Vocabulary from the Advanced Placement course of Human Geography regarding political geography
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| 153445459 | Antecedent Boundary | A boundary that was drawn across an area prior to the area becoming substantially-populated (e.g. border between Malaysia and Indonesia) | |
| 153445460 | Balance of Power | A condition of roughly equal strength between opposing countries or allies | |
| 153445461 | Boundary | An invisible line that marks the extent of a state's territory | |
| 153445462 | Buffer State | A neutral state between two warring states (e.g. Mongolia, between Russia and China) | |
| 153445463 | City-State | A sovereign state comprising of a city and its immediate hinterland (e.g. Singapore) | |
| 153445464 | Confederate Governmental Structure | A system of government in which nations or states agree to join together under a central government | |
| 153445465 | Colonialism | An attempt by one country to establish settlements and to impose its political, economical, and cultural principles in another territory | |
| 153445466 | Colony | A territory that is legally tied to a sovereign state rather than being independent (e.g. British Virgin Islands to Great Britain) | |
| 153445467 | Compact State | A state in which the distance from the center to any boundary does not vary significantly (e.g. Poland) | |
| 153445468 | Commonwealth | A territory that has established a mutual agreement with another state for the benefit of each (e.g. Puerto Rico) | |
| 153445469 | Cultural Political Boundaries | Political boundaries formed by differences in culture, such as religion or language | |
| 153445470 | Domino Theory | The theory that if one nation goes under Communist control, neighboring countries will do the same | |
| 153445471 | Elongated State | A state with a long, narrow shape (e.g. Chile) | |
| 153445472 | Enclave | An enclosed territory with a foreign territory around it (e.g. Lesotho) | |
| 153445473 | Ethnonationalism | The powerful emotional attachment to one's minority nation within a larger state (e.g. Chechens) | |
| 153445474 | European Union (EU) | A supranational organization of European countries formed after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members | |
| 153445475 | Exclave | A part of a country that is seperated from the rest of the country and surrounded by a foreign territory | |
| 153445476 | Federal State | An internal organization of a state that allocates most powers to units of local government (e.g. United States) | |
| 153445477 | Forward Capital | A symbolically relocated capital city, moved for economic or strategic reasons (e.g. Brasilia) | |
| 153445478 | Fragmented State | A state that includes several discontinuous territories (e.g. Indonesia) | |
| 153445479 | Frontier | A zone separating two states in which neither of the states exercises political control (e.g. Antarctica) | |
| 153445480 | Geometric Political Boundaries | Boundaries drawn with straight lines and arcs, as opposed to irregular lines and shapes (e.g. the boundaries of most African countries) | |
| 153445481 | Gerrymandering | The redrawing of legislative boundaries entirely for electoral purposes, thereby benefiting the party in power | |
| 153445482 | Heartland Theory | A theory that suggests that whoever owns Eastern Europe and Western Asia has the political power and capital to rule the world | |
| 153445483 | Imperialism | The control of territory already occupied and organized by an indigenous society | |
| 153445484 | Land Empire | An empire that involves conquest by force in which armies attack, pillage, and plunder their way through another land, taking resources by force | |
| 153445485 | Landlocked State | A state without access to the sea (e.g. Bolivia) | |
| 153445486 | Mercantilism | The process in which a colonizing mother country receives raw materials from its colonies | |
| 153445487 | Microstate | A state that encompasses a very small area (e.g. Vatican City) | |
| 153445488 | Multinational State | A 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 (e.g. United Kingdom) | |
| 153445489 | Nation | A group of people with common cultural characteristics and identify themselves as a cohesive group (e.g. Kurds) | |
| 153445490 | Nation-State | A state whose territory corresponds to that which is occupied by a particular ethnicity that has been transformed into a nationality (e.g. Japan) | |
| 153445491 | Neo-Colonialism | The continued economic dependence of new states on their former colonial masters | |
| 153445492 | North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) | An international organization created in 1949 by the North Atlantic Treaty to provide collective security to its members | |
| 153445493 | Organic Theory | The theory that a state needs expansive land in order to prosper | |
| 153445494 | Perforated State | A state that completely surrounds another one (e.g. Italy) | |
| 153445495 | Political Geography | The study of geography involving geographic states, borders, and how humans identify with them | |
| 153445496 | Physical Political Boundary | A state's border that corresponds to a natural, real-life boundary (e.g. Rio Grande border between Mexico and the U.S.) | |
| 153445497 | Prorupted State | An adhesive compact state with a large expansion (e.g. Thailand) | |
| 153445498 | Relic Boundary | A boundary no longer observed but that still affects the present-day area (e.g. border between West and East Germany in Berlin) | |
| 153445499 | Rimland Theory | A political theory that holds that control of Eurasia and Africa is achieved via control of the countries bordering the Soviet Union | |
| 153445500 | Satellite State | A state that is formally independent but heavily influenced by another state (e.g. Bulgaria during the Soviet Union) | |
| 153445501 | Sea Empire | Empires acquired using sea power, where settlements were set up along coasts, and excursions into the interior brought loot back to those settlements, where a ship would be waiting to take the resources home | |
| 153445502 | Self-Determination | The concept that ethnicities have the right to govern themselves | |
| 153445503 | Settlement Empire | An empire intended for longer residence, rather than used for immediate return with resources | |
| 153445504 | Shatterbelt Regions | Areas that are constantly breaking up and/or fragmenting (e.g. Southeast Asia) | |
| 153445505 | Sovereignty | The ability of a state to govern its territory from control of its internal affairs by other states | |
| 153445506 | State | An area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government with control over its internal and foreign affairs (e.g. France) | |
| 153445507 | Stateless Nation | A nation lacking a territory to call its own (e.g. Hmong, Kurds) | |
| 153445508 | Subsequent Boundaries | Drawn boundaries made with regard to ethnic differences (e.g. border between China and Vietnam) | |
| 153445509 | Superimposed Boundaries | A boundary made through colonization without regard to prior ethnic/cultural patterns (e.g. borders of most African countries) | |
| 153445510 | Supranationalism | The term applied to associations created by three or more states for their mutual benefit and achievement of shared objectives | |
| 153445511 | Territorial Morphology | A phrase that states that the shape of a state influences how effectively the government can rule its territory | |
| 153445512 | Territoriality | The creating of ownership over a defined space (e.g. the cause of World War I) | |
| 153445513 | Theocracy | A government set up around a religious leader | |
| 153445514 | Unitary State | An internal organization of a state that places most power in the hands of central government officials | |
| 153445515 | United Nations | A supranational organization formed in 1945 to promote peace, security, and international cooperation | |
| 153445516 | Warsaw Pact | The agreement between Communist states established in 1955 that opposed NATO |
