Political Geography Part 1DeBlij Chapter 8

AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

THE INTELLIGENT HUMAN’S GUIDE TO COWS AND POLITICAL SYSTEMS

• You have two cows. Give one to neighbor• You have two cows. Give them both to government.

Government gives you milk• You have two cows. Give milk to government.

Government sells milk• Government shoots you and takes cows• Government shoots one cow; milks the other and pours

milk down the sink• Slaughter cows. Compete with McDonalds• Keep cows. Shoot government. Steal another cow• Freeze milk. Nuke cows• Give milk back to cows. Let cows escape

SocialismCommunism

Fascism

NazismNew Dealism

CapitalismAnarchismConservatismLiberalism

Political Geography The study of the political organization of the planet

Landlocked Nation

Theocracy

Human Territoriality the need to control pieces of the Earth’s surface for political and social ends

State vs. Nation

• State: a political unit • Nation: a people’s feeling of belonging to a

cultural community with a common history

The Kurds are stateless but they have a national identity

Stateless NationsEurope

Sami in Finland/NorwayBasques in SpainChechnya in Russia

AfricaOgoni in NigeriaIgbo in Nigeria

AsiaBalochisTurkmen in IraqTibetans in ChinaTamils in Sri Lanka

North AmericaNavajoKa Lahui

South AmericaAymaraMapuche of Chile/Argentina

Afghanistan is a state but not a

nation

Durand Line

European State Model

During the 15th and 16th Centuries, European States began to emergeCharacteristics: Powerful Monarch (weakened nobility)

Standardized Language & CultureNational integrated economy mercantilismReligious uniformity Military rivalry

Sovereignty: idea that territory exists as an independent state ruled by a monarch

The Nation-State

• The European State has become the global model for the Nation-State.

• Problem: Many States do not have a unified nationality

• Solution: encourage “National Spirit” among the people of a state

Nation, State or Nation-State?Greeks (NS)Danes (NS)Scots (N)Swiss (S)

Palestinians (N)English (N)British (S)

Israelis (NS)Ukrainians (NS)

Arabs (N)

GreeksDanesScotsSwiss

PalestiniansEnglishBritishIsraelis

UkrainiansArabs

What do states do?

What are the characteristics of a state?

• Defined territory• Substantial population• Political Organization• Power (Sovereignty)

Defined Territory

Territorial Morphology

11 time zones15 republics10 million km east to west (distance from Scotland to Alaska)

MicrostateSmithtown 111 sq milesLong Island 1,401 sq miles

Miles²Vatican City 0.44Monaco 1.95San Marino 61Liechtenstein 164Marshall Islands 181St Kitts & Nevis 261Maldives 298Malta 316Grenada 344Barbados 430Seychelles 455Andorra 468Singapore 683Bahrain 694

A political boundary is a vertical plane

Evolution of Boundaries

“The southern and western limits of New Mexico….shall consist of a straight line drawn from the middle of the Rio Gila, where it unites with the Colorado, to a point on the coast of the Pacific Ocean….”

Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo (1848)

Geometric Boundary

Physical-Political Boundary

Types of Boundaries

Antecedent boundary: created by a natural break in settlement

Subsequent boundary: created by long term adjustment & modification

Superimposed boundary: created by an outside force (UN, imperialism..)

Relict boundary: boundary that has ceased to function but still influences culture

What type of boundary was this?

Purpose of boundaries

• Defense• Limit jurisdiction • Foster nationalism