How can the shape of a country be both a negative
or a positive?
II. Territory, Borders, and the Geography of
Nations
A. Territorial Morphology
1. Size of a state is not always an indication of
resource distribution or world importance
2. Countries have a variety of shapes
3. Each shape and location
offers both advantages and
disadvantages
a. Large land areas deal with
unique problems related to
administration of vast areas
How can harsh
physical geography
also create problems
in ruling Russia?
Roughly 3000
miles
4. Some countries also occupy strategic sites, such as
Israel, the
Korean
Peninsula, and
Panama, or
historical areas
like Istanbul,
Hawaii, or
New Orleans
5. Types of Shapes and Examples
a. Microstates
For Example:
Vatican City
and San
Marino
b. Fragmented States
1. fragmented states must
determine ways to create cohesive
national fabric out of many pieces
of land
c. Elongated state -
What are the
disadvantages of this
shape of a country?
d. Compact States
What are the
advantages of this
shape of a country?
e. Perforated State
South
Africa is
an
example
with
Lesotho
Italy is an
example
because
of the
Vatican
and San
Marino
f. Landlocked State
What are the
disadvantages of a
landlocked state?
g. Prorupted State
The Caprivi Strip in Namibia was
designed by the Germans to give
their colony access to the Zambezi
river
h. Enclaves
i. Exclave
12. Satellite State
13. Buffer State
B. Types of Boundaries
1. Physical boundaries
2. Geometric boundaries
3. Subsequent boundaries
4. Antecedent boundary
5. Ethnocentric/cultural
boundary
5. Superimposed boundaries
6. Relic boundaries
a. Often leave behind a trace in local
culture
b. Example of the reunification of
Germany where different levels of
prosperity still show between east
and west
C. Boundary Processes
1. Definition
2. Delimitation
3. Demarcation
4. Frontier
Ex: The Western Amazon Basin and borders between
Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, and Venezuela, or the
claims to Antarctica
5. Law of the Seas (UNCLOS)
6. Median Line Principal
7. EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone)
F. Boundary Disputes
1. Definitional
Boundary Dispute
2. Locational
Boundary Dispute
3. Operational Boundary Dispute
4. Allocational Boundary Dispute
Scenario one: The status quo
Kashmir has been a flashpoint
between India and Pakistan for
more than 50 years. Currently
a boundary - the Line of
Control - divides the region in
two, with one part
administered by India and one
by Pakistan. India would like
to formalize this status quo
and make it the accepted
international boundary. But
Pakistan and Kashmiri
activists reject this plan
because they both want greater
control over the region.
REGION
Buddhist
Hindu
Muslim
Other
Kashmir
Valley
-
4%
95%
-
Jammu
-
66%
30%
4%
Ladakh
50%
-
46%
3%
Scenario two: Kashmir joins
Pakistan
Pakistan has favored this as the
best solution to the dispute. In
view of the state's majority
Muslim population, it believes
that it would vote to become part
of Pakistan. However a single
plebiscite held in a region which
comprises peoples that are
culturally, religiously and
ethnically diverse, would create
disaffected minorities. The
Hindus of Jammu, and the
Buddhists of Ladakh have never
shown any desire to join
Pakistan and would protest at the
outcome.
Scenario three:
Kashmir joins India
Such a solution would
be unlikely to bring
stability to the region
as the Muslim
inhabitants of
Pakistani-administered
Jammu and Kashmir,
including the Northern
Areas, have never
shown any desire to
become part of India.
Scenario four: Independent
Kashmir
The difficulty of adopting this
as a potential solution is that it
requires India and Pakistan to
give up territory, which they
are not willing to do. Any
plebiscite or referendum likely
to result in a majority vote for
independence would therefore
probably be opposed by both
India and Pakistan. It would
also be rejected by the
inhabitants of the state who are
content with their status as part
of the countries to which they
already owe allegiance.
Scenario five: A smaller
independent Kashmir
An independent Kashmir could
be created from the Kashmir
Valley - currently under Indian
administration - and the narrow
strip of land which Pakistan calls
Azad Jammu and Kashmir. This
would leave the strategically
important regions of the Northern
Areas and Ladakh, bordering
China, under the control of
Pakistan and India respectively.
However both India and Pakistan
would be unlikely to enter into
discussions which would have
this scenario as a possible
outcome.
Scenario six:
Independent Kashmir
Valley
An independent Kashmir
Valley has been
considered by some as
the best solution because
it would address the
grievances of those who
have been fighting
against the Indian
Government since the
insurgency began in
1989. But critics say
that, without external
assistance, the region
would not be
economically viable.
Scenario seven: The
Chenab formula
This plan, first suggested
in the 1960s, would see
Kashmir divided along the
line of the River Chenab.
This would give the vast
majority of land to
Pakistan and, as such, a
clear victory in its
longstanding dispute with
India. The entire valley
with its Muslim majority
population would be
brought within Pakistan's
borders, as well as the
majority Muslim areas of
Jammu.