AP Human Geography Unit 4 Vocab Match

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

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

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

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

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

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

Outside or beyond the authority of one national government.

A boundary drawn by outside powers.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

When one state is dominated by another politically and economically.

A country that contains more than one nation.

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

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

A boundary drawn before a large population was present.

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

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

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

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

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

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

When colonized nations win their independence from a colonizing force.

A boundary where crossing is unimpeded.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

The formal acquisition of territory by conquest or occupation.

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

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

The transition from autocratic to more representative forms of politics.

The process by which part of an existing state breaks away and merges with another.

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

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

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

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

Nations that have no independent political entity.

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

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.

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

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

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

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