archipelago
/ˌɑrkəˈpɛləˌɡoʊ/A large group of many islands lying close together in the same stretch of sea.
Example: The archipelago has over three hundred islands, most of them empty.
C223 words · Proficient
Countries & Continents vocabulary — C2
Countries and continents vocabulary for borders and power, including a principality, an emirate and a buffer state, plus annexation, partition and geopolitical realpolitik.
23 questions
Words in this set
23antipodes
/ˌæntɪˌpoʊdiz/The part of the world lying exactly opposite your own, on the far side of the earth.
Example:
He moved to the antipodes for a job in Wellington.
annex
/ˈæˌnɛks/To take control of a territory, often by force, and add it to your own country.
Example:
The empire annexed the small kingdom in 1890.
geopolitical
/ˌdʒioʊpəˈlɪtɪkəl/Relating to politics as shaped by geography and international relations.
Example:
The strait has huge geopolitical importance.
transnational
/trænˈsnæʃənəl/Involving or operating across more than one country.
Example:
The company runs a transnational supply chain.
hegemony
/hiˈdʒɛməni/The leading or dominant influence of one country or group over others.
Example:
The empire held hegemony over the region for centuries.
isthmus
/ˈɪsməs/A narrow strip of land connecting two larger areas of land, with water on both sides.
Example:
Panama sits on a narrow isthmus between two oceans.
supranational
/ˌsuprəˈnæʃənəl/Having power or influence that goes beyond the boundaries of one country.
Example:
The EU acts as a supranational body on trade rules.
exclave
A small piece of a country's territory that is separated from the main part by another country.
Example:
Kaliningrad is a Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea.
microstate
A country that is very small in land area or population.
Example:
Monaco is one of the smallest microstates in the world.
principality
/ˌprɪnsɪˈpælɪti/A small country ruled by a prince.
Example:
The principality has a population smaller than a market town.
emirate
/ˈɛmərət/A country or state ruled by an emir.
Example:
Each emirate keeps control of its own resources.
sultanate
/ˈsʌltənət/A country ruled by a sultan.
Example:
The sultanate predates every border drawn around it.
polity
/ˈpɑləti/An organised society with a government of its own.
Example:
The city functioned as an independent polity for four centuries.
partition
/pɑrˈtɪʃən/The division of a country into two or more separate states.
Example:
Partition displaced more people than the war that preceded it.
annexation
/ˌænɛkˈseɪʃən/The taking of territory by one country from another.
Example:
The annexation was never recognised by the assembly.
buffer state
A small country lying between two rival powers.
Example:
Its whole history is that of a buffer state between empires.
extraterritorial
/ˌɛkstrəˌtɛrɪˈtɔriəl/Outside the legal power of the country you are standing in.
Example:
Embassy grounds are treated as extraterritorial in practice.
suzerainty
Control by one country over the foreign affairs of another that governs itself.
Example:
The treaty left suzerainty with the empire and everything else local.
balkanise
To break a region up into small hostile states.
Example:
Everyone warned that the plan would balkanise the whole province.
realpolitik
/ˌrilˌpɔlɪˈtɪk/Politics based on practical power rather than on principle.
Example:
The chapter reads as pure realpolitik with the moral language stripped out.
statecraft
/ˈsteɪtˌkræft/The skill of governing a country and managing its relations with others.
Example:
The memoir is admired more for its statecraft than its prose.
landmass
/ˈlændˌmæs/A very large continuous area of land.
Example:
The single landmass broke apart long before any of this was named.
