World Geography - Unit 4 Test

Which of the following is NOT a criteria to be a state?

• has a defined boundary
• contains a permanent population
• maintains sovereignty over domestic and international affairs
• is recognized by other states
• a common cultural heritage

How does devolution help address tensions within a country?

• It strengthens the power of the central government by removing local and regional authorities.
• It allows the central government to ignore regional concerns without consequence.
• It transfers some political power to regional governments to address local concerns and maintain national unity.
• It forces all regions to follow the same national policies without exception.

What is a superimposed boundary?

• A boundary created by outside powers that may ignore existing cultural patterns.
• A boundary that naturally forms along physical features like rivers and mountains.
• A boundary established by local communities to reflect cultural similarities.
• A temporary boundary that disappears once a region gains independence.

What is a shatterbelt?

• A region that remains politically stable despite external conflicts.
• A place located between two contentious regions that experiences instability or fragmentation.
• A territory completely isolated from outside influence and cultural differences.
• A region where political boundaries always align with cultural and linguistic groups.

What is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)?

• An agreement that grants countries full control over all oceans and seas.
• A law that limits all countries to a maximum of 12 nautical miles of ocean control.
• A regulation that only applies to landlocked countries with no access to the sea.
• A treaty that defines four zones of ocean use, including territorial seas, contiguous zones, exclusive economic zones (EEZs), and high seas.

What is gerrymandering?

• The process of drawing voting district boundaries to give one political party an advantage.
• The fair and equal division of voting districts based only on population size.
• The practice of randomly assigning voters to different districts to increase competition.
• The system used to ensure that all political parties have an equal number of representatives.

What is one strength of a unitary system of government?

• It allows each region to create its own laws without national oversight.
• It provides a single set of laws and policies, making governance more clear and consistent.
• It requires multiple levels of government, which increases efficiency.
• It ensures that minority groups always have independent control over their own laws.

What is one weakness of a federal system of government?

• It makes it easier to pass laws and policies because there is only one level of government.
• It allows for faster decision-making on national issues.
• It can result in contradictory laws between different levels of government, making governance more complicated.
• It eliminates the need for local governments, saving resources.

How does ethnic separatism lead to devolution?

• Ethnic groups push for complete unification with the central government to strengthen national identity.
• Ethnic groups concentrated in specific regions may seek independence, leading the central government to grant them more authority.
• The central government eliminates regional control to prevent ethnic groups from gaining political influence.
• Ethnic minorities always succeed in forming completely independent nations without government resistance.

How are autonomous regions different from typical state governments?

• Autonomous regions are completely independent from the country they are located in.
• Autonomous regions have some self-governing power but remain under the control of the central government.
• Only federal states can have autonomous regions, while unitary states do not allow them.
• Autonomous regions do not have any political or legislative authority over their own affairs.