Crossing the Lines GIS Activity

             The State I believed was going to separate was Cameroon.  Cameroon is  located in Africa between Niger and The Central African Republic. This state would separate into two different countries; Cameroon and South Cameroons. The boundary would be draw in such a way as to separate  the English speaking region from the former French territory. The states I believed would unify were Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. Located in the Midwest parts of these states would unify to create Kurdistan.  The kurds are a stateless nation so the boundaries would be drawn in such a way to create a nation-state. Kurdistan would include parts of the northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey.
            I believe that Cameroon will split up for multiple centrifugal forces. One centrifugal force is language differences. The separatists in the Northwest and Southwest region speak English and the rest of Cameroon is French speaking. The other centrifugal force is that the country does not have a long history of being a state.  Southern Cameroons became apart of Cameroon October 1, 1946. When Cameroon was fist colonized by the french  Cameroon and Southern Cameroons were governed separately. It was not until 1946 that they were recognized as one state. The English speaking  Southern Cameroons is trying to seek succession from Cameroon because they feel that they are not being treated fairly. I have reason to believe that the Stateless nation of the Kurds will eventually unify. One region is similarity among cultural groups.  The Kurds are a cultural group and share similar beliefs and customs. The new State of Kurdistan is already on their way to becoming a sovereign state. The Iraqi Kurdistan was the first to gain autonomous in. Iran has has named a province Kurdistan although it is not self-ruled. The desire for a nation-stated in Syria has become violent. They accomplished as much as establishing their own government. I believe that the state of Kurdistan is in the near future.
           The Kurdistan has a cultural boundary. I looked at a map of nations for the midwest and made boundaries surrounding the largest concentration of kurds in each state. There wasn't a layer on Esri that would help show the boundary that was draw but it was based off of research found on Wikipedia. The boundary of cameroon and Southern Cameroons is also a cultural boundary. The layer on the map shows different ethnic groups in africa that was helpful but was not the overall decision of where I decided to place the boundary. I created the boundary based on language. I decided to base it off of language because Southern Cameroons is mad up of English speakers. There was not a layer to show this on Esri but I did some research and created the boundary based off of pictures and information  that I found. Mostly that Southern Cameroons was in the northwest and southwest of Cameroon.
         After Southern Cameroons Splits from Cameroon I think the devolutionary forces will strengthen because the rest of the country has multiple centripetal forces. The new boundary will solve the economic disputes between the English speaking and French speakers. The English speakers will no longer feel like they don't get enough representation. Cameroon will become more economically and culturally unified. They no longer have to fight political debates with the Anglophones.  I feel like the devolutionary forces in kurdistan will strengthen but the rest of Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Syria will weaken. I think that devolutionary forces will strengthen in kurdistan because they will have common interest for religion and economic values. I believe that the other four states will weaken because they don't want to give up anymore land. They are going to try to keep the rest of the nations within their states at bay.