Monthly Plan
- Access everything in the JPASS collection
- Read the full-text of every article
- Download up to 10 article PDFs to save and keep
Yearly Plan
- Access everything in the JPASS collection
- Read the full-text of every article
- Download up to 120 article PDFs to save and keep
Log in through your institution
journal article
Centrifugal–Centripetal Forces in International Petroleum Company RegionsAnnals of the Association of American Geographers
Vol. 51, No. 1 (Mar., 1961)
, pp. 124-138 (15 pages)
Published By: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
//www.jstor.org/stable/2561372
Read and download
Log in through your school or library
Subscribe to JPASS
Unlimited reading + 10 downloads
Journal Information
The Annals of the American Association of Geographers is one of the world’s foremost geography journals. It has been published since 1911 and currently has an Impact Factor of 2.799, ranking 8th out of 79 geography journals worldwide. The Annals contains original, timely, and innovative articles that advance knowledge in all facets of the discipline. Articles are divided into four major areas: Geographic Methods; Human Geography; Nature and Society; and Physical Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences. There are Editors responsible for each these themes. The Annals is published six times a year (January, March, May, July, September and November). One issue per year is a dedicated Special Issue drawing a diversity of papers from across the discipline under a single theme. Following tradition, the annual Presidential Address is published in Annals; Memorials for former AAG Presidents and exceptionally distinguished geographers are also published.
Publisher Information
Building on two centuries' experience, Taylor & Francis has grown rapidlyover the last two decades to become a leading international academic publisher.The Group publishes over 800 journals and over 1,800 new books each year, coveringa wide variety of subject areas and incorporating the journal imprints of Routledge,Carfax, Spon Press, Psychology Press, Martin Dunitz, and Taylor & Francis.Taylor & Francis is fully committed to the publication and dissemination of scholarly information of the highest quality, and today this remains the primary goal.
Rights & Usage
This item is part of a JSTOR Collection.
For terms and use, please refer
to our Terms and Conditions
Annals of the Association of American Geographers © 1961 Association of American Geographers
Request Permissions
Centripetal Forces
A great way to remember the difference between these forces is: centrifugal- forces people farther apart, centripetal- pulls people together.
Sovereignty is initially achieved because the people of a region are linked by common characteristics. This is called a centripetal force, which unifies people within a state. Some examples include a shared religion, external threats, a stable government, and a common language.
For example, national holidays bring people together and enforce the cohesion of the group. Other shared traditions around religion, clothing, food, and language can also unit people. These forces are what keep countries together despite the differences that arise and the size of the state. In the United States, there are a lot of things that divide us, but we also share a common history, democratic values, and national identity as Americans. No matter how heated political debates can get, these keep us together.
The breakup in Yugoslavia led to the formation of several new states that were pulled together by centripetal forces. The Croatians had a shared history, language, and religion that differentiated them from the Bosniaks, which resulted in two the formation of two states rather than just one.
Centrifugal Force
But, the forces that pull as a part are just as strong. The forces that pull people away from each other are called centrifugal forces. Common examples are differing religion or languages, an unstable government, internal conflict, and geographic features that physically divide people (mountain ranges, etc.).
Source: Weebly AP HuG
For example, when India became independent from Britain, the forces that divided the Indian people were strong because of the differing religions of Islam and Hinduism. As a result, there was mass conflict between these groups and eventually a two-state solution was adopted, but tensions still continue between India and Pakistan.