This document provides an overview of political geography concepts including nation, state, nation-state, and multiethnic and multinational states. It discusses how most countries are not nation-states due to ethnic and linguistic diversity. The legacy of colonialism is discussed in relation to imposing political boundaries that divided ethnic groups in Africa and elsewhere. Examples of conflicts arising from ethnic divisions within states like Nigeria, Sudan, and former Yugoslavia are also summarized.

1. Political Geography
(Rubenstein, Ch. 8)
At the simplest level, political geography is often thought about
as the study of the location of the world’s political units
Hopefully by now, however, you agree that geographic literacy
is about far more than simply memorizing places (like
“countries”) on a map!
As this presentation attempts to demonstrate, the field of
political geography is really much more concerned with issues
of far deeper significance than simply asking “where is that
country?”

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Nevertheless…
By the end of this course, you should be able to locate most of
the countries of the world on a blank map
At absolute minimum, you should be able to locate those on the
current top 10 list of most populous countries, plus those that
are projected to be in the top 10 by 2050 (see the list from the
Week 2 Lecture material)
In addition, any of the other countries highlighted as examples
in any of the Lecture presentations used throughout this course
are considered “fair game” – especially those that have been

3. Take a few moments just to “refresh” your memory of the
countries in the so-called “Western Hemisphere” – i.e., the
Americas
3
And now the rest of the world…

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So how many “countries” are there?
Currently, there are approximately 194 internationally
recognized independent political states (i.e., “countries”) in the
world
However, notice the use of the word approximately!
The answer can actually vary largely because there can be
disagreement about whether or not a state is considered
“internationally recognized”
Also, there is the issue of whether or not a political unit is
considered sovereign (i.e., truly independent – has its own

5. government that is free to make all decisions about what goes
on within its territory)
Is there a difference between a nation and a state?
Since we’re asking the question, there must be, righ
In common usage, the media and other sources often use the two
terms interchangeably
However, in the field of political geography, there most
certainly is a difference – and it’s important for understanding
how many geopolitical issues can be viewed from a cultural
geographer’s perspective

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So what’s the difference?
Nation = a group of people with a shared background, history,
and identity
E.g., French, Japanese, Kurds, etc., etc.
The names of many nations of people are often the same as that
used to identify their languages
State = a political unit with its own independent,
internationally-recognized, governmental body and territorial
boundaries
Because some states, like the USA, have “muddied the waters,”
so-to-speak, with our usage of the term “state” for its political
subdivisions, we have generally come to use the term “country”

7. to refer to individual state governments
However, some political geographers don’t like this, either,
since “country” can have other meanings as well (i.e., to refer
to a rural area), but it’s probably the best term to use as a
synonym in this case and so we will often use “country” and
“state” in this synonymous way
7
Of course, the concept of “nation” is also confusing…
Many countries have used the term “nationality” (or “national
origin”) to refer to anyone from a particular country (i.e., state),
regardless of whether or not that person was actually a member

8. of the particular nation of people most commonly associated
with that country
For example, when immigrants entered the USA during the early
1900s, it was common to just list the person’s country (i.e.,
political state) of origin as their “nationality” (e.g., Italy), even
if the person might have actually identified with a different
nation of people from within that country (e.g., Sicilian)
Does that help?
8

9. The Kurds, for example, constitute a distinct nation of people
who dominate portions of SE Turkey, Northern Iraq, and
Western Iran
9
However, since there is not currently an independent political
state of Kurdistand (or whatever it may be called), the Kurds
are also considered an example of a “stateless nation”

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Of course, since there are only 194 states/countries (give or
take), but well over 6000 different languages (and therefore
potentially that many “nations”), most nations are stateless
Since the entire concept of defining political states was
primarily a European practice that was instituted around the
world during the era of colonialism, most indigenous (or native)
peoples, such as the Cherokee, Navajo, Maya, and Inuit of
North and Central America, are examples of stateless nations

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But aren’t most nations synonymous with their states?
Actually, NO! Recall the point that was just made about the
number of states vs. the potential number of “nations” (i.e.,
roughly 200 vs. 6000+)…not exactly an even split, is it?
Also, think back to the maps of ethnic regions used in the
previous chapter’s lecture – Did you notice how many ethnic
groups were in those countries?
However, there are a few countries whose population possesses
a substantial degree of cultural homogeneity and unity – in
other words they are actually states dominated by members of
one nation
These countries are referred to as “nation-states” (since they

12. possess both qualities)
There is no defined limit to determine a “nation-state,” but
generally if over 90% of a state’s population strongly identifies
itself as members of a particular nation, then it can most likely
be referred to as a decent example of one
12
The “nation-state” concept is generally more true of countries in
Europe, since that’s where the whole idea essentially originated
– i.e., to create an official political state whose boundaries
correspond with where a particular nation lives. This process
came to be referred to as nationalism

13. France is often used as an example of a nation-state, although it
has rapidly growing African and Muslim ethnic immigrant
groups, and is really more of a multiethnic state now
Poland is probably a better example, since over 96% of its
population identifies themselves as “Polish”
13
Outside of Europe, Japan is probably the most commonly cited
example of a nation-state, and it may be the closest thing to a
“true” one at that! 99% of its population identifies itself as

14. being of “Japanese” nationality
14
Then what is a country if it’s not a nation-state?
Simply put, they are either:
Multiethnic states = a state that contains more than one ethnic
group, or
Multinational states = a state that contains two or more ethnic
groups that have essentially agreed to coexist by recognizing
each other as distinct nations
Most countries do have a dominant national group (say one that

15. comprises 50-60% of its population), but they also have a
handful (or more) of sizeable ethnic minorities
E.g., ~54% of Brazil’s population is considered to be of the
dominant “white” majority, 38.5% are mulatto (mixed black &
white), 6% are black, etc.
15
This map underscores the point that most countries are not
nation-states – only 25 are truly classified as such

16. 16
Of course the major “immigrant” countries, like the USA,
Canada and Australia, were largely founded on multinational
principles (at least in ideology) and retain this trait to this day
Most African states are also multinational (for reasons we will
discuss in a little while)
Believe it or not, Spain is actually a multinational country
In fact, the Basque (one of its 4 principle nationalities—
although they only represent 2% of the population) have
mounted a strong separatist campaign, with the goal (at least of
the most extreme) of creating an independent nation-state.
This is now commonly referred to as ethnonationalism, since it
is an ethnic group seeking to create an independent nation-state

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Now we can begin exploring some of the various ways in which
all these “ethnic” and “national” identities manifest themselves
around the world

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Devolution & ethnonationalism in the former Soviet Union
Russia is a prime example of devolution = the breaking down of
a country along sub-national or ethnic divisions
The most violent example of this was the mid-1990s attempt by
the small district of Chechnya, which still lingers

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The “Troubled” Transcaucasia Region:
3 former USSR republics of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan
(just south of Chechnya) are currently struggling with a variety
of geopolitical conflicts – mostly all to do with the ethnic &
national identity differences of the people in this region
Georgia, in particular, is only loosely holding onto Abkhazia
and South Ossetia, where ethnic differences are at the root of
the conflicts

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In addition, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been in the midst of a
dispute over a territory known as Nagorno-Karabakh since the
1990s. The territory is an example of an exclave = a piece of
territory separated from the main body of a country by the
territory of another country.

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During the 1990s, Armenia seized control of Nagorno-
Karabakh, as well as the territory in between. It is NOT fully
internationally recognized part of Armenia – although they have
been claiming it is for over a decade now. When states do this,
it is called irredentism = attempt to annex territories
administered by another state on the grounds of common
ethnicity and/or prior historical possession (actual or alleged)
Can you identify which two countries these are?

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This map shows these ethnic conflicts in a broader regional
context – by the way, notice the vast amount of ethnic diversity
across this region, including in Iran

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“The Pentagon’s New Map”: This is one “expert’s” (Thomas
Barnett) perspective on how the ethnic and cultural divisions
within the current multiethnic states of the Middle East might
lead to new geography of state boundaries within the 21st
century. What do you think about this possible future political
geography he “predicts”?

24. 24
This is actually from his best-selling book by this title. You
can read much of it online on Google Books:
http://books.google.com/books?id=sH9xWDsZcukC&printsec=fr
ontcover&dq=pentagon's+new+map&source=bl&ots=F1qr-
x6K0D&sig=MyCixD4nB_8jH7twiISwaMl_Gkc&hl=en&ei=t5b
ZTNrNA5KynAfkw6jwCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&r
esnum=10&ved=0CCgQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q&f=false
Or just Google “Pentagon’s New Map” if the above link doesn’t
work. You’ll find all kinds of work he’s done like this.
The potential for devolution in Europe

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Ethnographic boundaries in the former Yugoslavia

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The Geopolitical Legacy of Colonialism
In order to understand many of the cultural, political, and
economic issues in the world today, it is helpful to first
consider the patterns of the colonial world
27
27

27. One Example: The Geopolitical Legacy of “The Berlin
Conference”
Over a dozen European states met in Berlin in 1884 to divide
Africa into their own colonial territories – without any real
consideration of the cultural/ethnographic boundaries
The result was that political boundaries were superimposed over
the ethnographic ones (Figure 7-34 in the Rubenstein textbook
shows exactly how different they are)
When African colonial territories began gaining their
independence after 1950, the entire region had already acquired
a legacy of political fragmentation

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The cultural consequences of these superimposed boundaries
were many:
Many groups were divided
Hostile groups were lumped together
Unified regions were ripped apart
Hinterlands were disrupted
Migration routes were closed off
As the colonies were finally granted independence in the 1960s
& ’70s, these became the boundaries for their new states
Thus, leaving most of them in a politically fragmented and
dysfunctional situation
Is it any wonder that African states have experienced years of
political coups and civil war?
The Evolution of Independent States in Africa

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The most tragic recent example of this is the genocide
(intentional killing of an ethnic or cultural group) that took
place in Rwanda in 1994
The Belgians gave preferential treatment to the Tutsi ethnic
group (over the majority Hutus), sparking off decades of acts of
ethnic cleansing back-and-forth between members from both
sides
Note: If you haven’t seen it yet, “Hotel Rwanda” is an
outstanding movie about one man’s efforts to save hundreds of
Tutsis. “Sometimes in April” is a less well-known, but equally
powerful film told from the perspective of a Hutu caught
between the two sides. (Both are from 2004)
Another cruel legacy of colonialism is the antagonism that the
colonizers often created as a result of their interaction with
various groups

30. 30
30
Hausa-Fulani
– Muslim dominated
Yoruba
- Main area of British
colonial development
and Christianity
Ibo
Densely settled rural
traditional settlements
At independence, Nigeria was composed of three regions (based
on regional tribal bases)
Colonialism, not only created the foundation for multinational
states, but also for “multicore” states in which multiple core
areas compete for control, or there is simply a lack of a core
area altogether – which obviously can lead to more problems

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Add to this the competition between groups for Nigeria’s most
abundant natural resource – oil (which is not evenly distributed,
of course), and you have a recipe for political conflict and
instability

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One of the things Nigeria did to try to address this problem, was
to move its capital from Lagos (which is now the largest city in
Africa) to Abuja, which puts it in a more central (and “neutral”)
location. Notice that Abuja essentially straddles the
Islamic/Christian divide. This is an example of a “forward
capital” – which signals a country’s intention to exert its
political control over an area that was potentially contested or
underdeveloped
As we saw in the Nigeria video last week, however, the
expansion of the Islamic sharia laws in the northern region is
causing centrifugal pressures in the country
Lagos

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Conflict in Sudan’s Darfur Region
The conflict and violence between Muslims and Christians has
been going on for several years
This has force many to abandon their homes (becoming IDPs) or
even to flee to Chad or other countries as refugees
Unfortunately, the conflict seems to be getting worse and many
now call it genocide

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34
One of the video options for this week features this conflict
Of course not all ethnonationalist movements manifest
themselves in strong physical violence – take the Canadian
Province of Quebec, for example
The Quebecois movement of French Canadians to secede from
Canada failed in 1995 by a vote of 51% to 49% margin (actually
it was less than 2%)

35. What would be the geopolitical significance for the U.S. if we
had another independent country along our border?
35
35
Supranationalism – e.g., the U.N.

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36
EU Members
Non-members
Prospective
Members
European
Supranationalism

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This leads us to an important concept for this unit (and course,
in fact): Centrifugal vs. Centripetal forces
If you’re familiar with these forces from a Physics course, then
you’ll understand that…
Centrifugal forces are outward directed and therefore disrupt
internal order and work to tear a country apart (like a strong
ethnonationalist movement, for example)
Centripetal forces, on the other hand, are inward directed and
promote unity, stability, and order
Strong “national” pride and feelings, for example, can also
serve as a centripetal force, assuming that members of all ethnic
groups can be persuaded to accept the notion of being one, new
nation (as in the case of the U.S.)

38. 38
What are some other factors that work as either centrifugal or
centripetal forces?
The type of state system/government
For example, many have consider the U.S.’s “federal” model of
a representative democracy as a centripetal force for the country
because it shares significant powers with its smaller political
units – this helps diffuse the feelings of the need for more self-
autonomy in the first place
However, forcing a federal system in a place where strong
ethnic divisions already exist may not always be the best

39. solution either – as we are seeing in Iraq (more on the that later,
too)
39
Another factor that has traditionally been considered by
political geographers is a country’s “territorial morphology”
This is just a fancy way of saying “the shape of its political
boundaries”
The location of the country’s capital in relation to its shape may
also be considered
There are 5 basic types of territorial morphology

40. The “compact” shape (more circular) is considered ideal since it
minimizes the distance between all of its citizens—promoting
stability
The other 4 types can potentially be problematic (or promote
disorder) since some areas may feel (or actually be) cut off from
the political & economic system
40
What type of territorial morphology do you think each of these
countries has? What do you know about the political stability

41. of each of these countries? To what extent do you think
territorial morphology has played a role in these situations?
41