1. Intro to Political Geography
What is a Nation? State? Nation-State?

2. YOU MUST UNDERSTAND… Nation State Nation-State Multination State
Multi-State Nation
Stateless Nation
Sovereignty
There are few Americans that use these terms appropriately, even me…
It is not part of our societal approach to geopolitics, but you MUST strive to be accurate.

3. States aren’t states like you think… Our “states” are 50 subdivisions of 1 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.
Occupies defined territory
Permanent population
A state has sovereignty, which means independence from control of its internal affairs by other states.
Sovereignty: Equal Abroad / Master At Home

4. Nations Nation = Common Cultural Ancestors
Ethnicity, language, and/or religion…
Nations can be located within a state’s borders, across multiple state borders, or even (recently) absent of borders or location at all.
There are an infinite number of examples:
Kurds, Cherokees, Basques, Hmongs, etc.
People construct nations to make sense of themselves.
Nations are “imagined communities”
-Benedict Anderson
imagined = you will never meet all the people in your nation
community = you see yourself as part of it

5. The Nation-State
A nation-state is a state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular nation.
The concept that ethnicities have the right to govern themselves is known as self-determination.
After WWI, leaders of the victorious countries met at the Versailles Peace Conference to redraw the map of Europe.
Language most important criterion to create new European states and to adjust existing boundaries.
Nation-states created by Versailles conference lasted through most of 20th century with little adjustment.

6. The Modern Nation-State
Two good examples… Technically, there are no perfect examples. Why is there not a perfect example?
Denmark: A population of ~5 mil and a vast majority are ethnically Danish, speak Danish.
In order to compete globally students leave Danish schools fluent in 3 or 4 languages: Danish, German, English, and occasionally an auxiliary language
Japan: Approximately 129 million people speak Japanese as their primary language and claim Japanese as their ethnicity. Japan has approximately 128 million people.
99.5 percent of Japan claims to be ethnically Japanese
Japan has become an ethnic and cultural stronghold as a result of a strong nationalism.
Nationalism: Loyalty and devotion to one’s particular nation over all

7. Our Current States
South Sudan – 2011
Nepal – 2008
Serbia – 2006
Montenegro – 2006
Oman – 2003
Iraq – 2003
Paraguay – 1992
Albania – 1992
Bosnia & Herzegovina – 1992
Croatia – 1991
Armenia – 1991
Lithuania – 1990
We have a terrible time thinking that the current nations of the world have always been… They have not. They are recent phenomena… (Europe)

8. Multi-State Nations & Multi-Nation States
A Multi-State Nation is a nation that transcends the borders of two or more states.
Germans (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
Multi-National State: State that contains two or more ethnic groups with traditions of self-determination that agree to coexist peacefully by recognizing each other as distinct nationalities.
The Former Yugoslavia

9. Stateless Nations
A stateless nation is not just a nation of people without a country of their own, but a nation that has limited (or nonexistent) self-determination and sovereignty in any of the places in which they reside.

10. The Struggle For Sovereignty
The Kurds
The
Palestinians
The Basques
The Chechens
The Zulu
The Hmong
A description of the Nation
A description of their location
A description of their history of self-determination
A description of their current state
A description / prediction of the future of the Nation

11. Nation Without a State Perfect Nation State Bi-National State
Irredentism
Ethnic Exclave
Multi-National State
Ethnic Enclave
Multi-State
Kurds, Iceland, Belgium, Albania/Kosovo, Hungary/Romania, Russia, Bretons/Basques in France, Germans in Germany, Austria, & Switzerland

12. Nation WHICH ONE IS A NATION? USA NORWAY BELGIUM U.S.S.R. CANADA JAPAN
A culturally distinctive group of people occupying a specific territory and bound together by a sense of unity arising from shared ethnicity beliefs, and customs.
WHICH ONE IS A NATION?
USA
NORWAY
BELGIUM
U.S.S.R.
CANADA
JAPAN
SLOVENIA
BOSNIA
YUGOSLAVIA
AUSTRALIA
BRAZIL
KURDS
Norway
Japan
Slovenia
Kurds

13. Nation-State WHICH ONE IS A NATION-STATE? SWITZERLAND HAWAII DENMARK
An ideal form consisting of a homogeneous group of people governed by their own state
WHICH ONE IS A NATION-STATE?
SWITZERLAND
HAWAII
DENMARK
CHILE
BARBADOS
RWANDA
CHEROKEE
FRANCE
PALESTINIANS
France
Denmark
Barbados

14. Bell Ringer

15. Geographic Characteristics of States
Shape-some are compact while other are elongated or fragmented. (More Later)
Demography-some have huge populations like China’s 1.3 billion or tiny like Iceland with 250,000.
Organization-Political & Economic…
Monarchy, Republic, Dictatorship, Theocratic, etc. / Command, Market, Mixed
Resources-natural and skilled population
Development-subsistence to tertiary
Power-both economic and military

16. Size Doesn’t Matter Largest – Russia= 6.6 million sq. miles
11% of total land area
China, Canada, United States, Brazil, and Australia are the only other states of more than 2.9 million sq. miles
Micro States are states with very small land areas
Smallest is Monaco=0.6 square miles
Many microstates are small islands
Other Examples-Andorra, Antigua and Barbados, Bahrain, Barbados, Singapore

17. Microstates
States that have small land areas and generally low populations…
Less than 1000SqKm or 400 Sq Mi
Size and apparent power mean nothing in relationship to statehood.
Monaco
3 Washington Malls
Maldives
1.7 Washington DCs
Sao Tome e Principe
5 Washington DCs
32 Highway
Nall & Johnson Dr
103rd & State Line
143rd & Pflumm

18. Antarctica
Antarctica is the only land mass that does not belong to any state.
Treaties of 1959 and 1991 define this
Some countries claim portions but the UN refuses to acknowledge claim
Australia, Norway, France, Chile, U.K., New Zealand
San Marino

19. Countries Rush for Upper Hand in Antarctica
Why are countries scrambling to lay stakes in Antarctica?
Who should be in charge of deciding the fate of Antarctica?
Thoughts / Personal Reactions / Most Interesting Thing

20. Challenges in Defining States
Disagreement exists about actual number of sovereign states as a result of historical disputes involving more than one claim to a territory.
So how many are there?

21. Problems Defining States
Korea—Divided in 1953 by the 38th Parallel DMZ (demilitarized zone). Some believe the 2 countries are committed to reunite, but in 1992, the UN admitted N and S Korea as 2 separate countries
Taiwan is the most populated “state” not in the UN. Taiwan’s president announced it as an independent sovereign nation in 1999 despite the fact that the it considered itself to the be legitimate rules of China since the Chinese govt. exile to Taiwan after the 1949 communist takeover over China
What about Hong Kong or Macau