An Introduction to Human Geography
The Cultural Landscape, 9e
James M. Rubenstein
Chapter 8
Political
Geography
Geog 1050
Victoria Alapo, Instructor
United Nations Members
The UN has increased from 51 Member-States in 1945 to 192 in 2007.
There are also some Stateless Nations in the world (next slide).
Stateless Nations
Nations of
people with no
official State
boundaries.
A State is a
territory on the
ground, usually
an official line
on a map.
A Nation is the
people who live
within the
territory, which
means not all
nations have
STATES. E.g.?
Pg 242.
Antarctica: National Claims
Antarctica is the only large landmass that is not part of a state, but several countries claim
portions of it. Read Treaty, pg 260. 1959 Treaty prevents countries from ever fighting over it.
The countries promised that it will be used for peaceful purposes, forever.
The Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent was the site of early city-states and a succession of ancient empires
(Babylonian, Persian, Sumerian, Assyrian, etc).
Colonial Possessions, 1914
By the outbreak of World War I, European states held colonies throughout the world,
especially throughout Africa and in much of Asia.
Colonial Possessions, 2006
Most of the remaining colonies are small islands in the Pacific or Caribbean, pg 265.
Boundaries and Boundary
Problems of States
• Shapes of states
– Five basic shapes (see next slide and pg
264 to 267)
– Landlocked states (define and see next
slide)
• Boundaries inside states
– Electoral geography
– Gerrymandering: the act of creating
district boundaries in such a way that one
gains unfair political advantage. See slides.
African States
Southern, central, and eastern Africa include states that are
compact, elongated, prorupted, fragmented, and perforated. What shape is the U.S.?
Gerrymandering: Florida and Georgia
State legislature boundaries were drawn to maximize the number of legislators for
Republicans in Florida and Democrats in Georgia.
Cooperation among States
• Suprationational Organizations – 3 or more
countries/states involved together.
• This could political, military or economic
cooperation e.g.
– The United Nations
– Regional alliances: the European Union (EU),
NAFTA, OAU, ECOWAS, SADC, AU, Arab
League, Andean Community, ECOWAS, SADC,
NATO, etc.
European Boundary Changes
Twentieth-century boundary changes in Europe, 1914 to 2003. Germany’s boundaries
changed after each world war and the collapse of the Soviet Union, pg 279.