Unit 8
POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY
CATEGORILLA
TOP TEN
LARGEST
AND SMALLEST
STATES
GEOPOLITICS
GEOPOLITICS is the study of the influence of such factors as geography, economics,
and demography on the politics and especially the foreign policy of a state. This
chapter will study how geography interacts with politics.
Other definitions: A) those parts of geography that are dedicated to studying power, territory,
sovereignty, states and governance. B) Any approach to explaining political outcomes in the
world or devising political strategy by looking at or making a map.
DEFINING
A STATE
COMPARISON
NATION
STATE
ORIGINS OF TERM
From natio
(born into a place, native)
From Staus Rei Publicae
The Roman legal code
BOUNDARIES
Cultural
Political, military
(formal region)
ORIGIN OF THE ENTITY
Evolves historically from shared identity
Datable, intentionally designed, legal
RECOGNITION
Self-identified, taught within the culture,
passed by generations
By other states, taught within
schools/media
MEMBERSHIP
Kinship and shared culture
Citizenship, legal
CENTRIPETAL FORCES
Artifacts, mentifacts, customs
Legal codes, ideals
LOYALTY
Nationalism (1st kind)
Nationalism (2nd and 3rd kinds)
DEFINING
A STATE
COMPARISON
DEFINITION
NATION
STATE
A group of people with:
An area:
A common culture,
a common homeland
occupying a perceived territory
And are self-defined/identified
With shared aspirations.
Organized into a political unit,
Ruled by an established government
With SOVEREIGNTY
Occupying a defined territory
Containing a permanent population.
The terms STATE and COUNTRY are synonyms
States have defined Boundaries (a line marking the extent of
a state’s territory)
Most states are divided into civil divisions (legally defined
subdivisions of a state)
NATION STATES &
STATELESS NATIONS
NATION STATE
STATELESS NATION
A state whose borders largely match
the area occupied by a given nation
(ethnic group), which was established
as a state for that nation, and in which
that nation is the clear majority.
A nation who currently has no state in
which to exercise its sovereign
authority. (Remember that a nation is a
people that considers itself distinct from
others with a history autonomy.)
COUNTING
STATES
Oddly enough, it’s hard to say how many states exist.
THE NUMBER CHANGES OVER TIME
Since about 1900, the number of
states has increased over 100 with
the fall of empires and the rise of
nation states.
The UN reports that it has 193
member states worldwide
NOT EVERYONE AGREES ON WHO’S A STATE
CGP Grey’s “How Many Countires are
There?”
Coca Cola says it sells products in over 200 states
worldwide
Korea reports that it exports its goods to 244
states worldwide
PROBLEM
STATES
THE KOREAS
CHINA AND TAIWAN
WESTERN SAHARA
The entire peninsula was a colony of
Japan (sorry Henry)
In the 1940s, Nationalists and Communists
fought to control China.
Most African countries recognize Western Sahara
as a sovereign state
After WWII, US and the USSR split it into
two occupation zones along 38° N Lat.
and later established separate Govs
In 1949, the Nat’s fled to Taiwan and declared
themselves the Republic of China (and mainland
China’s official government)
Morocco claims the territory as its own and has
built a wall around it to prove it
Despite the Korean War and the DMZ
along the 38th parallel, both
governments are commited to
reunification
The Communists declared the mainland the
People’s Republic of China and themselves as
China and Taiwan’s official government
Spain controlled the area until 1976 when it
withdrew and the Polisario Front declared it as
the independent Sahrawi Republic
MORE MURKINESS:
COLONIALISM
AND IMPERIALISM
COLONIALISM: an existing state seizes
uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land
and attempts to impose political,
economic and cultural control there.
Europe’s colonial motives were
GOD, GOLD AND GLORY
Colonialism mostly refers to Europe’s
activities in the Americas
IMPERIALISM: an existing state attempts
to impose political and economic (often
cultural) control over a territory already
occupied and organized by an indigenous
society
Imperialism refers to Europe’s activities in
Africa and Asia
Europe’s colonial/imperial activities began in the 1400s and then began to wane after WWII as many former colonies gained independence.
New states often formed along colonial lines thus adding to the number of states.
RISE OF NATIONSTATES IN
EUROPE
European Nation-States
The map or Europe has changed drastically
over that last 200 years from a few, large
empires to many, smaller countries (states).
As empires broke apart, the often broke into
several, smaller countries/states formed as
homes for various, specific ethnic groups.
So the map of the world increases and
decreases in number from year to year.
MORE MURKINESS:
COLONIALISM
AND IMPERIALISM
The US State Department currently lists 43 remaining colonies worldwide with
indigenous populations (although the list is contested)
ANYWAY…
As of 2011, the UN officially recognized 193 member states.
(not 192 as in the above 2005 map)
10 LARGEST
STATES
1
2
2. CANADA
9.98 MIL SQ KM
9
3
3. UNITED STATES
9.82 MIL SQ KM
4
10
7
4. CHINA
9.59 MIL SQ KM
5. BRAZIL
8.51 MIL SQ KM
6. AUSTRALIA
7.74 MIL SQ KM
5
6
8
7. INDIA
3.28 MIL SQ KM
8. ARGENTINA
2.78 MIL SQ KM
9. KAZAKHSTAN
2.72 MIL SQ KM
10. ALGERIA
2.38 MIL SQ KM
1. RUSSIA 17.09 MIL SQ KM
10 smallest states
(microstates)
2. MONACO
2 MIL SQ KM
2 1
9
3. CORAL SEA ISLANDS
3 SQ KM
7
4. ASHLEY & CARTIER
5 SQ KM
6
8
5
5. SPRATLY ISLANDS
5 SQ KM
3
6. NAVASSA ISLAND
5 SQ KM
7. CLIPPERTON ISLAND
6 SQ KM
8. WAKE ISLAND
7 SQ KM
9. GIBRALTAR
7 SQ KM
10. TOKELAU
12 SQ KM
10
4
1. VATICAN CITY <1 SQ KM