Why this word is great
THALASSOCRACY — [Noun] A state whose sovereignty is predicated on naval dominance and command of the sea-lanes, its influence flowing not from soil but from saltwater. From the Ancient Greek θάλασσα (thálassa, "sea") + -κρατία (-kratía, "rule, government"). Unlike a tellurocracy, which consolidates power through the static possession of continental landmass, or a hegemony, which denotes a broad and often terrestrial preeminence, a thalassocracy is an empire of vectors and currents, its substance found in the routes between ports. It is the oar-stroke of a Venetian galley in the predawn lagoon, the silhouette of a Portuguese carrack rounding the Cape of Storms, and the silent authority of a warship's silhouette on the horizon—a realm whose power is inherently fluid, vast yet precarious, proving that the most enduring power is often that which refuses to be pinned to the map.