Unit 3: Political Geography

A nation is defined as...

• a group with a shared culture inside a land area

• sovereign territory with distinct borders

• land where a cultural group also has sovereignty over its territory

• absolute control of a territory by a government

What does the shaded area of this map show?

• Nation-state

• Stateless nation

• State

• Country

Answer explanation

Because the Kurds are an ethnic group that lives in a specific area (nation) but does not have political sovereignty over that territory (state), they are a stateless nation.

Stateless nations may find it difficult to...

• Engage in trade

• Declare war

• Gain political sovereignty

• Form militias/armed groups

Lesotho must depend on South Africa because...

• Lesotho is landlocked inside of South Africa.

• South Africa has political sovereignty over Lesotho.

• It is part of a treaty with South Africa.

• It just thinks South Africa is rad.

Answer explanation

Because Lesotho is landlocked and perforates South Africa, it must rely on SA to facilitate trade.

Why is Turkey's relative location significant?

• It isn't significant.

• It connects Europe and Asia.

• It controls all access to the Black Sea.

• It is a perforated state.

What shape is Myanmar?

• Compact

• Perforated

• Protruded

• Elongated

What is a challenge for an elongated state such as Norway?

• Access to ports

• Lack of natural resources

• It is landlocked

• Communication

Which country is no longer part of the EU?

• Britain

• Germany

• France

• Italy

How might being landlocked challenge a country’s economy?

• Can only specialize in a few things

• No access to shipping ports

• Unfavorable trade deals

• Not enough resources

What was the result of the end of imperialism in Africa?

• Ethnic groups had a convention to agree on drawing borders

• The Europeans distributed the land evenly between groups

• The Europeans drew political boundaries with no regard to ethnic rivalries, etc.

• The Europeans held a land lottery to distribute land