1. 1
POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY
States, boundaries, and
geopolitics
POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY
Study of the human organization of space
and the distribution of political phenomena
Includes the study of nationality
Includes the study of country units or
states
TYPICAL ISSUES
Boundary delineations
International alliances
Regional compacts
Producer Cartels
Voting Patterns
Constituency boundaries
STATES, NATIONS, AND
NATION STATES
State
Independent political unit, occupying a
defined, permanently populated territory. A
state has full sovereign control over its internal
and foreign affairs
Most countries can be considered states
Exceptions include
Colonies
Protectorates
Of all of the world's states, the largest in terms
of area covered in Russia. Russia is so vast
that it spans eleven different time zones
Nation
Refers to a group of people with a common
culture who occupy a particular territory
Always a strong sense of unity usually arising
from shared customs and beliefs
Language and religion may be integral in the
idea of nation
STATES, NATIONS, AND
NATION STATES

2. 2
Nation State
A state whose territorial extent coincides with
that occupied by a distinct nation or people
with common beliefs
E.g. Japan, Iceland, Poland
STATES, NATIONS, AND
NATION STATES
TYPES OF NATION STATES
Bi-national / multi-national
Contains more than one nation
Part nation state
One nation is dispersed across more than one
state
E.g. Arab nation is present over 17 states
Stateless nation
A nation that has no state
EVOLUTION OF THE
MODERN STATE
Developed by Europeans in the C18th
People owed allegiance to a state and the
people that it represents rather than to the
ruling body
GEOGRAPHIC
CHARACTERISTICS OF STATES
Every state can be distinguished from
other states by its geographic
characteristics
These include
Size
Shape
Location
Core areas and capitals
SIZE
Size of states vary from very small (e.g.
Leichtenstein) to very large (e.g. Russia)
In general larger states have access to
more resources than smaller states
Small states are more likely to be culturally
homogenous than large ones
SHAPE
COMPACT
The ideal state shape
is considered as a
circle with the capital
located in the center
Capital is accessible
from all parts of the
state

3. 3
PRORUPT
Almost compact states
Contain one or two narrow
extensions of the territory
May represent
Peninsulas
Buffer zones between two other
states that may other be joined
A corridor providing access to
state resources
Shape cont.
ELONGATE
Long and narrow states
Most parts of the state are
far from the capital, and can
be isolated
Characterized by
Climatic diversity
Cultural diversity
Shape cont.
FRAGMENTED
Composed entirely of
islands
Fragmentation makes it
difficult to impose central
control over territory
Shape cont.
PERFORATED
Occurs when one state
completely surrounds
another over which it has
no control
a.k.a. enclave
Before removal of the
Berlin Wall, East
Germany was perforated
Shape cont.
LOCATION
Absolute and relative location are
significant
E.g. Iceland has an absolute location ~65°
north in the Atlantic Ocean
The country is mostly barren (lots of volcanic and
glacial activity)
Most settlement is concentrated around the rim of
the island

4. 4
Relative location of one state compared
to another can be vital
E.g. Landlocked states are disadvantaged
States that have no ocean frontage
No access to maritime trade routes
location cont.
CORES AND CAPITALS
Original core area of a state usually
contains the densest population, and
largest cities
Southeast England
Northeast USA
Capital city is usually in the core area
BOUNDARIES
Each state is separated by international
boundaries
Within that boundary a state
Administers laws
Collects taxes
Provides defense
Before boundaries there were frontier
zones
BOUNDARY CLASSIFICATION
Natural boundaries
follow a physical feature, often a river, mountain range
or lake
Mountains and Oceans create the best boundaries
Geometric boundaries
follow a geometric shape, typically a straight line,
parallel of latitude, or meridian of longitude
Parts of the US/Canada and US/Mexico boundary are
geometric
US/ Mexico
border @
Mexicalli

5. 5
US/Canada border
SaskatchewanAlberta
Montana
Boundary classification
cont.
Antecedent boundaries
drawn before there was much human
settlement in an area
Sahara of northern Africa
Canada / US the result of a treaty signed in
1846 between the US and Britain
Subsequent boundaries
drawn after people had already settled in
an area
Consequent boundaries (ethnographic
boundaries)
drawn in such a way as to pay particular
attention to human patterns on the
landscape
India and Pakistan boundary drawn carefully to
accommodate
Muslim majority in Pakistan
Non-Muslim majority in India
Boundary classification
cont.
Superimposed boundaries
drawn after people were living in an area
and ignores human patterns
Most of the boundaries of Subsaharan Africa
were drawn with no real regard to tribal identities
and other human patterns
Relic boundaries
no longer functioning
Berlin Wall separating east and west Berlin
Hadrian’s Wall separating those areas in Britain
conquered by the Roman Empire, from those not
conquered by the Roman Empire
Boundary classification
cont.
Great Wall of
China: a relic
boundary
Hadrian’s Wall: a relic boundary

6. 6
Boundary disputes
Positional disputes
States disagree about where a boundary actually lies
Territorial disputes
Arises over the ownership of a particualar region
Resource disputes
Functional disputes
Neighboring states disagree over function of boundary
Geopolitics
A branch of political geography that
considers
Economic
Political
Military aspects of space
Can assess and recommend actions in
international relations best designed for
national security, projection of power
Geopolitical theories – the
heartland theory
Rooted from Halford MacKinder at the
beginning of the C20th when Russia
and Germany dominated Eastern
Europe
Major powers would be those that
controlled the land rather than the sea
Those lands with the largest landmasses
would become the most powerful
The interior (heartland) would provide a
base for world conquest
Modification of the Heartland theory by
Nicholas Spykman
Coastal fringes (rimland) are the key, not the
core
Contain the densest populations
Contain the most resources
“ Who controls the Rimland rules Eurasia,
Who rules Eurasia controls the destinies of
the world”
Geopolitical theories – the
rimland theory
By the end of WWII, heartland was equated
with the USSR
During the Cold War US foreign policy was
dominated by containment
Confine the USSR by making regional alliances in
the Rimland
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
CENTO (Central Treaty Organization)
SEATO (Southeast Treaty Organization
Allows military intervention where communist
expansion seemed to be taking place
Geopolitical theories –
containment
States that where a country in the Rimland
is successfully taken over by a country in
the “Heartland”, all adjacent countries will
fall
Invoked to explain US intervention in
Vietnam
Geopolitical theories – the
domino theory

7. 7
Centripetal Forces
Promotes unity and national stability
Nationalism
Unifying institutions
Organization and Administration
Transportation and Communication
Only 8 railroads cross the boundary between the US and
Canada – promotes national growth
Centrifugal Forces
Challenges State Authority
Nation states generally are not affected by
centrifugal forces that weaken or destroys
a state’s unity and stability
Most strong in states that contain two or
more nationalities that occupy distinct
territories
When more than one nationality occupies
a state
Can be disruptive if a group believes that
its right to self-determination has not been
achieved
Nationalities have the right to govern
themselves in their own state or territory
Subnationalism
Centrifugal Forces cont.
Regionalism
Occurs when a minority nationality has an
explicit territorial identity
Expressed as a desire for more autonomy
and sometimes separation from the rest of
the country
Quebec, Canada
Scotland, UK
Centrifugal Forces cont.

8. 8
Devolution
Often when regionalism occurs
governments have offered decentralization
of political power
E.g. Scotland and Wales now have their own
parliaments although they are not states of
themselves
Centrifugal Forces cont.