The political map of the world shows the world's states, their borders, capitals and forms of government. It changes constantly: new states appear, some unite and others break up. Exams often ask you to classify countries by form of government and territorial structure, assess political-geographic position, and name the stages in the formation of the political map.
§1. The political map and how it formed
There are about 195 independent states in the world; 193 of them are members of the UN (the Vatican and Palestine have observer status). A number of dependent territories (colonies, overseas territories) also remain. The largest by area: Russia (17.1 million km²), Canada, China and the USA (roughly equal), Brazil, Australia. The smallest are microstates such as the Vatican (inside Rome), Monaco, San Marino and Liechtenstein. The most populous: India, China, the USA, Indonesia, Pakistan. Stages of formation:
Ancient (to the 5th century AD) — the first states: Egypt, Babylon, the Achaemenids, Rome.
Medieval (5th–15th centuries) — feudal states, the Arab Caliphate, the Mongol Empire, Timur's state.
Modern (late 15th century to the First World War) — the voyages of discovery, colonialism, independent states in the Americas.
Contemporary (from the First World War to today): the collapse of empires, the break-up of the colonial system after the Second World War (1960 — the "Year of Africa"), and the break-up of the USSR and Yugoslavia in 1991.
Types of change:
Quantitative — changes of territory: discovery of new lands, gains or losses in wars, the unification (Germany, 1990) or division (Czechoslovakia, 1993) of states.
Qualitative — changes in a state's system or status: gaining independence, a monarchy becoming a republic.
The present political map of Central Asia took shape in 1991: five independent states — Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
§2. Forms of government
The form of government describes how supreme power is organised and to whom it belongs. A republic — supreme power belongs to bodies elected for a fixed term:
Presidential — the president is head of state and often of government, with wide powers: the USA, Uzbekistan, Brazil, Mexico.
Parliamentary — parliament forms the government and the president's powers are limited: Germany, Italy, India, Austria.
Mixed (semi-presidential) — France.
A monarchy — supreme power belongs to one person and is inherited:
Absolute — the monarch's power is unlimited: Saudi Arabia, Oman, Brunei.
Constitutional — the monarch's power is limited by a constitution and parliament; the monarch "reigns but does not rule": the UK, Japan, Spain, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands.
Theocratic — secular and religious power in one person: the Vatican (the Pope).
The Commonwealth (of Nations) unites the UK and its former colonies; in Canada, Australia and New Zealand the formal head of state is the British monarch, represented by a governor-general.
§3. Administrative and territorial structure
Territorial structure is the way a state's territory is divided and how the parts relate to the centre.
A unitary state has one constitution, one system of laws and one set of government bodies; its administrative units (provinces, departments, prefectures) have no independent political rights: Uzbekistan, France, Japan, China, Turkey.
A federal state has constituent units (states, Länder, provinces, republics) that may have their own constitutions, laws and governments: the USA, Russia, Germany, India, Brazil, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Nigeria.
A confederation is a temporary union of independent states for specific purposes (defence, foreign policy).
Uzbekistan is a unitary state; it includes the sovereign Republic of Karakalpakstan, 12 provinces and Tashkent city. Karakalpakstan having its own Constitution does not make Uzbekistan a federation. Key principle: form of government and territorial structure are two separate criteria. For example, the USA is a presidential republic and a federation; Japan is a constitutional monarchy and a unitary state.
§4. Political-geographic position
Political-geographic position is a country's location relative to other states, military-political blocs, "hot spots" and international transport routes.
A coastal position favours trade; landlocked countries depend more on transport costs.
Uzbekistan is one of only two doubly landlocked countries in the world (reaching the sea requires crossing at least two other countries); the other is Liechtenstein. It lies at the heart of Central Asia and borders all the countries of the region as well as Afghanistan — a major advantage for transit and regional co-operation.
An enclave is a territory completely surrounded by another state: Uzbekistan's Sokh and Shohimardon enclaves lie inside Kyrgyzstan. A whole state can also be an enclave: the Vatican and San Marino inside Italy, Lesotho inside South Africa.
Island and archipelagic states: Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, the UK.
International organisations: the UN (1945, headquartered in New York; Uzbekistan a member since 1992), NATO, the EU, the CIS, the SCO, the Organization of Turkic States.
Worked example
"Describe these countries by two criteria: Germany, Japan, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia."
First the form of government: Germany — parliamentary republic; Japan — constitutional monarchy; Uzbekistan — presidential republic; Saudi Arabia — absolute monarchy.
Then the structure: Germany — federation (16 Länder); Japan, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia — unitary.
Conclusion: "republic" or "monarchy" is not a territorial structure; check the two criteria separately.
Worked example
"The Earth's land area is about 149 million km² and Russia's area is 17.1 million km². What share of the land does Russia occupy? How many times larger is it than Uzbekistan (448.9 thousand km²)?"
17.1 : 149 · 100 ≈ 11.5 %.
Convert to the same units: 17.1 million km² = 17,100 thousand km².
17 100 : 448.9 ≈ 38 times.
Answer: ≈ 11.5% and ≈ 38 times.
§5. Classifying countries by level of development
Countries on the political map are grouped not only by form of government and structure but also by level of socio-economic development. This classification appears often in the exam and underpins later topics (population, economy, trade). The main groups:
Developed (high-income) countries — high income per person, a dominant service sector and long life expectancy. Their leading group is the Group of Seven (G7): the USA, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Canada; others include the rest of Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
Newly industrialised countries — countries that industrialised rapidly in the second half of the 20th century: the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong (the “Asian Tigers”), later Malaysia, Thailand and others.
Developing countries — most of the world’s states, with huge differences within the group: wealthy oil exporters (the Persian Gulf states), large “key” countries (China, India, Brazil, Mexico) and the least developed countries (mostly in Tropical Africa).
Countries with transition economies — former socialist countries that moved from a planned to a market economy, including the CIS states and Uzbekistan.
The Human Development Index (HDI), calculated by the UN Development Programme, is a composite measure combining three components:
HDI = life expectancy + education + income per person; values range from 0 to 1
An HDI above 0.8 means very high human development (countries such as Norway and Switzerland); the lowest values are found in Tropical Africa. Development is compared using per-person figures, not total GDP.
Worked example
“Country A has a GDP of 600 billion dollars and 150 million people; country B has a GDP of 300 billion dollars and 6 million people (hypothetical figures). Which is richer?”