How can the shape of a country be both a negative or a positive?

1. How can the shape of a country be both a negative or a positive?

2. II.  Territory, Borders, and the Geography of Nations A.   Territorial Morphology 1. Size of a state is not always an indication of resource distribution or world importance 2.  Countries have a variety of shapes

3. Roughly 3000 miles 3.  Each shape and location offers both advantages and disadvantages a.  Large land areas deal with unique problems related to administration of vast areas How can harsh physical geography also create problems in ruling Russia?

4. 4. Some countries also occupy strategic sites, such as Israel, the Korean Peninsula, and Panama, or historical areas like Istanbul, Hawaii, or New Orleans

5. 5.  Types of Shapes and Examples a. Microstates For Example: Vatican City and San Marino

6. b.  Fragmented States 1.  fragmented states must determine ways to create cohesive national fabric out of many pieces of land

7. c.  Elongated state - What are the disadvantages of this shape of a country?

8. d.  Compact States What are the advantages of this shape of a country?

9. e.  Perforated State South Africa is an example with Lesotho Italy is an example because of the Vatican and San Marino

10. f.  Landlocked State What are the disadvantages of a landlocked state?

11. g.  Prorupted State The Caprivi Strip in Namibia was designed by the Germans to give their colony access to the Zambezi river

12. h.  Enclaves

13. i. Exclave

16. 12. Satellite State 13. Buffer State

17. B. Types of Boundaries 1.  Physical  boundaries

18. 2.  Geometric boundaries

19. 3.  Subsequent boundaries 4.  Antecedent boundary 5.  Ethnocentric/cultural boundary

20. 5.  Superimposed boundaries

21. 6.  Relic boundaries a. Often leave behind a trace in local culture • b. Example of the reunification of Germany where different levels of prosperity still show between east and west

22. C. Boundary Processes 1. Definition 2. Delimitation 3. Demarcation

23. 4. Frontier Ex:  The Western Amazon Basin and borders between Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, and Venezuela, or the claims to Antarctica 5. Law of the Seas (UNCLOS)

24. 6. Median Line Principal 7. EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone)

25. F. Boundary Disputes 1. Definitional Boundary Dispute 2. Locational Boundary Dispute 3. Operational Boundary Dispute 4. Allocational Boundary Dispute

27. Scenario one: The status quo Kashmir has been a flashpoint between India and Pakistan for more than 50 years. Currently a boundary - the Line of Control - divides the region in two, with one part administered by India and one by Pakistan. India would like to formalize this status quo and make it the accepted international boundary. But Pakistan and Kashmiri activists reject this plan because they both want greater control over the region.

28. Scenario two: Kashmir joins Pakistan Pakistan has favored this as the best solution to the dispute. In view of the state's majority Muslim population, it believes that it would vote to become part of Pakistan. However a single plebiscite held in a region which comprises peoples that are culturally, religiously and ethnically diverse, would create disaffected minorities. The Hindus of Jammu, and the Buddhists of Ladakh have never shown any desire to join Pakistan and would protest at the outcome.

29. Scenario three: Kashmir joins India Such a solution would be unlikely to bring stability to the region as the Muslim inhabitants of Pakistani-administered Jammu and Kashmir, including the Northern Areas, have never shown any desire to become part of India.

30. Scenario four: Independent Kashmir The difficulty of adopting this as a potential solution is that it requires India and Pakistan to give up territory, which they are not willing to do. Any plebiscite or referendum likely to result in a majority vote for independence would therefore probably be opposed by both India and Pakistan. It would also be rejected by the inhabitants of the state who are content with their status as part of the countries to which they already owe allegiance.

31. Scenario five: A smaller independent Kashmir An independent Kashmir could be created from the Kashmir Valley - currently under Indian administration - and the narrow strip of land which Pakistan calls Azad Jammu and Kashmir. This would leave the strategically important regions of the Northern Areas and Ladakh, bordering China, under the control of Pakistan and India respectively. However both India and Pakistan would be unlikely to enter into discussions which would have this scenario as a possible outcome.

32. Scenario six: Independent Kashmir Valley An independent Kashmir Valley has been considered by some as the best solution because it would address the grievances of those who have been fighting against the Indian Government since the insurgency began in 1989. But critics say that, without external assistance, the region would not be economically viable.

33. Scenario seven: The Chenab formula This plan, first suggested in the 1960s, would see Kashmir divided along the line of the River Chenab. This would give the vast majority of land to Pakistan and, as such, a clear victory in its longstanding dispute with India. The entire valley with its Muslim majority population would be brought within Pakistan's borders, as well as the majority Muslim areas of Jammu.