Intro to POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY [AP Human Geography Review—Unit 4 Topic 1]

Summary

This script offers an insightful exploration into political geography, focusing on the concept of states and their evolution. It clarifies the difference between a 'state' and a 'nation,' explaining sovereignty and its significance. The video delves into the historical shift from empires to nationalism, leading to the current map of 195 independent states. It further categorizes political entities into six types: nations, nation-states, stateless nations, multi-state nations, multinational states, and autonomous/semi-autonomous regions, using examples to illustrate each. The script concludes with a plug for an AP Human Geography review guide.

Takeaways

• 🌍 The script discusses political geography, focusing on how the world is divided into states and how these divisions are made.
• 🏛️ A 'state' in political geography is a political unit with sovereignty over a defined territory and population, unlike the common usage of 'state' to refer to subnational entities like Ohio.
• 🗺️ There are 195 recognized independent states in the world as per the United Nations, with some additional disputed ones.
• 🏛️ Sovereignty is a key concept, indicating a state's power to govern its territory and make decisions within its borders.
• 🏰 Historically, the world was made up of large empires, not the collection of independent states we see today.
• 🌐 Nationalism, a sense of shared identity based on language, religion, and culture, has been a driving force behind the creation of new states since the 19th century.
• 👥 The script differentiates between 'Nation', which refers to a group sharing a common culture, and 'State', which is a political entity with sovereignty.
• 🏙️ 'Nation-state' is an ideal where a state's population is made up of a single nation, but this is rarely the case in reality.
• 🌎 'Stateless Nations' are groups that share cultural values but do not have their own state, such as the Kurds spread across the Middle East.
• 🌉 'Multi-state nations' are nations that are divided across multiple states, like the Yoruba people in West Africa.
• 🏙️ 'Multinational states' contain multiple cultures and ethnicities within their borders, like the United States with its diverse immigrant populations.
• 🏛️ Autonomous and semi-autonomous regions have varying degrees of self-governance within a state, with examples like Hong Kong and Scotland.

Q & A

What is political geography?

Political geography is the study of how the world is divided and spatially arranged by the exercise of political power and the drawing of boundaries.

How many independent states are recognized by the United Nations?

According to the United Nations, there are exactly 195 independent states as of the recording of the video.

What is the difference between a state and a nation?

A state is a political unit that has power over a geographic territory and exerts sovereignty, while a nation refers to a group of people who share a common language, history, and culture.

What is meant by the term 'sovereignty' in political geography?

Sovereignty in political geography refers to the right of a state to determine what happens within its borders and to defend its territory if necessary.

How has nationalism transformed the political map of the world?

Nationalism, which started in the 19th century, created a sense of commonality among people based on shared language, religion, and social customs, leading to a desire for territory and the formation of new states.

What is a nation-state?

A nation-state is a state made up of a single unified nation where the state boundaries are drawn around a single nation, and the idea is that State equals Nation.

What is a stateless nation?

A stateless nation is a group of people who share common cultural values and history but lack a formal state, such as the Kurds spread across Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey.

What is a multi-state nation?

A multi-state nation is a single nation living in more than one state, like the Yoruba people who live in Nigeria, Benin, and Togo.

What is a multinational state?

A multinational state is a state that contains multiple cultures and ethnicities within its boundaries, like the United States with its diverse cultural backgrounds.

What is the difference between autonomous and semi-autonomous regions?

Autonomous regions have a great deal of authority to operate independently of their national government, while semi-autonomous regions have more limited authority granted by the national government.

Can you provide an example of an autonomous region mentioned in the script?

Hong Kong is mentioned as an example of an autonomous region that operates largely independent of China's government.

What is the role of the United States in the concept of state as discussed in the script?

The United States is used as an example to explain the concept of a state, emphasizing that while Ohio is not a state in political geography, the United States as a whole is considered a state.

Outlines

00:00

🌍 Introduction to Political Geography

This paragraph introduces the topic of political geography, which is the study of how the world is divided and arranged by political power and boundaries. It explains that there are 195 independent states recognized by the United Nations, but the concept of independent states is relatively new. Historically, territories were often part of larger empires. The paragraph also defines key terms: 'state' refers to a political unit with sovereignty over a territory, while 'sovereignty' implies the power to govern and defend that territory. The video script distinguishes between 'state' in political geography and 'state' as used in the United States to refer to regions like Ohio or Nebraska. The concept of nationalism, which emerged in the 19th century and is based on shared language, religion, and social customs, is identified as a driving force behind the creation of many modern states.

05:01

🏛️ Types of Political Entities

This paragraph discusses six types of political entities: nations, nation-states, stateless nations, multi-state nations, multinational states, and autonomous/semi-autonomous regions. A 'nation' is defined as a group sharing a common culture and history, distinct from a 'state,' which is a political entity with defined borders and sovereignty. A 'nation-state' is an ideal where state boundaries match a single nation, exemplified by Japan. 'Stateless nations' are groups with a shared culture but without a state, such as the Kurds. 'Multi-state nations' live across multiple states, like the Yoruba people in West Africa. 'Multinational states' contain multiple cultures and ethnicities, like the United States. Lastly, 'autonomous' regions have significant independence within a state, while 'semi-autonomous' regions have limited autonomy, as seen in Hong Kong and the UK's Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Keywords

💡Political Geography

Political geography is the study of how political powers structure and organize space, including the establishment of borders and the distribution of political entities. In the video, this concept is central to understanding how the world is divided into different states and regions, and how political power is exercised over these areas.

💡State

A 'state' in political geography refers to a political unit that has power over a geographic territory, defined by borders, and containing a population. The video clarifies that this is different from the common usage of 'state' to refer to subnational entities like Ohio or Nebraska in the US. Instead, it refers to sovereign entities like the United States or Russia.

💡Sovereignty

Sovereignty is the right of a state to govern itself without outside interference. It includes the power to determine what happens within its borders and to defend its territory. The video explains that a state must possess sovereignty to be classified as such, which is a key aspect of its political independence.

💡Nationalism

Nationalism is described in the video as a sense of commonality among people based on shared language, religion, and social customs, often linked with a desire for territory. It is a driving force behind the creation of new states and has significantly reshaped the political map of the world from the 19th century onwards.

💡Nation

A 'nation' refers to a group of people who share a common language, history, and culture. The video emphasizes the distinction between a 'nation' and a 'state', using Belgium as an example where different nations (Flemish and Walloons) exist within the same state.

💡Nation State

A nation state is an ideal type of state composed of a single unified nation, where the state boundaries correspond to the cultural boundaries of a nation. The video points out that while this is an ideal, in reality, most states have some degree of cultural diversity, with Japan being an example that comes close to this concept.

💡Stateless Nations

Stateless nations are groups of people who share common cultural values and history but lack a formal state of their own. The Kurds are given as an example in the video, spread across Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey, yet maintaining a cohesive cultural identity without a state.

💡Multi-state Nation

A multi-state nation is a single nation living across the boundaries of more than one state. The Kurds and the Yoruba people are mentioned in the video as examples, with the latter living across Nigeria, Benin, and Togo, illustrating how a nation can be divided by state borders.

💡Multinational States

Multinational states contain multiple cultures and ethnicities within their boundaries. The video uses the United States as an example, highlighting its history of immigration and the presence of various cultural groups, making it a multinational state.

💡Autonomous and Semi-autonomous Regions

Autonomous regions have significant authority to operate independently of the national government, while semi-autonomous regions have more limited autonomy granted by the national government. Hong Kong is given as an example of an autonomous region within China, and Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are cited as semi-autonomous regions within the UK.

Highlights

Political geography is the study of how the world is divided and spatially arranged by political power and boundaries.

There are 195 independent states recognized by the United Nations as of the recording.

The concept of independent states is relatively new, with much of world history featuring massive empires.

Nationalism, which emerged in the 19th century, is a driving force behind the creation of new states.

A state is defined as a political unit with sovereignty over a geographic territory.

Sovereignty includes the right to determine what happens within a state's borders and to defend its territory.

A nation refers to a group of people who share a common language, history, and culture.

A nation-state is an ideal where state boundaries coincide with a single nation.

Stateless nations are groups with common cultural values but lack a formal state.

Multi-state nations describe a single nation living across multiple states.

Multinational states contain multiple cultures and ethnicities within their boundaries.

Autonomous regions have significant authority to operate independently within a state.

Semi-autonomous regions have limited authority granted by the national government.

Hong Kong is an example of an autonomous region operating largely independent of China's government.

Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are semi-autonomous regions within the United Kingdom.

The video offers a comprehensive review guide for AP Human Geography to help students achieve high grades.

Transcripts

this is a political map of the world and

we've got to understand how all these

political entities we call States came

to be and that's what this video is all

about so if you're ready to get them

brain cows milk let's get to it all

right it's time to get your party pants

on y'all because unit 4 is all about

political geography which is the study

of how the world is divided and

spatially arranged by the exercise of

political power and the drawing of

boundaries and so if we consider today's

world map as kind of like a puzzle then

these pieces that make up the puzzle are

what we call independent states and

according to the United Nations there

are exactly 195 of them as of this

recording although there are several

others that are disputed so as is our

custom let's begin with a couple

definitions a state refers to a

political unit that has power over a

geographic territory which is defined by

borders and contains a population and if

you live in the United States don't get

confused here because when you think of

a state you think of like Ohio or

Nebraska but that is not what we mean by

state in political geography a state is

a political unit that exerts sovereignty

over a territory and sovereignty is just

a fancy word related to power so that

means a state can only be classified as

a state if it possesses sovereignty

which includes the right to determine

what happens within its borders and to

defend its territory if necessary so

Ohio is actually a subunit of a larger

State namely the United States like Ohio

doesn't have complete power over its

population and borders because it still

answers the Big Daddy federal government

in Washington DC so by our definition

Ohio is not a state but the US is a

state and so is Russia and Brazil Etc so

you know don't get confused now here's

where I tell you that this arrangement

of independent states across the world

is a relatively new phenomenon this is

not how the world map looked 200 years

ago or 500 years ago and certainly not a

thousand years ago or to blow your mind

even 20 years ago like for much of world

history territory and peoples were

Consolidated into massive honking

Empires that included a huge variety of

different peoples with various cultural

heritages and languages it wasn't until

about the 19th century that a new

phenomenon called nationalism started

sweeping across the globe which

transformed the political map of the

world now by definition nationalism

describes a sense of commonality among a

People based on shared language and

religion and social customs and it's

often linked with a desire for territory

in other words nationalism happens when

people look around at each other and say

hey we speak the same language we have

the same culture we ought to have a

state of our own dang straight and it

was that sense of commonality that

created a flurry of new states on the

global stage throughout the 20th and

21st centuries and gave us the political

map of the world that we see today oh

hey and if you're struggling to exercise

sovereignty over your AP human geography

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my he review guy it's got everything you

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the link in the description anyway now

that we have those definitions down I

need to explain the six types of

political entities that exist in our

world today and you're going to need to

know a contemporary example of each the

first entity you need to know is the

nation which refers to a group of people

who share a common language history and

culture be careful here because it's

easy to confuse Nation with State

remember what I said before State refers

to a political entity but Nation refers

to the people who consider themselves a

distinct cultural units so for example

in Belgium which is a state there are

two distinct Nations the Flemish in the

North and the the walloons in the South

they both speak different languages but

the majority of power and wealth is

concentrated in the South or here in the

United States we have many nations

present not only distinct peoples like

various Native American groups but we

also have distinct cultural units like

the Deep South or Northeast Yankee okay

the second entity is the concept of the

nation state which describes a state

made up of a single unified Nation the

idea is that the state boundaries will

be drawn around a single nation in other

words here State equals Nation now to be

clear the nation state is kind of an

ideal that doesn't exist in reality

because nearly every modern state has

some cultural diversity within however

some states come pretty dang close to

the ideal like our friends in Japan now

historically they've been pretty

restrictive on immigration and that

means that a huge majority of its

citizens share Japanese cultural trait

but here's where I tell you they've been

easing their immigration restrictions

more recently since Japan's rni shout

out to unit two has been in Decline for

the last few decades a third you need to

know about stateless Nations which

describe a group of people who share

common cultural values in history but

lack a formal State and to be clear this

designation applies only to Nations that

possess no State anywhere like German

American Americans for example live in

America but they're not stateless since

you know last time I checked Germany

exists so then maybe the best known

stateless nation is the Kurds who are

spread out across the national

boundaries of Iraq Iran Syria and turkey

but the Kurds themselves have a deeply

cohesive and unique cultural identity in

history and although Kurds living in

Iraq have sought Independence in many

ways over the years they've been

unsuccessful and thus remain a stateless

nation okay The Fourth Kind of political

entity is known as a multi-state nation

which describes a single nation living

in more than one state so the Kurds fit

this description as well but another

example is the Yoruba people who live in

West Africa and are divided by the state

boundaries of Nigeria Benin and Togo now

to further confuse you the Kurds and

Yoruba are multi-state nations but they

are also classified as stateless Nations

see previous points but not all

multi-state nations are stateless and

here we come back to the Germans Germans

have a state but German people also live

in neighboring states like Austria

making them a multi-state nation also

and then fifth we have multinational

states which are states that contain

multiple cultures and ethnicities within

its boundaries and most modern countries

fit this definition to a greater or

lesser degree for example the United

States because of its long history of

immigration has been the home of many

different cultures that means that there

isn't necessarily one nation in America

since there are as I mentioned before

multiple Native American nations for

example several strong Latin American

nations and dense pockets of Asian

Nations throughout the territory that

doesn't mean that there haven't been

attempts to impose a dominant culture on

all Americans for example every now and

then bills are introduced to Congress to

make English the official language of

the United States but so far they've all

been shot down and the US remains a

multinational and then sixth you need to

know autonomous and semi-autonomous

regions autonomous describes regions

within a state that have a great deal of

authority to operate independently of

their national government

semi-autonomous are regions within a

state that have more limited Authority

granted by the national government and

here's where I tell you that in theory

these are two different kinds of regions

but in reality it's a little more

squishy because it's more about degrees

of autonomy like if a place was actually

fully autonomous then it would be its

own independent state but regardless

I'll give you two examples first is Hong

Kong now while it's technically part of

the Chinese state it operates largely

independent of ch China's government and

even has freedoms and basic rights for

its citizens that are not available in

China proper and that is to put a mildly

a great annoyance to the Chinese States

second Scotland Wales and Northern

Ireland are semi-autonomous regions in

the United Kingdom so they have their

own Parliament which pass laws in the

interest of their own people but at the

end of the day they're still answerable

to Big Mama Britain Okay click here to

keep reviewing other topics in unit four

and click here to get your hands on my

AP Human Geography himler review guide

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