Crossing the Line GIS Activity

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Countries to split:

Scotland from the U.K.

A country that could become two is the U.K., if Scotland separated.

A force that could be centrifugal from the U.K. is that Scotland could have more power over how they are run. A centripetal force is that Scotland would have access to its own resources. Scotland used to be its own country, which could be a centrifugal force from the U.K.

The new boundaries placed are cultural, based on boundaries between Scotland and the rest of the U.K. that are already in place. The Scottish would have there own country, making the new boundaries cultural, since the Scottish culture would have its own country.

Scotland will be in charge of it's own governing and resources, like oil. The U.K. will have lost part of it's country, so it will also lose resources from Scotland. Scotland would have control of their own defense, as well as foreign policy. The U.K. would no longer be controlling these things, since Scotland would be separated.


Countries to merge:

Republic of China and the People's Republic of China

Two countries that could merge are the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China.

The merge of the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China has already been suggested. It has been an idea for a long time, and many Chinese would like it for the sake of national pride. While Taiwan is not as supportive of the idea, The People's Republic of China already considers itself the only China, which could be a centripetal force for the Chinese. However, the Republic of China not being in favor of the idea is a centrifugal force for the citizens of the Republic of China. The countries are similar culturally in religion, as shown on the map, which could be a  centripetal force in the unification of the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China.

The new boundaries unifying the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China would be cultural. Both countries are Chinese, and have similar religions, among other cultural traits.

The People's Republic of China would probably have control over the Republic of China. People in the People's Republic of China would feel national pride, while people in the Republic of China would likely be less happy about the unification of the countries. If the People's Republic of China decided to take action and use military forces to unify the countries, it might suffer economic consequences, but it is still possible this could happen anyway to achieve national pride. The two countries would have shared resources.