Territorial Dimensions of Politics Political Geography Bell Work

Territorial Dimensions of Politics Political Geography

Bell Work Answer in 2 -3 COMPLETE sentences on a separate sheet of paper What would need to change for Puerto Rico to no longer be classified as a colony of the US?

Objectives • Explain the concepts of territoriality and political power • Explain and give examples of the following: • Modern State • Nation State • Microstate • Enclaves/Exclaves • Landlocked States • Stateless nations

How Is Space Politically Organized into States and Nations? • Political geography is the study of the political organization of the world • A state is a politically organized territory with a permanent population, a defined territory, and a government

Territoriality • Human characteristic – the need to belong to a larger group that controls its own piece of Earth, its own territory • Some geographers believe it is instinctual in humans • Some disagree and say that it is learned. • As a cultural strategy it uses power to control area and communicate that control to subjugate inhabitants and acquire resources • Examples – Borders are relative new concept attributed to Western Cultures

Territoriality • Modern concept of territory arose in early modern Europe as a system of political units emerged with distinct boundaries and independent governments. • Sovereignty: a recognized right to control a territory both politically and militarily. • Under international law, states are sovereign, and they have the right to defend their territorial integrity against incursion from other states.

Territorialit y • Some nations are still seeking territory • Example: Palestine is in the midst of Israel This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

The Modern State Idea • Idea of the state appeared in various forms across world regions 400 or 500 years ago • The European state idea most influenced the development of the modern state system • Emerging political state was accompanied by mercantilism, which led to the accumulation of wealth through plunder, colonization, and the protection of home industries and foreign markets

The Modern State Idea The Peace of Westphalia, negotiated in 1648, marks the beginning of the modern state system and the concept of territorial sovereignty • In the Westphalian system it became the territory that defined the society. • Territory is treated as a fixed element of political identification, and states define exclusive, nonoverlapping territories

Nations • Nation is a culturally defined term, and few people agree on exactly what it means. • The term was originally meant to refer to a group of people who think of themselves as one based on a sense of shared culture and history, and who seek some degree of political-territorial autonomy. • All nations are ultimately mixtures of different peoples. • A nation is identified by its own membership; therefore, we cannot simply define a nation as the people within a territory

Nation States • A nation-state is a politically organized area in which nation and state occupy the same space. • The goal of creating nation-states dates to the French Revolution: democracy • Key problem associated with the idea of the nation-state is that it assumes the presence of reasonably well-defined, stable nations living contiguously in discrete territories

Nation States • When people have a strong sense of nationalism, they have a loyalty to and a belief in the nation itself. • A state, in contrast, seeks to promote a sense of nationhood that coincides with its own borders. • To help people within the borders relate to the dominant national ideal, states provide security, infrastructure, and goods and services for their citizens.

Modern Day Nation States • • Germany Sweden Japan Greece Korea Armenia Finland All have a homogeneous population with only small minority groups

Modern Day City-States- Microstates • A sovereign nation where a single city and its dependent territories make up an entire nation is usually called a citystate or a MICROSTATE • Modern Examples: 1. Singapore 2. Monaco 3. Vatican City

Enclaves • Enclave: a district surrounded by a country but not ruled by it • They can be self governing ex. Lesotho in South Africa • or an exclave of another country • These can be a problem • Pene-enclave – an intrusive piece of territory with the smallest outlet • Ex- The Gambia This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

Exclave -Pieces of national territory separated from the main body of a country by the territory of another Ex- Alaska, Pakistan Isolation cause problems East Pakistan is now Bangledesh

Multistate Nations, Multinational States, and Stateless Nations • Nearly every state in the world is a multinational state, a state with more than one nation inside its borders. • When a nation stretches across borders and across states, the nation is called a multistate nation. • When multiple nations or states claim attachments to the same piece of territory, the potential for conflict is significant.

Stateless Nation • Another complication that arises from the lack of fit between nations and states is that some nations do not have a state; they are stateless nations. • Ex. : the Kurds

Landlocked States • Lack a direct outlet to the sea because it is completely surrounded by several other countries • Most common in Africa • 15 of the 55 states have no direct access to the sea • Remnant of the colonial area with Britain and France controlled areas

Examples of Land Locked States South America- Bolivia and Paraguay Europe- Liechtenstein (surrounded by Austria and Switzerland) Central Asia – Uzbekistan (surrounded by Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan) For more visit: https: //www. geolounge. com/landlockedcountries/

Indie Work Describe the states listed on the map provided as an enclave, exclave, land locked, 0 List the landlocked states that are landlocked by more than 7 countries based on the website on the board.