AP Human Geography Unit 4 Vocab Match

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

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.

When colonized nations win their independence from a colonizing force.

Outside or beyond the authority of one national government.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nations that have no independent political entity.

The transition from autocratic to more representative forms of politics.

A boundary drawn by outside powers.

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

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

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

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

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

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

A boundary where crossing is unimpeded.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

The formal acquisition of territory by conquest or occupation.

When one state is dominated by another politically and economically.

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

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

A country that contains more than one nation.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

A boundary drawn before a large population was present.

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

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

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

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

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.