Political

Geography
Jenny Rose Velasco
and
Maria Kristina Taguines
Introduction
Political geography helps
explain the cultural and
physical factors that underlie
political unrest
Political geographers study
how people have organized
Earths land surface into
countries and alliances, the
reasons for doing so, and the
conflicts that can erupt from
the organization
What is the difference
between state and nation?
 STATE
Independent unit that
occupies a specific territory
Has full control of its internal
and external affairs
Often called a country
NATION

A group of people with a

common culture living in a
territory and having a strong
sense of unity
Shapes of States
Shape of a state controls the length
of its boundaries with other states
Shape also can influence the ease or
difficulty of internal administration
and can affect social unity
There are 5 basic shapes:
Compact
Prorupted
Elongated
Fragmented
Perforated
Compact States: Efficient
state where the distance from
the center to any boundary does
not vary significantly
Ideal compact state would be a
circle with the capital in the
center
Allows for good communications
from all regions
Exs Burundi, Kenya, Uganda
 Prorupted States: Access or
Disruption
an otherwise compact state with a
large projecting extension
Proruptions are created for 2 reasons
1. To provide a state with access to a
resource such as water (Congo
stretches to Atlantic Ocean) (why
Cabinda is separated from the rest of
Angola)
2. To separate two states that would
otherwise share a border (Afghanistan
separates Russia from Pakistan)
 Elongated States: Potential
Isolation
states with a long narrow shape
Only a handful of these
Ex. Chile over 2500 miles long, but
only 90 miles wide
Italy is a less extreme example 700
by 120 miles
 continued
Gambia is an elongated state on
an East-West orientation (300 miles
wide by15 miles long) by that is
completely surrounded by Senegal
May suffer from poor internal
communication and some regions
may be isolated from the capital
which is usually near the center
 Fragmented States:
Problematic
state with several discontinuous pieces
of territory
Technically, any state that has offshore
islands is considered fragmented
fragmentation is particularly significant
for some states
2 types:
1. Areas separated by water
2. Areas separated by an intervening
state
 continued
Indonesia is most extreme fragmented
state
13,677 islands spread over 3,000 miles in
the Indian Ocean
80% of pop. lives on the two islands of
Java and Sumatra
Fragmentation hinders communication
and makes integration of people living
on remote islands nearly impossible
Indonesian gov. encourages migration
from major pop. centers to more
remote areas to encourage national
integration
 continued
The US, Russia, Angola, and
Bangladesh are examples of
countries with territory separated by
other states
Kaliningrad is separated from the
rest of Russia by 250 miles
Important to Russia because it
gives them access to the Baltic
sea
The Tin Bigha corridor of India
divides Bangladesh
continued
Panama was a fragmented state
while the US controlled the canal
and the surrounding canal zone
Now that the US has returned
control of the canal, Panama is
now a elongated state
Perforated States: South Africa

a state that completely surrounds

another one
South Africa is a great example
It completely surrounds Lesotho
Lesotho dependent upon S.
Africa for import and export
of goods
Can You Identify Each
Type of State?
 Landlocked States
Landlocked states- a state that
lacks a direct outlet to the sea
because it is completely
surrounded by several other
countries
14 out of the 54 countries in
Africa are landlocked
Remnant of European
colonialism
continued

Access to a seaport is critical

because it facilitates international
trade
Bulky goods are usually
transported by ship
Landlocked states are at the
mercy of other states for the use
of their seaports
Why Do Boundaries Cause
Problems?
Boundary- an invisible line
marking the extent of a states
territory
Can be natural physical features
or cultural features such as
religion and language
Boundary locations often
generate conflict because the
lines are the only place two
neighboring countries must have
physical contact
 Types of Boundaries
Historically, frontiers separated states
-a zone where no state exercises
complete political control
Frontiers are tangible geographic
areas
Boundaries are thin, invisible, and
imagined lines
Boundaries have replaced frontiers
almost everywhere on Earth
continued

Antarctica and the Arabian

Peninsula are the only places that
still have frontiers
Saudi Arabia is separated from
Qatar, UAE, Oman, and Yemen by
frontiers
 continued

Boundaries can be physical or

cultural
Physical boundaries can be seen
on a map and on the ground
Neither type necessarily better
than others
Best boundaries are those that all
affected states agree upon
 Mountain Boundaries

Serve as effective boundaries

when they are difficult to cross
Also pretty permanent
Argentina and Chile are
separated by the crest of the
Andes Mountains
They have had disagreements
about where exactly that crest
lies
 Desert Boundaries

Deserts are hard to cross and

sparsely inhabited
Type of boundary common in
Africa and Asia
Sahara desert separates Libya,
Algeria, and Egypt from their
southern neighbors Mauritania,
Mali, Niger, Chad and the Sudan
 Water Boundaries
Rivers, lakes, and oceans are often used
to mark boundaries
Very common in East Africa
Ex. Boundary separating Kenya,
Tanzania, and Uganda runs through
Lake Victoria
Boundaries are typically in the middle of
the water, but not always
Water makes attack from neighbors
more difficult because of troop transport
 continued
Water boundaries can cause some difficulties
Position of water changes over time
Ex. Rio Grande along the US Mexico border
Ocean boundaries can also be problematic
Most states claim the boundary is not at the
coastline, but out at sea
Done for defense and resources
The Law of the Sea (1983), signed by 117
countries, recognizes borders at 12 nautical miles
with exclusive fishing rights to 200 nautical miles
Cultural Boundaries

A nation-state exists when the

boundaries of a state match
the boundaries of the territory
inhabited by an ethnic group
Geometric Boundaries

Part of US border with Canada is

an arc that follows the 49th
parallel for 1300 miles from
Minnesota to Washington
 Religious Boundaries
In a few cases religion has been used
to select a boundary between states
The British split India into states based
on religion
Hindus in India, Muslims in Pakistan
Northern Ireland is majority Protestant
and is part of the UK
Ireland is 95% Catholic and is
independent from the UK
 Language Boundaries
After WWI, language was the most
important factor the Allies used in
creating new states and changing the
boundaries of existing states esp. in
Eastern and Southern Europe
Ex. Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland
Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia
were created by grouping people
of similar languages together into
one country both separated into
many countries in the 1990s
 Boundaries Inside States

Local government boundaries are

sometimes drawn to separate
different nationalities or ethnicities
In the US, they are sometimes
drawn to provide an advantage
to a political party
 Boundaries Inside States
Unitary state- an internal
organization of a state that places
most power in the hands of the
central government officials
Federal state- an internal
organization of a state that
allocates most powers to units of
local government
 Unitary States
Works best in nation-states
characterized by few internal cultural
differences and a strong sense of
national unity
Smaller states are more likely to adopt
Common in Europe
Some multinational states have
adopted unitary systems so the values of
one nationality can be imposed on the
others
Ex. Rwanda
 Federal States
Local governments have the
authority to adopt their own laws
Multinational states may adopt
federal systems to empower
different nationalities, esp. if they live
in different regions of the country
Well suited for large states-most
large countries are
US, Russia, Canada, Brazil, and
India