The division of the entire globe into countries and territories reflects the political map of the world. No geographical map is characterized by such variability as political. In space and time, during the development of human civilization on five continents, states either arose, developed and flourished, or countries and cities disappeared, giving grounds for the variability of the political map and material for scientists to study. This process continues even now, and therefore this map of the world is unstable and dynamic.
State territory
You know that all the changes that occur on the political map are divided into several types.
International law provides for the observance of the principle of inviolability and integrity of the sovereign state territory, which includes: land with subsoil, water area, aerotoria. Aircraft andsea vessels of countries located outside its borders, means of communication and underwater sea cables, territories of diplomatic missions abroad.
The boundaries of territorial waters are established by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1982. Several countries have unilaterally established their length of territorial waters. For example, in Brazil, Peru, Sierra Leone, Uruguay, Ecuador it is 200 miles; in Guinea, 130; in Ghana, Mauritania - 30; in Greece and M alta - 6; in Finland, Sweden, Norway - 4 miles.
Neighbors and borders
There are many isolated territories on the political map that do not have access to the sea, and they, of course, do not have territorial waters. There are also enclave countries (or semi-enclaves) - the Vatican, San Marino (Italy), Lesotho (South Africa).
Of course, according to the political map of the world, you can determine the neighboring countries of any country. China (14), Russia (14), Brazil (10), Germany and Congo (9) border with the largest number of states.
In the process of changing the political map of the world, four main stages are determined:
- ancient (V millennium BC - V millennium AD);
- medieval (V-XV centuries);
- new (at the turn of the XV-XVI centuries);
- latest (from 1914 until now).
Independence and colonies
There are over 250 countries and territories. Among them, more than 190 were legally and de facto independent. Now you can count almost 270 state entities. We emphasize that the term "country", although they are usedin the meaning of "state", but these are different things, since not all countries are states, based on the very definition of this concept.
Given the different degree of dependence, they are divided into:
- Colonies are countries that do not have independence.
- Protectorates are countries with relative state independence.
- Trust Territories are territories temporarily transferred to the trusteeship of the UN as a result of World War II.
To find out the location of all these countries, you will need a political map of the world in Russian. But if you are fine with English, then you can get by with the international sample.
