Human Geography Unit 1

Geography

the field of human knowledge that studies the earth

“Geo” =

earth

“graph” =

to write or describe

Physical geography

studies all of the natural (environmental) occurrences on the planet

Climatology

study of the earth’s climate

(physical geography)

geomorphology

study of the distribution of landforms

(physical geography)

oceanography

study of the ocean and its organisms

(physical geography)

biogeography

study of the distribution of plants and animals

(physical geography)

Human Geography

study of the location of people and activities across the earth’s surface and the reasons for their distribution

(where and why people live places)

Human Geography: Political

political regions that have developed, government/country indicated boundaries, and relations between governments and people

Human Geography: Economic

how we developed and organized roles economically, including trade and finance

Human Geography: Religious

the relationship of a society’s religious system regarding usage of resources, development of government, and environmental interactions

Ways to identify regions”

• language

• political orientations

• natural environmental boundaries

• religion

Demographics

data that is used to chart the various characteristics of a human population

Homogeneous region

a region that has shared characteristics (such as language or climate)

Formal region

a region determined by set artificial boundaries

Nodal region

an area organized around a focal point

• like how New York City is focused around Central Park and the subway

Vernacular region

based on customs of a particular social group

Relative space

gets meaning when related to other concepts or things

relative to SOMETHING

absolute space

concrete location (such as coordinates)

Site

the physical location of a place;

the exact place that somewhere is located, like latitude and longitude

Situation

relative location

the location of one place as it is related to another plaec

Scale

the size of a particular place, relative or absolute

Spatial interaction

studying how separate social groups interact (or lack there of) with each other

Factors of spatial interaction

• Distance

• Time

• Cost

• Opportunity

• Supply and Demand

Cultural ecology

subfield of human geography that studies how humans interact with and adapt to the ecological system

Alexander von Humboldt

• believed to have started modern geography

• (1769-1859)

• German, Upperclass, Scholar

• Theorized Latin America and Africa had once been connected

• Developed theory of isothermic lines (a method of examining the climates of various locations on earth)

• published 5 volume work “Kosmos” which showed his ideas for natural sciences and scientists working within a unified body of natural sciences

Carl Ritter

• (1779-1859)

• German scientist

• 19 volume work explaining how the earth’s structure influenced human activities

• Chairman of geography department at the University of Berlin

• Viewed earth like a patient and him as the doctor/examiner

• Believed the physical nature of earth affected how history unfolded

Ellsee Reclus

• (1830-1905)

• French geographer

• invented the term “social geography”

• 19 work volume “The Earth and Its Inhabitants”

Evelyn Stokes

• New Zealand geographer

• worked for the inclusion of marginalized groups

• especially women and the Maori people

Walter Christaller

• (1893-1969)

• German

• made groundbreaking discoveries on urban space and how towns and cities interact with each other

Doreen Massey

• (1944-2016)

• English geographer

• worked with the concept of poverty and wealth being determined by place

• specialized in Marxist and feminist geographics

Ancient geography focus

mapping and describing

Modern geography focus

cause and effect

WHY

Determinism

theory that predictable factors or causes lead to an occurring event

Environmental determinism

suggests that the influence of a physical environment determines the cultural characteristics of a specific social group

BAD AND RACIST

Environmental possiblism

a social group’s physical environment sets boundaries and limits to the social group, but that, ultimately, the social culture is not determined by the environment. Instead, social conventions and beliefs serve to develop a social group’s characteristics within the boundaries of the physical environment

Determinism and Possiblism show what important thing of modern geography?

Debate

the WHY

Carl Sauer

• (1888-1975)

• wrote “The Morphology of Landscape”

• theory of Landscape geography

Landscape geography

landscape was something developed from the natural environment by a social group. Stating a social group, by developing and cultivation, designs a natural environment to create a “landscape”

Major idea behind Landscape Geography

idea that a social group has a massive effect on their environment

Regional geography

isolates and examines precisely what characteristics define a specific region