Regional geography is a subfield of geography that

Regional geography is a subfield of geography that deals holistically with the environment and human attributes of a particular territory. Regional geographers endeavor to understand how physical and cultural geographic features interrelate to form distinct regions, or spatial territories, whose attributes are uniquely different from other parts of the world E. J. PALKA

GEOGRAPHY • The study of place and space • Studies the location and distribution of features on the Earth’s surface • Studies human activity, the natural environment, and the relationship between the two • Answers where and why Why is Timbuktu where it is, and why did the settlement evolve on this site?

CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS Biologists Geologists Historians Geographers Taxonomy: kingdom, phylum, Class, order, family, genus, species 3 Major groups, subsidiary groups, geological time Eras, ages, periods Geographic Realms and/or Regions based on sets of spatial criteria

Transition zones are an area of spatial change where peripheries of two adjacent realms or regions join. Transitional zones are marked by a gradual shift (rather than a sharp break) in the characteristics that distinguish neighboring realms

GEOGRAPHIC REALMS Realms are based on Spatial Criteria I • The largest geographic units into which the inhabited world can be divided • Based on both physical (natural) and human (cultural) yardsticks

GEOGRAPHIC REALMS II • 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

GEOGRAPHIC REALMS III • Represent the most comprehensive and encompassing definition of the great clusters of humankind in the world today

WORLD GEOGRAPHIC REALMS • Geographic realms change over time. • Where geographic realms meet, transition zones, not sharp boundaries, mark their contacts.

GEOGRAPHICAL CLASSIFICATION The World CONCEPT OF SCALE Regions Realms The term scale refers to a ratio between distances portrayed on a map and actual distances on the earth’s surface that correspond to this map. To be useful, every map must include a scale that provides a corresponding ratio between distance on the map and actual distance

REGIONS • Areas of the earth’s surface marked by certain properties • Scientific devices that enable us to make spatial generalizations • Based on criteria we establish • Criteria can be: u Human (cultural) properties u Physical (natural) characteristics u or Both

REGIONS • All regions have: u Area u Boundaries u Location

FORMAL REGION • Marked by a certain degree of homogeneity in one or more phenomena • Also called a uniform region or homogeneous region Examples: Corn Belt Megalopolis

• A functional region is marked less by its sameness than its dynamic internal structure. A functional region, also called a nodal region, is a spatial system focused on a central core and formed by a set of places and their functional integration Example: Los Angeles Metropolitan Area

Capitalism and globalization Capitalism is a prevalent socioeconomic system that is characterized by private ownership, free enterprise, and profit motives. Capitalist expansion into new geographies of production and consumption are often cited as drivers behind the growth of global interconnections and interdependencies

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, and is the latter’s dominant focal point as well Periphery Core

THE PHYSICAL SETTING • Physical Geography ♦Alfred Wegner’s • Continental drift • Tectonic plates • Subduction • Pacific Ring of fire ♦Weathering ♦Erosion

CLIMATE • Hydrologic cycle • Precipitation patterns • Climate regions

Introduction to Regional Geography I (pages 1 -16) E. J. PALKA