Geographical Characteristics
of the State
The Cultural Mosaic
Fellman, and Notes from
D.J. Zeigler of Old Dominion
Vocab Review
• State
• Sovereignty
• Nation
• Nation-state
• Binational or Multinational
• Stateless Nation
• Nationalism
Territoriality
• The modern state is an example of a
common human tendency: the need to
belong to a larger group that controls its
own piece of the earth, its own territory.
• This is called territoriality: a cultural
strategy that uses power to control area
and communicate that control, subjugating
inhabitants and acquiring resources.
Shapes of States
• Compact States
– Efficient
– Theoretically round
– Capital in center
– Shortest possible boundaries to defend
– Improved communications
– Ex. Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda,
Poland, Uraguay
Shapes of States
• Prorupted States
– w./large projecting extension
– Sometimes natural
– Sometimes to gain a resource or advantage,
such as to reach water, create a buffer zone
– Ex. Thailand, Myanmar, Namibia,
Mozambique, Cameroon, Congo
Shapes of States
• Elongated States
– States that are long and narrow
– Suffer from poor internal communication
– Capital may be isolated
– Ex. Chile, Norway, Vietnam, Italy, Gambia
Shapes of States
• Fragmented States
– Several discontinuous pieces of territory
– Technically, all states w/off shore islands
– Two kinds: separated by water & separated
by an intervening state
– Exclave –
– Ex. Indonesia, USA, Russia, Philippines
Shapes of States
• Perforated States
– A country that completely surrounds another
state
– Enclave – the surrounded territory
– Ex. Lesotho/South Africa, San Marino &
Vatican City/Italy
Enclaves and exclaves
• An enclave is an area surrounded by a
country but not ruled by it.
– It can be self-governing or an exclave of
another country. Example-- Lesotho
– Can be problematic for the surrounding
country.
– Pene-enclave—an intrusive piece of territory
with a tiny outlet such as Gambia.
Exclave
• An exclave is part national territory
separated from the main body of the
country to which it belongs.
• Example: Kaliningrad, separated from
Russia.
• Very undesirable if a hostile power holds
the intervening territory.
– Defense and supplies are problematic.
– Inhabitants may develop separatist ideas.
– Example: Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Distribution of territory—
geographic characteristics of states
• The more compact the territory, the easier
it is to govern.
• Ideal shape is round or hexagonal.
• Types of shapes: compact, prorupt,
elongated, fragmented and perforated
(which contains an enclave).
• The most damaging territorial distributions
affect a country’s cohesiveness and
stability: enclaves and exclaves.
Landlocked States
• No access to major sea or ocean
• Must negotiate rights to move resources
through other countries – problems exist
when countries do not agree on
fundamental policies
Location
• Relative location: Some states are landlocked.
Boundaries
• Natural or Physical Boundaries
– Mountains
– Deserts
– Water – rivers, seas, lakes, oceans
Boundaries
• Cultural Boundaries
– Geometric Boundaries
– Consequent Boundaries
• Religious Boundaries
• Language Boundaries
– Subsequent Boundaries
– Antecedent Boundaries
– Superimposed Boundaries
• Boundary definition – determining the
boundary by a treaty-like agreement
through actual points, latitude/longitude, or
landscape
• Boundary delimitation – the boundary is
drawn on the map
• Boundary demarcation – the boundary is
established by steel posts, concrete
pillars, fences, etc. to mark the boundary
on the ground
Iguazu Falls,
Argentina /
Paraguay
MexicoGuatemala
Border Region
Spatial Organization of
Territory--
How states organize their territory for
administrative purposes.
Governments decide where power is
localized so there is a locus of power
within the state.
Power can be highly concentrated or widely
diffused.
The two basic ways governments are
administered are unitary and federal.
Unitary
Countries where the capital is associated
with the core, and all power is
concentrated in a single place, the capital.
 Centralized governments, relatively few
internal contrasts and a strong sense of
national identity, little provincial power.
 Examples: France, China and newly
independent states developed out of former
colonies.
Federal
 Power is shared between a central government
and the governments of provinces.
 Acknowledges and gives some powers to its
constituent parts; have strong regional
government responsibilities.
 Examples: the US, Canada, Germany,
Australia.
 --One result of federalism is to lessen
public support for something so radical as
secession (as in Canada).
Devolution
• The process whereby regions within a
state demand and gain political strength
and growing autonomy at the expense of
the central government.
– Example: the Soviet Union
Regional or asymmetric federalism
• Gives some authority to subdivisions while
keeping central authority in monetary
policy, defense, foreign policy, etc. within
the capital.
– Canada: establishment of the self-governing
Nunavut territory
– United Kingdom: separate status for Scotland,
Wales and Ireland.
– Spain: Catalonia, Basque country.
Capital moves
 The capital may be newly created or
moved from another city: Karachi to
Islamabad, Istanbul to Ankara.
• Forward-thrust capital city: One that is
purposely placed in the interior of a
country to show government’s desire to
encourage more uniform development:
– Brazil moved its capital from Rio de Janeiro to
Brasilia in the 1950’s.
Size: a classification system
Very large
Over 1 million square miles
Large
135,000 to 1 million square miles
Medium
60,000 to 135,000 square miles
Small
10,000 to 60,000 square miles
Very small
Under 10, 000 square miles
Ministates
500 to 5,000 square miles
Microstates
Under 500 square miles
Ministates
Core-Periphery
• Many states have grown to their present shape
over a long time, from an original core area,
which had good resources and was easily
defensible.
• This area usually contains the most
economically developed base, densest
population and largest cities, and most
developed transportation and the resources that
originally supported the economy.
• Core area often is where the capital is located. It
becomes the node of a functional culture region.
• The outlying area or periphery is directed
toward the core, but friction can exist
between the two.
• Countries which have developed from core
areas are usually fairly stable countries.
• But the absence of a core can weaken a
country’s national identity. Eg.: Congo
• Countries with competing core areas, such
as Spain, can have problems too.