Essential Questions:

1. What factors determine where boundaries between countries are established?

2. How do different countries relate to one another?

NATIONS: BORDER and POWER

Just as each place belongs to more than one physical or cultural region, it can also belong to several political divisions:City/Town;

County; State; Country

Political Regions

Supremacy of National Government: A national government is sovereign, or supreme within its own borders.US Constitution is above Texas state

law.Sources of National Power: Many

factors influence a government’s ability to control territory and influence international events.Size, population, wealth, educational

level, military strength, and physical features.

Political Regions Cont’d

Mexico: A country’s borders can be determined by conflicts with its neighbors.

Borders Cont’d

Poland: Faced with no defensible east-west borders, was subject to frequent invasion.

Borders Cont’d

France: A country’s borders can be affected by international political relations.

Israel and Palestine: UN supported Jewish state in 1947, but neighboring Arab countries declared war on Israel.

Borders Cont’d

Identify one physical feature of Saudi Arabia that helps explain the location of its borders.

Review

An important effect of mountain ranges, large rivers, and ocean coastlines on a country has often been the-A. growth in available fertile landB. encouragement of cultural

convergenceC. formation of the country’s bordersD. promotion of a democratic form of

governmentANSWER: C

Review Cont’d

The conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors since 1948 shows thatA. strong leadership often leads to a

return of traditional ways.B. conflicts between neighbors can

result in shifting bordersC. Communism has played a major role

in Israel’s developmentD. Europe still controls its former

colonial territoriesANSWER: B

Review Cont’d

stop