1. February 2, 2015 The Spatial Organization of States

2. Relative Location of States Landlocked State: countries lacking an ocean coastline, and surrounded by other states Sometimes a landlocked country will try to access a foreign port, or become prorupted  Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked state

3. The Nation-State State: a territorially organized piece of land, or country Institution: stable, long-lasting organizations that help to turn political ideas into policies Nation: a group of people that is bound together by a common political identity

4. The Nation-State A nation-state is a state whose territorial extent coincides with a group of people, or nation  Examples: Denmark, Iceland, The United States Binational/Multinational State: a state with more than one nation  Ex: The former USSR Stateless Nation: a group of people without a country  Ex: Palestine, the Kurds

5. Organization of States Core Area: the heartland of an area; identified by levels of population concentration and transportation networks Multicore State: a state with more than one core area  Example: Nigeria

6. The Capital City In most states, the capital is not only the center of government, but also the economic and cultural center Primate City: the largest city in a nation and one where the second largest city is significantly smaller Forward Capital: the capital city serves as a model for national objectives  Ex: Japan and Brazil

7. Systems of States Unitary System: one that concentrates all policymaking powers in one central geographic place (European States) Confederal System: spreads the power among many sub-units and has a weak federal government (Switzerland) Federal System: divides power between strong central government and sub-units (US, Canada, Australia)

8. Boundaries A state is separated from its neighbor by boundaries, or invisible lines that mark the extent of a state’s territory and the control the leaders have Historically, frontiers separated states Frontier: a geographic zone where no state exercises power  Ex: Antarctica and the Rub al-Khali

9. Types of Boundaries Physical Boundary: Rivers, lakes, and oceans are the most common; also include mountains and deserts  Law of the Sea: coastal boundaries extend 12 nautical miles from the coast

10. Types of Boundaries Cultural Boundaries: boundary set by ethnic differences such as language and religion  Ex: India and Pakistan Geometric Boundaries: straight, imaginary lines that generally have a reason behind them

11. Functions of Boundaries Boundaries serve as symbols of sovereignty, or the ability of the state to carry out actions or policies within its borders Sovereignty promotes nationalism, or a sense of unity with fellow citizens and loyalty to the state Internal Boundaries: boundaries within a state  Ex: The United States, Canada, China

12. Boundary Disputes Almost half of the world’s states have been involved in boundary disputes Positional Dispute: occurs when states argue about where the boundary actually is  Ex: Argentina and Chile

13. Boundary Disputes Territorial Disputes: arise over ownership of a region, usually around mutual border Usually one state claims the other should belong to them due to ethnic and language commonalities  Ex: German invasion of Poland

14. Boundary Disputes Resource Dispute: dispute involving natural resources that lie in border areas  Ex: Iraq and Kuwait Functional Dispute: arise when neighboring states cannot agree on policies that arise in a border area  Ex: US and Mexico border

15. Electoral Geography Electoral Process: the methods used in a country for selecting its leaders Electoral Geography: the study of how the spatial configuration of electoral districts and voting patterns reflect and influence social life Gerrymandering: the attempt to redraw boundaries to improve chances of winning election Minority/Majority Districting: rearranging districts to allow a minority representative to be elected  Ex: North Carolina

16. Supranational Organizations Cooperating groups of nations that operate on either a regional or international level for all major decisions and rules

17. Challenges to the Modern State Centripetal Forces: bring people together  Includes Nationalism, Institutions, Television, and Transportation Centrifugal Forces: destabilizes the government and encourages the country to fall apart  Includes Multinationalism, Religious Conflicts, and Separatist Movements

18. Devolution Devolution is the tendency to decentralize decision-making to regional governments

19. Devolution-Ethnic Forces Ethnic forces that can cause devolution usually occur because of multinationalism; an ethnic group sees itself as a separate unity from the state  Examples: Canada and Ireland

20. Devolution-Economic Forces Economic forces can devolve a state if the economic activities of the state vary by region; one region of the state does better economically than the rest of the state  Examples: Italy and Spain

21. Devolution-Spatial Forces Spatial forces cause devolution if a part of the state is separated from the rest of the state due to physical or other barriers  Examples: East and West Pakistan and Puerto Rico