Political Geography
State Shape
Compact
Elongated
Prorupted
Perforated
Fragmented
Landlocked
STATE MORPHOLOGY (SHAPES!)
Definition
Examples
Political, Economic, and Cultural Advantages or
Disadvantages (list any advantages first)
Define AND give examples of these terms related to state morphology:
exclave:
enclave (different from ethnic enclave):
forward-thrust capital:
devolution:
Takeaway: Why is state morphology (state shapes) important?
Political Geography
state: a politically organized territory administered by a sovereign government, having
a permanent population, and recognized by the international community
STATE MORPHOLOGY (SHAPES!)
morphology: the study of the form or structure of
something
A. On the map on the reverse side, shade in the ten largest states (countries) by area. Then circle and the approximate locations of and label the
ten smallest states (so called "microstates"). (Data on reverse side.)
B. Mark the location of two examples of each of the following types of states: compact (mark with "COM"), Elongated (mark with "ELO"),
prorupted (mark with "PRO"), perforated (mark with "PER"), fragmented (mark with "FRA") and landlocked (mark with "LL").
World's Ten Largest States
#
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
State
Russia
China
United States
Canada
Brazil
Australia
India
Argentina
Kazakhstan
Algeria
Area
16,995,800 sq km
9,326,410 sq km
9,161,923 sq km
9,093,507 sq km
8,456,510 sq km
7,617,930 sq km
2,973,190 sq km
2,736,690 sq km
2,669,800 sq km
2,381,740 sq km
World's Ten Smallest States (Microstates)
#
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
State
Vatican City
Monaco
Nauru
Tuvalu
San Marino
Liechtenstein
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Maldives
Malta
Grenada
What characteristics are common among the world's largest states?
What characteristics are common among the world's smallest states (microstates)?
Area
0.44 sq km
1.95 sq km
21 sq km
26 sq km
61 sq km
160 sq km
261 sq km
300 sq km
316 sq km
344 sq km