Cultural Geography Unit 1

geo

greek for earth

geography

description of earth

cultural geography

the study of relationships between human culture and the environment

history

understanding continuity and change over TIME

geography

understanding continuity and change over SPACE

Spatial

an adjective describing the arrangement, organization, and interrelations of places and phenomena on the earth’s surface

absolute location

physical site (longitude and latitude)

relative location

situation; connectedness to other places

hinterland

area around a city

sense of place

infusing a place with meaning and emotion

perception of place

belief or understanding of what a place is like, often based on books, movies, stories, or pictures

environmental determinism

assumes that the natural environment determines nearly everything

Ellsworth Huntington & climates

attempted to demonstrate a correlation between temperate climates and advanced civilizations

possibilism

a natural environment limits possible choices

region

constitutes an area that shares similar characteristics

Delmarva Peninsula

part of a hierarchy of regions

spacial interaction depends on

distance, accessibility, connectivity

scale

the territorial extent of something (local regional, national, global)

cultural landscape

the visible human imprint on the landscape

sequent occupance

layers of imprints in a cultural landscape that reflect years of differing human activity

cultural trait

single element of normal practice in a culture, aka custom

culture complex

a combination of culture traits (regional and temporal dimensions)

culture hearth

place of origin of cultural traits

culture realm (or domain)

largest scale of culture

cultural diffusion

the process of dissemination or spread of an idea or innovation from its hearth to other areas.

what has traditionally slowed or prevented diffusion?

time-distance decay

expansion diffusion

idea or innovation spreads outward from the hearth

contagious diffusion

spreads adjacently

hierarchical diffusion

spreads first to most linked people or places

stimulus diffusion

idea promotes a local experiment or change in the way people do things

relocation diffusion

movement of individuals who carry an idea or innovation to a new, distant location

globalization

a set a processes that are increasing interactions, deepening relationships, and heightening interdependence without regard to country borders

demography

study of population

population geography

spatial aspects of demography

population density

measure of total population relative to land size

arithmetic density

total population / area

physiologic density

total population / unit area of arable land

arable land

is farmable land

Egypt

98% of the population lives on 3% of the land

population distribution

descriptions of locations on the earth’s surface where

Earth’s 3 largest population clusters

East Asia, South Asia, Europe (with Russia)

except for Russia, Europe’s population was the earliest to become mostly

urban among world regions

birth rate

number of lives / 1000 ppl / year

death rate

number of deaths / 1000 ppl / year

infant mortality

during 1st year

child mortality

between 1 and 5 years

Saudi Arabia

has high infant and child mortality rates

Japan

has the lowest infant mortality rates and the longest life expectancy rates

Replacement rate

2.1 (± 91 nations below)

Total Fertility Rates fallen below replacement level in

North America, Australia, Europe (highest avg income nations)

total fertility rate

number of children

Thomas Malthus

1798 demographer

linear growth

food production inc

exponential growth

population increasing at an increasing rate

Doubling Time

time required for a population to double in size

TP =

OP + B - D + I - E

1. high stationary

high birth and death rates

2. early expanding

high birth, lowering death (underdeveloped world today)

3. late expanding

declining births, lowering deaths

4. low stationary

low birth and death rates (developed countries)

Catalysts

move from stage 1 to stage 2

Expansive population policies

China under Mao - for more workers

Czechoslovakia under communism

restrictive population policies

China - under 2.1 TFR; intense govt propaganda and forced abortions; India - forced sterilizations; both these countries abort more female babies than male

coercive powers are limited

especially in democracies

controlling immigration

Great Wall of China, Hadrian’s Wall & restrictive quotas

population pyramids

charts that show the percentages of each age group in the total population (poorer countries are shaped like a pyramid)

migration

a change in residence intended to be permanent

immigration

in migration

emigration

exiting out migration

internal migrations

domestic moves; i.e. dust bowl, rural to urban, african americans, urban to suburban, sunbelt and far west

Exodusters

the small 1880s Exoduster migration represented migration from the deep south

Great Migration

mid 20th century south to north and rural to urban

recent “remigrations”

traditionally called counter or reverse migrations

sunbelt and far west greatest regional growth pattern

because of economic factors: fewer unions and ample workforce encouraged the diffusion of industrial, service, and high-tech firms; govt factors and federal spending on military and space industries; lifestyle: retirement options, mosquito control and AC

forced (involuntary) migrations

atlantic slave trade; prison colonies such as the state of GA, Australia, and French Guiana; Trail of Tears & Indian removals; Russian relocations especially under communism; deportation of illegal immigrants

major modern migrations

Europeans to North America, Iberians to Latin America, Europeans to Africa and Australia, Africans to the Americas, Indians to Africa and SE Asia and South America, Chinese to SE Asia and North America

Catalysts for migrations

economic, political (persecution, draft dodging), environmental (floods, etc), culture and religion (persecution), kinship

is push or pull more accurately perceived?

push

step migration

occurs in stages

intervening opportunity

stopping in route to ultimate destination

distance decay

effects of distance on interactions before modern communications

refugee

a displaced person who flees a home because of a “well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, or membership in a particular social group, or political opinion

internal refugee

can still be a displaced person, even within a native country

refugees suddenly travel

without personal property, on foot or by simple vehicle, without documentation or credentials

industrial era

even stronger push factors than earlier phase; numbers and percentages swelled for Southern and Eastern Europeans

how do economic downturns and travel disruption affect migrations?

reduce the pull that jobs have for many

nativism

protecting the interests of native-born residents

restrictions

1882 - Chinese exclusion act ended Chinese immigration

1920s - Congressional laws designed to prevent resumption of Industrial era immigration also established a quota system

revisions

1943 - Chinese exclusion ended (bc China was an ally against Japan)

1965 - major reform, some selectivity, increased quotas to 170,000

democrats

came to oppose attempts to curb immigration as racist or un-American, so laws already restricting immigration were de-emphasized or unenforced

republicans

came to favor curbing immigration to preserve American culture and/or mitigate urban over-crowding and crime