Name:
Ch. 8: Political Geography
Introduction & Case Study (p. 254-­‐ 257)
1. How has the global political landscape changed since the Cold War ended?
2. Case Study: How has the border between France and Germany changed through wars?
3. Case Study: How have the borders changed in the former countries of Yugoslavia and USSR?
Key Issue #1: Where Are States Located? (p. 257-­‐ 264)
4. How has the number of countries changed in the world since World War 2?
• 1940s 50 countries
• Today 195 countries with Russia
being the largest
5. What 5 characteristics must be present for a territory to constitute a state?
Territory
Government with control
Recognized Boundaries
Permanent population
Sovereignty
6. Based on the above definition, are each of the following states, yes or no?:
n
Quebec
n
Antarctica
n Scotland
y
n New Jersey
U.S.A.
y
n
Tennessee
United Kingdom
y
Canada
7. Discuss the difficulty of defining Korea as 1 state or 2.
They want 1 state but they remain 1 nation in two states because one leader wants dictator and one
wants another type.
8. Describe the disagreement between China and Taiwan over the status of the island of Taiwan.
A 1949 Nationalist government fled to Taiwan to escape the Communists.
They always proclaimed they were the true government of China.
China wants Taiwan to reunite with China.
9. What groups have fought for control of the Western Sahara (Sahrawi Republic)? How has Morocco laid
claim to the territory?
10. What are microstates? Give several examples.
Extremely Small states- Singapore, Andorra, Vatican City, San Marino, Monaco, Lichtenstein
11. Describe the location of the Fertile Crescent. What early empires emerged in and around this region?
Arc between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean
Includes ancient Mesopotamia city states
12. What is a city-­‐ state?
Sovereign town/city and surrounding countryside
13. Describe the extent of the Roman Empire. What happened to states in Europe after the collapse of the
Roman Empire. Egypt to England Spain to Iran Europe fragmented into
• Egypt to England
• Spain to Iran
• Western Europe eventually became the first region to have nation states
14. What is a colony? Why did European states practice colonialism?
God Gold Glory. A place under the political control of another state.
15. How is imperialism different from colonialism?
• Imperialism: Control of an already established place
• Colonialism: Control of a less organized and sparsely populated territory
16. Which European countries established colonies? Which colonial empires were the largest?
• British and French were the most widespread
• Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy
• Germany got a late start and lost them after WWI
17. How did the British & French differ in their colonial approaches? How has colonialism left its mark on
current states?
• France tried to assimilate new territories
• British allowed more diversity and ruling style
18. Give examples of remaining colonies and their controlling powers. (Also see Figure 8-­‐ 5)
• UK gave Hong Kong back to China in 1997
• Portugal gave Macao back to China in 1999
Key Issue #2: Why Do Boundaries Cause Problems? (p. 264-­‐ 274)
1. Complete the chart on shapes of states:
Shape
Description
Advantages
Disadvantages
Examples
Transportation
Governing
None
Romania
Poland
Long Coastline
Bad Transportation
Hard to Govern
Italy
Chile
Compact
Prorupted
Long and Narrow
Elongated
Broken in two pieces
Fragmented
Even worst that elongated Indonesia
Japan
A hole made by another
country
Perforated
2.
If the country surrounding The surrounded country is Lesotho inside of South
you loves you its ok!
at the mercy of the
Africa
surrounding country
Why are boundaries often sites or sources of conflict?
3. Why is Zaire (Democratic Rep. of the Congo) a prorupted state? How does it affect neighboring Angola?
It splits it in two
4. Why was Afghanistan made into a prorupted state? Why was Namibia given a proruption?
5. Describe the problems/conflict among the fragments of Indonesia.
6. An exclave is a fragment of a state divided from the rest of the state by the territory of another state.
Name and describe the exclaves of the following states:
U.S. - Alaska
Angola – Cabinda
Russia – Kaliningrad
India –Cooch Behar
West Berlin between 1960-1990
7. Why is Panama no longer a fragmented state?
We gave them the ownership of the canal
8. What is a landlocked state? Provide examples. What challenges do landlocked states face?
A state with no access to the ocean
No Navy
Difficult to export and import goods
Example: Switzerland
9. What is a frontier? Why have frontiers disappeared? Where do frontiers still exist?
An area rather than a firm boundary with sparse populations
Gps and Gis have reduced the grey areas.
10. Complete the chart on boundaries:
Examples
Challenges
Physical Boundaries
Difficult to define where the border is
Mountain
Vague frontiers
Desert
Rivers can move or dry up and disappear
Water
Man Made and straight
Geometric Boundaries
Cultural Boundaries
Israel
Pakistan, India, Bangladesh
Religion
Language
Ethnicity
11. Describe the provisions of the International Law of the Sea
12. Why has Libya, Chad, and Niger fought over the Aozou Strip?
13. On what basis were much of Europe’s boundaries redrawn after World War 1?
Language
14. Describe the conflict in Cyprus.
15. Differentiate between unitary and federal states. Describe advantages & disadvantages of each.
16. Why do large states often choose a federal system? Why do Communist states often choose unitary?
17. What is gerrymandering? Why might it be used?
18. Nautical miles, 12 or 200
Redrawing legislative districts to favor one political party
19. Describe different types of gerrymandering.
Key Issue #3: Why Do States Cooperate with Each Other? (p. 274-­‐ 280)
20. A supranational organization is a group of countries that join together for a common goal and
willingly transfer some authority to that organization. Complete the following chart on supranational
organizations:
Type of Supranational Organization
Examples of Supranational Organizations
Political
Military
Economic
21. Describe the formation of the United Nations (UN). Why did the League of Nations fail?
22. What is the role of the UN? Why is it not always effective?
23. How did the number of superpowers change from 1800s to post-­‐ World War II?
24. How did the Cold War era (post-­‐ World War II) represent a balance of power? How did the
superpowers maintain balance?
25. Describe the difference between NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and the Warsaw Pact.
What countries belonged to each?
26. What has changed with NATO and the Warsaw Pact since the end of the Cold War (1990s)?
27. Read “Contemporary Geographic Tools” on p. 276. How is aerial & satellite photography used in
modern warfare?
28. What has changed with regards to superpowers since the end of the Cold War?
29. Describe the beginnings of the European Union (EU).
30. What happened to Germany following World War II? How were the 2 portions on opposite sides
during the Cold War?
31. How has the European Union expanded since 1973?
32. What is the European Union’s purpose? What methods has it taken to accomplish this goal?
Primary goal is to trade encourage trade.
Notes:
The UN is primarily political
NATO is military
EU Is Economic
Eu primary is the one with trade
Usmca Economic
Key Issue #4: Why Has Terrorism Increased? (p. 280-­‐ 287)
33. What is terrorism? Why are terrorist often willing to die?
Terrorism – systematic use of violence by a group to intimidate a population or coerce a
government into granting its demands
34. How is terrorism different from assassination?
Terrorism attacks are aimed at ordinary people rather than at military targets or political leaders.
35. Why is it difficult to distinguish terrorism from other types of political violence?
If a Palestinian suicide bomber kills several dozen Israeli teens in Jerusalem restaurant is that
terrorism or a wartime retaliation against Israeli government policies.
36. Describe the terrorist acts and reasoning behind the terrorism committed by Ted Kaczynski and
Timothy McVeigh & Terry Nichols.
37. Who was Osama bin Laden? Why did he “declare war” against the U.S.? Why did he form al-­‐ Qaeda?
Because of US support of Saudi Arabia and Israel. Formed to unite jihad fighters in Afghanistan, as
well as supporters of bin Laden elsewhere in the Middle East.
38. Why is it difficult to estimate the number of members in and to find the leaders of al-­‐ Qaeda?
Its hard to estimate because the organization consists of a large number of isolated autonomous
cells, whose members have minimal contact with those in other cells.
39. Why is al-­‐ Qaeda’s use of religious beliefs to justify its actions challenging?
40. How might the governments of some countries support terrorism?
41. Describe the state support for terrorism in the following countries:
Libya –
Afghanistan –
Iraq –
Iran –
42. Global Forces, Local Impact: How have the ethnic and tribal/clan divisions led to conflict in Iraq since
the U.S. removal of Saddam Hussein from power?
43. Case Study Revisited: What challenges exist for the continued growth of the European Union?