World Regional Geography

GEG 101 ONLINE!

CHAPTER: Introduction
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Studying the Chapter:

  • Read and study the textbook INTRODUCTION. (See "Textbook Notes" below.)
  • Read and Study Appendix A: Map Reading and Interpretation [know SCALE]
  • Read and study the Online Lecture [NOTE: These are important!!]

Map Quiz 1 - Introduction:

Review Activities:

For All Realms:

Keep these in mind as you read and study EACH REALM (chapter).

  • Defining a Realm: Know the physical, cultural, economic, and/or historical criteria (characteristics) used to define the realm.
    • Why are the boundaries drawn where they are?
      • Are there any physical barriers (oceans, seas, mountains, deserts, dense forests) at the realm border?
      • Are there physical, cultural, economic, and historical differences on either side of the realm boundary?
      • Do the realm boundaries tend to run through areas of sparse population?
    • How do the physical, cultural, economic, and historical characteristics of the realm differ from these characteristics of neighboring realms?

     

    • You may want to do the following FOR EACH REALM to help your learning:
      • print this realm worksheet and keep track of the characteristics in the chart as you read and study the chapter.
      • You may want to review the lecture on REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY
      • Use the Goode's Atlas maps, especially the world maps at the beginning, to see differences between realms

     

    • Here are SOME of the physical, cultural, economic, and historical characteristics that you should consider
      • physical geography
        • landscapes
        • climate
        • precipitation
        • major physical features
        • physical barriers at the realm boundaries (oceans, seas, mountains, deserts, dense forests)
      • cultural geography
        • religion
        • language
        • politics
        • other
      • economic geography
        • level of development - IMPORTANT: SEE TABLE G-1 (pp. 34-41)
        • per capita income (GDP)
        • population growth rate
        • % urban population
        • life expectancy
        • other measures of development - IMPORTANT: SEE TABLE G-1 (pp. 34-41)
      • historical Geography
        • culture hearths
        • colonization - who colonized
        • other

 

  • Know where most people live in the world. See the population density map in your Goode's Atlas and Figure G-9 (pp. 18-19) in your textbook. Also, assess how well the 5 reasons explain the population distribution. Do they apply to this realm or not?

 

  • Know the CONCEPTS, IDEAS, and TERMS listed on the first page of each chapter and the italicized words within the chapter. ALSO, know EXAMPLES of the terms from the realm being studied. It is strongly suggested that you make a list of these terms with their definitions and examples. Each unit exam will have a question where you DEFINE and GIVE EXAMPLES of these terms.

 

  • You must understand map SCALE. Know the difference between a large scale map and a small scale map. Each unit exam will have a question about map scale. See Figure G-3.
    • Large scale = large detail = small area
    • Small scale = small detail = large area

Textbook Notes / Outline:

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

Introduction
WORLD REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY: GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

 

GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES

 

REALMS AND REGIONS

 

REALMS AND REGIONS ON THE MAP / Map Reading

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:

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

Questions:

  • 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?
  • What is the difference between a large scale map and a small scale map? [A version of this question will be on every exam.]

 

THE FOUR CLASS THEMES 

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY: the Physical Setting

ACTIVITY

Carefully study the map below and read the textbook paragraph about the Tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004 on pages 9-10.

 

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

 

CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY (Regions and Cultures)

ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

 HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY

 

THE REGIONAL FRAMEWORK

 

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.]