest in in respecting inhabited nations differences. Is also almost always due to colonialism or imperialism
Superimposed Boundary
Centrifugal forces
An internal organization of a state that places most power in the hands of central government officials; centralized power
Unitary State
An area of a state that is completely surrounded by another group of people or another state
Exclave
A state with primarily only one nation within its borders
Nation-State
Drawn with the pre-existing cultural landscape into consideration and often reflects/separates various cultures and nations who do not get along.
Consequent Boundary
When a state passes power from a central government to regional government or when one state splits into more than one state
Devolution
An ethnic group, religious group, linguistic group or other cohesive group which is not the majority population in any nation state
Stateless Nation
To achieve a political result by manipulating the boundaries of an electoral constituency.
Gerrymandering
State that contains more than one ethnicity
Multiethnic State
When the imposing state constructs physical barriers along a boundary to either keep people in or out of their territory.
Fortified Boundary
The idea of forming governments or organizations that include more than one nation
Supernationalism
According to Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory these are industrialized countries with the highest per capita income and standard of living (education, higher salaries, more technology)
Core States
A region that is politically fragmented and prone to conflict.
Shatterbelts
A country that contains more than one ethnicity with traditions of self-determination
Multinational State
An independent sovereign state that does not have direct access to an ocean and therefor struggles with trade.
Landlocked State or Boundary
Any political or popular movement intended to reclaim and reoccupy a lost homeland; justifies its territorial claims on the basis of (real or imagined) historic or ethnic affiliations.
Irredentism
According to Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory these are states with low levels of industrialization, infrastructure, per capita income and standards of living
Periphery States
The study of the interaction of geographical area and political process
Political Geography