Agenda Homework -Ch. 8 3 images -Ch. 8 Figure Index 2. Political Geography Lecture, Part 1 3. International Case Studies Assignment
Created by David Palmer Political Geography Created by David Palmer
I. State and Nation A. state: political unit (can be used interchangeably with country) B. nation: refers to a tightly knit group of people (usually having similarities: culture, language, religion, etc.) e.g. Yugoslavia was a state but not a nation. nationalism - loyalty to a nation/ sense of inclusion
Former Yugoslavia - State not a nation Fellmann
Stateless Nations - Have no National Territory e.g. 1990 Palestinian Arabs 6.5 million (Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria) CIA Factbook. online
Kurdistan 20 million Kurds Turkey and Iraq very volatile relationship Kurds desire territory or at least autonomous control of land in Iraq and Turkey Fellmann 343
Concept: Nation-State Ideal built on homogeneity of territory and culture Politically organized Sovereignty: final authority over territories political and military affairs Example - Japan Ethnic Groups in Japan Japanese 99% Picture Here CIA Factbook. online
Other Examples Picture Here Bi-national State (Israel/Palestine) Multinational State (Switzerland) Multistate Nation (Transylvania, stretches across Romania and Hungary, Kurds) Picture Here CIA Factbook. online
Concept: Challenges to the State Globalization, trans-national corporations NGOs, social pressure Developments in technology- discourage assimilation Increase in nationalist/separatist movements Trade organizations- WTO, NAFTA, EU- limit independence of members
Geographic Characteristics of States
A. Territory Size-micro vs macro Does Size =Power? No Greater land area may equal greater resources Could also lead to problems with regulating area (communication and transportation) CIA Factbook. online Vatican Map Micro State - Vatican Map
Size is not necessarily an indicator for success Russia Land Area: 6,550.7 square miles Purchasing Power Parity $9700 (2002) United States Land Area: 3,787.4 Purchasing Power Parity $36,300 (2002) CIA Factbook. online
B. Territory Shape Fellmann 423
1. Compact State: (circle shape) the distance from any point of the country to its center is about the same. supposed to provide the most geographic stability e.g. Poland, Iceland, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe
2. Fragmented State consisting of 2 or more pieces can make some interactions within the country more difficult e.g. Philippines
Hello down there! 3. Elongated Can create separatist areas due to distance from center or core Vietnam, Chile, Norway
Prorupt States An area that extends from a compact area Can create room for factions geographically Southern Thailand
Perforated State US question next slide broken by another country 1. exclaves: separated from the state by another state e.g. Azerbaijan (Fellmann 347) 2. enclaves: surrounded by another state e.g. Christian Armenia b. e.g. South Africa-Lesotho US question next slide
Practice Analysis of Shape What US state is an exclave? The same state is also a prorupt state. What shape best describes California? Elongated
Big Theme Territory size & shape can influence political stability, but can not determine social, political, or economic well being.