| Term | Definition |
| nation | a large aggregate of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory. |
| nation-state | A state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular ethnicity that has been transformed into a nationality |
| stateless nation | A nationality that is not represented by a state. |
| autonomous region | an area of a country that has a degree of autonomy, or has freedom from an external authority |
| semi-autonomous region | area where a group has some type of political autonomy. Semi-autonomous regions, like Kurdistan, has a degree of power and self-determination, but not fully like the autonomous regions of Russia in the North Caucasus region |
| state | An area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government with control over its internal and foreign affairs. A country |
| multi-national state | State that contains two or more ethnic groups with traditions of self-determination that agree to coexist peacefully by recognizing each other as distinct nationalities. |
| multi-state nation | a nation or cultural group that is divided across two or more state borders |
| sovereignty | Ability of a state to govern its territory free from control of its internal affairs by other states. |
| self-determination | Concept that ethnicities have the right to govern themselves |
| devolution | The process whereby regions within a state demand and gain political strength and growing autonomy at the expense of the central government. |
| political boundaries | lines that define the border of a country or state |
| territoriality | the defense of a bounded physical space against encroachment by other individuals |
| political power | power used to determine who will hold government office and how the government will behave |
| neo-colonialism | control by a powerful country of its former colonies (or other less developed countries) by economic pressures |
| shatterbelt | an area of instability between regions with opposing political and cultural values |
| chokepoint | a strategic, narrow waterway between two larger bodies of water |
| relict boundary | a former boundary line that is still discernible and marked by some cultural landscape features |
| superimposed boundary | a boundary that is imposed on the cultural landscape which ignores pre-existing cultural patterns (typically a colonial boundary) |
| subsequent boundary | a boundary line that is established after the area in question has been settled and that considers the cultural characteristics of the bounded area |
| antecedent boundary | a boundary that existed before the cultural landscape emerged and stayed in place while people moved in to occupy the surrounding area |
| geometric boundary | Political boundaries that are defined and delimited by straight lines. |
| consequent boundary | a boundary line that coincides with some cultural divide, such as religion or language |
| International boundary | delineates the space between sovereign space |
| Internal boundary | boundaries that do not indicate sovereignty, but are used to break space into manageable units of administration |
| Delimited boundary | a boundary line drawn on a map to show the limits of a space |
| Demarcated boundary | a boundary identified by physical objects placed on the landscape; can be a sign, fence, wall, etc. |
| Defined boundary | a boundary estazblished by a legal document such as a treaty that divides one entity from another |
| Militarized boundary | a boundary that is heavily guarded and discourages crossing and movement |
| Maritime boundary | boundaries in the water; based on UNCLOS and various rights to the waters |
| UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) | Governs how land waters will be divided; includes Territorial Seas, Contiguous Zones, Eclusive Economic Zones, and High Seas |
| Voting district | voting boundaries created; based on the Census |
| Redistricting | redrawing of district boudnaries so that each district contains roughly the same number of people; based on the Census |
| Gerrymandering | drawing the boundaries of political districts by the party or group in power to extent or cement their advantage |
| Federal state | authority shared between the central government and provincial, state, and local governments; multiple levels of power |
| Unitary state | authority held primarily by central government with very little power given to local governments |
| Ethnic separatism | occurs when ethnic groups and minorities are concentrated in specific regions, leading to independence movemnts |
| Ethnic cleansing | forced removal of ethnic, religious, racial, or cultural groups from an area, usually in an effort to make that area more ethnically homogenous |
| Terrorism | organized violence aimed at government and civilian targets that is intended to create fear in the furtherance of political aims |
| Irredentism | a movement to unite by people who share a language or other cultural elements, but are divided by a national boundary |
| Subnationalism | people whose primary allegiance is not to their state, but to a traditional group or ethnicity |
| State disintegration | the breaking down of a state |
| Democratization | the transition toward more democratic governments |
| Transnational corporations | companies that conduct business on a global scale; have weakened state sovereignty and are able to move jobs from country to country |
| Economies of scale | the cost advantages of conducting economic activity on a large scale, like at the transnational level |
| Supranationalism | occurs when multiple states form an organization to collectively achieve greater benefits for all members |
| United Nations (UN) | organization of 193 countries; created to address global issues such as worldwide peace and human rights |
| North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) | organization created as a defensive alliance to help the United States in the Cold War; includes states such as United States, Canada, Iceland, Western and Central European states, Turkey |
| European Union (EU) | organization of mostly Western and Central European states; created to ensure political and economic cooperation |
| Arctic Council | organization of 8 states that each claim territory in the Arctic; promotes cooperation on Arctic issues, including indigenous people, sustainability, and environmental protection |
| African Union | organization of 55 African states; promotes unity and encourages economic integration |
| Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) | organization of 10 Southeast Asian states; promotes cooperation on a number of issues, including politics and economics |
| Failed State | political body that has disintegrated to the point that it is no longer a sovereign or functioning political entity |
| Ethnonationalism | support for the political interests of a particular ethnic group, especially its national independence or self-determination |
| Balkanization | the fragmentation of a state or region into smaller, often hostile units along ethno-linguistic lines; usually applied specifically to the Balkan states in Europe |
| Reapportionment | changing the number of representattives granted so it reflects the population; done based on the Census |
| Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) | organization that focuses on the production or petroleum, as well as working to stabilize oil markets; includes states such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Indonexia, Venezuela, Nigeria, and Iran |
