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• 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”

The “Valley’China Town

Fig. 1-7, p. 12

Map of World Regions (fig. 1.2)

Regions defined by Rowntree et al.

Globalization and DiversityGlobalization and Diversity

GlobalizationGlobalization• 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.

Panama, 1997

Discussion: How is globalization affecting you? Can you see it in your everyday life?

Globalization of Economy 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 CultureGlobalization 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 CultureFolk 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 CulturePopular 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 GlobalizationDiversity 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 TradeDrug Trade

The Global Drug Trade (Fig. 1.6)

Globalization of CultureGlobalization 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 StanceThe 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

GlobalizationGlobalization• *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.

InequityInequityGlobal Economic Inequity 1960-2000

(Fig. 1.9)

• 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

• 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 and Settlement: People on the Land

(Fig. 1.12)(Fig. 1.12)

– 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 PyramidsPopulation PyramidsPopulation Pyramids (Fig. 1.14)

Demographic Transition ModelDemographic Transition ModelThe 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

Growth of World Cities Growth of World Cities (Fig. 1.18)(Fig. 1.18) (2000 and projected 2015)(2000 and projected 2015)

• 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)

LanguagesLanguagesWorld 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)

ReligionsReligions

Major Religious Traditions (Fig. 1.36)

Geopolitics: Fragmentation & UnityGeopolitics: 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

Kurds: A Nation without a State (Fig. 1.26)

Geopolitics: Fragmentation & UnityGeopolitics: 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 ForcesCentrifugal 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

The Colonial World in 1914 (Fig. 1.42)

Economic and Social Economic and Social Development: The Development: The

Geography of Wealth Geography of Wealth and Povertyand Poverty

• Economic development, when successful, brings increased prosperity to individuals, regions, and nation-states

Measuring Economic Wealth• Gross Domestic Product (GDP): value of all final goods

and services produced within a country• Gross National Product (GNP): GDP plus the net income

from abroad; but omits non-market economic activity (bartering, household work)

• Gross National Income (GNI): the value of all final goods and services produced within a country plus net income from abroad

– GNI per capita – obtained by dividing the GNI by a country’s population

• Purchasing power parity (PPP): a comparable for a standard “market basket” of goods and services purchased with a local currency

• Economic growth rate: annual rate of expansion for GNP (Gross National Product)

GNIGNIWorld Gross National Income (GNI) Per Capita (Fig. 1.31)

Indicators of Social Development

•Life expectancy: average length of life expected at birth for a hypothetical male or female, as based on national death statistics

•Mortality rate under 5 years: measure of the number of children who die per 1,000 persons

•Adult illiteracy rates: percentage of a society’s males and females who cannot read

•Female labor force participation: percentage of a nation’s labor force that is female

Fig. 1-4a, p. 8

Maps Affect OurEnvironmental Perception

Human-Environment Interaction(Cultural Ecology)

• Successful cultures are those that adapt well to their environments. (Chaco Canyon, North Africa, Fertile Crescent, Easter Island)

Chaco Canyon, New Mexico Easter Island, Polynesia