The political division Refers to a mode of division or division of the world. The two words that make up the term come from Latin. The first comes from division, which means to separate or split. And the second, political, of polis that refers to the city taking into account the government that administers it.
Political geography is the branch of study that investigates political division. This notion includes the states and countries that make up the world, taking into account the socio-cultural history of each one, not forgetting how the various territories have been acquiring and establishing their territorial limits.
In addition, the political division includes the separation of each country into smaller political units which may be autonomous or independent, federal or unitary.
Throughout history many reigns have modified the layout of the political map according to its conquests and expansions as the Roman empire Which for example divided Europe in two.
At present, the world's political division comprises five continents: Africa (54 countries), Asia (43), Europe (49), America (36) and Oceania (16).
How should the political division be understood on the world map?
The political division of the world is represented in maps called political. In which the fractionation of the world in countries is represented, being used whole lines to divide them to each other and, dotted lines to mark its subdivisions.
At the same time, in these maps each country or state unit is usually represented with a different color in order to differentiate them from each other. Try to avoid the blue and blue colors as these are the ones that mark the seas and the oceans respectively.
In broad outline, the map represents a graphic outline of the world, of a continent, of a specific territorial country or region. And in the case of the political map, the different entities or political units in which a particular territory is divided are staged.
These entities do not correspond to natural limits, but rather to the existence of regions, provinces, cities and localities, which have been established or established by human beings.
It is for this reason that the political division of a region represented in the political map, can also include diverse creations of the man like roads, routes, railroads, or, any element used as territorial limit. Operating this as artificial limit.
What differentiates mainly a political map from any other map is that it takes into account the territorial limits or borders, being of importance the sovereignty that the state has over the territory.
However, in other types of maps, this does not happen, for example in a physical map, which takes into account natural accidents such as mountains and rivers.
Elements used in the division of a political map
The factors used in the mapping of a political map allow the signaling of various points that may be of interest.
These include the capitals of each country, also those of each province and various geographical areas that help to visualize or understand the political organization of the place.
It is important to take into account for the reading of these maps that the political division concerning the borders that divide the countries will be represented according to international consensus. This may mean that there is some territory or country that does not agree with the boundaries established in the division of the map.
An example of this is the Malvinas Islands, which were disputed by England and Argentina in 1982.
In its origins these islands corresponded to Argentina being territory of this country but after the war, England proclaims them as their own. So at present there are political maps that comprise a political division of the Falkland Islands, as part of the English territory. And, others as part of the Argentine territory.
On the other hand, the political division can refer to the division of a territory in: City councils, districts, cities, counties, emirates, states, points, countries, parties and provinces.
This not only allows the political mapping of the political division of a region, but also facilitates the state's knowledge of the area of its domain and, in this way, can apply the necessary measures to protect its territory, preserve it and guarantee it.
Other elements used in the so-called political maps, to refer to the political division of a territory, is the separation of the various territories into units.
These units are separated and differentiated by dividing lines that represent the boundaries of the territory or by border strips, better known as borders, which divide not only one territory from another but also separate different morphologies and strategic and administrative characteristics, inherent in each Territory.
At the same time, in the maps of political character are used scales that represent the political-administrative divisions present in a territory. From these, geographic distances can be accurately calculated and measured.
The railroad tracks and the routes belonging to the railways are also often represented in the political division of the maps. Thus, the so-called political maps, provide a great amount of information, of different aspects, inherent to a determined territory.
How to understand the borders in the world
Borders refer to the boundaries that delimit and separate one State from another and have the function of establishing the territorial area of a State accurately.
Among its main characteristics, it can be emphasized that, the borders can be established like arbitrary lines. It can be natural or artificial.
In the new century XVII, along with the formation of the modern state, borders are established as they are today, allowing cartographers, experts in the field, to formulate the theory of dividing crests, through a peace treaty.
In this way the borders are consolidated after the Napoleonic era, being useful to the different states, establishing precise limits to defend their nationalism and legitimize their sovereignty over the rest.
The political division is useful for being represented on a map. However, with globalization and the growing spread of the media throughout the world, boundaries understood as boundaries or divisors from one state to another, are losing their strength. Some change of frontier can be negotiated by means of consensus, others nevertheless, have originated the great wars of history.
References
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- Bell, J. (1850). A system of geography, popular and scientific, or, A physical, political, and statistical account of the world and its various divisions, Volume 6, Issue 1. Fullarton and Co.
- Julien, C.J. (1991). Condesuyo: The Political Division of Territory Under Inca and Spanish Rule. Bonner Amerikanistische Studien = American Studies of Bonn.
- Knight, C. (1867). The English Cyclopaedia: Division. Geography. 4v. And Supply. Bradbury, Evans.
- Muir, R. (1997). Political Geography: A New Introduction.
- Nurit Kliot, S.W. (2015). Pluralism and Political Geography: People, Territory and State.
- Prescott, J.R. (2014). Political Frontiers and Boundaries (Routledge Library Editions: Political Geography).
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- Roger E. Kasperson, J. V. (2011). The Structure of Political Geography. Transaction Publishers.
- Slomp, H. (2000). European Politics Into the Twenty-first Century: Integration and Division. Greenwood Publishing Group.