Compact States
The center of the country is approximately equal distance
from all the edges of the country.
• Examples: Poland, Macedonia, Australia, Columbia
• Advantages: Easy to govern, transport, communicate,
and defend if capital is in center
- Disadvantages: Little expansion space
Prorupted States
• Nearly compact but possess one or sometimes two narrow
extensions (panhandles) of territory, usually to gain access
to the sea or to something valuable.
• Examples: Namibia, Dominican Republic, Haiti,
Myanmar, Thailand
• Advantages: Can use extended region like an arm to grab
resources and has demonstrated economic or strategic
significance.
• Disadvantages: Hard to defend against other countries.
Elongated States
Long, narrow shape because of geographic,
political or economic reasons. The capital
can be really far from either end of the
country or even both if the capital is in the
center and is one of the least effective state
shapes.
• Examples: Norway, Vietnam, Italy, or Chile
• Advantages: Easy transportation, extends
over more natural features & climate zones,
and more likely to encompass more diversity
of resources, and people
• Disadvantages: Administration difficult
from the capital – parts of the countries
often become isolated and communication /
transportation problems
Fragmented States
Countries which are not encompassed
entirely in a single territorial boundary.
This is often with island nations but can
also occur when a piece of a country is
separated by another country.
• Examples: Malaysia, the Philippines,
Indonesia & The United States
• Advantages: Greater water territory,
covers larger areas of the world
• Disadvantages: Harder to
communicate, defend, and control.
Exclave States
• A portion of a state that is
separated from the main
territory and surrounded
by another country
• Often experience ethnic
groups breaking off.
• Examples: The U.S. &
Alaska, and a portion of
Russia is separated from
Russia north of Poland.
Perforated States and Enclave
• A perforated state is when one state
completely surrounds another state that
it does not rule. An enclave is the state
that is surrounded.
• Ex: Republic of South Africa (a
perforated stated) completely surrounds
the enclaves of Lesotho and Swaziland
• Advantages: Able to pressure the
countries within and “watch” over it.
• Disadvantages: Unable to do much
within that area, small are can be
nuisance.
Landlocked States
• A landlocked state is a sovereign state entirely enclosed by land.
There are currently 48 such countries, including four partially
recognized states.
• As a rule, being landlocked creates political and economic handicaps
that access to the high seas avoids.
• Some historically landlocked countries are quite affluent, such as
Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein, all of which frequently
employ neutrality to their political advantage. The majority, however,
are classified as Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs). 9 of the
12 countries with the lowest HDI are landlocked.
Why Do Boundaries Between States
Cause Problems?
• Shapes of states
– Five basic shapes
•
•
•
•
•
Compact = efficient
Elongated = potential isolation
Prorupted = access or disruption
Perforated = South Africa
Fragmented = problematic
• Landlocked states