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PoliticalGeography Vocabulary

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45807244antecedant boundaryA political boundary that existed before the cultural landscape emerged and stayed in place while people moved in to occupy the surrounding area
45807245balance of powerCondition of roughly equal strength between opposing coutnries or alliances of countries
45807246boundaryInvisible line that marks the extent of a stat'es territory
45807247centrifugal forceA term employed to designate a force that tends to divide a country, such as internal religions, liguistic, ehtnic, or ideological differences
45807248centripetal forceAn attitude that tends to unify people and enhance support for a state.
45807249city-stateA sovereign state comprising a city and its immediate hinterland
45807250colonialismAttempt by one coutnry to establish settlements and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles to another territory
45807251colonyA territory that is legally tied to a soverieign state rather than completely independent
45807252compact stateA state in which the distance from the center to any boundary does not vary significantly
45807253cultural-political boundaryPolitical boundary that coincides with cultural breaks in the landscape, such a slanguage, religion, and ethnicity
45807254electoral geographyA subcategory of human geography which seeks to understand how the spatial configuration of electoral districts and voting patterns that emerge in particular elections reflect and influence social and political affairs
45807255elongated stateA state with a long, narrow shape
45807256enclaveA piece of territy that is surrounded by by another political unit of which it is not a part
45807257exclaveA bounded (non-island) piece of territory that is part of a particular state but lies separated form it by the territory of another state
45807258federal stateAn internal organization of a state tha allocates most powers to units of local government
45807259forward capitalA capital city that has replaced a previous capital city in order to achieve specific national objectives
45807260fragmented stateA state than includes several discontinuous pieces of territory
45807261frontierA zone separating two states in which neither state exercises political control
45807262geometric boundaryPolitical boundary defined and delimited (and occasionally demarcated) as straight lines or arcs
45807263gerrymanderingProcess of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power
45807264heartland theoryA geopolitical hypothesis that any political power based in the heart of Eurasia could gain sufficient strength to eventually dominate the world. Additionally, a ruler of Eastern Europe would command the "heartland" to the east.
45807265human territorialityA term associated with the work of robert Sack that describes the efforts o human societies to influence events and achieve social goals by exerting, and attempting to enforce, control over specific geographical areas
45807266imperialismControl of territory already occupied and organized by an indigenous society
45807267landlocked stateA state that does not have a direct outlet to the sea
45807268microstateA state that encompasses a very small area
45807269multicore stateA state that possesses more than one core or dominant region, be it economic, political, or cultural
45807270nationLegally, a term encompassing all the citizens of a state. Most definitions now tend to refer to a tightly knit group of people possessing bonds of language, ethnicity, religion, and other shared cultural attributes.
45807271nationalismLoyalty and devotion to a particular nationality.
45807272nation-stateA state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular ethnicity that has been transformed into a nationality.
45807273natural-political boundaryAlso physical-political boundary
45807274organic theoryTheory that a state would function and behave as an organism, requiring nourishment from the acquisition of less powerful competitors territories and their cultural contents.
45807275perforated stateA state that completely surrounds another one
45807276physical-political boundaryA political boundary that condicides the prominent physical featrues in the natural landscape, such as rivers and the ridges of mountain tops
45807277political cultureWhat people believe and feel about government
45807278political geographyA subdivision of human geography focused on the nature and implications of the evolving spatial organization of political governance and formal political practice on the Earth's surface
45807279primate cityA country's largest city most expressive of the national culture and which is usually the capital city as well
45807280prorupted stateAn otherwise compact state with a large projecting extension
45807281relict boundaryA boundary that has ceased to function but the imprint of which can still be detected on the cultural landscape
45807282RenaissanceA cultural movement in Europe spanning from the 14th to the the 17th centuries where there was renewed interest in Greek and Roman achievements, in politics as well as in the sciences and arts
45807283rimland theoryTheory that the Eurasian rim (not its heart) held the key to its power
45807284sovereigntyAbility of a state to govern its territory free fro control of its internal affairs by other states
45807285stateAn area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government with control over its internal and foreign affairs
45807286subsequent boundaryA political boundary that developed contemporaneously with the evolution of the major elements of the cultural landscape through which it passes
45807287superimposed boundaryA political boundary placed by powerful outsiders on a developed human landscape that usually ignores existing cultural-spatial patterns.
45807288supranationalA venture invovling three or more national states involving formal policital, economic, and/or cultural cooperation to promote shared objectives
45807289territorial morphologyA state's geographical shape, which can affect its spatial cohesion and political viability
45807290theocracyA state whose government is under the control of a ruler who is deemed to be divinely guided or under the control of a group of religious leaders.
45807291tribalismWhen people feel greater allegiance to their own ethnic group than to the state as a whole
45807292unitary stateAn internal organization of a state that places most power in the hands of central government officials

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