Compact State: the distance from the geographic center of the area to any point on the boundary does not vary greatly, ie. Poland , Kenya
Advantages: easier to manage with communication and transportation
Prorupt/Protruded State: state having a portion of territory that is elongated, EX: Democratic Republic of Congo or Thailand
Advantages: can give acees to resources or easy to split Disadvantages: more likely to not be culturally assimiliated, more borders to defend & communicate
Elongated State: state that is geographically long and narrow, Ex: Chile, Italy
Disadvantages: Lots of borders to protect, harder communication and more travel required, diverse climate, far from capital
Perforated State: state that totally surrounds another state Ex: South Africa & Lesotho, Italy and the Vatican
Disadvantages: completely landlocked, must have everything cross through another country, possible hostilities
Fragmented State: state split into many pieces Ex: Indonesia, Fuji, Denmark, Philippines Advantages: can have lots of resources Disasvantages: communication difficult, hard govern, difficult to create nationalism and assimiliation
Landlocked State:state not having direct access to an ocean (this is not a shape-just a condition)
Must rely on other nations to send or receive goods, cannot maintain a navy, must worry about hostilities disrupting trade
Microstate: state that is extremely small, ie. San Marino, Vatican City, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein