Textbook Notes / Outline:

Introduction WORLD REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY: GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

[Some maps may be difficult to read. To see a clear image, RIGHT CLICK on the image and select VIEW IMAGE]

GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES

• Definition of Geography:
  • The study of the location and distribution of features on the Earth's surface
    • human features (culture)
    • physical features
    • the relationship between natural environments (physical features) and human societies (human features)
    • and most importantly: reasons for the distribution of features

     

  • Geographers ask 3 questions:
    • WHERE?
    • WHY THERE?
    • and WHY DO WE CARE?

 

QUESTION: Define "geography". Which two questions do geographers try to answer. Contrast the study of geography with the study of history What are the "4 themes" that we are using in this course to help us answer the "why there?" question of geography?

REALMS AND REGIONS

• A classification system (taxonomy)
  • Biologists use Kingdom (plant, animal), Phylum, Class, Order, Species
  • Geologists use three major rock types
  • Historians use Eras, Ages, Periods
  • Geographers use Realms, Regions, Sub-Regions

• The Regional Concept (very important in this course)
  • Geographer divide the surface of the Earth into REGIONS
    • Areas of the earth's surface marked by certain properties
    • Scientific devices that enable us to make spatial generalizations
    • help geographers SIMPLIFY the Earth
    • Based on criteria we establish
      • Criteria can be:
        • Human (cultural) properties
        • Physical (natural) characteristics
        • or Both
      • In this course we will concentrate on FOUR CLASS THEMES (criteria):
        • physical
        • cultural
        • economic
        • historical
    • All regions have:
      • Area: that is, they exist in the real world; they occupy space on the Earth's surface
      • Boundaries
      • Location
        • absolute location
        • relative location
      • Textbook Example: The Midwest
    • Types of Regions
      • Formal Region
        • Marked by a certain degree of homogeneity (sameness) in one or more phenomena
        • Also called a uniform region or homogeneous region
        • examples:
          • the Muslim World
          • the Corn Belt
      • Functional Region
        • A region marked less by its sameness than its dynamic internal structure
        • A spatial system focused on a central core
        • A region formed by a set of places and their functional integration
        • Also called a "nodal" region
        • examples:
          • a city with its suburbs and surrounding agricultural land
          • Harper College and the homes of its students and workers
        • functional regions have a CORE and a HINTERLAND that are interconnected
          • Core
          • Hinterland:
            • Literally means "country behind"
            • A term that applies to a surrounding area served by an urban center
            • Urban center is the focus of goods and services produced in the hinterland

   
  
        
  
           
  
              
  QUESTION:
              
              
  What are the "4 themes" that we are using in
                 this course to "define" realms and regions and help us
                 answer the "why there?" question of geography?
           
        
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

• REALMS:
  • The largest geographic units (regions) into which the inhabited world can be divided
  • Our textbook discusses one realm per chapter (12 realms)
  • Based on both physical (natural) and human (cultural) criteria
  • The result of the interaction between human societies and natural environments
    • A functional interaction
    • Revealed by farms, mines, fishing ports, transport routes, dams, bridges, villages, and other features on the landscape
  • Represent the most comprehensive and encompassing definition of the great clusters of humankind in the world today
  • Geographic realms change over time depending on the criteria that is emphasized
  • Where geographic realms meet, TRANSITION ZONES, not sharp boundaries, mark their contacts.
    • An area of spatial change where peripheries of two adjacent realms or regions join
    • Marked by a gradual shift (rather than a sharp break) in the characteristics that distinguish neighboring realms
  • The 12 realms to be studied in GEG 101 ONLINE!:

  

   

   

REALMS AND REGIONS ON THE MAP / Map Reading

• Also see Appendix A
• The concept of SCALE -- KNOW THIS FOR EACH EXAM!!!
  • from page 7: "In this book, we must use mostly small-scale maps because regions are large and our page is small, but from time to time we use a larger-scale map to highlight a particular regional issue or problem. And we also include maps of many of the world's great cities, employing a larger scale still."
  • What does "small-scale" and "larger-scale" mean?

     

  • Scale: the ratio of distance between two location on a map and the actual distance between those two location on the Earth's surface
  • this ratio is often expressed as a fraction

   

  • small scale
    • a small fraction (1:103,000,000 on map A in figure G-3. p. 8)
    • small detail, but large area
    • like map A in figure G-3. p. 8
  • large scale
    • a large fraction (1:1,000,000 on map D in figure G-3. p. 8)
    • large detail, but small area
    • like map D in figure G-3. p. 8

Geographers create realms and regions by studying the world and finding similarities with, and differences between, different areas of the earth's surface. In this course we will use four criteria (themes) to do this:

• physical geography
• cultural geography
• economic geography
• historical geography

In the remainder of the introduction, and in the ONLINE LECTURE we will study these four criteria . We will learn the vocabulary and concepts that we will "apply" in the 12 remaining realm chapters. We need to know these concepts so that we can organize our study of the world.

Geographers study WHERE and WHY THERE. We will learn the location (WHERE) of the boundaries of the 12 world realms (see map quiz 1) and then, and more importantly, we we will learn WHY the authors of our textbook located the boundaries THERE. We will do this by applying the four class themes looking for similarities in physical geography, cultural geography, economic geography, and historical geography of each realm AND looking for DIFFERENCE in the physical geography, cultural geography, economic geography, and historical geography of neighboring reams

THE FOUR CLASS THEMES 

• physical geography
• cultural geography
• economic geography
• historical geography

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY: the Physical Setting

• Natural Landscapes
  • Mountains
    •  all continents, except Africa (why not Africa?) , have a "mountainous backbone
      • North America = Rocky Mountains
      • South America = Andes
      • Europe = Alps
      • Asia = Himalayas
      • Australia = Great Dividing Range
      • Antarctica = Transantarctic Mountains
    • often form barriers separating realms and regions
      • e.g. Himalayas between East Asia and South Asia
    • can isolate and separate cultures
    • can offer protection during conflicts
  • River Basins
    • some heavily populated
    • fertile soils
• Continents and Plates
  • Plate Tectonics can help answer many of the WHY THERE questions of physical geography
    • Why are mountains where they are?
    • why are volcanoes where they are?
    • Why are ocean trenches where they are?
    • etc.
  • Alfred Wegener, continental drift, Pangaea
  • Plate Tectonics
    • Plates
    • subduction
    • Pacific Ring of Fire
    • Tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004

ACTIVITY Carefully study the map below read the textbook paragraph about the Tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004 on pages 9-10. and read : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5194316.stm clicking on the "CLICK HERE TO BEGIN" button   On the map below (1) draw arrows to indicate the direction of the Tsunami wave from it's origin to each of the following locations that suffered it's disastrous effects, and (2) label each of the locations. Sumatera (Sumatra), Indonesia Thailand Myanmar (Burma) Sri Lanka The Maldives Somalia and Kenya

Question: In the theory of plate tectonics there are four types of plate boundaries: divergent, convergent, transform, and plate boundary zones For each of the following physical features found in the realms studied in this unit: a. state which type of plate boundary is responsible for the feature b. briefly discuss the process that formed the feature (1) The rift valleys found in Subsaharan Africa (2) The Andes mountains

• Climate
  •  Climatic Change
    • desertification
    • glaciation/ice age/interglaciations
      • much of the landscape of northern Illinois was formed by the effects of glaciation
      • Figure G-6 (p.12) Mote the area in southwestern Wisconsin and northwestern Illinois (around the town of Galena, IL) that was not covered (and flattened) by glaciers
  • Precipitation
    • study the map of precipitation (G-7, p. 13)
    • get an idea of the Earth's dry places (yellow and orange) and very wet places (green and dark green)
    • be able to sketch these on a blank outline map of the world

    

     

  • Climatic Regions:
    • see online lecture
    • A = Humid Equatorial Climates
    • B = Cry climates
    • C = Humid temperate Climates
    • D = Humid cold Climates
    • E = Cold Polar Climates
    • H = Highland Climates

   

  Question: Know the letters and the general characteristics of each climatic type (pp. 11-16) Have a general idea of WHERE each climate tipe exists in the world. In which climatic region do we live here in northern Illinois?

CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY (Regions and Cultures)

• Definitions:
  • Shared patterns of learned behavior
  • The composite of human imprints on the earth's surface
  • " Carl Sauer's definition: "the forms superimposed on the physical landscape by the activities of man"
  • online lecture
• Components that we will focus on in GEG 101 ONLINE!:
  • Culture Hearths (see chapter 7)
    • The source areas from which radiated ideas, innovations, and ideologies that change the world beyond
  • Language
  • Religion
  • Ethnicity
  • Politics
  • Economy
• Cultural Landscape and Sequent Occupance
• Cultural vs. Ethnicity
  • ethnicity is biological
  • culture is learned
  • the breakup of Yugoslavia
    • not an "ethnic" conflict, but rather it was a "cultural "conflict
• Political Geography and Cultural Conflicts
  • online lecture: Cultural Diversity
  • online lecture: Cultural Conflict
  • Vocabulary from online lectures
    • Balkanization
    • Devolution
    • Centrifugal Force
    • Centripetal Force
    • Irredentism
    • Cold War
    • Nation
      • a cultural group
      • NOT a country
    • State
      • is a country
      • A politically organized territory
      • Administered by a sovereign government
      • Recognized by a significant portion of the international community
      • A state (country) must also contain:
        • a permanent resident population
        • an organized economy
      • a functioning internal circulation system
      • examples of states: France, Russia, China
    • Nation-state
      • A country whose population possesses a substantial degree of cultural homogeneity and unity
    • Stateless nation
      • nations (cultural groups) without their own state (country)
      • Some examples of stateless nations: the Cherokee Nation, the Kurds, the Palestinians
  • Political Geography
    • A subfield within the human branch of geography
    • The study of the interaction of geographical area and political process
    • The spatial analysis of political phenomena and processes

    Question: Define and GIVE AN EXAMPLE of : culture cultural-landscape nation State nation-state cold war irredentism balkanization devolution acculturation transculturation centripetal force centrifugal force coup d'etat

ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

• Major Population Clusters
  • online lecture
  • 4 major clusters
    • 1) East Asia
      2) South Asia
      3) Europe
      4) Eastern US
• Patterns of Development
  • Economic geography
  • Economic conditions (World Bank's groupings):
    • High income
    • Upper-middle income
    • Lower-middle income
    • Low income
  • Core areas vs. Peripheries
  • Symptoms of Underdevelopment
    • online lecture: Measures of Economic Development
      [Be suree to rad and study these onoline lectures]
    • Use table G-1 (pp. 35-41) often
  • The Specter of Debt
  • Globalization
    • online lecture: Economic Change

   

  Question: Use this data for the hypothetical country of Harperland to answer the questions that follow. GDP = $375,000,000 population =1,000,000 urbanization = 25% population growth rate = 2%  . Calculate the GDP per capita for Harperland. 2. About how many years will it take for the population of Harperland to double? [rule of 70] 3. Would this country be classified as a less developed country (LDC) or a more developed country (MDC)? Give three reasons why based on the data available.

 HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY

• online lecture

• why study historical geography?
• culture hearths
• colonialism
• effects of colonialism

THE REGIONAL FRAMEWORK

• Our textbook divides the world into REALMS (big regions)
• Realms are divided into REGIONS
• Regions can be divided into SUB-REGIONS

• Realms, Regions, and Sub-regions are created by geographers to SIMPLIFY the world to make it easier to study
• Different geographers create different regions depending on which characteristics (criteria) they emphasize
• We will use four criteria (themes) to understand why the authors of our textbook created the realms and regions that can be seen on the map below
• The criteria that we will use / the four class themes are:
  • physical geography
  • cultural geography
  • economic geography
  • historical geography
• Each unit exam will have a questions where you will have to describe and compare these characteristics

• Europe
• Russia
• North America
• Middle America
• South America
• Subsaharan Africa
• North Africa/Southwest Asia
• South Asia
• East Asia
• Southeast Asia
• Austral Realm
• Pacific Realm

Question: On a blank outline map of the world draw the realm boundaries (blue lines in the map above) and label the 12 world realms. [This is just like the first map quiz.]