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Thinking Geographically. Ptolemy’s First World Map, circa A.D. 150. Thinking Geographically. Geography, the scientific study of the location of people & activities across the Earth, and the reasons for their distribution. “Big Mac Attack”. Human v. Physical Geography. Divisions of Geography.
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Thinking Geographically Ptolemy’s First World Map, circa A.D. 150
Thinking Geographically • Geography, the scientific study of the location of people & activities across the Earth, and the reasons for their distribution. • “Big Mac Attack”
Divisions of Geography • Physical Geography Human Geography • Rocks and Minerals Population • Landforms Settlements • Soils Economic Activities • Animals Transportation • Plants Recreational Activities • Water Religion • Atmosphere Political Systems • Rivers and Other Water Bodies Social Traditions • Environment Human Migration • Climate and Weather Agricultural Systems .
Five “Key Themes” of Geography • 1. Location– specific location, where? • 2. Place–unique traits of a place • 3. Movement– diffusion, communications • 4. Region– an area’s uniform (similar) characteristics • 5.Human-Environment Interaction–human interaction with an environment
location • Relative Location, “place "in relationship to surroundings –compare it to something else • Mathematical/absolute location • Latitude & Longitude • degrees, minutes, seconds
Place • Situation-the relative location of a place in relation to the physical and cultural characteristics of the surrounding area and the connections within in the system • Site-The absolute location of a place, described by landforms, and other cultural or physical characteristics
regional concepts • 1. formal or uniform regions • Areas of uniformity • Physical or cultural • Sahara Desert, “Bible Belt”
2. functional region • Have special identities because of the social and economic relationships that tie them together. • Rely upon each other Glendale Galleria Newspaper Route
3. perceptual/vernacular regions • Exist in the minds of people • “Deep South” China Town The “Valley’
Globalization and Diversity Map of World Regions (fig. 1.2) Regions defined by Rowntree et al.
Globalization • The increasing interconnectedness (becoming more connected) of different parts of the world through common processes of economic, political, and cultural change. Economic globalization is happening fastest. Discussion: How is globalization affecting you? Can you see it in your everyday life? Panama, 1997
Globalization of Economy • The scale of the world is shrinking, in the ability of a person, object, or idea to interact with a person, object, or idea in another place. • Transnational Corporation, conducts research, opens factories, & sells its products in many countries
Globalization of Culture • Culture, the behaviors & beliefs distinctive of a particular social, ethnic, or age group • Material v. Non-material • English/Universal language • Conflict • Global Culture v. Local Culture
Folk Culture • Is traditionally practiced by small, homogenous groups living in isolated rural areas • Wearing a sari in India • Small Scale • Slow Change due to lack of communication
Popular Culture • Found in large, heterogeneous societies that share certain habits (like wearing jeans) despite differences in personal characteristics. • Varies from time to time at any given place • Changes rapidly • Global V. Local • Environment (Native Americans/Nature)
Diversity Amid Globalization • Globalization: the increasing interconnectedness of people and places through the converging processes of economic, political, and cultural change • Converging Currents of Globalization • Global communications link world regions • Global transportation moves goods quickly • Transnational conglomerate corporations; international financial institutions more powerful than many countries • Global free-trade agreements • Market economies replace state-controlled economies • Globalized market for consumer goods • Globalization of workers, managers, executives
Hybridization: sometimes occurs when forms of American popular culture spread abroad then are melded with local cultural traditions • Japanese comic books, global rap, that are now found worldwide
Global Consumer Culture • May erode local diversity • Can cause social tensions between traditional cultures and new, external globalizing influences • Examples: clothing, food, movies, and more
Environmental Concerns • Globalized economy creates and intensifies environmental problems, disrupts local ecosystems as transnational firms search for natural resources and factory sites • Native peoples may lose resource base • Globalization aggravates world environmental problems (climate change, air & water pollution, deforestation) • International treaties may help
Impact on Society • Increased international migration • Asians, Latin Americans to the U.S. • Africans, Asians to Western Europe • Japan and Korea less homogeneous • Immigrants from poor countries to less poor countries nearby • Criminal element to globalization • Terrorism (discussed later in the chapter) • Drugs • Illegal narcotics link remote mountains of Burma to the global economy • Economies reorient to drug smuggling & money laundering • Pornography and prostitution • Gambling
Drug Trade The Global Drug Trade (Fig. 1.6)
Globalization of Culture • Globalization has also allowed preservation of one’s unique culture • Example: Spanish Soap Operas in the United States
Advocates and Critics of Globalization • The Proglobalization Stance (Advantages) • Globalization is logical expression of capitalism • Removing trade barriers will increase efficiency, spread new technology and ideas • Free flow of capital will enhance global economic wealth • The world’s poorer countries will catch up through globalization
The Antiglobalization Stance • Today’s core, developed countries did not use globalization’s free-market economic model to foster their own development • Globalization creates greater inequalities • It promotes free-market, export-oriented economies, at the expense of local, indigenous economies • Spreads undesirable things (diseases, crime, harmful flora and fauna
Globalization • *Friction of distance, which is the degree to which distance interferes with some interaction • * Space-time compression, the increasing sense of accessibility and connectivity seems to bring humans in distant places closer • *Distance Decay, in which the interaction between two places declines as the distance between the two places increases.
Global Economic Inequity 1960-2000 (Fig. 1.9) Inequity
Diversity in a Globalizing World • Will globalization bring a homogenous, culturally bland world? • The world is still a diverse place • Language, religion • Foods, architecture, urban form • Politics, economics • Ethnic and cultural differences are contributing to separatist political movements • Politics of diversity demands attention to worldwide tensions over terrorism, ethnic separateness, regional autonomy (power over oneself), political independence
Population and Settlement: People on the Land • The human population is at its largest point: more than 6 billion people on earth • About 86 million born each year (10,000 each hour) • 90% of population growth in developing regions (Africa, Latin America, South Asia, East Asia) • Several important population issues • Population growth rates vary from region to region; some grow rapidly, others with slow or no growth • Regions and countries have vastly different approaches to family planning (to increase or decrease population), from regulation to incentives and social cooperation • Migration is very important; some migrate for better life, but others migrate to flee war, persecution, or environmental disasters • The greatest international migration in human history is occurring NOW
Population Growth and Change • More population statistics you must know • Total fertility rate (TFR): the average number of children born by a statistically average woman (world average is 2.8, 1.4 in Europe to 5.2 in Africa) • Percentage of population under age 15 • Signals future rapid population growth • Percentage of population over age 65 • Older people need more health care, social security from younger workers • Population pyramids: show the gender and percentage of the population in specific age groups
Population Pyramids Population Pyramids (Fig. 1.14)
Demographic Transition Model The Demographic Transition (Fig. 1.15)
Migration Patterns • Today, about 125 million (2%) of total world population are migrants of some sort • Much international migration linked to global economy • Push factors: negative conditions that drive people from a location • Examples: cultural oppression, war, unemployment, natural disasters • Pull factors: favorable conditions at a destination that attract people • Examples: economic opportunity (jobs), freedom, good climate • Most migration involves both push and pull factors working together • Networks of families, friends, and sometimes labor contractors connect migrants from their origins to their destinations
An Urban World • Cities are the focal points of the modern globalizing world • The size and growth rate of some cities is staggering • Mexico City and Sao Paolo (Brazil) • More than 20 million residents • And they’re adding 10,000 new people each week • Both are predicted to double in the next 15 years • Urbanized population: percentage of a country’s people who live in cities • Currently, 47% of world’s population lives in cities • U.S., Europe, Japan, Australia are more than 75% urbanized • Rates of urbanization in developing world is usually less than 50%, and may be considerably lower
Culture • Culture is LEARNED (not innate), is shared (not individual) behavior, and includes both abstract (language, religion) and material elements (architecture, technology) • When Cultures Collide • Cultural imperialism: active promotion of one’s cultural system over another • Cultural nationalism: the process of defending a cultural system against offensive cultural expression while at the same time actively promoting local or national values • Cultural syncretism or hybridization: the blending of elements of culture to form a new culture
Language and Culture • Language and culture are closely tied • Language is often the characteristic that best defines cultural groups • Since language is the means for communication within a cultural group, it includes other aspects of cultural identity (politics, religion, commerce, folkways, customs) • Dialect: a distinctive form of a language associated with a specific region (e.g., American and British English) • Lingua franca: a third language that is adopted by people from different cultural groups within a country who cannot speak each other’s language (e.g., Swahili in Africa, or English in India)
Languages World Languages(Fig. 1.22)
Geography of World Religion • Religion is another extremely important defining trait of cultural groups • Universalizing religion: attempts to appeal to all people regardless of location or culture (examples: Christianity with 2 billion, Islam with 1.2 billion, Buddhism) • Ethnic religion: identified closely with a specific ethnic group; does not actively seek converts (examples: Judaism, Hinduism with 850 million in India) • Secularization: exists when people consider themselves to be non-religious or outright atheistic (about 1 billion)
Religions Major Religious Traditions(Fig. 1.36)
Geopolitics: Fragmentation & Unity • Geopolitics: term that describes the close link between geography and political activity • Focuses on the interaction between power, territory, and space at all scales • State: a political unit with territorial boundaries recognized by other countries and internally governed by an organizational structure • Nation: a large group of people who share many cultural elements (e.g.: language, religion, cultural identity) and view themselves as a single political community • Nation-state: a relatively homogenous cultural group with its own fully independent political territory (e.g.: Japan, France); Kurds are a nation without a state
Geopolitics: Fragmentation & Unity Micronationalism: group identity with the goal of self-rule within an existing nation-state - On the rise, and a source of geopolitical tension in the world Centrifugal and Centripetal Forces Centrifugal forces: Cultural and political forces acting to weaken or divide an existing state - Examples: linguistic minority status, ethnic separatism, territorial autonomy, disparities in income and well-being Centripetal forces: Forces that promote political unity and reinforce the state structure - Examples: shared sense of history, need for military security, overarching economic structure
Global Terrorism • 9/11 terrorist attacks not attached to a nationalist or regional geopolitical aspiration to achieve independence or autonomy • Global terrorism is a product and an expression of globalization • Asymmetrical warfare: the differences between a superpower’s military technology and strategy and the lower level technology and decentralized guerilla tactics used by al Qaeda and the Taliban • Colonialism and Decolonialization • Colonialism: formal establishment of rule over a foreign population • Decolonialization: the process of a colony’s gaining (or regaining) control over its territory and establishing a separate independent government