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CHAPTER 8: POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY
Key Ideas: What is a State?
- A state is an area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government that has control over its internal and foreign affairs.
Other Characteristics of a State:
1. A state has a defined territory on earth’s
surface.
2. A state has a permanent population.
3. A state has sovereignty, which means
independence from control of its internal
affairs by other states.
Characteristics of a State:
4. An entire area of a state is managed by a
national government with laws, leaders,
military apparatus, and an internal currency
system.
5. A state is a good example of a uniform or
formal region.
6. A state is synonymous with the term
country.
Problems of Defining States:
- In 2003 there where 191 states according to the United Nations.
- However, there is some dispute over the actual number of sovereign states in the world today.
- Why? Because some places test the definition of what constitutes a state.
Problems of Defining States:
- Among places that test the definition of what constitutes a state are:
1. Korea
2. China
3. Western Sahara ( Sahrawi Republic )
Korea: One State or Two?
- The Korean Peninsula is divided into two countries along the 38th parallel.
- The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea ( North Korea ) and The Republic of Korea ( South Korea )
- Both countries are committed to uniting the country into one sovereign state.
The Problem With Korea:
- The North is ideologically very different from the South. North Korea is authoritarian socialist while South Korea is a republic based upon democratic principles.
China and Taiwan: One State or Two?
- According to China’s government officials, Taiwan is not a separate sovereign state but is a part of China.
- Until 1999 the government of Taiwan agreed.
China and Taiwan
- This confusing situation arose as a result of a civil war between the Nationalist and the Communist in China.
- After losing, the Nationalist fled to the island of Taiwan. The Nationalist proclaimed that they were still the legitimate rulers of all mainland China.
China and Taiwan
- The Mainland Chinese refuse to recognize Taiwan’s claims.
- In 1999 Taiwan’s president stated that in addition to its claims on mainland China, it would regard itself as an independent sovereign state.
- This heightened tensions between The Mainland and Taiwan.
China and Taiwan
- Most other governments consider mainland China ( the People’s Republic of China ) and the island of Taiwan ( the Republic of China ) as two separate and sovereign states.
Western Sahara ( Sahrawi Republic )
- The Sahrawri Arab Democratic Republic, also known as the Western Sahara, is considered to be an independent sovereign state by most African countries.
- The western Sahara lies on the west coast of Africa between Morocco and Mauritania.
Western Sahara ( Sahrawi Republic )
- At one time, both Morocco and Mauritania laid claims to the area.
- Mauritania has withdrawn its claims but Morocco has not.
- Morocco has built a 3000 mile wall around the territory to keep rebels ( Polisario Front ) out.
Western Sahara ( Sahrawi Republic )
- Cease fire signed in 1991, but sporadic fighting continues.
• Human Territoriality – a country’s (or more local community’s) sense of property and attachment toward its territory, expressed by its determination to keep it inviolable and defended
• State – politically organized territory, administered by a gov’t, recognized by the international community. Must contain 1) a permanent pop., 2) an organized economy, 3) a functioning internal circulation system (state = country; State = internal division)
• Nation – tightly knit group of people who feel a belonging to a cultural community, share a common history (stateless nations – no national territory; Kurds, Palestinians)
• Evolution of the Nation-State
• Treaty of Westphalia (1648) – sets legal precedent for national sovereignty
• Doctrine of nationalism, creates supreme loyalty
• Colonialism rose from an instable core (Europe) – countries
• sought out colonies to support the mother country
• Territorial Morphology: – Size – not always an advantage – U.S. = yes (resources, relative location) – former USSR = no (vast size, many cultures & languages)
• Microstates–Liechtenstein, Andorra, San Marino – Relative location - situation – Resources – exceptions: Congo (resource-rich but unable
to use for own benefit); Switzerland & Japan (few resources, but in economic cores)
– Global Activity – Singapore is b/w busy shipping routes; Myanmar & Sierra Leone, for example, are not
• Shape • Compact – distance
from geometric center is similar
• Elongated – a.k.a. attenuated
• Fragmented – two or more separate pieces
• Perforated – territory completely surrounds that of another state
• Protruded – a.k.a. prorupt; have a protruded area that extends from a more compact core
• Evolution of Boundaries – Boundary – a vertical plane that cuts through the subsoil
& airspace (even outer space) – Definition – legal document or treaty drawn up to specify
actual points in the landscape – Delimitation – cartographers put the boundary on the
map – Demarcation – boundary is actually marked on the
ground w/ wall, fence, posts,…
• Types of Boundaries – Geometric – straight-line, unrelated to physical or
cultural landscape, lat & long (US/Canada) – Physical-political (natural-political) – conform to
physiologic features (Rio Grande: US/Mexico; Pyrenees: Spain/France)
– Cultural-political – mark breaks in the human landscape (Armenia/Azerbaijan)
• Origin-Based Classification – a.k.a. genetic boundary types – Antecedent – existed before the cultural
landscape emerged – Subsequent – developed contemporaneously
with the evolution of the cultural landscape – Superimposed – placed by powerful outsiders
on a developed landscape, usually ignores pre-existing cultural-spatial patterns
– Relict – has ceased to function, but its imprint can still be detected on the cultural landscape
• Frontier – zone of separation, a territorial “cushion” that keeps rivals apart
• Boundary Disputes – Definitional – focus on legal language (e.g.
median line of a river: water levels may vary) – Locational – definition is not in dispute, the
interpretation is; allows mapmakers to delimit boundaries in various ways
– Operational – neighbors differ over the way the boundary should function (migration, smuggling)
– Allocational – disputes over rights to natural resources (gas, oil, water)
Relative Location of Kuwait
Major area of dispute w/ Iraq
in 1990s
“Above” the State Boundaries
Iron Curtain
NATO
State Organization andState Organization andNational PowerNational Power
Colonialism has changed the global order of politics; often creating unequal cultural and economic relations
• Core-Periphery Model – World Systems Analysis (Immanuel Wallerstein)
– view the world as an interlocked system of states
– Core – economically dominant states – Periphery – developing states; have little
autonomy or influence – Semi-periphery – middle; keeps the world from
being polarized into two extremes – The world must be seen as a system of
interlinking parts; ties political and economic geography together
• OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2001
Country GDP (billions)United States $10,082
Japan $ 4,141
Germany $ 1,846
United Kingdom $ 1,424
France $ 1,310
China $ 1,159
Italy $ 1,089
Canada $ 694
Mexico $ 618
• Geopolitics: Friedrich Ratzel (Ger) – State resembles a biological organism – birth,
maturity, decline, death – Nourishment through acquisition of less
powerful territories; space is essential – “Organic Theory” (stated above): led to
expansionist Nazi policies of 1930s
• Heartland Theory: Halford Mackinder (Br) – Heart of Eurasia – resource-rich, land-based
“pivot area”, E. Eur is key to World Island
• Rimland Theory: Nicholas Spykman (US) – Eurasian rim, not heart – key to global power
Mackinder’s Heartland Theory & Spykman’s Rimland Theory
• Core areas – center, heart; relates to scale – State – national heartland: largest pop., most
productive region, greatest centrality, may contain the capital (multicore – Nigeria, US)
– Region – several economically strong states
• Capital city – pol. nerve center, seat of gov’t, center of nat. life, & nat. headquarters
• Forward capital – capital city moved for a nat. objective; culture, disputed territory, …
• Primate city – state’s largest city; most expressive of culture, may be capital: Mexico City, Paris, Jakarta, … (many countries don’t have: e.g. US)
• Unitary state – nation-state w/ highly centralized gov’t, central authority exerts power equally over its territory (UK, Fr)
• Federal state – central gov’t represents various entities w/in a nation-state, allows entities to retain some power (most geographically expressive)
• Electoral geography: US – 435 seats in House.
• Centripetal Forces – promote unity – Charismatic leaders, external threats ( Iraq) – Nationalism – religion, education, national
ideology, …
• Centrifugal Forces – divisive forces – Internal religious, linguistic, ethnic, or
ideological differences – Tribalism – people identify more w/ their local
affiliation than with their country
• Supranationalism: • Venture involving
three or more states for pol. (UN), econ. (EU), mil. (NATO) and/or cultural (African Union) objectives
• Benelux – first multinational union; no tariffs, quotas, licenses; joined EEC later
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