Ap Human Geography Political Geography

Front 1

Antecedent boundaries

Back 1

A boundary line established before and area is populated

Front 2

Balkanization

Back 2

The contentious political process by which a sate may break up into smaller countries

Front 3

Buffer state

Back 3

A relatively small country sandwiched between two larger power. The existence of buffer states may help to prevent dangerous conflicts between powerful countries

Front 4

Centrifugal forces

Back 4

Forces that tend to divide a country

Front 5

Centripetal forces

Back 5

Forces that tend to unite bind a country together

Front 6

Common wealth of Independent States

Back 6

Confederacy of independent states of the former Soviet Union that have united because of their common economic and administrative needs

Front 7

Compact state

Back 7

A state that possesses a roughly circular, oval, or rectangular territory in which the distance from the geometric center in reactively equal in all directions

Front 8

Confederation

Back 8

A form of an international organization that brings several autonomous states together for a common purpose

Front 9

Democratization

Back 9

The process of establishing representative and accountable forms of the government led by polar elected officials

Front 10

Devolution

Back 10

The delegation of legal authority from a central government to lower levels of political organization, such as a state or country

Front 11

Domino theory

Back 11

The idea that political destabilization in one country can lead to collapse of political stability in neighboring countries, starting a chain reaction of collapse

Front 12

East/west divide

Back 12

Geographic separation between the largely democratic and free marker countries of western Europe and the Americas from the communist and socialist countries of Eastern Europe and Asia

Front 13

Electoral College

Back 13

A certain number of electors from each state proportional to and seemingly representative of that state's population. Each lector chooses a candidate believing they are representing their constituency's choice. The candidate who receives a higher proportion of electoral votes within a state receives all the electoral votes for that state

Front 14

Electoral vote

Back 14

The decision of particular state elector that represents the dominant views of that elector's state

Front 15

Elongated state

Back 15

A state whose territory is long and narrow in shape

Front 16

Enclaves

Back 16

And small and relatively homogenous group or region surrounded by another larger and different group or region

Front 17

Exclave

Back 17

A bounded territory that is part of a particular state but is separated from it by the territory of a different state

Front 18

Federalism

Back 18

A system of government in which power is distributed among certain geographical territories rather than concentrated within a central government

Front 19

Fragmented state

Back 19

A state that is not contiguous whole but rather separated parts

Front 20

Frontier

Back 20

An area where borders are shifting and weak and where peoples of different cultures or nationalities meet and lay claim to the land

Front 21

Geometric boundary

Back 21

Political boundaries that are defined and delimited by straight lines

Front 22

Geopolitics

Back 22

The study of the interplay between political relations and the territorial context in which they occur

Front 23

Gerrymandering

Back 23

The designation of voting districts so as to favor a particular political party or candidate

Front 24

Heartland theory

Back 24

Hypothesis proposed by Halford Mackinder that held that any political power based in the heart of Eurasia could gain enough strength to eventually dominate the world

Front 25

Imperialism

Back 25

The perpetuation of a colonial empire even after it is no longer politically sovereign

Front 26

International organization

Back 26

An alliance of two or more countries seeking cooperation with each other without giving up either's autonomy or self-determination.

Front 27

Landlocked state

Back 27

A state that is completely surrounded by the land of other states, which gives it a disadvantage in terms of accessibility to and from international trade routes

Front 28

Law of the sea

Back 28

Law establishing states' rights and responsibilities concerning the ownership and use of the earth's seas and oceans and their resources

Front 29

Lebensraum

Back 29

Hitler's expansion theory based on a drive to acquire "living space" for the German people

Front 30

Microstate

Back 30

A state or territory that is small in both population and area

Front 31

Nation

Back 31

Tightly knit group of individuals sharing a common language, ethnicity, religion, and other cultural attributes

Front 32

Nationalism

Back 32

A sense of national pride to such an extent of exalting one nation above all others

Front 33

Nation-state

Back 33

A country whose population possesses a substantial degree of cultural homogeneity and unity

Front 34

North American Free Trade Agreement

Back 34

Agreement signed on January 1, 1994, that allows the opening of borders between the United States, Mexico, and Canada

Front 35

NorthAtlantic Treaty Organization

Back 35

An international organization that has joined together for military purposes

Front 36

North/south divide

Back 36

The economic division between the wealthy countries of Europe and North America, Japan, and Australia and the generally poorer countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America

Front 37

Organic theory

Back 37

The view that states resemble biological organisms with life cycles that include stages of youth, maturity, and old age

Front 38

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

Back 38

An international economic organization whose member countries all produce and export oil

Front 39

Perforated state

Back 39

A state whose territory completely surrounds that of another state

Front 40

Physical boundary

Back 40

Political boundaries that correspond with prominent physical features such as mountain ranges or rivers

Front 41

Political geography

Back 41

The spatial analysis of political phenomena and proceses

Front 42

Popular vote

Back 42

The tally of each individual's vote within a given geographic area

Front 43

Prorupted state

Back 43

A state that exhibits a narrow, elongated land extension leading away from the main territory

Front 44

Reapportionment

Back 44

The process of a reallocation of electoral seats to defined territories

Front 45

Rectangular state

Back 45

A state whose territory is rectangular in shape

Front 46

Redistricting

Back 46

The drawing of new electoral district boundary lines in response to population changes

Front 47

Relic boundaries

Back 47

Old political boundaries that no longer exist as international borders, but that have left an enduring mark on the local cultural or environmental geography

Front 48

Rimland theory

Back 48

Nicholas Spykman's theory that the domination of the costal fringes of Eurasia would provide the base for world conquest

Front 49

Self-determination

Back 49

The right of a nation to govern itself autonomously

Front 50

Sovereigny

Back 50

Supreme or independent political power