Political Geography
• Boundaries
• Shapes of States
• Borders
Mexican-USA boundary,
efforts at curtailing illegal
immigration
Outline
• Boundaries
• Shapes of States
• Borders
Political Geography
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Boundaries
• Natural Boundaries-based
on natural features like
rivers and mountains
• Difficult to determine the
height of land or the
middle of the river for
boundaries
Disputed mountain boundary,
Argentina-Chile
Natural boundaries can pose problems
of demarcation….Chile/Argentina
River boundaries
•Mississippi River defined as border
between Tennessee and Arkansas
• since 1815, river has meandered,
leaving isolated pieces of each US
state on the ‘wrong side’
Geometric Boundaries
• based on
lines of
latitude or
longitude; or
arcs of
circles; or
other
straight lines
Northern New
Brunswick:
arbitrary straight
lines
Saskatchewan: Latitude & Longitude
Labrador boundary dispute
• 1902 - Newfoundland
government grants a lumber
company license to harvest
trees on both sides of the
Hamilton (now called Churchill)
River
• Quebec government
considered the southern part of
the river part of Quebec
• 1927 British Privy Council
decides in Newfoundland's
favour (use of watershed divide
from Blanc Sablon to Cape
Chidely), strengthened in
Confederation (BNA Act, 1949)
Labrador boundary
... a line drawn due north from the eastern
boundary of the bay or harbour of the Anse
au Sablon as far as the fifty-second degree of
north latitude, and from thence westward ...
until it reaches the Romaine River, and then
northward along the left or east bank of that
river and its head waters to the source and
from thence due northward to the crest of
the watershed or height of land there, and
from thence westward and northward along
the crest of the watershed of the rivers
flowing into the Atlantic Ocean until it reaches
Cape Chidley.
www.collectionscanada.ca/confederation/023001-2980-e.html
Geometric Boundaries of Antarctica
• Antarctic Treaty signed 1959:
basis for government of Antarctica
• Governmental matters over
Antarctica decided at meetings; 26
states vote
• 7 states claim portions of
Antarctica as national territory
• USA and other nations do not
have claims, but have retained the
right to make a claim
• 1991: 50 year ban on mining
activity
Four Corners Geometric Boundary:Utah/Arizona/Colorado/ New Mexico
Antecedent & Subsequent Boundaries
– Antecedent were laid down before most of the
cultural landscape was established
– Subsequent were laid down after most settlement
patterns were developed
Antecedent Boundary
• Boundary was established in 1818,
before most settlement of the Prairies
•First Nations were not consulted
•Antecedent refers to whose culture?
•
49th parallel of
latitude was
used for most of
the western
US/Canada
boundary
•
Transportation
links developed
around the
boundary
Subsequent boundaries
• Drawn after settlement has occurred
• Some have be drawn to separate populations
along ethnic or religious lines (India/Pakistan)
Subsequent boundaries
• Consequent
Boundaries-drawn to
account for cultural
patterns eg. Eire/N
Ireland
• Others drawn with
little or no regard
for underlying
ethnic or cultural
patterns e.g.,
African states vs
tribal boundaries
(left)
Partitioning of Bosnia-Herzegovina: consequent & subsequent boundaries
Bosnia –Herzegovina 1991, ethnically Bosnia-Herzegovina 2005,
divided: Moslem-Croat
divided among Moslems (M), Serbs
Federation; Serbian Srpska
(S), Croats (C)
Maritime Boundaries
• Increased importance in 20th century
• Islands especially crucial (St. Pierre et Miquelon
increases France’s maritime boundary)
• United Nations Convention on the Law of the
Sea (UNCLOS) widely accepted by 1990.
• Still disputes of ownership and boundary
baselines all over world.
Maritime Boundaries
• Territorial Sea- up to 12 nm , exclusive
fishing rights
• Contiguous Zone- 24 nm immigration
and sanitation controls
• Exclusive Economic Zone EEZ-200nm.
Economic advantage for all resources
• High Seas-all states of world.
Resources are common heritage
Ministates claim 200-mile nautical limit;
Gain considerable control of oceans
Outline
• √Boundaries
• Shapes of States
• Borders
Shapes of states
• Compact theoretically the
“best” shape
• Prorupt - parts
become isolated
• Elongated narrow and thin
• Fragmented isolated parts
• Perforated - state
surrounded by
another.
Perforated States
• Enclave - a state lying entirely
within the boundaries of
another state.eg.
Lesotho/South Africa
• Exclave - a part of a state
lying entirely outside its
boundaries. Eg. Melilla and
Ceuta parts of Spain in Africa.
Extra-Territoriality
http://www.witness.org/index.php?option=
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How do borders/boundaries affect firms and workers in this situation?
How are political geography and economic geography linked?
Do you agree with the common assertion about ‘globalization’ that we now live in a
‘borderless world’? Why or why not?
Borders and economic alliances
Free Trade Area
Common Market
Economic Union
Free Trade Area
Map source: http://ucatlas.ucsc.edu/trade/subtheme_trade_blocs.php