Chapter 9:
Political Geography
Introduction to Geography
Lehman College GEH 101/GEH 501
Spring 2011
Keith Miyake
Political Geography
• Study of the organization and distribution
of political phenomena, e.g.:
• organization of power
• rule of authority
• territoriality of citizenship
Political Geography
Key Questions
• How is power exerted over different places
and at different geographical scales?
• How do different political arrangements and
forms of the “state” affect populations?
• How is power exercised through of political
borders and citizenship?
• How do geopolitics change through time?
Political Rule over Land
• Sovereignty: Independent authority over a
territory; the power to rule and create laws
• State: The set of political institutions that govern a
territory and maintain a monopoly over the
legitimate use of force.
• Sovereign State: Territory containing a permanent
population, sovereign government, and
independence from other states and powers.
• Country: Territory of a sovereign state
• Government: Particular group of people, forming
an administrative bureaucracy, that controls the
state apparatus at any given time
Nation
• Community of
people with a
common history,
language, culture,
ancestry, and/or
territory
• Sovereignty can
be absent or
disputed
• Stateless nations
Nation-State
• Nation-state: State whose territory
coincides with that occupied by a
particular nation
• Majority of the population from a single
ethnic group
• Language, education, infrastructure, and
economic systems organized by central
government
Other National
Political Systems
• Binational or multinational state: More
than one nation within a sovereign state
• Nigeria, Russia, UK, etc.
• Stateless nation: People without a state
Physical Shape of Countries
• Compact
• Prorupt
• Elongated
• Fragmented
• Perforated
• Enclave
Locations of Countries
• Absolute location
• Relative location
• Landlocked
• Geographic disadvantage
• On major trade routes
• Economic advantages
• Diffusion of new ideas and technologies
Cores and Capitals
• Core area: Nucleus and main center of industry,
commerce, population, political, and intellectual life
• Capital is usually in the core and frequently the
primate city (unitary state)
• Federal states: regional governments that have limited
autonomy under a central government; administrative
capital city is often relocated outside of core cities
• U.S.A., Canada
• Forward-thrust capitals: deliberately sited to promote
commerce and population growth outside of core cities
(Brasilia)
Boundaries
• Natural (physical) boundaries
• Mountains, rivers, lakes, etc.
• Artificial (geometric) boundaries
• Sections of parallels or meridians
• Antecedent boundaries
• Established before the area is well populated
• Subsequent boundaries
• Established after the area has been settled
Natural (Physical)
Boundaries
• Depend on some physical characteristics
of the landscape
• e.g., France and Spain separated by
Pyrenees Mountains
Artificial Boundaries
• Depend on socially developed systems of
demarcation like parallels or meridians
• e.g., DPRK (North Korea) and ROK (South
Korea) along 38th Parallel
Antecedent Boundaries
• Boundaries that are established before an
area is heavily populated by groups
recognized by the State.
• e.g., Western part of U.S.A. and Canadian
border (ignoring presence of non-white
peoples...)
Subsequent Boundaries
• Borders established after populations are established
in an area, often along ethnic/national territorial claims
• e.g., break-up of Yugoslavia
Subsequent Boundaries
• Consequent (ethnographic) boundaries
• Drawn to accommodate existing national
territories (Yugoslavia)
• Superimposed boundaries
• Ignore existing ethnic national territories
(Western Africa)
Boundaries as Sources
of Conflict
• Landlocked states
• Use of facilities at a
foreign port
• Access through a corridor
to the sea or navigable
river
Boundaries as Sources
of Conflict
• Waterbodies as boundaries
• Where the boundary line should lie
• Use of water resources
Boundaries as Sources
of Conflict
• Minority group identification
• Irredentism
• Advocating a state to annex territory
claimed by another state, but which is
inhabited by people who have common
ethnicity or historical claims to the land.
• Location of ethnic homeland spans border
• Internal separatist movements
Boundaries as Sources
of Conflict
• Resource disputes
• Movement of peoples across border
• Natural resource reserves in border
regions (Iraq-Kuwait)
• Physical or cultural resource on adjacent
land in neighboring state (Jerusalem)
Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait
Promoting State
Cohesion
• Nationalism
• Identification with the state and acceptance
of national goals
• Strengthens the political system
• Helps integrate different groups into a
unified population
• Unites geographically dispersed populations
Promoting State
Cohesion
• Symbols are used to promote nationalism
• Unifying Institutions
• Schools, armed forces, media
• Organization and administration
• Transportation and communication
States and Religion
• Religious institutions may compete with national
institutions for allegiance
• Religious institutions may serve a primary role in
governance over a state
• Conflict between majority and minority religious
groups
• Sectarian conflict between different denominations
Challenges to the State
• Imperialism, colonialism, anti-colonialism
• Globalization of economies and governance
• Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
• Migration, citizenship, nationalism
• Increase in nationalist and separatist movements
• Legitimacy of rule
Challenges to State
Authority
• Subnationalism: Feeling that one owes
primary allegiance to a traditional group
or nation rather than to the state
• Self-determination
• Regionalism: Minority group identification
with a particular region of a state rather
than with the state as a whole
Challenges to State
Authority
• Separatist movements
Challenges to State
Authority
• Ethnic cleansing: Killing or forcible relocation
of one traditional or ethnic group by a more
powerful one
• Preconditions of separatist movements:
Territory and nationality
• Common characteristics of separatist
movements: Peripheral location and social and
economic inequality
Cooperation Among States
• Supranationalism: Associations of states created for
mutual benefit and to achieve shared objectives
• United Nations (UN)
• Provides a forum where countries can discuss
international problems and regional concerns and a
mechanism for forestalling disputes or ending wars
• Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World
Bank, International Labor Organization (ILO),
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF),
World Health Organization (WHO)
Cooperation Among States
• Economic Governance
• World Trade Organization (WTO)
• International Monetary Fund, World Bank
• Military and Political Governance
• Geneva Convention
• Bandung Conference
• Environmental Governance
• Regional Governance
Local and Regional
Political Organization
• Local and regional governmental organization
represent spatial systems of political decision
making
• The geography of representation
• Urban/rural divisions
• Politics of difference
• Redistricting/reapportionment
Quiz
• Explain what is meant by environmental
determinism and possibilism and how they
differ.
• What is the difference between a nation, a
sovereign state, and a nation-state?
• Do you think regions of a country ought to be
able to secede? If decided by a popular vote, do
you think that majority approval should be
required throughout the entire country or only
in the areas seeking to secede?
