Chapter 1 an exploration of connections

urbanization

1700 fewer 7 million people or just 10 % of the world's total population lived 2008 the world had transformed by urbanization now about half of worlds population lives in cities

ethnicity and culture: slippery concepts

A group of people who share a location, a set of beliefs, a way of life, a technology, and usually a common ancestry and sense of common history form an ethnic group Cultural Markers Members of a particular culture group may share features, such as language and common values, that help define the group These shared features are called cultural markers

Race

A human population considered distinct based on physical characteristics. Predominantly a social construct Only 2 percent of our genes are responsible for the visible differences such as skin color. Social groups play a very important role in defining the rules of race.--In some cultures a light skin mulatto who is also "upper class" may be considered White, while in others, the same individual would classify as Black

Agriculture

Agriculture includes: The raising of animals and the cultivation of plants The ability to produce food = Long-term effects on human population growth, rates of natural resource use, the development of towns and cities, and ultimately the development of civilization The Neolithic Revolution Was a period characterized by the expansion of agriculture and the making of polished stone tools

cultural geography

An important component of human geography is the study of culture Culture is represented by the ideas, materials, methods, and social arrangements that people have invented and passed on to subsequent generations Culture includes language, music, gender roles, belief systems, and moral codes

values

As people, we all want food, shelter, health, love, and acceptance, but culturally, people are not all alike. The reasons for differences in behavior from one culture to the next are usually complex, but they are often related to differences in values

RNI

Births-Deaths=RNI

GIS

GIS computerized systems designed for the storage, retrieval and analysis of geographically referenced data

human geography

Human geographers / the economic, social, and cultural practices of a people and in the spatial patterns these factors create Often look to the past in order to understand the present To grasp the importance of modern human impacts on the physical environment is to examine the long-term relationship between humans and the plants and animals they eat

Language

Language is one of the most important criteria used in delineating cultural regions Between 2500 and 3500 languages are spoken on earth today Many languages have several dialects (regional variations in grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary) Today, with increasing trade and global communication, a few languages have become dominant (Arabic, English, Spanish, Chinese, and Hindi) English is now the dominant world language

agriculture and consequences

Led to several developments now regarded as problems: Rapid population growth Dense settlement Extreme social inequalities Environmental degradation Occasionally, famine

Globalization and cultural change (part 1)

Some indications suggest that the diversity of culture is fading as trends and fads circle the globe via the instant communication now available As globalization proceeds, people migrate and ideas spread Inevitably, some measure of cultural homogeneity will occur, resulting in more overall similarity between culture groups

globalization and cultural change (part 2)

The ability to communicate easily over the Internet and to travel quickly can reaffirm cultural identity These abilities also enhance the conditions necessary for multiculturalism, the state of relating to, reflecting, or being adapted to several cultures

introduction

The familiar questions are central to geography Geographers study location spatial relationships connection between environment and people geographers seek to understand why different places have different sights, sounds, smells, and arrangements of features

religion and belief systems

The religions of the world are formal and informal institutions that embody value systems Most have roots deep in history, and many include a spiritual belief in a higher power as the underpinning for their value systems Religious beliefs are often reflected in the landscape Universalizing Ethnic

gender issues

activities assigned to men and women differ among cultures and across time however, women often defined as inferior to men thus less access to wealth and power

why are cities growing

changes in food production have been pushing people out of rural areas development manufacturing and service economies and the possibility of earning cash incomes is pulling them into cities process is called the push/pull phenomenon of urbanization

global climate change

climate change a slow shifting of climate patterns due to general cooling or warming of the atmosphere the present trends is global warming which refers to observe warming of the earth's surface and climates in recent decades. increased amounts of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and other gases trapping the heat

physical geography

created by long-term geological processes internal processes forces that move the earth's crust external processes related to surface activities such as erosion

sustainable development

effort to improve present living standards in ways that will not jeopardize those of future sustainable agriculture= seeks to meet food demands without degrading the environment or natural resources.

development

extraction industrial production services (knowledge production) as people in a society shift from extractive activities to industrial and service activities their material standards of living rise which is a process typically labeled development

region

formal functional vernacular unit of the earth's surface that contains distinct environmental or cultural patterns determining regions is difficult important for dividing world into understandable fragments regional demarcations are used for various purposes so regional definitions are fluid

population growth rates and wealth

gdp total production of goods and services in country in a given year divided by the population demographic transition period high birth and death rates are giving way to a period of much lower birth and death rates

geographers' visual tools

geographers' most important tools are maps which they use to record analyze and explain spatial relationship

globalization

growing interdependence of people around the world shrinking of the world and the increased consciousiness of the world as a whole process be which the people of the world are unified into a single society and function together

geographic patterns of human well-being

healthy and socially rewarding standard of living in an environment that is safe GPD per capita HDI comparison female earned income as a percent of male earned income (F/MEI)

geography

how and why did people come to occupy a particular place? how do they assess the physical aspects of that place and then modify them to suit their particular needs? how do people create environmental problems by the way they use a place? how do people interact with other places?

humans and the environment

humanity's interaction with the environment has resulted in improvements in the circumstances of human life humans have had an enormous impact on the physical environment ecological footprint= estimating the amount of biologically productive land and sea area needed to sustain a human population at its current standard living

where is it? why is it there? why does it matter?

landscape observation description of the earth's surface and consideration of the natural environment spatial analysis the study of how people objects or ideas are related to one another across space.

climate

long-term balance of temperatures and precipitation weather short-term expression of climate

latitude and longitude

maps contain lines of latitude and longitude which enable a person to establish a position on the map relative to other points on the globe lines of longitude also called meridian run from pole to pole lines of latitude also called parallels run around the earth parallel to the equator

precipitation

near the equator moisture-laden tropical air is heated by the strong sunlight and rises to the point where it releases its moisture as rain rain belt equatorial moisture falls on N.America and Eurasia is frontal precipitation caused by interaction of large air masses of different temperatures and densities.

population density and growth

people not evenly distributed Nearly 90% live north of the equator and most of them live between 20 degrees north and 60 degrees north latitude people concentrated on about 20% of the available land

landforms

plate tectonics Pangaea all continents were once joined in a single vast continent earth's surface composed of plates drifting on magma volcanoes one plate slipping under another (subduction) earthquakes caused by plates rubbing against each other

age and sex structure

population pyramid graph depicts are and sex reveals sex difference within population

gender

socially constructed, where sex biologically determined gender is something that people learn from their cultural environments what we consider to be gender appropriate behavior and norms can be entirely different in other cultures

Geopoltics

strategies used by countries to gain territory, resources, influence

geography part 2

study of our planet's surface and the processes that shape it

populations

study the growth and decline of numbers of people on earth, their distribution across the earth's surface, age, and sex distributions migration patterns and what makes people move for most of human history, fluetuating food availability, natural hazards, and disease kept human death rate high, especially for infants

genocide

systematic attempt to kill all members of an ethnic or religious group

map projection

systematic representation of all or part of the three-dimensional Earth surface on a two-dimensional flat surface equator all projections create some distortions

democratization

the transition toward political systems guided by competitive elections the expansion of worldwide channels of communications democratic systems of government will gradually take hold and place authoritiarianism

TFR

trends in populations tfr average number of children a woman in a country is likely to have during her reproductive years another powerful contributor to population growth is migration.

population growth

upsurge in pop began about 1500 an exponential pattern of growth (j curve) virtually growth in all regions of the world, but more rapidly in some places than in others

temperature and air pressure

warm temperatures linked to low air pressure cool temperatures linked to high air pressure land heats up and cools off faster than the sea wind created by wind going from places with high pressure to places with low pressure