POLITICAL MAP OF THE WORLD: ACTUAL ANALYSIS OF THE MAIN ELEMENTS
Authors: Hudzelyak Iryna 
Published: June 2022

Scientific approaches to highlighting the main elements of the political map of the world have been updated. The criteria of the state in the political-geographical context have been considered. The list of the main elements of the political map of the world - states, quasi-states, and non-self-governing territories has been offered. These are those entities that have a territory and borders with varying degrees of control, as well as the political system as one of the subsystems of society with varying degrees of internal and external sovereignty and institutional formation.The state is a territorially organized and politically sovereign society. Based on political and geographical criteria (state territory, borders, population, internal and external sovereignty) and customary approaches in the system of international relations (predominant recognition of sovereignty by UN member states), three types of states have been identified: sovereign states (187 UN member states and UN observer state - Vatican); sovereign states not recognized by one or more states (6 UN member states - Armenia, Israel, North Korea, PRC, Republic of Cyprus, Republic of Korea); sovereign states that de facto do not exist, but are de jure recognized by many states (UN observer state - Palestine). In 2021 the total number of sovereign states is 195.

The definition of quasi-states is based on the same criteria, and the typology takes into account in each case the degree and features of the manifestation of these features at the present stage. Quasi-states are countries that have the following characteristics: clear geographical parameters (territory, borders); population characterized by the linguistic, cultural, ethnopolitical, or social community; limited or no external sovereignty; weak domestic political power of the government to lead the country. Six types of quasi-states have been identified: countries whose sovereignty is partially recognized (Kosovo); countries that are de facto sovereign, but de jure not recognized by most states in the world (Taiwan); countries with partial international recognition, but limited control over their territory and lack of internal legitimacy of power (Western Sahara); countries formed as a result of external armed intervention and recognized only by the aggressor state and its geopolitical allies (Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transnistria, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus); countries that are de facto sovereign, but de jure not recognized by any state in the world (Somaliland); countries without international recognition and with limited control over the territory (Nagorno-Karabakh).

Non-self-governing territories are such political-territorial entities that are under the jurisdiction of another state, or on the basis of concluded mutual agreements, another state is entrusted with part of administrative and security functions. These are former colonial possessions that have not yet exercised their right to political self-determination. The degree of dependence on the management area in each case is unique, so it is difficult to distinguish types, and their number is constantly declining.

Not-essential elements of the political map of the world are those territories to which the jurisdiction of sovereign states and the rules laid down in international treaties or the first and second at the same time. These are political-territorial formations of hybrid object-subject status: territories with the mixed regime (exclusive (maritime) economic zone and continental shelf); territories with a special regime (international straits, international sea canals, international rivers, and lakes, buffer zones); territories with an international regime (Arctic and Antarctic, high seas, airspace outside state territories, seabed and its subsoil outside exclusive economic zones and the continental shelf, outer space, moon, and other celestial bodies); territories contested by several states.

Keywords: political map of the world, state, quasi-state, country, political-territorial formation.