POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY

Section 1: States and Nations

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What is a State? A state is an area organized into a political

unit and ruled by an established government that has control over its internal and foreign affairs.

• A state has sovereignty, which means independence from control of its internal affairs by other states.

• Country is often used as a synonym for state.• Largest State: Russia

• 17.1 million square kilometers (6.6 million square miles)

• Smallest State: Monaco • 1.5 square kilometers (0.6 square miles)• Example of microstate, which are states with very small land areas.

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The State

A state provides services for its citizens.

It demands taxes It demands obedience to the

laws. It demands military service Periods of adversity can

increase a sense of nationalism-but can backfire

A state is possible only if a national attitude or emotional attachment to the state develops.

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Geographic Characteristics of States

States vary greatly in……… Size-some huge like Russia 6.6 m. sq. miles, others large with 3

m. sq. miles like US, China, Brazil, Canada-some are microstates-Vatican and Monaco.

Shape-some are compact while other are elongated or fragmented.

Demography-some have huge populations like China’s 1.3 billion or tiny like Iceland with 250,000.

Organization-monarchy, democratic, dictatorship, theocratic. Resources-natural and skilled population Development-urban to rural Power-both economic and military

o Increasing more ECONOMIC

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The United Nationso Created at end of World War II to serve the role of a

facilitator for discussions regarding international POLITICAL problems.

o At times, UN has intervened in conflicts between or within member states.

o UN Membership increased rapidly on three occasions.1. 1955: 16 mostly European countries joined as a

result of the Nazi Germany breakup.2. 1960: 17 mostly former African colonies joined.3. 1990-1993: 26 countries joined as a result of

Soviet Union and Yugoslavia breakup.

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5 Permanent members: China, France, Russia, UK and US. *Can use a veto.*Most influence*Provide the most support: Money, Resources or military.

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Challenges in Defining States

o Disagreement: actual number of sovereign states

o Korea-United or not?• Democracy(US) vs

Communism(USSR)

o China• China’s government

considers Taiwan part of China.

• Nationalist vs Communists

o Western Sahara (Sahrawi Republic)

• Morocco claims the territory.

• Built a 2,700 km. (1,700 mi) wall around it to keep rebels out.

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Development of the State Concept

o Development of states traced to the Fertile Crescent.• Persian Gulf to Mediterranean Sea

o Evolution of States• 1st-City-states, which are sovereign states that are

comprised of towns and their surrounding countryside.

• Walls defined boundaries.• Area immediately outside walls controlled by city to

produce food for urban residents.

• 2nd : Medieval States• Gained military dominance of individual city-states led to

the formation of empires. e.g. Roman Empire• Roman Empire collapse in 5th century led to its land being

parceled up and controlled by various monarchies.

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Development of the State Concept

• 3rd: Nation-States in Europe

• A nation-state is a state this territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular ethnicity.

• The concept that ethnicities have the right to govern themselves is known as self-determination.

• After WWI, leaders of the victorious countries met at the Versailles Peace Conference to redraw the map of Europe.

• Language most important criterion to create new European states and to adjust existing boundaries.

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Nationo A single languageo A common historyo A similar ethnic

backgroundo Unity from a common

political system.

Example: Iraqis have a stronger loyalty to tribe or clan the national government.

Nation-Stateo Clearly defined

territoryo Sizable populationo Well-organized

governmento Shared political and

cultural historyo Emotional ties to

institutions or political systems or an ideology.

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Nation-states and Multinational States

o A state that contains more than one ethnicity is a multi-ethnic state.

• Multitude of ethnicities in some cases all contribute cultural features to the formation of a single nationality. e.g. United States of America

o A multinational state is a country that contains more than one ethnicity with traditions of self-determination. e.g. Russia

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Examples: Nation-States

o Nation-States in Europe• Denmark

• 90% of population are ethnic Danes• Nearly all Danes speak Danish

• Nearly all world’s Danish speakers live in Denmark

• Slovenia• 83% of population are ethnic Slovenes• Nearly all of the world’s Slovenes live in Slovenia

• Germany

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Independent Nation-States in Former Soviet Republics

Former Soviet Union consisted of 15 republics based on its 15 largest ethnicities.

15 republics became15 independent states consisting of five groups.

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Example• Estonia-Mostly Protestant (Lutheran), Speak a Uralic language

related to Finnish• Latvia-Mostly Protestant (Lutheran), Speak a language of the

Baltic group• Lithuania-Mostly Roman Catholic, Speak within the Balto-

Slavic branch• Belarus- 3 states speak Slavic languages, Orthodox Christians.• Ukraine• Moldova• Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan-Predominantly Muslims, Altaic

language• Kyrgyzstan• Kazakhstan• Tajikistan-Predominantly Muslims, Indo-Iranian• Azerbaijan• Armenia• Georgia• Russia

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The Largest Multinational State: Russia

o Russia’s 39 ethnicities are clustered in two principal locations.

1. Along borders with neighboring states2. Clustered in the center of Russia, especially

between the Volga River basin and the Ural Mountains.

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Colonies

• A colony is a territory that is legally tied to a sovereign state rather than being completely independent.

• Sovereign state may run only its military and foreign policy.• Sovereign state may also control its internal affairs.• Europeans=GOD, GOLD AND GLORY

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The Remaining Colonies

• U.S. Department of State lists 68 places in the world that it calls dependencies and areas of special sovereignty.

• Most current colonies are islands in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea.

• Ex. Puerto Rico, a commonwealth of the U.S., is home to 4 million residents who are U.S. citizens, but they do not participate in U.S. election or have a voting member of Congress.

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The Capitalist World Economy

Result of colonialism Construction of a world order based on

differences in economic and political power Immanuel Wallerstein’s World-Systems

Theory1. The world economy has one market and a global

division of labor.2. Although the world has multiple states, almost

everything takes place within the context of the world economy.

3. The world economy has a three-tier structure.

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Three-Tier Structure

Core Processes that

incorporate higher levels of education, higher salaries, and more technology

Generate more wealth in the world economy Semi-periphery

Places where core and periphery processes are both occurring

Places that are exploited by the core but then exploit the periphery

Serves as a buffer between core and periphery

Periphery Processes that incorporate

lower levels of education, lower salaries, and less technology

Generate less wealth in the world economy

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The Three-Tier System