Transcript lesson 6 - boundaries

Topic: Separation of States - Borders &
Boundaries
• Aim: For what
reasons do
boundaries between
states exist?
• Do Now:
http://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=qMkYlIA7mgw
Boundaries…
• …are divisions, either natural or
created, that serve to divide and
separate things, in any context.
• Geographically speaking,
boundaries are either physical
or cultural, and many are a
combination thereof.
• Physical boundaries coincide
with naturally occurring
elements of the landscape
(mountains, water, etc.), while
cultural boundaries follow
distribution of cultural
characteristics (religion,
language, etc.)
Scale & Boundaries
*Think of some local boundaries,
then think of some national/global
boundaries
Local Boundaries
• Towns
• Villages
• Cities
• Counties/Parishes
• Boroughs
• School district
• Zip codes
• Hallways
• Cafeterias
• Fences
• Parks
Regional/Global Boundaries
• Countries
• Continents
• Language
• Religious
• Provinces
• Climate regions
• Types
of Boundaries
Why
Do Boundaries
Cause
– A state is separated from its neighbors by a boundary,
Problems?
an invisible line the
marks the extent of a state’s
territory.
– Historically, frontiers, which is a zone where no state
exercises complete political control, rather than
boundaries separated states.
– Three types of physical elements serve as boundaries
between states:
1. Desert Boundary: Effectively divide two states, because
deserts are hard to cross and sparsely inhabited. Desert
boundaries are common in Africa and Asia.
Why Do Boundaries Cause
2. Mountain Boundary
Problems?
– Effectively divide two states, if the mountains
are difficult to cross.
– Useful boundaries because of their permanent
quality and tendency to be sparsely populated.
3. Water Boundary
– Examples include rivers, lakes, and oceans.
– Less permanent overall than mountain
boundaries because of tendencies of water
levels to change in bodies of water and river
channels to move over time.
WATER BOUNDARY The boundary between Malawi
(foreground) and Mozambique (background) runs through Lake
Nyasa (Lake Malawi).
Bottom left-1961 West Berlin youth protest the recent
construction of the wall
Far right after the wall opened in 1989 guards lift up a child
2 views of Hadrian’s Wall built to keep out the barbarians of northern Britain
2 views of China’s great wall built to keep out barbarian invasions and migrations
The wall was built in the 3rd century B.C. and extended during the following century.
Who put all these boundaries
there and why?
Types of Boundaries
• Geometric: straight line
boundary such as US-Canada
or many in Africa.
• Physical or NaturalPolitical Boundary: river,
crest of a mountain range or
some other physical
landmark
• Cultural or AnthroGeographic Boundary:
breaks in the human
landscape, such as most of
Europe’s boundaries
Enclave/Exclave:
• Enclave: territory whose geographical
boundaries lie entirely within the
boundaries of another territory
• Exclave: territory legally attached to
another territory with which it is not
physically contiguous (separated by another
country, not water)
• Superimposed
boundary: lines drawn
by more powerful
people/countries.
–Berlin Conference
–Indian reservations
–Homelands
(apartheid)
Lesotho is an
enclave of South
Africa
Vatican City is an
enclave of Rome
Kaliningrad is an
exclave of Russia
Alaska is an exclave
DIVISION OF
GERMANY
DIVISION
OF BERLIN
Exclave and
enclave
East Pakistan initially was
an exclave. Now East
Pakistan is Bangladesh.
Land Boundaries: 3 Stages of
Development
1. Definition-a document is
created that indicates exact
landmarks
2. Delimitation-cartographers
place the boundary on the
map
3. Demarcation-boundary
markers such as steel posts
or concrete pillars, fences or
wall marks the boundary
Land Boundaries
• Not just a line, but also a
vertical plane that cuts
through subsoil, rocks
and the airspace abovecoal, gas & oil reserves
often cross these lines.
• Belgium, Germany &
Netherlands argued over
coal seams & natural gas
reserves.
• Kuwait Oil drilling
prompted the 1991 Gulf
War (Rumaylah Reserve)
Aozou Strip: A Geometric Boundary
Fig. 8-9: The straight boundary between Libya and Chad was drawn by European powers, and the
strip is the subject of controversy between the two countries.
Left-the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between
North Korea & South Korea is heavily
defended by both sides
Bottom left-the US-Canadian border is the
longest undefended border in the world.
Bottom right-the Rio Grande forms the border
between Mexico and the United States which is
porous enough to allow million of illegal
immigrants.
Physical Boundaries:
• Mountains: difficult to cross,
limits contact between
nationalities
• Deserts: hard to cross,
sparsely inhabited, common
in Africa and Asia
• Water: Rivers, lakes, and
oceans. Visible on a map and
relatively unchanging.
Common in East Africa.
Types of Cultural Boundaries:
• Religious: India/Pakistan
(Hindu/Muslim divide),
Northern Ireland
(Catholic/Protestant divide)
• Linguistic: European
languages, e.g.
• Cyprus’s “Green Line”
Boundary
• Geometric – often drawn
along lines of longitude and
latitude
Created for
Muslims
Created for
Hindus
Protestants
Catholics
• Cyprus’s “Green Line” Boundary
• Cyprus contains two nationalities – Greek (78%) and
Turkish (18%)
• Buffer zone patrolled by UN soldiers to prevent
Greeks and Turks from crossing
U.S.Canada
boundary
AlbertaMontana
U.S.Mexico
boundary
Calexico, CaliforniaMexicali, Mexico
Iguazu Falls,
Argentina /
Paraguay
MexicoGuatemala
Border Region
Why Do
• Governing
StatesBoundaries Cause
– National governments
can be classified as
Problems?
democratic, autocratic, or anocratic.
• A democracy is a country in which citizens
elect leaders and can run for office.
• An autocracy is a country that is run
according to the interests of the ruler
rather than the people.
• An anocracy is a country that is not fully
democratic or fully autocratic, but rather a
mix of the two.
REGIME TYPE Most states are either democratic, autocratic, or
anocratic. In a few “failed” states, such as Somalia and Haiti, government
institutions have broken down because of civil war, extreme poverty, or
natural disasters—or some combination of the three.
• Governing States
– National Scale: Regime Types
• Democracies and autocracies differ in three essential
elements:
1. Selection of Leaders
» Democracies have institutions and procedures
through which citizens can express effective
preferences about alternative policies and leaders.
» Autocracies have leaders who are selected according
to clearly defined (usually hereditary) rules of
succession from within the political elite.
2. Citizen Participation
» Democracies have institutionalized constraints on
the exercise of power by the executive.
» Autocracies have citizens’ participation restricted or
suppressed.
Why Do Boundaries Cause
Problems?
•
Why Do Boundaries Cause
Governing States
Problems?
– National Scale: Regime Types
• Democracies and autocracies differ in three essential
elements cont’d:
3.
Checks and Balances:
» Democracies guarantee civil liberties to all citizens.
» Autocracies have leaders who exercise power with no
meaningful checks from legislative, judicial, or civil society
institutions.
– In general, the world has become more democratic
since the turn of the 19th century.
Electoral Geography:
• A state’s electoral
system is part of its
spatial organization of
government.
• In the United States:
- territorial
representation
- reapportionment
- voting rights for
minority populations
Electoral Geography: Forms of Government
• Unitary – highly centralized government where
the capital city serves as a focus of power.
• Federal – a government where the state is
organized into territories, which have control
over government policies and funds.
The U.S. Federal Government:
Allows states within the state to determine “moral” laws such
as death penalty, access to alcohol, and concealed weapons.
Minnesota’s
concealed
weapons law
requires the
posting of signs
such as this on
buildings that do
not allow
concealed weapons.
Nigeria’s Federal
Government –
Allows states within the
state to determine
whether to have Shari’a
Laws
Shari’a Laws
Legal systems based on traditional Islamic laws
Gerrymandering: drawing voting districts to benefit one
group over another.
Majority-Minority: districts drawn so that the majority of
the population in the district is from the minority.
Gerrymandering
Florida & Georgia
•
State legislature
boundaries were
drawn to maximize
the number of
legislators for
Republicans in
Florida and
Democrats in
Georgia.
WhyGeography
Do Boundaries
• Electoral
Cause
– Gerrymandering
takes three forms:
Problems?
1. Wasted vote spreads opposition supporters across many
districts but in the minority.
2. Excess vote concentrates opposition supported into a few
districts.
3. Stacked vote links distant areas of like-minded voters
through oddly shaped boundaries.
– U.S. Supreme Court ruled gerrymandering illegal in
1985 but did not require dismantling of existing oddly
shaped districts.
WASTED VOTE GERRY MANDERING Wasted vote gerrymandering spreads opposition
supporters across many districts as a minority. If the Blue Party controls the redistricting
process, it could create a wasted vote gerrymander by creating four districts with a slender
majority of Blue Party voters and one district (#1) with a strong majority of Red Party voters.
EXCESS VOTE GERRY MANDERING Excess vote gerrymandering concentrates
opposition supporters into a few districts. If the Red Party controls the redistricting process, it
could create an excess vote gerrymander by creating four districts with a slender majority of
Red Party voters and one district (#3) with an overwhelming majority of Blue Party voters.
STACKED VOTE GERRY MANDERING A stacked vote gerrymander links distant areas
of like-minded voters through oddly shaped boundaries. In this example, the Red Party
controls redistricting and creates five oddly shaped districts, four with a slender majority of
Red Party voters and one (#3) with an overwhelming majority of Blue Party voters.