AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY CHAPTER 8 -
POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY EXAM 2024-2025
START OF KEY ISSUE 1: Define state - ANSWER An area organized into a
political unit and ruled by an established government with authority over its
internal and external affairs. It occupies a certain area and has a permanent
population. Countries and states are synonymous.
Define microstate: States having extremely small land areas.
Be able to identify multiple microstates. - ANSWER The Vatican is the world's
smallest microstate (0.17 square miles).
Monaco (0.6 square miles) is the second-smallest and smallest member of the
United Nations.
U.N. Member states with areas less than 400 square kilometres. mi.:
– Andorra
– Barbados
– Micronesia
– Singapore
– Grenada
Define sovereignty as a state's independence from external control over its internal
affairs.
,What type of region do states represent? Explain why. - ANSWER States are a
good example of a formal or uniform region because their entire territory is
governed by its national government, laws, army, and leadership.
Explain the difficulty in defining the state in each scenario.
a. Korea
b. China/Taiwan
c. Senkaku / Diaoyu Islands
d. Sahrawi Republic/Western Sahara - Answer a. Korea:
- The Korean peninsula is divided between North Korea (Democratic People's
Republic of Korea) and South Korea (Republic of Korea).
- Following their victory over Japan in World War II, the United States and the
erstwhile Soviet Union partitioned Korea in two.
- The Soviet Union established a pro-Communist government in the North;
pro-U.S. The government is founded in the south.
- North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, and the three-year conflict ended with
a ceasefire.
- Both governments seek to form a single sovereign state, but they want authority
over the entire Korean peninsula.
- North Korea possess nuclear weapons.
b. China/Taiwan:
- Most countries consider the People's Republic of China (China) and the Republic
of China (Taiwan) to be separate and sovereign.
- Taiwan and China both agree that Taiwan is a part of China rather than a
sovereign nation.
, - Late 1940s: Chinese civil war between Nationalists and Communists; Nationalists
were defeated in 1949 and retreated to Taiwan.
- Nationalists declared themselves masters over all of China, or at least Taiwan.
- Americans supported nationalists until the 1970s.
c. Senkaku / Diaoyu Islands:
- China, Taiwan, and Japan each claim ownership over these islands in the East
China Sea.
- Since 1895, Japan has governed the islands (save for 1945-72, when the United
States took authority after defeating Japan in WWII).
Both China and Taiwan believe that the islands belonged to China before Japan
unjustly took them in 1895.
- Japan contends that China did not exercise sovereignty over the islands that it
claimed.
- Air zones created with conflicting boundaries
d. Sahrawi Republic / Western Sahara:
- Western Sahara is largely believed to be a sovereign state.
- Morocco claims land and erected a 1700-mile wall around it to keep rebels out.
- Morocco claimed the entire territory when Mauritania withdrew from seized
areas.
- Morocco controls the majority of populous areas, although the Polisario Front
operates there.
START OF KEY ISSUE 2: Define nation-state. ANSWER: A state whose area
corresponds to that occupied by a specific ethnicity.
POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY EXAM 2024-2025
START OF KEY ISSUE 1: Define state - ANSWER An area organized into a
political unit and ruled by an established government with authority over its
internal and external affairs. It occupies a certain area and has a permanent
population. Countries and states are synonymous.
Define microstate: States having extremely small land areas.
Be able to identify multiple microstates. - ANSWER The Vatican is the world's
smallest microstate (0.17 square miles).
Monaco (0.6 square miles) is the second-smallest and smallest member of the
United Nations.
U.N. Member states with areas less than 400 square kilometres. mi.:
– Andorra
– Barbados
– Micronesia
– Singapore
– Grenada
Define sovereignty as a state's independence from external control over its internal
affairs.
,What type of region do states represent? Explain why. - ANSWER States are a
good example of a formal or uniform region because their entire territory is
governed by its national government, laws, army, and leadership.
Explain the difficulty in defining the state in each scenario.
a. Korea
b. China/Taiwan
c. Senkaku / Diaoyu Islands
d. Sahrawi Republic/Western Sahara - Answer a. Korea:
- The Korean peninsula is divided between North Korea (Democratic People's
Republic of Korea) and South Korea (Republic of Korea).
- Following their victory over Japan in World War II, the United States and the
erstwhile Soviet Union partitioned Korea in two.
- The Soviet Union established a pro-Communist government in the North;
pro-U.S. The government is founded in the south.
- North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, and the three-year conflict ended with
a ceasefire.
- Both governments seek to form a single sovereign state, but they want authority
over the entire Korean peninsula.
- North Korea possess nuclear weapons.
b. China/Taiwan:
- Most countries consider the People's Republic of China (China) and the Republic
of China (Taiwan) to be separate and sovereign.
- Taiwan and China both agree that Taiwan is a part of China rather than a
sovereign nation.
, - Late 1940s: Chinese civil war between Nationalists and Communists; Nationalists
were defeated in 1949 and retreated to Taiwan.
- Nationalists declared themselves masters over all of China, or at least Taiwan.
- Americans supported nationalists until the 1970s.
c. Senkaku / Diaoyu Islands:
- China, Taiwan, and Japan each claim ownership over these islands in the East
China Sea.
- Since 1895, Japan has governed the islands (save for 1945-72, when the United
States took authority after defeating Japan in WWII).
Both China and Taiwan believe that the islands belonged to China before Japan
unjustly took them in 1895.
- Japan contends that China did not exercise sovereignty over the islands that it
claimed.
- Air zones created with conflicting boundaries
d. Sahrawi Republic / Western Sahara:
- Western Sahara is largely believed to be a sovereign state.
- Morocco claims land and erected a 1700-mile wall around it to keep rebels out.
- Morocco claimed the entire territory when Mauritania withdrew from seized
areas.
- Morocco controls the majority of populous areas, although the Polisario Front
operates there.
START OF KEY ISSUE 2: Define nation-state. ANSWER: A state whose area
corresponds to that occupied by a specific ethnicity.
