Chapter 4, Section 3

Political Geography

Political Geography 4.3

• State - an independent unit that occupies a specific territory and has full control of its internal and external affairs– This control is known as sovereignty– Sometimes we call a state a country

• Nation - a group of people with a common culture living in a territory and having a sense of unity

• When a nation and a state occupy the same territory, that territory is called a nation-state

• It is possible for a nation to not have a territory– Called a stateless nation– Palestinians, Kurds, Basques

Four general categories of government

• Democracy – power rests with the citizens, either directly or through elected representatives- example: USA

• Monarchy – a ruling family has the power and may or may not share with the people– Constitutional Monarchy: United Kingdom– Absolute Monarchy : Saudi Arabia

• Dictatorship – an individual or group hold complete political power – example: Myanmar

• Communism – based on an economic system, most political power and means of production are held by the government in the name of all people – example: Cuba

When describing a country geographers refer to three

characteristics• Size – large countries may have more potential (More

people and resources), but small countries can be successful too (Singapore, Denmark)

• Shape- • Compact – Germany• Long – Chile• Fragmented – Malaysia

– Relative location• A landlocked country may be disadvantaged for trade

– Bolivia (landlocked) vs. Singapore (located on a major shipping lane)• A nation surrounded by hostile neighbors must deal with issues

of security and protection– Israel

Boundaries or borders set limits of the nation-state

• Within borders a nation can collect taxes, set up legal code, declare official language and claim resources

• Natural Boundaries – formed by physical features such as rivers, lakes and mountains– Easy to draw– What if river changes course?

• Artificial boundaries – drawn by humans, often along a parallel or meridian

• Who draws the borders?– Africa– Pakistan/India

Regional political units

• Countries are often divided into smaller units: cities, town and villages, school districts

• Countries who have regional entities (states, provinces) that have powers not given to the national governments are called federal

• Countries where the national government has all the power are called unitary

• Countries that band together for certain purposes can be called confederations– European Union, United Nations