[1] The six categories of state shapes are: compact; elongated or attenuated; fragmented; prorupted or protruded; perforated; and compound or complex.
According to Derwent Whittlesey, a Harvard professor (1939), the ideal state should be compact ("chunky") rather than elongated.
[1] A compact state has a minimum frontier to defend, and generally roads and railways are relatively simple to provide.
Archipelagos such as Philippines, Indonesia, and Fiji are examples of fragmented states.
South Africa is an example of a perforated state because it surrounds Lesotho.