Introduction to Human Geography AP Human Geography Lacks

Introduction to Human Geography AP Human Geography Lacks

Questions that Geography Addresses • Where are things located? • Why are they important? • How are places related? • How are places connected? • How are humans affected by their locations?

Physical vs Human • Physical Geography • Human (or Cultural) Geography

5 Themes of Geography • 1. Location • 2. Region • 3. Movement • 4. Human-Environment Interaction • 5. Place

1. LOCATION: Where is it? ABSOLUTE LOCATION (mathematical location)

Latitude & Longitude • Determines absolute location • Latitude: imaginary lines that run east and west and measure north and south • • • Measured from the equator N = north S = south Also called parallels Measured from 0 – 90 degrees

Important Lines of Latitude • Arctic Circle – 66½º north

Important Lines of Latitude • Tropic of Cancer – 23½º north

Important Lines of Latitude • Equator – lies at 0 degrees

Important Lines of Latitude • Tropic of Capricorn – 23½º south Top left: Tropic of Cancer marker in Namibia Bottom left: Tropic of Capricorn marker in Australia

Important Lines of Latitude • Antarctic Circle – 66½º south

Latitude & Longitude • Longitude: imaginary lines that run north south and measure east and west • • • E = east W = west Meet at north and south poles Also called meridians Measured from 0 to 180 degrees (runs through Greenwich, England)

Prime Meridian Right: The Royal Observatory Greenwich, England

International Dateline

Organizing the globe • Hemisphere: half of the globe • Separated by the equator and the prime meridian • What do we live in? hemisphere(s)

Organizing the globe • Continent: large land mass • Ocean: large body of salt water

Organizing the globe • There also bays, seas, gulfs, lakes • What determines name?

LOCATION: Where is it? RELATIVE LOCATION (situation)

2. Regions • Grouping of places that have something in common and can be given a name based on similar features. • Which region of the world do we live in…

Types of Regions • Formal (uniform) regions • Functional (nodal) regions • Perceptual (vernacular/cultural) regions

Other Examples of Regions • Climate zones: Tropical countries, Arctic • Geographic Region: Gulf Coast states; Middle East • Political Regions: countries, states • Economic Regions: OPEC; Sun Belt • Cultural Regions: based on religion, ethnicity, custom i. e. , Latin America, Arab world

3. Movement How and why do people, ideas, products, and events move from one place to another?

Movement • 1) Culture Hearths

Movement • 2) Cultural diffusion • (a) expansion diffusion

Movement • 2) Cultural diffusion (cont…) • b) Relocation diffusion • c) Forces that work against diffusion: • 1) Time distance decay • 2) Cultural barriers

Space–Time Compression Refers to any phenomenon that alters the qualities and relationship between time and space Examples: New technologies (phones, fax) Travel (cars, planes, space shuttles) Economics (need for new markets) Has occurred throughout man’s history, but most theorists specify two time periods as best examples: mid-19 th century to WWI End of the 20 th century

4. Human-Environment Interaction How do people adapt to and/ or change their environment? This includes the impact of physical processes like hurricanes, floods, drought…

Environment • We depend on our environment • We adapt to the environment • We modify the environment

5. PLACE: What is it like? What are the physical and human/cultural characteristics of this place?

Just for fun… • Longest place names

Longest Place Names: rd 3 Place • WALES boasts a village called Llanfair pwllgwyn gyllgo gerychwyrn drobwll llanty silio gogogoch (58 letters)

Longest Place Names: nd 2 Place • NEW ZEALAND has a hill called Taumata whakatangihanga koauau o tamat ea turipukaka pikimaunga horo nuku pokaiwhenua kitana tahu (85 letters) by the Maori. • taumata (brow of a hill), whakatangihanga (music making), koauau (flute), o (of), tamatea (name of a famous chief), turi pukaka (bony knees), piki maunga (climbing a mountain), horo (slip), nuku (move), pokai whenua (widely travelled), ki (to), tana (his), tahu (beloved).

Longest Place Names: st 1 Place • THAILAND: Krung thep maha nakorn boworn ratana kosin mahintar ayudhya amaha dilok pop nopa ratana rajthani burirom udom rajniwes mahasat arn amorn pimarn avatar satit sakattiya visanukam. (163 letters) • Meaning: • krungthep mahanakorn The great city of angels, • amorn rattanakosin mahintara yutthaya mahadilok phop the supreme unconquerable land of the great immortal divinity (Indra), • noparat rajathani burirom the royal capital of nine noble gems, the pleasant city, • udomrajaniwes mahasatharn with plenty of grand royal palaces, • amorn phimarn avatarnsathit and divine paradises for the reincarnated deity (Vishnu), • sakkatattiya visanukam prasit given by Indra and created by the god of crafting (Visnukarma).