GEG 100 ONLINE! Cultural Geography Review Exercises - Chapter 13 - ANSWERS

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Question 1

 EXPLAIN:

A. U.S.A. not a union of independent states

"To a political geographer, however, a state refers to an independent, bounded, and internationally recognized territory with full sovereignty over the land and people within it, in other words, a country." (p. 357)

B. International is really interstate

To most people the term "international" means betwee different countries. "International trade" is trade between countries. But as we saw in the question above, geographers use the term "state" to meand "country".

"While a state is a political unit, a nation is a cultural unit. A nation is a group of people with a common ancestry, regardless of whether the group controls its own country. The root of the word nation comes from the Latin nasci, meaning to be born, as in the words “native” or “natality.” It connotes blood ties between people. A nation is the largest such grouping of people, which distinguishes a nation from a family, clan, or tribe. Nations see themselves as a cohesive group, and as distinct from other groups. Most nations share a common religion, a common language, and accepted social ways of behavior that give it a common culture." (p. 357)

C. Interstate highways are really intrastate

If "state" means "country" and "inter" means "between", then an interstate highway would b a highway that connects differnt countries.. "*Intra" means "within". Therefore, since our "interstate" highways are all within the US, and the US is a state (i.e. country), then they are "intrastate" highways

D. Nationalism is loyalty to one’s nation

See definition of "nation" above.

E. Patriotism is loyalty to one’s state

 See definition of "state" above.

"Now you can begin to see the terminological chaos that clouds our understanding of current events. The United States of America is actually not a union of independent states, but perhaps would be described better as the United Provinces of America. If the United Nations were really an organization of nations, it would have over 5,000 members, instead of the approximately 200 states that currently have seats in it. The term international in fact refers to interstate, while Americans’ use of interstate (as in interstate highways) is really intrastate. Nationalism has come to mean loyalty to the state, when it is often quite the opposite—loyalty to one’s nation. Of course, it is understandable that the dominant nation would confuse nationalism and patriotism (loyalty to the state), because for them, the nation and state are the same." (p. 361)

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Question 2

1. True/False Irredentism is a movement by a minority ethnic group to break off from a country and form their own separate state.

2. True/False Irredentism can occur when a nation extends beyond the state in which they are the majority and overlaps into a neighboring state in which they are a minority.

3. True/False The Kurdish region is more properly considered a national homeland, not a state.

4. True/False In contrast with nations, states are cultural regions based on actual or mythological common ancestry.

5. True/False To be a nation, the common ancestry of the people must be real and not just mythological.

6. True/False If the Shia government in Iran tried to "reclaim" the Shia region of southern Iraq on the basis of a common national religion, the situation would best be described as irredentism, not ethnonationalism.

7. True/False In Iraq under President Saddam Hussein, a minority nation was the dominant power and the majority nation was oppressed.

8. True/False A nation will often consider its ancestral territory a part of its homeland, even if they no longer occupy it.

9. True/False Jews and Palestinians have separate homelands within the state of Israel.

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Question 3

 Select the word from the list below that BEST applies to the scenarios that follow. Do not use a word more than once.

culture cultural-landscape nation State nation-state

cold war irredentism balkanization devolution acculturation

transculturation centripetal force centrifugal force coup d'etat

1. The Kurds [map].
2. United States, Mexico, Kenya, Russia, etc.
3. Japan [figure].
4. Nearly 80 percent of the people of India practice the Hindu religion.
5. There are over 1500 different languages spoken in India. [map]
6. Bosnia, once a part of Yugoslavia, fights and wins its independence. [map]
7. A military general overthrows the elected government of Sierra Leone in western Africa.
8. Learned behavior.
9. Scotland and Wales now have their own parliaments and are making more decisions for themselves with less influence from London.
10. Vojvodina is an area of Yugoslavia that borders Hungary and contains a large number of Hungarian speakers. The country of Hungary has threatened military intervention if the government of Yugoslavia mistreats them.
11. As European Americans settled the United States, their language and customs replaced those of the indigenous Amerindians.
12. During the 1970s and 1980s the United States armed the UNITA rebels in the southwest Africa country of Angola, while the Soviet Union armed the Marxist government of Angola.
13. Houses, roads, fields, plantations, cities.
14. The Spanish language spoken in Mexico is a mixture of Spanish and many Amerindian words.

ANSWERS

1. nation
2. State
3. nation-state
4. centripital force
5. centrifugal force
6. balkanization
7. coup d'etat
8. culture
9. devolution
10. irredentism
11. acculturation
12. cold war
13. cultural landscape
14. transculturation

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Question 4

 Select one of the following components of culture that is best described by the examples that follow:

A. Material Culture
B. Social Institutions
C. Attitudes Toward the Unknown
D. the Arts
E. Language

1. mosque
2. parliament
3. chopsticks
4. Spanish
5. ballet

ANSWER:

A. Material Culture = chopsticks
B. Social Institutions = parliament
C. Attitudes Toward the Unknown = mosque
D. the Arts = ballet
E. Language = Spanish

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Question 5

 Define the following terms and apply them to examples from the readings on Iraq.

1. irredentism
   1. A movement to reunite a nation’s homeland when part of it is contained within another state. The piece of homeland that is ruled by the other state is known as an “irredenta.”

      EXAMPLE:

      • If the Shia government in Iran tried to "reclaim" the Shia region of southern Iraq on the basis of a common national religion
2. balkanization
   1. The fragmentation of a region into smaller, often hostile, political units
      The term comes from the Balkan Peninsula of Europe, a region that has balkanized may time, and is still undergoing balkanization.

      EXAMPLE:
      IF Iraq is broken up into two or three countries : a Kurdish state in the north, a Shia state in the south, and possibly a small Sunni state in the central part of the country.

      EXAMPLE FROM YUGOSLAVIA:
      The former Yugoslavia has become five independent countries and the province of Kosovo is fought to break away of what is left of Yugoslavia.

      1. 

3. Homeland
   1. Perceived ancestral territory of a nation.

       

      EXAMPLE:
      The Kurdish region of northern Iraq, eastern Turkey, and northwestern Iran.

      EXAMPLE: FROM YUGOSLAVIA:

      " The Serbs view Kosovo as a part of the Serbian historical patrimony [homeland]hat cannot be negotiable. . . " (p. 378)

      1. 
4. devolution
   1. The process whereby regions within a state demand and gain political strength and growing autonomy at the expense of the central government

       

      EXAMPLE:
      After the Gulf War of 1991 the government of Iraq had to devlve power to the Kurds in northern Iraq. The Kurds then had more political control over their own affairs.

      EXAMPLE FROM YUGOSLAVIA:

      • The peace agreement that ended the Bonian conflict gave the Serbs of the Serb Republic of Republika Srpska more authority over their internal affairs.
        • 

       

      • "Kosovo was in fact a self-governing province of Serbia in terms of the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution. Kosovo had its semiautonomous status gradually eroded by the central government in Belgrade in 1990–1991." (p. 378)

       

5. centrifugal force
   1. Forces from within a State that tend to divide it . Causes of conflicts within a State

      Hint: centrifugal = go apart

       

      EXAMPLE:
      The two main regigions in Iraq (Shia Islam and Sunni Islam)

      EXAMPLE FROM YUGOSLAVIA:
      Bosnia is a state of several major religions: Slavic Muslim 44%, Orthodox 31%, Catholic 15%, Protestant 4%, other 6%

6. centripetal force
   1. Forces from within a State that unite it. Forces that keep a country together

      Hint: centripetal = together

       

      EXAMPLE:
      The desire to oust the foreign armies in Iraq has united many to fight against them

      Can anybody think of other centripetal forces in Iraq?

      EXAMPLE FROM YUGOSLAVIA:

      The Slovene language spoken by 93% of the citizens of Slovenia helps unite the country.

7. ethnonationalism
   1. A strong feeling of belonging to a nation that is a minority within a state, has its own distinctive homeland within the state’s territory, and has deeply rooted feelings that it is different from the rest of the state’s population.

       

      EXAMPLE:
      During the Gulf War, President George Bush urged the Iraqi Kurds and Iraqi Shia to revolt against Saddam Hussein. These revolts against their own state are examples of ethnonationalism .

      EXAMPLE FROM YUGOSLAVIA:

      The Serbs in Republika Srpska of Bosnia. (see BOTH maps below.)

8. nation
   1. The largest human grouping characterized by a common origin or ancestry. A territorially based community of people who usually have similar language or religion, a common history (real or imagined), and accepted social ways of behavior that give it a common culture.

       

      EXAMPLE:
      The Kurds.

      EXAMPLE: FROM YUGOSLAVIA:

      the Serbs are a nation, or cultural group thatlive mainly in the Serbian part of Yugoslavia, but also in Bosnia and Croatia. (See map below.)

      1. 
9. state
   1. A political territory equivalent to a “country.” Necessary components to qualify as a full-fledged state include (a) defined boundaries, (b) an effective government, (c) international recognition of their formal independence, (d) full sovereignty, (e) an organized economy and circulation system, and (f) a permanent resident population.

       

      EXAMPLE:
      Iraq is a state (country).

      EXAMPLE: FROM YUGOSLAVIA:

      Yugoslavia befor the breakup. Now: Yugoslavia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Macedonia.

      1. 
10. nation-state
    1. A state that has the same boundaries as a nation.

        

       EXAMPLE:
       If the Kurdish homeland became and independent state (country).

       EXAMPLE FROM YUGOSLAVIA: Slovevia (see map below).

        

       1. 
11. secession
    1. Complete break-off of a region into an autonomous, independent state. This occurs when a separatist movement achieves its goals.

        

       EXAMPLE:
       If the Kurdish homeland seceeded from Iraq and became their own state (country).

       EXAMPLE FROM YUGOSLAVIA:
       Slovinia, Croatia, Bosnia and Macedonia seceeded from Yugoslavia.

       1. 

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