Geographical Characteristics of the State

The Cultural Mosaic Fellman, and Notes from

D.J. Zeigler of Old Dominion

Vocab Review

•  State •  Sovereignty • Nation • Nation-state •  Binational or Multinational •  Stateless Nation • Nationalism

Territoriality •  The modern state is an example of a

common human tendency: the need to belong to a larger group that controls its own piece of the earth, its own territory.

•  This is called territoriality: a cultural strategy that uses power to control area and communicate that control, subjugating inhabitants and acquiring resources.

Shapes of States

• Compact States – Efficient – Theoretically round – Capital in center – Shortest possible boundaries to defend – Improved communications – Ex. Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda,

Poland, Uraguay

Shapes of States

•  Prorupted States – w./large projecting extension – Sometimes natural – Sometimes to gain a resource or advantage,

such as to reach water, create a buffer zone – Ex. Thailand, Myanmar, Namibia,

Mozambique, Cameroon, Congo

Shapes of States

•  Elongated States – States that are long and narrow – Suffer from poor internal communication – Capital may be isolated – Ex. Chile, Norway, Vietnam, Italy, Gambia

Shapes of States

•  Fragmented States – Several discontinuous pieces of territory – Technically, all states w/off shore islands – Two kinds: separated by water & separated

by an intervening state – Exclave – – Ex. Indonesia, USA, Russia, Philippines

Shapes of States

•  Perforated States – A country that completely surrounds another

state – Enclave – the surrounded territory – Ex. Lesotho/South Africa, San Marino &

Vatican City/Italy

Enclaves and exclaves

•  An enclave is an area surrounded by a country but not ruled by it. – It can be self-governing or an exclave of

another country. Example-- Lesotho – Can be problematic for the surrounding

country. – Pene-enclave—an intrusive piece of territory

with a tiny outlet such as Gambia.

Exclave •  An exclave is part national territory

separated from the main body of the country to which it belongs.

•  Example: Kaliningrad, separated from Russia.

•  Very undesirable if a hostile power holds the intervening territory. – Defense and supplies are problematic. – Inhabitants may develop separatist ideas. – Example: Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Distribution of territory— geographic characteristics of states

•  The more compact the territory, the easier it is to govern.

•  Ideal shape is round or hexagonal. •  Types of shapes: compact, prorupt,

elongated, fragmented and perforated (which contains an enclave).

•  The most damaging territorial distributions affect a country’s cohesiveness and stability: enclaves and exclaves.

Landlocked States

• No access to major sea or ocean • Must negotiate rights to move resources

through other countries – problems exist when countries do not agree on fundamental policies

Location

•  Relative location: Some states are landlocked.

Boundaries

• Natural or Physical Boundaries – Mountains – Deserts – Water – rivers, seas, lakes, oceans

Boundaries

• Cultural Boundaries – Geometric Boundaries – Consequent Boundaries

• Religious Boundaries • Language Boundaries

– Subsequent Boundaries – Antecedent Boundaries – Superimposed Boundaries

•  Boundary definition – determining the boundary by a treaty-like agreement through actual points, latitude/longitude, or landscape

•  Boundary delimitation – the boundary is drawn on the map

•  Boundary demarcation – the boundary is established by steel posts, concrete pillars, fences, etc. to mark the boundary on the ground

Iguazu Falls, Argentina / Paraguay

Mexico-Guatemala Border Region

Spatial Organization of Territory--

How states organize their territory for administrative purposes.

Governments decide where power is localized so there is a locus of power within the state.

Power can be highly concentrated or widely diffused.

The two basic ways governments are administered are unitary and federal.

Unitary

Countries where the capital is associated with the core, and all power is concentrated in a single place, the capital.

 Centralized governments, relatively few internal contrasts and a strong sense of national identity, little provincial power.  Examples: France, China and newly

independent states developed out of former colonies.

Federal   Power is shared between a central government

and the governments of provinces.   Acknowledges and gives some powers to its

constituent parts; have strong regional government responsibilities.

  Examples: the US, Canada, Germany, Australia.   --One result of federalism is to lessen

public support for something so radical as secession (as in Canada).

Devolution

•  The process whereby regions within a state demand and gain political strength and growing autonomy at the expense of the central government. – Example: the Soviet Union

Regional or asymmetric federalism

• Gives some authority to subdivisions while keeping central authority in monetary policy, defense, foreign policy, etc. within the capital. – Canada: establishment of the self-governing

Nunavut territory – United Kingdom: separate status for Scotland,

Wales and Ireland. – Spain: Catalonia, Basque country.

Capital moves

 The capital may be newly created or moved from another city: Karachi to Islamabad, Istanbul to Ankara.

•  Forward-thrust capital city: One that is purposely placed in the interior of a country to show government’s desire to encourage more uniform development: – Brazil moved its capital from Rio de Janeiro to

Brasilia in the 1950’s.

Size: a classification system Very large Over 1 million square miles

Large 135,000 to 1 million square miles

Medium 60,000 to 135,000 square miles

Small 10,000 to 60,000 square miles

Very small Under 10, 000 square miles

Ministates 500 to 5,000 square miles

Microstates Under 500 square miles

Ministates

Core-Periphery •  Many states have grown to their present shape

over a long time, from an original core area, which had good resources and was easily defensible.

•  This area usually contains the most economically developed base, densest population and largest cities, and most developed transportation and the resources that originally supported the economy.

•  Core area often is where the capital is located. It becomes the node of a functional culture region.

•  The outlying area or periphery is directed toward the core, but friction can exist between the two.

• Countries which have developed from core areas are usually fairly stable countries.

•  But the absence of a core can weaken a country’s national identity. Eg.: Congo

• Countries with competing core areas, such as Spain, can have problems too.