Territoriality

The claiming and controlling of space by animal species, including humans. The space is defined by boundaries, and such delimitations may be clearly indicated, or may be indistinct and alter with changing circumstances. The dimension of territorial space ranges from personal space claimed bymost individuals to sovereign political space represented by the nation-state or even supranational organizations. The dominance of territoriality in the organization of human political space is clear from the fact that almost all of the Earth’s land surface, and at least a portion of the oceans and seas, are separated by legal borders into territorial states, all of which claim complete sovereign authority over the space contained within those limits. 

People encounter the concept of territoriality on a daily basis in the form of personal space. Everyone possesses what political geographer Martin Glassner labels an “envelope” of territory immediately around his or her person, which varies in size according to culture. Latin Americans, for example, tend to have smaller personal spaces and stand much closer to one another when communicating than North Americans typically do, and females in most societies generally establish smaller personal spaces than males, especially when interacting with other females. This personal territory may be violated only by friends, relatives, and lovers, and strangers who intrude into an individual’s personal domain will be judged to be aggressive and possibly threatening, often resulting in either flight or a hostile response on the part of the “owner” of the space. The concept of “private property” extends territorial space further, and this formof territorial claim is supported by law in most societies. Unlike personal space, the boundaries of our claims to private ownership of space are supported by clearly demarked divisions shown on property deeds, and often reinforced by structures that signal the limits of the space and inhibit violation of the territory, such as fences or walls. Unauthorized and deliberate trespassing into this territory is considered a criminal act in many countries, another indication of

the serious nature of territorial control in human culture.