World History/ Geo
October 26th, 2015
WARM UP:
HOW MANY COUNTRIES ARE
THERE IN THE WORLD?
How many States in the World Today?
(State=Country)
196
What is a Nation?
•A nation is a group of people who share the same culture, language,
institutions, religion, and history—usually a group of people larger
than a tribe or community.
•When a nation of people has an independent State of their own it is
often called a nation-state.
•The Kurds are a nation without a State, but France, Germany, and
Japan are examples of nation-states.
Nation State
•system of organization in which people with a
common identity live inside a country with firm
borders and a single government.
•determines what language we speak, what laws
we follow, and what holidays we celebrate.
8 Characteristics of a State
•Defined Territory
• Permanent population
• Economic system
• Social system
•Transportation system
• Government
• Sovereignty
• Recognized by other States
Defined Territory
“customary international law's definition of ‘statehood'
requires that a putative state have clear boundaries.”
established territorial boundaries
The size of the territory may change due to the acquisition
or secession of land through political negotiations, purchase
agreements, or by being overtaken by force such as during a
war.
Permanent Population
•A group of people living within the same defined
geographic area over time will have common cause
•A state must have a population which may be variable in
size.
• Populations may or may not share general political beliefs
but the ones that do are the most stable.
•Mobility of the population can affect its political and
governmental stability.
Economic System
A system of production and exchange of goods and services as well as allocation of resources in
a society.
The type of economy is determined by the extent of government involvement in economic
decision making.
• Free market
- Private ownership of property/resources
- Profit
- Competition
- Consumer sovereignty
- Individual choice
• Command economy
- Central ownership of property/resources
- Centrally-planned economy
- Lack of consumer choice
• Mixed economy
- Individuals and businesses as decision
makers for the private sector
- Government as decision maker for the
public sector
- A greater government role than in a free
market economy
- Most common economic system today
Social System
•the patterned series of interrelationships existing between
individuals, groups, and institutions and forming a whole
•National identity
• Culture
• Language
• Beliefs
• Values
• Education
• Health care
Transportation System
•transportation network for moving goods and people
Government
• Government allows the state to establish social order, provide public services,
and to make decisions that affect the living conditions of all people living
within the territorial boundaries of the state.
• Purposes:
• form a more perfect union
• establish justice
• insure domestic tranquility
• provide for the common defense
• promote the general welfare
• secure the blessings of liberty
Sovereignty
•the full right to govern itself without
interference by external entities
•The state has no legal responsibility to any
higher authority unless it voluntarily enters into
treaties creating such obligations
Recognition
recognition from other independent states
Territories:
•Are Not States - No Sovereignty
•An area of land under the jurisdiction of a ruler or state.
•an organized division of a country that is not yet admitted
to the full rights of a state
•Examples: –Hong Kong –Greenland –Puerto Rico –Parts of
United Kingdom: • England, Scotland, Wales, Northern
Ireland
Stateless Nations
•An ethnic group, religious group, linguistic group or
other cohesive group which is not the majority
population in any nation state.
•Palestinians- most well known example od a stateless nation in
conflict with Israel over territory
• Negotiations for a permanent settlement stalled and
Palestinian/Israeli conflict continues
•Kurds- About 20 million people live in Kurdistan-which covers 6 states
• Since the 1991 Iraq War, Kurdish Security Zone has been virtually
independent
Nation States
Nation States