1. Political Geography

2. The Shape and Size of States

3. Size of States state sizes vary considerably
Largest = Russia (11 % of the world’s land area)
Megastates = very large states
US #4 (after Canada #2, China #3)
discuss affect of climate change on rankings
Brazil, Australia > 2 million square miles
Smallest = Monaco? (Rubenstein)
Vatican City = smallest independent country
but not in UN!!!!
Microstates = states with very small land areas
About two dozen microstates
mostly in Europe or
islands (Caribbean or Pacific)

4. Map of microstates

5. Compact State most efficient, centripetal force
Best if equidistant from capital
Theoretically, most desirable shape is round or hexagonal
short borders easy to defend.
short communication lines
As a rule, the more compact the territory the better
Some countries come close to ideal —France, Poland
Other shapes (following) = problematic

6. Elongated State long and narrow poor communication
potentially to isolate regions from the capital.
shape is centrifugal force

8. Prorupted State
otherwise compact state with a large projecting extension
serves to give access to a natural resource
or separate or disrupt two states that would otherwise share a border.

10. Perforated State a state that completely surrounds another.
Enclave — district surrounded by a country but not ruled by it
Pene-enclave and Pene-exclave — an intrusive piece of territory with only the smallest of outlets free from the surrounding country

11. Fragmented State contains several discontinuous pieces of territory
separated by water or an intervening state.
Exclaves — Pieces of national territory separated from the main body of a country by the territory of another
Hard to defend
Isolated population may develop separatist feelings

12. Exclaves

16. The Caucasus area between Black and Caspian Seas formerly part of USSR
oil rich
VERY religiously/linguistically diverse
Chechnya (know this)
separatists from Russia
Islamic
terrorist acts
Boston Marathon bombings
diversity → many enclaves and exclaves

17. Enclaves/Exclaves

18. India partitioned along religious lines (1947)
leads to massive migration
violence
4 wars over Kashmir
irredentism???

19. East Pakistan as an exclave in 1947 exclaves = centrifugal force
Two parts were separated by 1,000 miles of Indian territory
West Pakistan had the capital, most of the territory, and hoarded the country’s wealth
East Pakistan had most of the people and resources
War in 1973, East Pakistan became Bangladesh

20. Landlocked States all landlocked states outside of Europe = LDCs
Often the poorest countries in their region, Why?
limited access to international trade routes
dependent on neighbors (sometimes unstable)
increases cost of imports/exports