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