AP Human Geography Unit 4 Vocab Match

A boundary established by a legal document such as a treaty that divides one entity from another.

A group of people who have a common cultural heritage and attachment to a homeland.

The idea that land-based power is essential in achieving global domination. Controlling the Heartland would lead to domination of the Rimland and thus control of the entire world.

When colonized nations win their independence from a colonizing force.

Regions that have their own local and legislative bodies to govern a population that is an ethnic minority within the state.

A boundary where crossing is unimpeded.

The drawing of boundaries for political districts by the party or group in power to extend or cement their advantage.

An organization of three or more countries that transcend national boundaries to make decisions on a geopolitical level.

Nations that have no independent political entity.

A small sovereign state that is made up of a town or city and the surrounding area.

A convention that governs relations among countries about how to use and control the oceans. The sea is divided into four zones: territorial sea, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone, and the high seas.

A country that contains more than one nation.

A state within which the government has lost the ability to provide the most basic of public services.

A particular type of imperialism in which people move into and settle on the land of another country.

When one state is dominated by another politically and economically.

A boundary drawn to accommodate religious, linguistic, ethnic, or economic differences.

The formal acquisition of territory by conquest or occupation.

A count of the population that is required by the US Federal Government every 10 years.

The power of a political unit to rule over its own affairs.

The transfer of political power from the central government to lower, subnational levels of government.

The process by which a group of people form their own state and choose their own government.

The idea that if one country came under the influence of Communism, then surrounding countries would follow suit.

A force that tends to break states apart or prevent them from forming.

When a nation has a state of its own but stretches across the borders of other states.

A country where governmental authority is shared among a central government and various other smaller regional authorities.

Influencing another country or group of people by direct conquest, economic control, or cultural dominance.

The forced removal of a major ethnic group from a territory.

Redrawing district boundaries so that each district contains roughly the same number of people.

A period of diplomatic, political, and military rivalry between the US and USSR that started at the end of WWII and lasted until the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the break up of the USSR in 1991.

Changing the number of representatives granted to each district so it reflects the district’s population.

The breaking of a state into smaller, often hostile, states along ethno linguistic lines.

States are born and need nourishment and living space to survive, which they get by annexing territory from weaker states. A state has to grow or it will cease to exist.

The idea that power is derived from controlling strategic maritime areas of the world. Control of the Rimland is crucial to worldwide power because that area has more varied resources than the Heartland, more people, and greater access to the sea. Whoever controls the Rimland controls the world.

A boundary drawn before a large population was present.

When peoples’ primary allegiance is to a traditional group or ethnicity rather than the state.

A region that suffers from instability because it is located between two larger powers that work in opposition to each other.

A willingness by one person or a group of people to defend the space they claim.

A boundary that no longer exists or functions, but evidence of it can still be seen on the landscape.

A nation’s desire to create and maintain a state of its own.

The deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that group.

A boundary based on physical features to separate entities (rivers, mountains, deserts, etc.)

The transition from autocratic to more representative forms of politics.

In international relations, the formal term for a country. It has established boundaries, a permanent population, and sovereignty over its domestic and international affairs.

A boundary drawn by outside powers.

A country that is small in terms of both population and area.

A boundary created to accommodate a region’s cultural diversity.

A singular nation of people who fulfill the qualifications of a state.

A country where governmental authority is held primarily by the central government.

When control of developing countries is exerted through indirect means, whether economic, political, or cultural.

A boundary that is a straight line drawn by people that does not follow any physical feature closely.

The study of the effects of geography on politics and relations among states.

A force that unites people together, leading to the creation or strengthening of a state.

A boundary identified by physical objects placed on the landscape (signs, fences, walls, etc.)

An 1884 meeting of the major colonial powers in which they divided Africa into colonies without any consultation of Africa leaders.

Outside or beyond the authority of one national government.

A strategic strait or canal which would be closed or blocked to stop sea traffic.

A boundary line drawn on a map to show the limits of a space.

A boundary that is heavily guarded and discourages crossing and movement.

A symbolically relocated capital city, usually for economic or strategic reasons.