Antecedent Boundaries - A boundary line established before an area is populated.

Balkanization - The contentious political process by which a state may break up into smaller countries.
Buffer State - A relatively small country sandwiched between two larger powers. The existence of buffer states helps to
prevent dangerous conflicts between powerful countries.
Centrifugal Forces - Forces that tend to divide a country.
Centripetal Forces - Forces that tend to unite or bind a country together.
Colonialism - The expansion and perpetuation of an empire.
Commonwealth of Independent States - Confederacy of independent states of the former Soviet Union that have united
because of their common economic and administrative needs.
Compact States - A state that possesses a roughly circular, oval, or rectangular territory in which the distance from the
geometric center is relatively equal in all directions.
Confederation - A form of an international organization that brings several autonomous states together for a common purpose.
Democratization - The process of establishing representative and accountable forms of government led by popularly elected
officials.
Devolution - The delegation of legal authority from a central government to lower levels of political organization, such as a
state or country.
Domino Theory - The idea that political destabilization in one country can lead to collapse of political stability in neighboring
countries, starting a chain reaction of collapse.
East/West Divide - Geographic separation between the largely democratic and free-market countries of Western Europe and
the Americas from the communist and socialist countries of Eastern Europe and Asia.
Electoral College - A certain number of electors from each state proportional to and seemingly representative of that state's
population. Each elector chooses a candidate believing they are representing their constituency's choice. The candidate who
receives a higher proportion of electoral votes within a state receives all the electoral votes for that state.
Electoral Vote - The decision of a particular state elector that represents the dominant views of that elector's state.
Elongated State - A state whose territory is long and narrow in shape.
Enclaves - Any small and relatively homogenous group or region surrounded by another larger and different group or region.
European Union - International organization comprised of Western Europe countries to promote free trade among members.
Exclave - A bounded territory that is part of a particular state but is separated from it by the territory of a different state.
Federalism - A system of government in which power is distributed among certain geographical territories rather than
concentrated within a central government.
Fragmented State - A system of government that is not contiguous as a whole but rather separated parts.
Frontier - An area where borders are shifting and weak and where peoples of different cultures or nationalities meet and lay
claim to the land.
Geometric Boundary - Political boundaries that are defined and delimited by straight lines.
Geopolitics - The study of the interplay between political relations and the territorial context in which they occur.
Gerrymandering - Th designation of voting districts so as to favor a particular political party or candidate.
Heartland Theory - Hypothesis proposed by Halford Mackinder that held that any political power based in the heart of Eurasia
could gain enough strength to eventually dominate the world.
Imperialism - The perpetuation of a colonial empire even after it is no longer politically sovereign.
International Organization - An alliance of two or more countries seeking cooperation with each other without giving up
either's autonomy or self-determination.
Landlocked State - A state that is completely surrounded by the land of other states, which gives it a disadvantage in terms of
accessibility to and from international trade routes.
Law of the Sea - Law establishing state's rights and responsibilities concerning the ownership and use of the earth's seas and
oceans and their resources.
Lebenstraum - Hitler's expansionist theory based on a drive to acquire "living space" for the German people.
Microstate - A state or territory that is small in both population and area.
Nation - Tightly knit group of individuals sharing a common language, ethnicity, religion, and other cultural attributes.
Nationalism - A sense of national pride to such an extent of exalting one nation above all others.
Nation-state - A country whose population possesses a substantial degree of cultural homogeneity and unity.
North American Free Trade Agreement - Agreement signed on January 1, 1994, that allows the opening of borders between
the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization - An international organization that has joined together for military purposes.
North/South Divide - The economic division between the wealthy countries of Europe and North America, Japan, and Australia
and the generally poorer countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Organic Theory - The view that states resemble biological organisms with life cycles that include stages of youth, maturity, and
old age.
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries - An international economic organization whose member countries all produce
and export oil.
Perforated State - A state whose territory completely surrounds that of another state.
Physical Boundary - Political boundaries that correspond with prominent physical features such as mountain ranges or rivers.
Political Geography - The spatial analysis of political phenomena and processes.
Popular Vote - The tally of each individual's vote within a given geographic area.
Prorupted State - A state that exhibits a narrow, elongated land extension leading away from the main territory.
Reapportionment - The process of reallocation of electoral seats to defined territories.
Rectangular State - A state whose territory is rectangular in shape.
Relic Boundaries - Old political boundaries that no longer exist as international borders, but that have left an enduring mark
on the local cultural or environmental geography.

Rimland Theory - Nicholas Spykman's theory that the domination of the coastal fringes of Eurasia would provide the base for
world conquest.
Self-determination - The right of a nation to govern itself autonomously.
Sovereignty - Supreme or independent political power.
State - A politically organized territory that is administered by a sovereign government and is recognized by the international
community.
Stateless Nation - A group of people with a common political identity who do not have a territorially defined, sovereign
country of their own.
States' Rights - Rights and powers believed to be in the authority of the state rather than the federal government.
Subsequent Boundaries - Boundary line established after an area has been settled that considers the social and cultural
characteristics of the area.
Superimposed Boundaries - Boundary line drawn in an area ignoring the existing cultural pattern.
Supranational Organization - Organization of three or more states to promote shared objectives
Territorial Dispute - Any dispute over land ownership.
Territorial Organization - Political organization that distributes political power in more easily governed units of land.
Theocracy - A state whose government is either believed to be divinely guided or a state under the control of a group of
religious leaders.
Unitary State - A state governed constitutionally as a unit, without internal divisions or a federal delegation of powers.
United Nations - A global supranational organization established at the end of World War II to foster international security and
cooperation.