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36 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Geographic Characteristics of Countries
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shape, boundaries, location
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Political Geography
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the study of the organization and distribution of political phenomena from a geographic perspective
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State
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an independent political unit
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Nation-states
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a state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular ethnicity that has been transformed into a nationality
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United Nations (U.N)
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An organization that exercises power over countries
51 founding countries now 200 countries |
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Geographic Characteristics of States
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Large and Small states
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Large States
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greater chance for useful resources
vast areas sparsely populated, hard to integrate larger boundaries, hard to defend. |
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Small States
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more likely to have cultural homogenous population
easy transportation shorter boundaries, vulnerable |
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Shapes of States
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Compact- Zimbabwe
Elongated- Norway Protruded- Thailand Fragmented- Philippines Perforated- South Africa |
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Exclave
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a territorial outlier of one state is located within another state
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Enclave
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a territory is surrounded by another state
eg, Andorra |
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Landlocked States
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about one fifth of world states are landlocked
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International Boundaries
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perceived as lines without breadth on maps
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Micro-States
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states with very small land area
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Types of Country Boundaries
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Natural Boundaries
Cultural Boundaries Geometric Boundaries |
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EEZ
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Advantage to explode natural resources
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Natural Boundaries
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based on recognizable physiological features, such as mountain ranges
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Cultural Boundaries
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boundaries that coincide with ethnicity, language and religion
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Geometric Boundaries
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follow parallels of latitude or meridians of longitude
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U.S- Canada Border
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follow 49 parallel
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U.S- Mexico Border
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Rio grande divides east part.
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Centripetal Forces
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bind countries together
ex, National identity, tradition, language |
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Centrifugal Forces
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tear a country apart
ex. ethnic issues, religion, culture |
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Centrifugal Forces
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Organized religion
Sub-nationalism Regionalism Devolution |
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Two types of States
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Unitary States
Federal States |
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Unitary States
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most power in hands of central government
ex. China |
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Federal State
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central government shares power with sub-units
ex. United States |
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Regional Alliances
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European Union (E.U)
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) |
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European Union
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a bloc of European countries enjoying free trade and committed to full political union
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Electoral Geography
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a state's electoral system, part of its spatial organization of movement.
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Electoral Geography in the U.S
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territorial representation
population representation |
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Bi- Cameral Legislature
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each state has 2 senators
number of House reps is proportional to state population (435 seats), each state has at least 50 |
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Colonialism
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effort by one country to establish settlements in a territory and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles on that territory.
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Gerrymandering
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the drawing of voting district lines in ways that exclude specific groups of voters, to make political advantage
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Reapportionment or Redistricting
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changing of electoral districts/constituency boundaries in response to periodic census results
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Districts
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geographic areas within which eligible residents vote to elect their representatives
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