Crossing the Line GIS Activity

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The boundary that I chose that is splitting up is Belgium, which would split into the Flemish speaking Flanders and the French speaking Walloons.  The new Flanders region would be in the north of the present Belgium.  Belgium now has access to the sea by it's northwest border, but because of the boundary split only the Flanders would have access to the sea.  Wallonia would be the south part of Belgium.  The border that I chose that is going to disappear is China and Siberia.  China would expand into part of Siberia.  The part of Siberia that China will take over is the southwest area also known as the area that touches the north part of China or Russia's east.

I believe that Belgium will split up because Belgium is divided by language.  Language is the major centrifugal force because the northern part is concentrated with Flemish speakers and the southern part is concentrated with French speakers.  Brussels is the only reason that Belgium has not split yet because most of the people that live in Brussels speak both Flemish and French which is why Brussels can be considered a centripetal force.  I believe that China will expand into Siberia because China is very populated and wants as many resources as possible.  I also believe that this will happen because some Chinese residents have already moved across the border and set up trading settlements.  Russia is trying to defend their sovereign territory, but Russia has a disadvantages and there might me economic shifts in China's favor.

I created the new Flanders and Wallonia boundaries based on the language differences in Belgium.  Using the cultural boundary between the languages of French and Flemish I successfully created accurate boundaries of the new split of Belgium.  The criteria I used to create the new Chinese border has to do with economics.  China is driven to gain as many recourse as possible so it is logical for them to expand into the north.  China's biggest reason for expanding into Siberia is for economic purposes, but it may also have to do with the simple need for land.

The split between Belgium will affect the Wallonia part the most because it will no longer have access to the sea, which will make Wallonia be landlocked and have bad economic effects. The reason China is taking over is because they want as many resources as possible so it will be economically helpful, but because of the cultural difference, there might be conflict. It might also speed up the devolutionary forces in Russia because there will be locational forces.