Variation in Nation States (Edexcel A Level Geography)

Variation Between National Sovereign States

• A state is a nation, country or territory that has an organised political community by one government and which no other state has any power or sovereignty over - in other words, a self-governing nation

• A nation is a territory of people that may or may not have sovereignty 

  • E.g. Wales and Scotland are nations which are part of the UK

  • The UK is a sovereign state, but Wales and Scotland, whilst devolved from the UK government, do not hold full autonomy and cannot therefore, be considered independent sovereign states (yet)

  • However, Ireland is divided into Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (Éire)

  • Republic of Ireland is a sovereign state but Northern Ireland is a nation of the UK 

• A sovereign state has:

  • The highest authority over its territory

  • A permanent population

  • Defined territorial boundaries

  • A government not ruled by another - is independent

  • The ability to interact with other sovereign states

• A sovereign state can exist without being recognised by other sovereign states, although unrecognised states find it hard to make treaties with other powers or have diplomatic discussion with other sovereign states - Taiwan is not recognised by China

• The United Nations (UN), recognises 193 countries as sovereign states with the Holy See (Vatican) and Palestine as non-member observer states - a total of 195 sovereign states

  • This is different to the number of countries worldwide; as countries have merged or split due to changing political circumstances

  • E.g. Sudan divided into two separate countries - Sudan and South Sudan - in 2011

• National sovereign states vary greatly in their ethnic, cultural and linguistic unity due to the:

  • History of its population growth

  • Degree of isolation

  • Role of migration

• Many sovereign states will have an identity (e.g. American, Italian etc.) but it will have come from different cultural backgrounds over time

  • For example, the USA, before colonisation, was home to a mix of indigenous peoples/tribes

  • With in-migration, the current population of the USA are the descendants of a 'global mix' of nations (Greeks, Italians, Spanish, Scots, Irish etc.)

  • From this mix, an 'American culture' has arisen, which is both inclusive and dynamic

• Other states have kept relatively homogenous (single) cultural traits because;

  • They are physically isolated - Iceland's location has limited migration 

  • They are politically isolated - North Korean policies limit interaction with foreign nations

• Nation states can therefore, be considered an agglomeration of many different peoples living in one united territorial area

Development of National Borders

• Boundaries are man-made separation lines between nation states - a demarcation line 

  • The Turkey/Syria border was decided by railway lines 

• Many national borders have arisen due to natural boundaries such as rivers, mountain ranges etc.  

  • Parts of the Mexico/US border is the Rio Grande River

  • The Andes range between Chile and Argentina

• However, all nation boundaries were created in the past; either years, decades or centuries ago

  • The Spanish/French border was established in 1659

  • Mexico–US border in 1853–1854

• Borders are developed through specific historical developments during a nation state's lifetime, providing they have the ability and power at the time (war, religion, marriage etc.) 

  • Belgium was created in 1830–1831 as a buffer state between Catholic France and the Protestant Netherland

  • The Spanish state formed in 1469 with the marriage of Isabella of Castile to Ferdinand of Aragon, and its boundary with Portugal established in 1479 and with France in 1659 

• Some borders are cultural, which mark a divide between ethnic groups or cultural identity - the Slovakia and Czech Republic border is partly cultural

• Other borders are a result of colonial history, and many do not take into account different ethnic or religious groups, which has led to issues of sovereignty and legitimacy

• It is hard to find any national border that a European country, at some stage of its historical development, hasn't been involved in

  • The partition of Africa by European nations in the 18th and 19th centuries does not relate to indigenous cultural and ethnic distribution

  • Space/land was divided by competing powers - many boundaries are straight lines - to distribute raw materials and water resources between themselves

  • The Egyptian and Sudanese border was drawn as a straight line by Great Britain in 1899

  • Long established ethnic regions were divided into two or more different state territories

• Borders can be created to resolve political tensions

  • The Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) acts as a border barrier and is a strip of land (250 km (160 mi) long and 4 km (2.5 mi) wide

  • It runs across the Korean Peninsula near the 38th parallel north and roughly divides the peninsula in half 

  • The DMZ was established as a buffer zone between North and South Korea during the Korean Armistice Agreement in 1953 

Contested Borders

• There are many contested borders and not all nation states are universally recognised

  • For instance, Taiwan is not recognised as a sovereign state by China

• This can lead to both potential conflict and population movements

  • The Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 was a secret deal between France and Britain, to divide parts of the Middle East between themselves

  • This agreement continues to influence the borders of today's nation states, including Iraq

  • Unfortunately, Iraq's borders divides the ethnic groups of Kurds and Arabs leading to conflict between Arab Shia Muslims in the south and Kurdish Sunni Muslims in the north

• Causes for contested borders include:

  • One state wishing to take over another 

    • Russia believes that Ukraine should become restored Russian territory

    • Ukraine declared independence from the USSR during the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991

  • A wish to unite culturally and ethnically similar populations

    • Cultural groups may exist across borders as current borders were drawn without uniting the group, so there is pressure from the group for recognition but this is rejected by the states themselves

    • Kurdish people are found in Turkey, Iraq and Syria and claim they were promised a separate state in 1920, therefore, they contest existing boundaries

  • A desire to obtain access to valuable resources

    • States may try to gain valuable resources especially if they are lacking elsewhere in their territory, and so seek to claim territory adjacent to their border/seabed

    • China is claiming the nine-dash line extension, which it claims was previously part of their territory

Ukraine / Russia / Crimea

• Crimea was part of Russia for 168 years, between 1783 and 1954

  • In 1954, it became part of the Ukraine

  • Ukraine declared independence from the USSR during the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991

• In 2014, the then pro-Russian Ukraine president was forced out, and Russia annexed Crimea 

• Crimea's population voted to re-join Russia, however, few countries recognise Russia's claim

• They argue that all of Ukraine should have voted, not just Crimea

• Crimea is a strategic area of the Black Sea with vast reserves of oil and gas