Political Geography

Today in class we started taking notes on a new unit called political geography.

Political Geography

 How is the world organized?

Country

·      An identifiable land area

Nation

 A population (group of people) with a common culture

States

·      A population under a single government

·      Synonym with “country”

Nation-State

·      A single culture under a single government

·      A nation which has the same border as a state

                   A nation

·      A group of people with a shared identity

·      Think of it as a culture group

-       Nations are culturally homogenous groups of people, larger than a single tribe or community, which share a common language, institutions, religion, and historical experience

                 An independent state

-       Recognized boundaries (boundary disputes are ok)

-       Organized economy (has a budget & can print own currency)

-       Has a education ( & social engineering)

-       Transportation (for moving goods and people)

-       Government (provides public services and police power)

-       Sovereignty (no other state should have power over the country’s territory)

-       External recognition (has been voted in by other countries)