About a century ago, Friedrich Ratzel proposed a theory that likened the nation-state to a biological organism. Just as an organism is born, grows, matures, and eventually dies, Ratzel argued, states go through stages of birth (around a culture hearth or core area), expansion (perhaps by colonization), maturity (stability), and eventual collapse. Also, like an organism, a nation-state is comprised of a series of systems: Physical, Climatic, Human, Cultural, etc. Each is connected to all the others to form the unique characteristics of that state. It is very difficult to separate any one system completely from the tangled web of the others in order to study its attributes.

We often consider a political map to be the most basic device in studying world geography. However, a simple look clearly reveals the enormous range in the sizes of states; some are micro-states (or ministates), while others are giants. Other observations of this map reveal a group of more than two dozen states which have no maritime boundaries (they are landlocked). Bolivia is one such state, exemplifying the disastrous effect being landlocked can have on the fortunes of a country. In fact, the United Nations officially recognizes countries like Bolivia as belonging to a group of Geographically Disadvantaged States.

Another aspect of the world map lies in the territorial morphology, or physical shape of states. Consider the long, isolated island morphologies of Southeast Asian nations compared to the spherical, tightly-packed nations in Europe. What affect do these differing shapes have on the success of state?

States have capitals, core areas, administrative divisions, and boundaries. Boundaries are sensitive parts of the anatomy of a state: just as people are territorial about their individual properties, so nations and states are sensitive about their territories and limits. Boundaries, in effect, are contracts between neighbouring states. The definition of a boundary is likely to be found in an elaborate treaty that verbally describes its precise location. Cartographers then perform the delimitation (official mapping) of what the treaty stipulates. Certain boundaries are actually placed on the ground as fences, walls, or other artificial barriers; this represents the demarcation of the boundary. The world map shows that some boundaries have a sinuous form, while others are straight lines. Boundaries can therefore be classified as geometric (straight-line or curved), physiographic (coinciding with rivers or mountain crests), or anthropogeographic (marking breaks or transitions in the cultural landscape).

Another way to view boundaries has to do with their evolution or genesis. This genetic boundary classification was established by Richard Hartshorne, a leading American political geographer. Hartshorne reasoned that certain boundaries were defined and delimited before the present-day human landscape developed. The United States-Canada boundary is an example of this antecedent type. Westward expansion in the United States and Canada, on opposite sides of the 49^th parallel, created two corridors of settlement, transport routes, and other features of the cultural landscape. 

Other boundaries evolved as the cultural landscape of an area took shape. These subsequent boundaries are exemplified by Belgium and its neighbours. A long-term process of adjustment produced what is on the map today, with every mile of boundary codified in international treaties.

Some boundaries are forcibly drawn across a unified cultural landscape. After World War II, defeated Germany was divided into two countries by such a superimposed boundary. That boundary was strongly demarcated (as part of the Iron Curtain) to prevent an exodus from East Germany to West Germany. The reunification of Germany eliminated the function of this boundary.

The boundary between East and West Germany has now become a relict boundary. Relict boundaries are those that have ceased to function, but whose imprints are still evident on the cultural landscape.

Such is the former boundary between the two colonies of Italian and British Somaliland. When the colonial powers departed and Somalia became a unified state, that dividing line became a relict boundary; but evidence of it persists to this day, even on the map in the contrasting names of villages and towns.