What is a territory tied to a state rather than being completely independent?

Antecedent boundary - Antecedent boundaries existed before the present settlement. These are often based on landforms, such as mountains (Andes, Himalayas) which created cultural boundaries in the past.  See story map.
Autonomous Regions - A defined area within a state with  a lot of self-government or freedom from its parent state. States will sometimes grant this authority to ethnically distinct areas (many indigenous or first peoples, like Nunavut)
Balance of Power - Condition of roughly equal strength between opposing countries or alliances of countries
Boundary - Invisible line that marks the extent of a state's territory
Chokepoint - a geographical feature on land such as a valley, defile or a bridge or at sea such as a strait, which an armed force is forced to pass, sometimes on a substantially narrower front and therefore greatly decreasing its combat power, to reach its objective.
City-state - A sovereign state comprising a city and its immediate hinterland
Colonialism - Attempt by one country to establish settlements and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles in another territory
Colony - a territory that is legally tied to a sovereign state rather than completely independent
Consequent boundary - are drawn in order to separate groups based on ethnic, linguistic, religious, or economic differences. The boundary between India and current-day Pakistan was created to separate the main religions in the region, Hindu and Islam.  See story map.
Decolonization - a process where almost all European colonial territories won independence after WWII and transitioned to self-government.
Democracy - ​a country in which citizens elect leaders and can run for office 
Devolution- the transfer or delegation of power to a lower level, especially by central government to local or regional administration.
Disintegrated State - states that split into two or more new states; states that have failed, such as Sudan, the former Soviet Union. 
Ethnic separatism - the advocacy of a state of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. While it often refers to full political secession, separatist groups may seek nothing more than greater autonomy.
Ethno-nationalism - a strong feeling of belonging to a minority nation that is contained within a state that is controlled by a more powerful nation. Usually within a state representing the majority nation (in a nation-state like Spain).
Federal state - An internal organization of a state that allocates most powers to units of local government 
Frontier - A zone separating two states in which neither state exercises political control
Geometric boundaries: drawn without concern for physical or cultural differences. Geometric boundaries are drawn using straight lines. The USA and Canada border, for example. See story map.
Geopolitics - politics, especially international relations, as influenced by geographical factors.  It considerrs the strategic value of land and sea area in the context of national economic and military power ambitions.
Gerrymandering - Process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power
Imperialism - Control of territory already occupied and organized by an indigenous group, objective is extraction of resources 
Irredentism - When a nation's homeland spills over into another state and the people on the wrong side of the boundary wish to be reunited with the rest of their nation; or when a nation wishes to reclaim homeland on the other side of the boundary regardless of whether members of the nation are currently living there. See resource.
Jihad - Holy war, in Islam. Associated with terrorism in the minds of many non-Muslims
Landlocked state - A state that does not have a direct outlet to the sea, negatively affects economic interaction (trade)
Majority-minority District- a voting district aligned where the overall minority population in the state is actually the majority population of the voting district. Click for an example in Florida's 3rd congressional district. This practice concentrates minorities so they will be represented, rather than having their vote dilluted by spreading them out among two or more districts. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 has been construed to require this in order to guarantee minority representation in congress. This is a form of Gerrymandering.
Median Line Principle - the principle that  a nation's maritime boundaries should conform to a median-line equidistant from the shores of neighboring nation-states. This concept was developed in the process of settling disputes where the borders of adjacent nations were located on a contiguous continental shelf.
Multiethnic state-  State that contains more than one ethnicity 
Multinational state-  State that contains two or more ethnic groups with traditions of self-determination that agree to coexist peacefully by recognizing each other as distinct nationalities. 
Nation-  a group that is tightly knit, sharing a common identity because of bonds of language, culture or ethnicity and shares ties to a national homeland they have claims to (often they want a state due to concept of self-determination)
Nation-state: a formal sovereignty occupied by people who see themselves as a single, united group bonded by history, culture or ethnicity. State and nation boundaries are the same.
Nationalism: 1) Loyalty and devotion to a particular nationality. Simply stated: "My people, right or wrong." 2) A nation's desire to create and maintain a state of its own (often a centripetal force), ethnonationalism is usually a centrifugal force.
Nationality:  Identity with a group of people that share legal attachment and personal allegiance to a particular place as a result of being born there.
Neocolonialism: a new form of colonialism after decolonization - economic and political control over former colonies that is indirect, often through corporations, or governments (oil, palm oil, chocolate, minerals, ores are all needed by industrialized countries, along with strategic locations for military bases)
Patriotism: love, support and defense of one's country. Simply stated: "Loving your country for what it does right."
Relic boundary: boundaries that used to exist and can still be detected on the landscape, such as the Berlin Wall or Hadrian's Wall. The Berlin Wall: the old location of the wall is marked throughout the city with commemorative bricks, but there are other signs of where the wall used to be. West Berlin had more economic resources than East Berlin and this created an economic boundary that outlasted the wall.
Separatism: the advocacy or practice of separation of a certain group of people from a larger body on the basis of ethnicity, religion, or gender. "French Canadian separatism"  "Catalonian separatism."
Shatterbelt: A region in which boundaries have been drawn and redrawn many times; largely as a result of being caught between powerful forces (competing states).  They tend to be topographically fractured (mountainous) which prevents larger powers from uniting small, independent nations. (example - SE Europe (Balkans)) Politically volatile regions.
Sovereignty: Ability of a state to govern its territory free from control of its internal affairs by other states; having final say over territory
State: An area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government with control (sovereignty) over its internal and foreign affairs, and is recognized by other important countries.
Stateless nation: a group that shares a common identity that lacks their own politically organized territory encompassing their homeland. Cultural groups with out an independent political entity. (the Kurds)
Subnational - existing or occurring below a national level : relating to or being a group or region within a nation; ie, a subnational government, members of a subnational culture. 
Subsequent boundary - A subsequent boundary changes as the cultural landscape changes and is drawn to accommodate developments due to a certain event, such as a war. Example: former Yugoslavia see story map
Superimposed boundaries- are drawn on an area by a conquering or colonizing power that ignores existing cultural patterns.  In 1885, European states met in Berlin to divide up the continent of Africa among themselves, paying little to no heed to tribal territories.
Supranationalism-  is a method of decision-making in multi-national political communities, wherein power is transferred or delegated to an authority by governments of member states. The concept of supranational union is used to describe the European Union, the United Nations and treaty organizations such as NATO or NAFTA as new types of political entities.
Territoriality- The attempt by an individual or group to affect, influence or control people, phenomena, and relationships, by delimiting and asserting control over a geographic area.
Unitary state- An internal organization of a state that places most power in the hands of central government officials.
UNCLOS- UN Convention of the Law of the Sea. Helps determine "who owns the sea." A treaty signed by over 150 countries that creates maritime boundaries including the 12 mile territorial sea and the 200 mile EEZ.
EXAMPLES and further explanation of Unitary v. Federal.