Thinking Geographically Ptolemys First World Map circa A

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 • Rocks and Minerals • Landforms • Soils Activities • Animals • Plants Activities • Water • Atmosphere • Rivers and Other Water Bodies • Environment • Climate and Weather Systems . Human Geography Population Settlements Economic Transportation Recreational Religion Political Systems Social Traditions Human Migration Agricultural

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’

Fig. 1 -7, p. 12

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. Nonmaterial – 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)

• 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, exportoriented 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

(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 Pyramids (Fig. 1. 14) Population Pyramids

The Demographic Transition (Fig. 1. 15) Demographic Transition Model

• 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 (Fig. 1. 18) (2000 and projected 2015)

• 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)

World. Languages (Fig. 1. 22) Languages

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

Kurds: A Nation without a State (Fig. 1. 26)

Geopolitics: Fragmentation & Unity Micronationalism: group identity with the goal of selfrule 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

The Colonial World in 1914 (Fig. 1. 42)

Economic and Social Development: The Geography of Wealth and 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)

GNI World 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 -4 a, p. 8

Maps Affect Our Environmental 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