can anyone plz tell me about some good books and website for political geography
regards

Visit the following link , may be it would be a help to some extent.

http://www.cssforum.com.pk/central-s...geography.html

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Devil-may-care

Political geography

Political geography is the field of human geography that is concerned with the study of both the spatially uneven outcomes of political processes and the ways in which political processes are themselves affected by spatial structures. Conventionally political geography adopts a three scale structure for the purposes of analysis with the study of the state at the centre, above this is the study of international relations (or geopolitics), and below it is the study of localities. The primary concerns of the sub-discipline can be summarised as the inter-relationships between people, state, and territory.


Political geography covers all aspects of boundaries, country, state, and nation development, international organizations, diplomacy, internal divisions, voting, and so much more. It's a fascinating topic.



01. John A. Agnew
02. Lucy Jarosz [1]
03. Halford Mackinder
04. Simon Dalby
05. Gearóid Ó Tuathail
06. Derek Gregory
07. Doreen Massey
08. Karl Haushofer
09. Friedrich Ratzel
10. Peter J.Taylor
11. Lynne Staeheli
12. Eleanore Kofman
13. Linda J. Peake
14. Ghazi-Walid Falah
15. Colin Flint
16. Alexander Kowalchuk
17. Joni Seager
18. Nicholas Spykman
19. Yves Lacoste
20. Ellen Churchill Semple
21. Samuel P. Huntington
22. Richard Hartshorne
23. Henk van Houtum

Notable political geographies

1. Guatemalan Political Geography

Chichicastenango

In the heart of the highlands, Chichicastenango was a trading town in ancient times. It became the spiritual center of the Quiché after their defeat (1524) by Pedro de Alvarado. The town, often called Santo Tomás, is quaint and charming, with a maze of winding streets surrounding the main plaza, the site of one of the most colorful town markets in Central America. In the Dominican monastery (founded 1542) was discovered the famous Popul-Vuh manuscript of Maya-Quiché mythology. There are several excellent collections of relics, especially of carved jade. Chichicastenango is a popular tourist center.


Flores

Flores town (1990 est. pop. 2,200), capital of Petén department, N Guatemala. Flores was built on an island in the southern part of Lake Petén Itzá and on the site of the Itzá Mayan city of Tayasal. Tayasal was not taken by the Spanish until 1697 and may have been the last major functioning Mayan ceremonial complex. All traces of Tayasal were destroyed by the Spanish. Flores is a commercial center for the surrounding region; chief products include chicle, hardwoods, rubber, and sugarcane. The town is connected to the lakeshore and the neighboring towns of Santa Elena and San Benito by a causeway.



Guatemala

The city (1994 est. pop. 823,301), S central Guatemala, capital of the republic. Its full name is La Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción. In a broad, fertile, highland valley, c.5,000 ft (1,520 m) high, it enjoys an equable climate the year round. It is the largest city in Central America, with a cosmopolitan atmosphere and many fine public buildings. It is served by international and local airways, modern highways, and railroads and is the industrial, commercial, and financial center of the republic. To the city's markets come the fruits and vegetables of the tropical coasts and temperate highlands and also native handicrafts, especially textiles. Much of the produce is carried in from the countryside and sold in the market stalls. There is also a modern business section. The present city is the fourth permanent capital of Guatemala and was founded in 1776 after Antigua Guatemala was abandoned. An earthquake destroyed Guatemala City in 1917–18, but it was rebuilt on the same site. In 1976, another earthquake caused extensive damage to the city and its environs, resulting in more than 20,000 fatalities. From the city excursions may be made to the sites of Antigua Guatemala and Ciudad Vieja, the first two capitals. Many interesting remains of Mayan civilization have been unearthed in the vicinity of Guatemala City, notably at Lake Amatitlán. The Univ. of San Carlos de Guatemala (1676) is in the city, as are many other educational and cultural institutions.



Puerto Barrios

The city (1994 est. pop. 29,095) and port, E Guatemala, capital of Izabal dept., on the Bay of Amatique, an arm of the Caribbean Sea. It was named after the Guatemalan politician Justo Rufino Barrios. Until the early 1970s the foreign-dominated deepwater port handled more trade than any other in Guatemala. An additional cargo port was later built, and solely operated, by the Guatamalan government at nearby Santo Tomás de Castilla. Bananas and coffee are the leading exports. In 1976 a hurricane severely damaged Puerto Barrios.





Quezaltenango

The city (1994 est. pop. 90,801), SW Guatemala. The city is the metropolis of the western highlands (it is 7,500 ft/2,286 m above sea level) and the second city of Guatemala. The city has much diversified light industry, including textile manufacturing and brewing. The development of hydroelectric power has helped make it a leading industrial city of Central America. Quezaltenango was rebuilt after being severely damaged in 1902 by an eruption of nearby Santa María volcano (12,362 ft/3,768 m). The site of the city was the center of the ancient Quiché kingdom of Xelaju; the region is still dominated by Quiché inhabitants.




Santo Tomás de Castilla

Santo Tomás de Castilla, port, E Guatemala, on the Bay of Amatique, an area of the Caribbean Sea. The chief general cargo port of Guatemala, it has a deepwater harbor and modern shipping facilities. The port was built in the 1960s by the Guatemalan government to replace Puerto Barrios, which was controlled by foreign commercial interests. It lies a few miles to the south of Puerto Barrios and is treated administratively as a part of the city.




San José

San José, town (1994 est. pop. 14,170), SW Guatemala, on the Pacific Ocean. It is a rail terminus and a major Pacific port of Guatemala.






2. Belize Political Geography

Belize

independent state within the Commonwealth of Nations (2005 est. pop. 279,500), 8,867 sq mi (22,965 sq km), Central America, on the Caribbean Sea. Belize is bounded on the N by Mexico, on the S and W by Guatemala, and on the E by the Caribbean. The capital is Belmopan. Belize City, the capital until 1970, is the largest city and main port.


Land and People

The land is generally low, with mangrove swamps and cays along the coast, but in the south rises to Victoria Peak (c.3,700 ft/1,128 m high). The climate is subtropical. Although most of the area is heavily forested, yielding mahogany, cedar, and logwood, there are regions of fertile savannas and barren pine ridges.

Besides the capital and Belize City, other important urban areas are Orange Walk, Corozal, and Dangringa. About evenly divided between urban and rural, the people are mainly of mestizo, creole, or Mayan descent. English is the official language; Spanish and Mayan are also spoken. About half the population is Roman Catholic; there is a large Protestant minority.

Economy and Government

Although only a small fraction of the land is cultivated, agriculture provides about 75% of Belize's exports, the chief of which are fish products, citrus, sugar, and bananas. Clothing and timber are also important products and export items, and there is some petroleum, which began being exported in 2006. Tourism is the main source of foreign exchange. Machinery, manufactured goods, fuel, chemicals, and food are imported. The United States, Great Britain, and Mexico are the main trading partners.

A parliamentary democracy, Belize is governed under the 1981 constitution. It has a bicameral legislature with a 12-seat appointed Senate and a 29-seat elected National Assembly; all members serve five-year terms. The government is headed by a prime minister. The monarch of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, represented by a governor-general, is the head of state. The country is divided administratively into six districts.

History

In 1993 archaeologists discovered evidence of a farming community in Belize dating from 2500–1100 B.C. The Mayas first settled in the area some 200 to 300 years later, and a few ancient Maya cities still survive. The region was probably traversed by Cortés on his way to Honduras, but the Spanish made no attempt at colonization. British buccaneers, who used the cays to prey on Spanish shipping, founded Belize (early 17th cent.). British settlers from Jamaica began the exploitation of timber. Spain contested British possession several times until defeated at the last battle of St. George's Cay (1798). From 1862 to 1884 the colony was administered by the governor of Jamaica.

Guatemala long claimed the territory as part of its inheritance from Spain. As Belize progressed toward independence, the tension between Britain and Guatemala over the issue increased. In 1964 the colony gained complete internal self-government, and in 1981 Belize achieved independence, a development that prompted Guatemala to threaten war. Relations improved, however, and in Sept., 1991, Guatemala officially recognized Belize's independence and sovereignty. Nonetheless, a British force aimed at guaranteeing independence remained in the country until Sept., 1994. The poorly defined border, however, remained a source of tension. In 1993 Manuel Esquivel of the United Democratic party became prime minister; he was replaced in 1998 by Said Musa of the People's United party. In 2000, under the sponsorship of the Organization of the American States, Belize and Guatemala began negotiations to end their territorial dispute, and in 2002 they reached agreement on a draft settlement, which must be approved by national referendums. Musa's party was returned to power in the Mar., 2003, parliamentary elections.





Belize City

The capital (1993 est. pop. 47,724) of Belize dist., Belize, at the mouth of the Belize River, on the Caribbean Sea. The river flows c.180 mi (290 km) generally west and is navigable almost to Guatemala. It is the country's major port and has deepwater facilities. Sugar, timber, and wood products are exported from Belize City. Tourism and fish packing are the main industries. The city was devastated by hurricanes in 1931, 1961, and 1978. It was the capial of Belize until 1970, when the government moved to the new city of Belmopan.





Belmopan

A city (1993 est. pop. 3,900), E Belize, capital of Belize. A new city, it was constructed on the Belize R., 50 mi (80 km) inland from the former capital of then British Honduras, the port of Belize City, after that city's near destruction by a hurricane in 1961. The government was moved to Belmopan in 1970. The National Assembly Building's design is based on an ancient Mayan motif.






3. Liberian Political Geography

Liberia

officially Republic of Liberia, republic (2005 est. pop. 3,482,000), 43,000 sq mi (111,370 sq km), W Africa. Liberia fronts on the Atlantic Ocean for some 350 mi (560 km) on the southwest and is bordered on the northwest by Sierra Leone, on the north by Guinea, and on the east by Côte d'Ivoire. Monrovia is the capital, largest city, main port, and commercial center.


Land and People

Liberia can be divided into three distinct topographical areas. First, a flat coastal plain of some 10 to 50 mi (16–80 km), with creeks, lagoons, and mangrove swamps; second, an area of broken, forested hills with altitudes from 600 to 1,200 ft (180–370 m), which covers most of the country; and third, an area of mountains in the northern highlands, with elevations reaching 4,540 ft (1,384 m) in the Nimba Mts. and 4,528 ft (1,380 m) in the Wutivi Mts. Liberia's six main rivers flow into the Atlantic. Vegetation in much of the country is dense forest growth. The climate is tropical and humid, with a heavy rainfall, averaging 183 in. (465 cm) on the coast and some 88 in. (224 cm) in the southeastern interior. There are two rainy seasons and a dry, harmattan season in December and January. In addition to the capital, other important towns include Buchanan and Harper, both ports.

The majority of the population belong to 16 ethnic groups, including the Kpelle, the Bassa, the Gio, the Kru, the Grebo, and the Mano. Traditional religions are practiced by about 40% of the people; another 40% are Christian, and 20% are Muslim. English is the official language, but is spoken by only about 20% of the people; African languages are used extensively. Far less numerous, but of great political importance in the past, are the descendants of freed slaves who immigrated from the United States to Liberia in the 19th cent. These people, formerly called Americo-Liberians, are concentrated in the towns, where they have provided the country's Westernized leadership and, for the most part, are adherents of various Protestant denominations. There are also communities of Lebanese merchants and European and American technicians.


Economy

The civil warfare that raged from 1990 to 1997 and from 2001 to 2003 had a disastrous effect on the Liberian economy, with many business people fleeing the country as rebels gained control of vast quantities of gold, diamonds, natural rubber, and tropical hardwoods. Until the 1950s, Liberia's economy was almost totally dependent upon subsistence farming and the production of rubber. The American-owned Firestone plantation was the country's largest employer and held a concession on some one million acres (404,700 hectares) of land. With the discovery of high-grade iron ore, first at Bomi Hills, and then at Bong and Nimba, the production and export of minerals became the country's major cash-earning economic activity. Gold, diamonds, barite, and kyanite are also mined. Mineral processing plants are located near Buchanan and Bong.

About 70% of the population work in the agricultural sector, which produces rubber, coffee, cocoa, rice, cassava, palm oil, sugarcane, and bananas. Sheep and goats are raised, and there is lumbering. Much rice, the main staple, is imported, but efforts have been made to develop intensive rice production and to establish fish farms. Much of the country's industry is concentrated around Monrovia, where civil war disruption was highest, and is directed toward mineral, rubber, and palm oil processing. The lack of skilled and technical labor has slowed the growth of the manufacturing sector.

The government derives a sizable income from registering ships; low fees and lack of control over shipping operations have made the Liberian merchant marine one of the world's largest. Internal communications are poor, with few paved roads and only a few short, freight-carrying rail lines. Rubber, timber, iron ore, diamonds, cocoa, and coffee provide the bulk of the export earnings; fuels, chemicals, machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods, and foodstuffs are the principal imports. In general, the value of imports greatly exceeds that of exports, and the country has accumulated massive international debts. Liberia's main trading partners are Belgium, South Korea, and Japan.

Government

Liberia is governed under the constitution of 1986. The executive branch is headed by a president, who is popularly elected for a renewable six-year term. The bicameral legislature consists of the 30-seat Senate, whose members are popularly elected for nine-year terms, and the 64-seat House of Representatives, whose members are popularly elected for six-year terms. Administratively, Liberia is divided into 13 counties.

History

Founding to 1980

Liberia was founded in 1821, when officials of the American Colonization Society were granted possession of Cape Mesurado by local De chiefs for the settlement of freed American slaves. African-American immigrants were landed in 1822, the first of some 15,000 to settle in Liberia. The survival of the colony during its early years was due primarily to the work of Jehudi Ashmun, one of the society's agents. In 1847, primarily due to British pressures, the colony was declared an independent republic. The Americo-Liberian minority controlled the country's politics, and new immigration virtually came to an end with the American Civil War. Liberia was involved in efforts to end the W African slave trade.

Attempts to modernize the economy led to a rising foreign debt in 1871, which the republic had serious difficulty repaying. The debt problem and constitutional issues led to the overthrow of the government in 1871. Conflicts over territorial claims resulted in the loss of large areas of land to Britain and France in 1885, 1892, and 1919. However, rivalries between the Europeans colonizing West Africa and the interest of the United States helped preserve Liberian independence during this period. Nevertheless, the decline of Liberia's exports and its inability to pay its debts resulted in a large measure of foreign interference.

In 1909 the government was bankrupt, and a series of international loans were floated. Firestone leased large areas for rubber production in 1926. In 1930 scandals broke out over the exportation of forced labor from Liberia, and a League of Nations investigation upheld the charges that slave trading had gone on with the connivance of the government. President C. B. D. King and his associates resigned, and international control of the republic was proposed. Under the leadership of presidents Edwin Barclay (1930–44) and William V. S. Tubman (1944–71), however, Liberia avoided such control.

Under Tubman, new policies to open the country to international investment and to allow the indigenous peoples a greater say in Liberian affairs were undertaken. The country's mineral wealth, particularly iron ore, began to be exploited, and there was a gradual improvement of roads, schools, and health standards. Upon Tubman's death in 1971, Vice President W. R. Tolbert took charge, and in 1972 he was elected to the presidency. Although Tolbert cultivated a democratic climate and favorable relations abroad, an organized opposition emerged early in his regime, some of it from Liberian students living in the United States. In 1979, a government proposal to increase the price of rice produced widespread violence.

The Doe Regime and Return to Civilian Rule

In 1980, Tolbert was assassinated in a coup led by Master Sergeant Samuel K. Doe. Pledging a return to civilian rule in 1981, the government unleashed a campaign to subdue opposition. In 1984 the military government instituted a series of constitutional reforms that included shortening the presidential term and outlawing the formation of a one-party state. Doe became Liberia's first indigenous president (by a fraudulent election) in 1985. The Doe government was infamous for corruption and human-rights abuses; it also became the target of numerous coup attempts. Thousands of refugees fled to Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire during this period.

Late in 1989, Liberia was invaded from Côte d'Ivoire by rebel forces of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), led by Charles Taylor, who proclaimed himself president. The United States sent troops to the area when the NPFL threatened to take foreign hostages. Doe was assassinated in 1990 by another group of rebels led by Prince Yormie Johnson, who also sought the presidency. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) intervened to negotiate a peace settlement among the two rebel groups and the government. ECOWAS also sent a Nigerian-led West African peacekeeping force to Monrovia and installed an interim government led by Amos Sawyer. Taylor's forces, with military aid from Libya and Burkina Faso, began a siege of Monrovia in 1992 and engaged in fighting with ECOWAS forces.

A number of cease-fires were established in 1993 and 1994, but clashes between factions persisted. In Aug., 1995, a new peace accord was signed in Abuja, Nigeria, that provided for an interim government headed by Wilton Sankawulo, with national elections to be held late in 1996. In Apr., 1996, fierce factional fighting resumed in the capital; however, disarmament was begun later that year, and the war formally came to an end in 1997. It is estimated that between 150,000 and 200,000 lives were lost in the civil strife, with hundreds of thousands of refugees having fled the country.

Multiparty presidential and legislative elections held in July, 1997, brought Charles Taylor to power. Under Taylor, the country remained economically devastated while he and his family enriched themselves by looting Liberia's resources. In the late 1990s, Liberia was accused of supplying troops to support rebel forces in Sierra Leone's civil war. Taylor, a long-time ally of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in Sierra Leone, had supplied the rebels with arms in exchange for diamonds. In 2000 the United Nations placed an 18-month ban on the international sale of the diamonds in an attempted to undermine the RUF, and in May of the following year it also imposed sanctions on Liberia. In mid-2001 fighting erupted in N Liberia between anti-Taylor rebels and government forces. The fighting intensified during the following year, and the rebels continued to expand the war into other regions of Liberia in 2003; that year the United Nations also placed an arms embargo (2003–6) on Liberia. By mid-2003 the rebels controlled roughly two thirds of the country and were threatening to seize Monrovia, leading to calls for Taylor to step down and for the United States, as a nation with historical ties to Liberia, to send peacekeeping forces.

In August, Taylor resigned and went into exile; he was succeeded temporarily by his vice president, Moses Blah. A peace agreement was signed with the two rebel groups, and several thousand West African peacekeepers, supported temporarily by an offshore U.S. force, arrived. In Oct., 2003, the West African force was placed under UN command and was reinforced with troops from other nations; businessman Gyude Bryant became president of a new power-sharing government.

Despite the accord with the rebels, fighting initially continued in parts of the country; tensions among the factions in the national unity government also threatened the peace. By the end of 2004, however, more than 100,000 Liberian fighters had been disarmed, the former government and rebel forces had agreed not to rearm, and the disarmament program was ended. In June, 2004, a program to reintegrate the fighters into society began, but the funds proved inadequate by year's end. In light of the progress made President Bryant requested an end to the UN embargo on Liberian diamonds and timber, but the Security Council postponed such a move until the peace was more secure. Bryant's government was hindered by corruption and a lack of authority in much of Liberia, but the peace enabled to the economy recover somewhat in 2004.

In the presidential election in the fall of 2004 former soccer star George Weah won the first round with 28% of the vote, but lost the runoff in November to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a politician and former World Bank official who received nearly 60% of the second round votes. Weah charged that the runoff had been rigged, leading to street protests. Most observers regarded the election as having been free and fair, and Weah subseqently dropped his challenge of the vote. Sirleaf became the first woman to be elected president of an African nation. At the same time a new national legislature was also elected, with no party securing a controlling position.

Sirleaf, under international pressure, requested in Mar., 2006, that Nigeria extradite Charles Taylor, who was then brought before an international tribunal in Sierra Leone to face war crimes charges arising from events during the Sierra Leone civil war (his trial was later transferred to The Hague for security purposes and began in June, 2007). In June, 2006, the United Nations ended its embargo on Liberian timber, but continued its diamond embargo until an effective certificate of origin program was established; the diamond embargo was finally lifted in Apr., 2007. In Mar., 2007, former interim president Bryant was arrested and charged with having embezzled government funds while in office. Government corruption remains a significant problem in Liberia.



Monrovia

A city (1986 est. pop. 465,000), capital of the Republic of Liberia, NW Liberia, a port on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the St. Paul River. Monrovia is Liberia's largest city and its administrative, commercial, communications, and financial center. The city's economy revolves around its harbor, which was substantially improved by U.S. forces under lend-lease during World War II. In 1948 the first port capable of handling oceangoing vessels was opened; there are now several ports, including a free port. The main exports are latex and iron ore. The city also has extensive storage and ship repair facilities. Manufactures include cement, refined petroleum, food products, bricks and tiles, furniture, and pharmaceuticals. Roads and railroads and an airport connect Monrovia with Liberia's interior. The Univ. of Liberia (1862) and Cuttington College and Divinity School (1889; Episcopal) are in the city. Monrovia was founded in 1822 by the American Colonization Society as a haven for freed slaves from the United States and the British West Indies and was named for James Monroe, then president of the United States. Life in Monrovia was severely disrupted in the 1990s and 2000s by civil war, which left thousands homeless and the city's economy in ruins.

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I. INTRODUCTION

Geopolitics, study of the impact of geography on relations between nations. Swedish political scientist Rudolf Kjellén first used the term geopolitics in 1899. Kjellén believed that the economic, political, and military characteristics of nations derived from their physical features and environmental influences. In particular, Kjellén focused on the political significance of such geographic features as mountains and oceans. He also examined the political influence of natural resources, such as oil, and human resources, such as population.

II. SEA POWERS AND LAND POWERS

At the beginning of the 20th century, both American naval historian Alfred Thayer Mahan and British geographer Halford John Mackinder believed that the most important geopolitical struggle for supremacy occurred between sea powers and land powers. The conflict between ancient Athens, a naval power, and Sparta, a land power, provides one of the earliest examples of this struggle. Mahan and Mackinder argued that late-19th-century sea powers, such as Britain, and land powers, such as Germany, possessed distinct differences in social outlook, economic orientation, and military capabilities. Mackinder tried to use this theory to educate the British people about the threat they faced from the rising power of Germany in the late 19th century.
In the 1930s the German Nazi Party appealed to voters with the idea that Germany needed more Lebensraum (living space) to achieve self-sufficiency. This concept offered justification for German seizure of territory from neighboring countries. Indirectly, it drew upon Mackinder’s belief that a central European land power would inevitably rise to global dominance if it were not checked by a naval power such as Britain or the United States. Some controversy exists about the precise influence of Mackinder’s geopolitical ideas on Nazi policy. However, geopolitical ideas such as lebensraum worked well with the racism at the center of Nazi ideology. The idea that “inferior peoples”—such as Czechs, Poles, and Jews—stood in the way of Germany’s rise to world power provided justification for German invasions of Czechoslovakia and Poland in 1939.

III. GEOPOLITICS AFTER WORLD WAR II

In the 1950s and 1960s, during the height of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union were dominant powers that carved up much of the world’s territory into competing regions where each could exercise influence. Geopolitics during this period primarily referred to strategic choices these superpowers made to pursue diplomatic and military goals. The doctrine of containment formed the foundation of U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War years. The containment doctrine expressed the idea that the United States must curtail the territorial and revolutionary ambitions of the Soviet Union. In the 1970s, détente between the United States and the Soviet Union reflected a new geopolitical vision. At this time, policymakers focused on the emergence around the world of multiple centers of power in Western Europe and China, as well as in the United States and the Soviet Union. Throughout the 1980s, especially during the presidency of Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1989, American opponents of détente with the Soviet Union used geopolitical language to justify a return to the Cold War. They warned that the Soviet Union sought access to warm-water ports and to the vast reserves of oil in the Middle East. Opponents of détente also relied upon geopolitics when they referred to the continuing territorial division of Europe into competing spheres of influence controlled by the United States and the Soviet Union.

In the 1990s the economic rise of East Asian nations, such as Japan and China, has transformed American foreign policy debates. Some people believe the emergence of these new economic powers suggests the need to replace the idea of geopolitics with the concept of geoeconomics, in which trade-oriented nations become more important than military ones. Others foresee an emerging global conflict, in which the United States and the economically and militarily powerful nations of Europe contend with the rising economic powers of East Asia and the poorer nations of Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa. Another possibility, however, relates to the breakdown of national boundaries and the increased international flow of trade, investment, and people. Networks of information and investment capital now intertwine regions and localities around the world. Increasingly, these networks provide the framework for economic and political relations, not fixed geographic and political boundaries.


Cultural geography also includes political geography, which is an application of political science. Political geography deals with human social activities that are related to the locations and boundaries of cities, nations, and groups of nations.


Friedrich Ratzel (1844-1904), German geographer and a founder of modern political geography, the study of the influence of environment on politics. Ratzel was first a journalist traveling in Europe (1869) and then in Cuba, Mexico, and the United States (1872-75). In 1886 he became professor of geography at the University of Leipzig. His Anthropogeographie (2 volumes, 1882-91) and Politische Geographie (1897) stress the determining power of the physical environment in conditioning human activity.


Political Changes

Maps are a basic tool of geographers, who have a special interest in keeping them up to date. In 1966 name changes continued to create problems for them.

On May 26, after 150 years of British rule, the colony of British Guiana in South America became the independent country of Guyana (guy-an'-uh). Appropriately, the name means 'land of waters.' Guyana is described as a country of poor people but of abundant water power and rich natural resources, including bauxite, gold, diamonds, molybdenum, and timber.

In southern Africa the British protectorate of Bechuanaland became the independent Republic of Botswana on September 30, and the British colony of Basutoland became the independent Kingdom of Lesotho on October 4. Lesotho has the dubious distinction of being the world's only sizable independent country located entirely within another country, South Africa.

Botswana and Lesotho are both pitifully poor. Much of Botswana consists of the Kalahari Desert. Lesotho is a mountainous country and the source of the Orange River, around which South Africa is developing a major irrigation and hydroelectric project. Economically, however, the people of both countries depend on the export of thousands of able-bodied men to South Africa to work as contract laborers in the diamond and gold mines.

During the last half of 1966 newspaper readers became accustomed to African news datelined Kinshasa, Congo. June 30, the sixth anniversary of independence of the Congo (Léopoldville), was marked by the official replacement of Belgian city names by African names. The capital, Léopoldville, became Kinshasa, and the country may now be referred to as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa) to distinguish it from the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville). Elisabethville was renamed Lubumbashi, Stanleyville became Kinsangani, and Coquilhatville became Mbandaka.

News items alerted geographers to possible name changes during the coming year. Swaziland, squeezed between South Africa and Mozambique, was moving toward independence, possibly in 1967. The Swazi have tentatively selected the name of Ngwane for the country, honoring the warrior who led the Swazi into the territory in the late 1700's.

On the east coast of Africa French Somaliland is another candidate for independence. Following riots in this tiny overseas territory, President de Gaulle, on September 15, promised that the people of French Somaliland could have independence if they 'sincerely wanted it.' A referendum is expected.

Geopolitical implications are associated with independence for this tiny desert territory because of its strategic location between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Furthermore, Ethiopia would like to annex French Somaliland and thus acquire the port of Djibouti. Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, is linked with Djibouti by rail. The Somali Republic also wants to absorb French Somaliland, as well as the Somali-inhabited regions of Ethiopia and Kenya.

British Honduras, in Central America, is in line for independence, perhaps in 1968. Many of its citizens are already referring to the colony as Belize, its probable new name


1960: Geography


Political Evolution in Europe

Prompted by jet propulsion, nuclear power, and the near advent of interplanetary navigation, man in 1960 was revising his concept of space and, concurrently, of national boundaries. From city-states, to principalities, to nation-states, he was now slowly moving toward a new stage in the organization of society — the international state. During the year, Europe took the lead in this evolution from nationalism to internationalism.

To the geographer such an evolution was of prime concern, for it was certain to affect the internal economy of Europe, and its economic relations with other parts of the world. No one expected to see a United States of Europe take shape within the near future, but the two so-called Communities, consisting of six member nations—France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg—were already disrupting long-established patterns and instituting new bonds and new trends.

The new European Economic Community, or Common Market, and the European Atomic Energy Community, or EURATOM, were designed to lower and finally abolish tariffs and customs between the member states, to coordinate and standardize their industrial, financial, and trade activities, thus eliminating a great deal of duplication and waste, and at the same time to create a powerful new unit which as a whole will be the largest producer-consumer in the world outside of the United States.

One immediate effect of the unification of 'the Six' was to exclude wholly or partially various other European nations from this extremely rich market. This led to the formation of the European Free Trade Area, or 'the Seven,' comprising the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, and Portugal, which group will not attempt to coordinate the national economies concerned but will regulate tariffs.

Thus in a large part of Europe were age-old barriers being demolished, and it seemed highly likely that the Six and the Seven would ultimately attract into their economic orbits such other nations as Greece, Turkey, Spain, and, possibly, Ireland, Finland, and Yugoslavia. It was too soon to try to assess the international implications, both economic and political, of such a unification of Europe, but obviously it would alter the region's relations with the United States, the Soviet Union, and indeed with the rest of the world.

Independence Explosion

It was becoming increasingly apparent that the 'independence explosion' taking place in tropical Africa would have world-wide political, economic, and social repercussions. The many new nations that had emerged from colonial tutelage during the last few years were struggling to create their own distinctive forms of government and society, a struggle made infinitely more difficult by such factors as widespread illiteracy and disease, the diversity in customs and aspirations of the 600-odd groups that made up these nations, and the lack of developed resources and capital. The events of 1960 made it quite clear that the rest of the world could no longer afford to think of Africa as the 'dark continent' and leave it at that.


Political geography

Studies in political geography at the international level have been concerned with the organization of the world into states; with their larger political groupings into regional alliances on the one scale and their subordinate division into political-administrative units on another; with the functions, delimitation, and demarcation of boundaries; with the selection of capital sites; with the relation of core areas and peripheral areas; with metropolitan powers and colonies; with the bases of political power in terms of population, production, organization, and policy; with the relations among states, including international trade and aid; with international organizations; and with territorial waters, maritime boundaries, and the law of the sea. At the national scale, studies have been concerned with regionalism, including separatist movements and their bases, and increasingly with the areal analysis of voting patterns as they reflect regional interests. At the metropolitan level studies have been devoted to the political fragmentation of metropolitan areas into hundreds and even thousands of separate political bodies and to the rise of new organizational forms of metropolitan-wide bodies with taxing powers, such as water districts, transportation authorities, and voluntary planning associations.(Britannica)

Kindly check this, if this could help
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geopolitik
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_geography

I need some notes on world population growth and its distribution in world and also on world fisheries and steel industry..................Bhalla changa can u kindly help me in this regard.........

Thankyou for geography notes they are very helpful

God bless u

salam
i have some notes of geography as soft copy
paper A
paper B

if anyone need that , i can email him

salam

I need Geography notes, can u please email me.............

regards

some updated and very best of population notes online regarding population distribution and demographic transition >>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population
http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/gl...human_pop.html
http://www.prb.org/Educators/Teacher...ionGrowth.aspx



I am using Hartshorn & Alexander's Economic Geography 3rd edition for fisheries and steel industry, I bought this from ILMI urdu bazar for Rs 300/- when i was posted at Lahore. For your convenience I've some bookmarks saved:
http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/y7300e/y7300e00.htm
http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/gl...fisheries.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishery


these are some useful steel industry links
use wiki sub links, check sidebars and extract the useful latest facts and figures, leaving the distractions
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History...steel_industry
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/mecs/iab/steel/
http://www.financialsense.com/editor...2006/0718.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_...ndustry_trends
http://seekingalpha.com/article/3151...steel-industry
http://hsc.csu.edu.au/geography/acti...lobal_BHP.html
http://www.indiansteelalliance.com/globalsteel.asp
http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fS...icleId=4117967
http://www.worldsteel.org/
http://www.lme.com/steel-industryoverview.asp
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/bus/A0846599.html
http://www.economywatch.com/world-in...teel-industry/

Commoner's notes are always guiding lines towards success
I'll be grateful if you find some time to mail them.

thanks
bhallachanga@yahoo.com

Asalam-o-Alaikum
i need soft copy of geography notes too so could u plz email me