Hello there geographers and welcome back to the Mr. Sin channel. Today we're going to be reviewing Unit 4 of AP Human Geography. Remember, if you find value in these topic review videos, consider subscribing and checking out my awesome resources in the description of the video. To start, let's talk about a state. And no, I'm not talking about one of the 50 states of the United States.
A state is a geographic area that has a permanent population, defined borders, a sovereign government, and is recognized by other states. Now, one of the components of a state is sovereignty. Britannica defines sovereignty as the ultimate overseer or authority in the decision-making process of the state and in the maintenance of order.
If a state has a sovereign government, it means the government has control over its domestic affairs and also international affairs. So a state can be a regional government like one of the states in the United States, but it can also be a country. When looking at different states around the world, we can also observe different nations.
A nation is a group of people with a shared culture, history, homeland, and a desire to govern themselves. Notice this is different from a state, which consists of a permanent population, defined borders, a sovereign government and is recognized by other states. When trying to remember the difference, just remember a state is referencing the government and land, while a nation is referencing a group of people.
with a shared culture and history. Now one aspect of a nation that I want to highlight is a concept called self-determination. This is the right or desire of a nation or group of people such as an ethnic group to govern themselves. Nations and cultural groups often seek control over their own territory in order to help preserve their cultural characteristics and history.
Okay now that we've reviewed the concept of a nation and state, let's talk about the different types of states we see in the world today. The first is a nation state. This is a sovereign state that has a relatively homogeneous population. Citizens of the state often have a shared language, culture, and history.
Oftentimes, these states have been more isolated in history. They also tend to be geographically smaller and are centered around one nation. Today, we could look at countries like Iceland or Japan as examples of a nation state. Now, let's say that a state has more than one nation within its borders. Well, it could not be a nation state and in fact, would be known as a multinational state.
These states contain two or more ethnic groups or nations with a history of self-determination. These groups coexist as one state, but remain culturally distinct. Traditionally, these states will have one cultural group that is the dominant group and is in control over the political, economic, and social structures of the state.
An example of a multinational state would be the former Soviet Union and modern-day Russia or the United States of America, just to name a few. Another type of state that we have is a multi-state nation. This is when a nation stretches across different states'borders, which means the cultural identity is present in multiple states.
A great example of a multi-state nation would be the Koreans, who are located in both North and South Korea. We could also look at the Kurds as another example of a multi-state nation. Today, the Kurdish population stretches over Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, parts of Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
Speaking of the Kurds, they're also an example of our next type of political organization, which is a stateless nation. This is when a nation has a history of self-determination, but does not have a recognized state. The nation lacks one or more of the following.
Control over their political boundaries, a government with sovereign rule, control over its internal and external affairs, or recognition from other states. If we look at the Kurdish nation, we can see they speak Kurdish. Their religion is Islam.
And the Kurdish people do not consider themselves to be Arab. They consider themselves to be Kurdish. The Kurds have a historical claim to the proposed nation state of Kurdistan, which was originally proposed after the Ottoman Empire fell.
However, before Kurdistan could be an official state, the Turks expanded their land and took over the soon-to-be Kurdistan. Today, the Kurdish nation still exists. However, they still do not have a recognized state, making the Kurds a stateless nation.
And since the Kurds are also currently spread between multiple states, they're also a multi-state nation. Other examples of a stateless nation would include the Basque, the Flemish, the Catalonians, and the Palestinians. Changing gears a little into our next political organizations, we have autonomous regions and semi-autonomous regions.
Autonomous regions are located within a state. and have a certain degree of autonomy from the state. These regions can govern themselves and have a high degree of freedom and self-governance. This means there is limited input and interaction from the national government. An example of this would be Native American reservations in the United States.
Semi-autonomous regions, on the other hand, have a moderate degree of self-governance. These regions have a say over their political and economic systems. However, the national government can step in when they feel like it is in their best interest.
This is the big difference between semi-autonomous regions and autonomous regions. It's all about control and power. Semi-autonomous regions have less control over their own policies. An example of a semi-autonomous region would be be China and Hong Kong. One last political organization I want to highlight is the concept of a city-state.
These states date back all the way to the Fertile Crescent. A city-state is a sovereign state with political and economic control over the surrounding countryside. Today we still have city-states that exist, such as Vatican City. Alright, so we had a lot of vocab in this video, and now comes the time to practice.
Answer the questions on the screen, and when you're done, check your answers in the comment section down below or in the description of this video. Also, don't forget, if you're finding value out of these topic review videos, consider subscribing. And check out my Ultimate Review Packet for more help with your AP Human Geography class.
It's a great resource that can help you get an A in your class and a 5 on that national exam. As always, thank you for watching. I'm Mr. Sin, and I'll see you next time online.