Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
elongation often results in a more diverse populace than a compact shape. On the other hand, elonga-
tion may result in climatic variety that is a plus to the country's agriculture and economy.
Prorupted states
A
prorupted state,
such as Namibia, is generally compact but has a noticeable protrusion. In the case
of Namibia, a land protrusion gave Germany (once the colonial ruler in Namibia) access to the Zam-
bezi River. In the cases of other countries, such as Thailand and Myanmar (Burma), proruption is the
result of a peninsula. This shape is generally thought to be disadvantageous because it isolates a por-
tion of the country.
Drawing Electoral District Boundaries
A very different, yet very important, component of political geography concerns the drawing of voter
district boundaries. The governments of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia and other
democracies include legislative bodies elected on the principal of “one person, one vote” — equal
representation for all citizens. This in turn necessitates creation of electoral districts that contain
roughly the same number of people. Regarding the United States, drawing the boundaries of Con-
gressional Districts immediately comes to mind, and so, too, the outlines of other political geographic
entities — such as city council districts, state senate districts, and state house districts. Making “one
person, one vote” a geo-political reality involves four steps:
1. Count:
Conduct a nationwide census that is as accurate as possible. The United States does one
every ten years. Indeed, the Constitution requires it — not simply to count Americans, but for the
specific purpose of acquiring data that permits creation of equal Congressional Districts.
2. Map:
The next step is to map the collected information with as much geographic accuracy as
the data permits. That means, for example, that when it comes to a large city, boundary-makers
need population statistics on a block-by-block basis.
3. Calculate:
The next step is to calculate the number of people who should be in each district.
This is a fairly simple matter. Say, for example, that you are considering a given state's house of
representatives that has 100 seats. In that case, you take the state's population total, as revealed by
the census, and divide by 100. The numerical result is the number of people who
should
reside in
each district.
