1. Geographic Characteristics of States
States vary greatly in Size-some huge like Russia 6.6 m. sq. miles, others large with 3 m. sq. miles like US, China, Brazil, Canada-some are microstates-Vatican, Monaco, Andorra, Grenada.
Shape-some are compact while other are elongated or fragmented.
Demography-some have huge populations like China’s 1.3 billion or tiny like Iceland with 250,000.
Organization-monarchy, democratic, dictatorship, theocratic.
Resources-natural and skilled population
Development-subsistence to tertiary
Power-both economic and military

2. Stateless Nations
Sovereignty-complete control over a territory’s political & military affairs. Some nations do not have their own state-this can lead to conflict.
Palestinians are the most well known example-a stateless nation in conflict with Israel over territory.
Kurds-about 20 million people live in Kurdistan-which covers 6 states-since the 1991 Iraq War- Kurdish Security Zone has been virtually independent.
1990s the Palestinian Arabs gained control of fragments of territory, but most of the 6.5 million Palestinians still live in Israel and elsewhere.
Jordan 2.1 million
Lebanon 400,000
Syria 350,000
Today radical Hamas has taken over Gaza (occupied by Israel until 2005) after defeating Abbas & the Fatah movement founded by Yasir Arafat.
Gaza faces (pop. 1.4 million in 140 square miles) 50% unemployment

4. Notice Kurdistan-covering 6 countries
The largest minority in Turkey (10 million)
Much friction between the Turkish government and the Kurds
Diyarbakir, Turkey is the unofficial Kurdish capital.

5. Territorial Integrity –
Territoriality –
“the attempt by an individual or group to affect, influence, or control people, phenomena, and relationships, by delimiting and asserting control over a geographic area.”
– Robert Sack
Sovereignty –
having the last say over a territory – legally.
Territorial Integrity –
a government has the right to keep the borders and territory of a state in tact and free from attack.

6. Territory
Territorial Morphology- shape, size & relative location of a state.
Compact-distance from the geographic center does not vary greatly.
Fragmented-consisting of 2 or more separate pieces divided by water or other territory.
Elongated-long & thin states.
In days of slow transportation & communication-compact nations were easier to control-examples-Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Zimbabwe
Fragmented (archipelago) states are more difficult to control due to distances involved-Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan.
Elongated-or attenuated-are long and thin states-Chile, Vietnam, Norway are examples.

7. Territory
Prorupted-states that are nearly compact, but have a narrow extension.
Perforated-having another state lie within ones territory.
Exclave-an outlier of a state located within another.
Enclave-the counterpart of exclave-it lies within a country and is independent or ruled by another country.
Prorupted-Namibia, Thailand, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Republic of the Congo,
Perforated-Italy-San Marino and the Vatican, South Africa-Lesotho, before Unification East Germany was perforated by West Berlin a part of West Germany.
Exclave-is an outlying part of another country-if landlocked within another country-it is an
Enclave-the counterpart to exclave-the same territory as viewed by the state that surrounds it.

8. Ask Students to pick out the appropriate shape
Indonesia-Fragmented
Russia-Fragmented-also Elongated
Chile-Elongated
Congo-Prorupt
Senegal-Perforated
South Africa Perforated

9. India: The Tin Bigha Corridor
India is a Prorupted State due to the Tin Bigha Corridor
Pakistan was fragmented until the 1971 Civil War during which Bangladesh became independent.
Fig. 8-7: The Tin Bigha corridor fragmented two sections of the country of Bangladesh. When it was leased to Bangladesh, a section of India was fragmented.

10. Landlocked Countries
Landlocked states have a serious disadvantage in trade and access to resources.
Africa has more landlocked states than any other continent. Sahel is poorly linked to the coastal ports; Uganda linked by rail; Zimbabwe access via South African and Mozambique ports; Rwanda & Burundi the world’s most isolated states; Zambia & Malawi have poor connections.
Asia-Mongolia & Nepal are landlocked with rough terrain, great distances and limited communication, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia & Georgia.
South America-Bolivia and Paraguay-lost coastline in war
Europe-Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Moldova, Belarus and Bosnia

11. Landlocked States

12. African
States
Note:
Prorupted States of Dem. Rep. of Congo, Zambia, Namibia
Landlocked States of Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya and Zimbabwe
Perforated State of South Africa
Elongated States of Malawi, Mozambique-also Prorupted
Compact States of Angola, Zimbabwe, Uganda
Fig. 8-6: Southern, central, and eastern Africa include states that are compact, elongated, prorupted, fragmented, and perforated.

13. How are Boundaries Established, and Why do Boundary Disputes Occur?
Key Question:
How are Boundaries Established, and Why do Boundary Disputes Occur?

14. Land Boundaries
Not just a line, but also a vertical plane that cuts through subsoil, rocks and the airspace above- coal, gas & oil reserves often cross these lines.
Belgium, Germany & Netherlands argued over coal seams & natural gas reserves.
Kuwait Oil drilling prompted the 1991 Gulf War (Rumaylah Reserve)

15. Land Boundaries 3 Stage Evolution of Boundaries:
definition-a document is created that indicates exact landmarks;
delimitation-cartographers place the boundary on the map;
demarcation-boundary markers such as steel posts or concrete pillars, fences or wall marks the boundary

16. Land Boundaries
Frontier-a zone of separation that keeps rivals apart can be natural or manmade-such as Korean DMZ.
Boundaries keep out adversaries or keep citizens inside-limit smuggling, migration, etc.
Internal boundaries- provinces or states within a larger state.
Hadrian’s Wall in Britain

17. Types of Boundaries
Geometric-straight line boundary such as US- Canada or many in Africa.
Physical or Natural- Political Boundary-river, crest of a mountain range or some other physical landmark
Cultural or Anthro- Geographic Boundary- breaks in the human landscape, such as most of Europe’s boundaries

18. Aozou Strip: A Geometric Boundary
1995 World Court awarded the dispute territory to Chad
Fig. 8-9: The straight boundary between Libya and Chad was drawn by European powers, and the strip is the subject of controversy between the two countries.

19. Left-the Demilitarized Zone between North Korea & South Korea is heavily defended by both sides
Bottom left-the US-Canadian border is the longest undefended border in the world.
Bottom right-the Rio Grande forms the border between Mexico and the United States which is porous enough to allow million of illegal immigrants.

20. Genetic Boundary Classification
Richard Hartshorne, a leading political geographer developed this classification system;
Antecedent Boundary-physical landscape defined the boundary well before human habitation-Malaysia- Indonesian boundary on Borneo is sparsely settled.
Subsequent Boundary-Vietnam-China border results from a long period of modification.
Superimposed-forcibly drawn boundary that cuts across a unified cultural boundary-New Guinea-Indonesia West Irian & Papua New Guinea in the East.
Relict boundary no longer serves its purpose, but the imprint is still evident in the landscape-Vietnam-North South boundary, West and East Germany boundary, especially in Berlin.

22. Ethnic Groups in Southwest Asia
Nation-States are difficult to create in Southwest Asia
Many of the boundaries were created by the Imperial Powers such as Britain, France or Russia.
Fig. 8-14: Ethnic boundaries do not match country boundaries, especially in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

23. Division of Cyprus
Fig. 8-10: Cyprus has been divided into Green and Turkish portions since 1974.

24. The Fertile Crescent
Fig. 8-3: The Fertile Crescent was the site of early city-states and a succession of ancient empires.

25. Frontiers in the Arabian Peninsula
Fig. 8-8: Several states in the Arabian Peninsula are separated by frontiers rather than precise boundaries.