A | B |
Balance of power | condition of roughly equal strength between opposing countries or alliances of countries |
boundary | invisible line that marks the extent of a state's territory |
city-state | a sovereign state comprising a city and its immediate hinterland |
colonialism | attempt by one country to establish settlements and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles in another territory |
colony | a territory that is legally tied to a soverign state rather than completely independent |
compact state | a state in which the distance from teh center to any boundary does not vary significantly |
elongated state | a state with a long, narrow shape |
federal state | an internal organization of a state that allocates most powers to units of local government |
fragmented state | a state taht includes several discontinuous pieces of territory |
frontier | a zone separating two states in which neither state exercises political control |
gerrymandering | process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power |
imperialism | control of territory already occupied and organized by an indigenous society |
landlocked state | a state that does not have a direct outlet to the sea |
microstate | a state that encompasses a very small land area |
perforated state | a state taht completely surrounds another one |
prorupted state | an otherwise compact state with a large projecting extension |
sovereignty | ability of a state to govern its territory free from control of its internal affairs by other states |
state | an area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government with control over its internal and foregin affairs |
unitary state | an internal organization of a state taht places most power in the hands of central government officials |