1. Political Geography
The five standard elements of mental mapping are paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks. Paths refers to the linear conduits along which people move within a particular space. Paths typically represent routes for getting from place to place. Examples of paths include streets, trails, and sidewalks

2. Political Architecture
What is a State?
State =
Population + Territory + Government + Sovereignty
“A state is a place, but is also a concept represented by certain symbols and demanding (though not always obtaining) the loyalty of people.”
Districts refer to thematic areas within a particular space that have a definable character or identity. Examples could include such areas as entertainment districts or recreational districts
A State is:
1. A piece of land over which a central authority maintains control.
2. Either independent or dependent, but when we use the term we usually mean independent state.
3. A word which sometimes refers to countries and sometimes to the sub-divisions of countries, e.g., the States of the United States. Remember, however, that the first 13 States of the U.S. began their histories as separate sovereign entities.

3. 4 steps to becoming a state
1. Territory
2. Resident Population
3. Government that ensures sovereignty
4. Recognition by the international community
Edges refer to the linear boundaries that define the limits of a particular space. Examples of edges include fences, walls, and other types of physical barriers

4. Political Architecture
What is a Nation-State?
Nation + Territory + Government + Sovereignty
“A nation with a state wrapped around it…a nation with its own state, a state in which there is no significant group that is not part of the nation.”
Nodes refer to important places of gathering, in which people interact or congregate. These include restaurants, busy street intersections, and city squares

5. The Nation-State Triangle
Unified
People
Sovereignty
Attachment
to&control of
Territory

6. The Nation-State Triangle
Nation-states sit on a three-legged stool. Stability requires that each leg be strong and in place.
Landmarks refer to physical points of reference that help individuals orient themselves in a particular space. Examples of landmarks include clock towers, unusual buildings, or more subjective places where a particularly memorable event took place

7. Cognitive maps significantly differ from more objective cartographic representations of space is several ways. First, cognitive maps are more likely to be selectively biased, meaning that they arbitrarily highlight the presence of certain features while completely omitting the presence of other features. Second, cognitive maps are more likely to be not to scale, meaning that the relative sizes of certain features, as well as the relative distances between different features, are not consistent with their actual sizes and distances in the real world

8. Nation-State Triangles
Some entities on the world political map are sitting on a very un-stable two-legged stools:
1. Palestinians: A nation with a government, but not a state
2. Nigeria: A state with a government, but not a nation (not a national identity)
The three primary kinds of cultural regions studied in human geography are formal, functional, and vernacular culture regions. Formal cultural regions are geographical areas defined by the relatively homogenous presence of one or more distinct cultural traits. An area in which the majority of inhabitants share the same language, dialect, religious beliefs, ethnic identity, and/or political affiliations would constitute a formal culture region. For example, the area along the United States-Mexico border, in which the cultural traits of Spanish language and Catholic religion are common, is often referred to as a Hispanic formal culture region

9. Nation-State Triangles
3. Somalia: A nation (Somalis) with a state, but no effective government (anarchy)
4. Iraq: A state divided among three nations:
Sunni Kurds,
Sunni Muslims, & the
Shiite Muslims

10. There are few “ideal” nation-states in the sense of being culturally homogeneous:
1. Iceland
(language, ethnicity, history)
2. Denmark
3. Japan
(language, ethnicity, history, religion)
99.5% of people are ethnic Japanese (Ainu or Ryukyans)
Most independent states are less than homogeneous national entities:
1. Russia includes many non-Russians
2. China includes many non-Chinese
3. Finland includes a significant Swedish minority and an indigenous minority, the Same.
Are you Russian by citizenship or by blood?
There are two methods of defining citizenship:
1. Jus soli: Where were you born? Anyone born in the USA is automatically a citizen.
2. Jus Sanguinis: Where were your parents born? Turks born in Germany are not automatically citizens.
Functional cultural regions are areas defined by functional integrity, or the ability of the area to operate as a unified social, economic, or political unit. Examples of functional cultural regions include such territorial entities as states, counties, or cities, which have determinate boundaries inside of which certain rights, privileges, services, duties, and laws are provided

11. When we think of most states on the world political map as nation-states, we draw conclusions that may not be true:
1. We assume that people who live in Israel are Israelis.
2. We assume that people who live in Nigeria are Nigerians.
3. We assume that all Somalis live in Somalia.
We assume that people who live in Canada are Canadians.
We assume that all those in China are Chinese.
Vernacular cultural regions are relatively subjective areas loosely defined according to certain popular attitudes, beliefs, or stereotypes about the cultural, historical, or physical identity of a general area. Examples of vernacular culture regions in the United States include New England in the Northeast, Dixie in the South, and Appalachia, a popular culture region that roughly corresponds to the southern part of the Appalachian Mountain chain

12. How is the world’s territory political organized?
The building blocks of the world political map are:
1. Independent states
(countries or nation-states)
2. Dependencies of independent states (colonies or protectorates)
3. Global commons
(The high seas and Antarctica)
192 UN Members
193– Vatican City
194 – Taiwan

13. Let’s Review… Independent States
An independent state is a territorial entity occupied by a unified population….you can find its boundaries on the map. The population need not be unified by culture!
An independent state has a government that has full authority over its internal and external affairs.
An independent state is sovereign and may be referred to as a sovereign state because it has full authority over its internal and external affairs.
How many independent states are there on the world political map today?
Some would say 191 because there are 191 members of the United Nations.
However, the real answer is 192 or Vatican City is not a UN member, but it is an independent state. To get to 193, you have to count Taiwan. But whether you count Taiwan depends on whether you recognize “one China” or “two China’s” (China vs. Taiwan). Taiwan is not a UN member (but it used to occupy the Chinese seat at the U.N.).

14. Dependencies (or colonies?)
Dependencies are external possessions of the world’s independent states. We used to call them “colonies” or “protectorates”. The most general term today might be “territories”
1. The largest in land area is Greenland, a self-governing possession of Denmark. It is the world’s largest island, but it has only 56,000 people. Its official name is Kalaallit Nunaat
2. The largest in population is Puerto Rico, a possession of the United States. It is an island in the Caribbean Sea and has almost 4 million people.
Only 1% of the world’s population lives in dependencies today.
They are rare in today’s landscape, yet they have certain common characteristics:
1. Most are islands
2. Most are relatively isolated
3. Most are small in population and area: some are unpopulated.
4. Most are the remnants of formerly widespread colonial empires.
5. Most of the populated ones have not asked for independence.

15. No single approach to classifying cultural regions is perfect, and each offers certain advantages and drawbacks. One advantage of the formal cultural region approach is that it allows geographers to measure the geographical domain or extent of specific cultural traits or cultural complexes. However, one drawback is that the boundaries, or extent, of a particular cultural trait or complex are rarely ever able to be absolutely determined. Rather, these boundaries may be seen to gradually fade away as one moves farther away from the core of a particular formal region. Alternatively, with respect to the functional culture region approach, one of the main advantages is that the limits or boundaries of this region can be defined according to where the functional unit’s jurisdiction ends. However, one of the drawbacks of the functional approach is that it yields little information about cultural patterns within this purely functional system. Finally, with regard to vernacular cultural regions, one advantage is that this approach recognizes popular regional identities that already exist among culture groups. By focusing on vernacular culture regions, geographers may understand how sense of place informs inhabitants’ sense of identity. However, one major disadvantage to the vernacular approach is that there is no objective way to measure the extent of a particular vernacular region. Instead, this type of subjective defined, meaning that its perceived boundaries and location are likely to vary somewhat from person to person

16. Global Commons
1. Oceans
The “High Seas” beyond the 12-mile territorial limits of coastal states and the “International Seabed” beyond 200 miles. No state owns the open ocean
It is governed under the rules laid down in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea ( )
Louisiana now has six seats instead of seven because one area of the state, the area encompassing the city of New Orleans and its surrounding environs, was severely affected by Hurricane Katrina. The city of New Orleans was flooded and lost much of its population. Individuals relocated to other parts of the state as well as to other states. In addition, Louisiana did not experience much population growth between 2000 and The change in the number of districts affects the entire state. Louisiana will not have as much voting power, and therefore political clout, in the U.S. House of Representatives as it did in the past

17. Global Commons
Antarctica. Although the political map of Antarctica looks like a pie cut into many wedges, these zones are simply “territorial claims.” Under the Antarctica Treaty (1959), no state owns any part of Antarctica; all states have the right to conduct scientific research there. The US recognizes NO territorial claims to Antarctica and has none of its own. The US does have research stations in Antarctica.

18. Louisiana’s second congressional district, based in New Orleans, is the only district in the state in which the majority of the citizens are African American. This district was extended west to Baton Rouge to include more African American voters. The district was also extended because it contains a large number of Democratic voters. Republican candidates would not want to face a loss to a Democrat in this region. One result of including more territory in the second district is that African Americans’ and Democrats’ votes will be diluted. If the area of and surrounding Baton Rouge was part of another district, a Democratic candidate would have more of a chance to win a seat in another district. Another result of including more territory in the second district was pacifying both African Americans and Democrats who might have contested the redistricting plan. The extension of the district allowed African Americans to be more certain that they would retain dominancy of this in this district. There was some concern, because the area is underpopulated. It lost a huge number of people after Hurricane Katrina, far more than many other districts. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 requires Louisiana to pass a redistricting plan that affords African Americans an equal right to be represented in Congress. A third result of the extension of the second district is the increase in partisanship between the Republican and Democratic congressmen from Louisiana. Since the extension led to the two sides eventually agreeing on the redistricting plan, the plan established some common ground between the parties

19. The world’s largest countries:
1. Russia – 6.6 million sq. mi. – 2 continents % of land – 11 time zones (out of 24)
2. Canada
3. China
4. United States
5. Brazil
6. Australia
7. India
8. Argentina
9. Kazakhstan
10.Sudan

20. The world’s smallest countries:
1. Vatican City (109 acres)
2. Monaco (368 acres)
3. Nauru (8 sq. mi.)
4. Tuvalu (10 sq. mi.)
5. San Marino (23 sq. mi.)
6. Liechtenstein (61 sq. mi.)
7. Marshall Islands (70 sq. mi.)
8. St. Kitts & Nevis (104 sq. mi.)
9. Maldives (115 sq. mi.)
10. Malta (122 sq. mi)
___________________________
City of Virginia Beach 248 sq. mi.
City of Richmond 60 sq. mi.

21. Large State Advantages Disadvantages Large Population More talent
Large Army
More Natural Resources
Economic Self-sufficiency
Difficult to Unify Population
More culturally diverse
Transportation difficult

22. Small State Advantages Disadvantages Easier to Unify population
Homogeneous Population
Less culturally diverse
Transportation easy
Closer together
Small Population
Less Talent
Small defense force
Vulnerable to Attack
Fewer Natural Resources
Economic vulnerability

23. Changing World Map
Today’s world political map is much different than it was 100 years ago, 200 years ago etc.
City-states developed slowly (beginning in the Fertile Crescent) and often attacked each other to form empires.
States that exist today began forming after the middle ages as areas of people of common cultural backgrounds joined together to form governments.

24. Changing World Map
In 1900–the British King & the Russian Czar alone controlled 1/3rd of the land on earth.
You also had the French, Austro-Hungarian, German, Dutch, Danish, Belgian, Italian, American, Ottoman, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish Colonial Empires

25. Colonialism v. Imperialism
A colony is a territory tied to an independent state and occupied by its citizens……therefor colonialism is simply an extension of a state.
Imperialism is the control of a territory that was previously occupied by and organized by an indigenous population.
There is a fine line between the two!!!!!

26. The U.S. Congress upholds and amends the statutes that make up the provisions of the Civil Rights Act of These portions of the U.S. Code make it illegal to apply voter registration requirements unequally. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 banned literacy tests for voters. These tests had the effect of disenfranchising African American voters

27. Changing World Map
How will the world’s territory be politically organized in 2100?
Some countries are coming together – European Union, NAFTA, etc.
Some countries are breaking apart – East Timor (2002), Montenegro (2006), South Sudan(2011) etc.

28. The U.S. Supreme Court confronts any challenges to the 14th Amendment, which made African Americans citizens and provides all citizens the same protections under state and federal laws. The 15th Amendment protects the voting rights of African American men. The 19th Amendment which provides women with the right to vote

29. SIZE & SHAPE OF STATES
Every independent state on the world political map has a size and a shape:
The size and shape of a state may encourage either unity or division
Size: quantitative data, measured in square miles or square kilometers
Shape: qualitative data, measured according to how much it looks like a known shape or geometric form

30. Shelby County v. Holder is a Supreme Court case
Shelby County v. Holder is a Supreme Court case. On June 25, 2013, the Court ruled by a 5-to-4 vote that Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional because the coverage formula is based on data over 40 years old, making it no longer responsive to current needs and therefore an impermissible burden on the constitutional principles of federalism and equal sovereignty of the states. No jurisdiction will be subject to Section 5 preclearance unless Congress enacts a new coverage formula

31. Between the late 1960s and 1998, a group of Northern Ireland nationalists used terrorist attacks to demand that Northern Ireland become part of the Republic of England. These nationalists perpetrated violent acts in Northern Ireland, England, the Republic of Ireland, and the European mainland

32. SHAPE Compact circular to hexagonal Uruguay, Poland, Switzerland
Communication and transportation are relatively easy in a compact country, as is the mobilization of the military.
A disadvantage is a lack of natural resources b/c compact countries tend to be smaller in size
Does not vary greatly in distance from its center point to any point on its boundary. Square or Circular in shape. Often this is politically ideal because no one part feels too far away from the center of control.

33. In order to protect itself from terrorism, the countries of the United Kingdom could have formed a task force, with representatives from each country, to target terrorist cells across the UK. The countries could have sought financial and educational help from countries outside the UK to fund and train in counterterrorist activities. The countries could have worked cooperatively to screen travelers and limit travel between and out of the countries. The countries could have engaged in negotiations and discussions with nationalist groups to solve the problems that led to agitation and violence. The countries could have worked to more closely monitor and later block financial transactions between suspects and possible donors. The countries could have formed a partnership with the Republic Ireland to oppose the terrorist activities

34. SHAPE Elongated Long, usually skinny Nepal, Italy, Vietnam, & Chile
Distance can cause problems with the Transportation of raw materials to industrial centers.
Those living in the ends of the countries can feel isolated, which can lead to separatist movements.
Geographically exists as a long thin state. Sometimes, problems can arise with this shape when a state’s power base, or capital, loses influence over one end of the elongation. It can also pose transportation problems because of the distance involved.

35. SHAPE Prorupt with a panhandle – appendage attached to main territory
Thailand, Namibia, Mexico, India, Florida is a proruption from the US.
One advantage of having a proruption is that it usually provides the country with access to a useful raw material. It may also provide trade opportunities.
The disadvantage is that the proruptions are usually fiercely fought over.
Proruptions are usually the doings of colonial powers and therefore, hard to justify.
Caprivi Strip
Caprivi Strip The area is rich in wildlife and has mineral resources. Of particular interest to the government of Namibia is that it gives access to the Zambezi River and thereby a potential trading route to Africa's East Coast. However, the vagaries of the river level, various rapids, the presence of Victoria Falls downstream and continued political uncertainty in the region make this use of the Caprivi Strip unlikely, although it may be used for ecotourism in the future.

36. SHAPE Fragmented several non-continuous pieces
Indonesia (13,000 islands 3,000 miles), USA, Russia
A fragmented country is in pieces that are not attached to each other. Usually islands.
USA – when it added Alaska and Hawaii in 1959.
Alaska is an exclave – an area separated from its state by another state.
Kaliningrad is an exclave of Russia – separated by Latvia, Lithuania, and Belarus from Russia

37. SHAPE Advantages to being fragmented???
The advantage of being fragmented is that another country would have a hard time trying to occupy and control your country.
For example, invading Indonesia would involve invading thousands of separate islands.
However, communications and the transportation between the separated areas can be difficult, especially if another country is in the way.

38. SHAPE Perforated with a hole
South Africa (Lesotho) Italy (Vatican City & San Marino)
Lesotho, Vatican city are called enclaves – a country that is completely surrounded by another political state. They are always landlocked countries with no access to the sea.

39. Northern Ireland is located on the same island as the Republic of Ireland. Over the Irish Sea, and directly across from the island, lie Scotland, England, an Wales. It is only a short distance to cities that have high populations that terrorists might want to target. To facilitate the organization of terrorist activities, English is the dominant language in most of these countries. The countries are also somewhat culturally similar to Northern Ireland. The Republic of Ireland and the members of the United Kingdom afford individuals a high amount of personal freedom. Individuals and families are spread across the countries. The countries share common banking institutions, making it easy for individuals to move money between people. The unification of the four countries of the UK can serve to make other countries’ political representatives into antagonists of Northern Ireland’s terrorist groups. England blocks the island of Ireland from most of the European mainland. Yet from London, it is only a short distance to France, Spain, and Germany. These three countries contain major cities with high populations that are cultural centers for Western Europe. These major cities are also economic engines for Western Europe. They are home to financial activities that affect areas to which they maintain governmental ties, such as the Caribbean. Two of the countries, France and Spain, are home to other terrorist groups, which support Basque and Catalonian independence. Supporters of these groups might assist and defend terrorists from Northern Ireland

40. The advantage to having a country completely within your borders is that the ethnic group of the enclave has its own state.
If those people were part of the perforated country, there might be tensions.
The disadvantage of having a country completely within your borders is that it may get in the way of transportation and communication.

41. The terms of the Belfast agreement require England to recognize and respect efforts by Northern Ireland to separate from the United Kingdom and move toward uniting with the Republic of Ireland. The recognition has allowed citizens of Northern Ireland to see political representation and democratic government as a road to independence

42. What about landlocked states?
With no direct outlet to the sea international trade is limited and cooperation with neighbors is crucial!

43. The allotment of additional powers to Northern Ireland has helped it to become more politically stable. The removal of British forces and security and the development of Northern Ireland forces and security have led to the creation of a task force that is more familiar with and less antagonistic toward Northern Ireland’s citizens. This has led to less frustration and anger against England by groups in Northern Ireland. As Northern Ireland’s government has become more powerful and respected, it has become more effective at reducing terrorist activity