Human Geo quiz 1

defining geography

earth writing, earth description, earth analysis

why hard to define

overlapping interests and approaches with many cognate disciplines

key research traditions

Regional geography, spatial analysis, people and environment

regional geography

name capitals, terrain, imports and exports

spatial analysis

hand-in-hand with some sort of computer applications such as geographic information systems

people and environment

people adapt to their environments

Gritzners 3 questions

1. what is where

2. why there

3. why care

core concepts

1. space

2. location

3. place

4. region

5. distance

6. scale

7. distribution

8. movement

space

an undifferentiated surface or container

latitude

the angular distance on the surface of the Earth N and S of the equator

lines of latitude

are called parallels and never converge

prime meridian assigned at 0º

longitude

the angular distance on the surface of the earth E and W of the prime meridian

longitude measured in

degrees, minutes and seconds

absolute locations

defines a particular position within space

relative location

defines a particular location in relation to other locations

place

a meaningful location

3 components of place

1. location

2. locale: distinct material settings of everyday life

3. sense of place: emotional, personal meanings and attachments

functional region

a region where a particular activity or characteristic is most intense at the centre and less significant further away

vernacular region

a region that popularly exists in peoples minds yet has no definitive or official boundaries

distance

physical: measured by physics

geographical: measured by the curvature of the Earth’s surface

time: measured by the amount of time it takes to travel

Economic: measured in terms of financial input/ output

relative distance

social: perceived familiarity

mental/ conceptual: the perceived distance

scale

large scale means we are interested in the local details

small scale is perhaps more interested in how things are connected to one another

distribution and diffusion

why does the population of canada look like this?

people live where agriculture is possible

relocation

people who relocate bring with them their own ideas about language, food, culture

Toblers first law of geography

near objects tend to be more alike than objects that are further away

distance decay

the declining intensity of any pattern or process with increasing distance from a given location

second law of geography (unofficial)

everything is unevenly distributed

absolute distance

physical

geographical

time

economic

friction distance

a measure of the erstraining effect of distance on human movement

the friction of distance example

how much time or energy we need to spend to go somewhere or do something

principle of least effort

if distance= effort, humans will look to minimize distances as much as possible

online shopping

overcoming the friction of distance

physical distance

the spatial interval between two points

time distance

scenic route may feel faster even though it is longer

economic distance

the cost incurred to overcome physical distance

social distance

measured in terms of the degree of interaction between social groups

cognitive distance

the perception of distance is more important than the reality of distance when it comes to understanding spatial behaviour

time-space convergence

declining friction of distance due to improved transportation and communication technologies

cartography

map- write/draw

maps

visual representations of the earth

different patterns= different maps

what we want to learn about and the nature of what the information will be

major factors affecting historical human growth and movement

hunter gatherers, agricultural revolution, industrial revolution

population geography

birth and death rates

hunting and gathering nomadic

wandered in response to changing opportunities

human migration pathways

map shows pathways we know of that were traveled

agricultural revolution

began in the middle east about 13000 years ago

magnified humanities impact on the environment

hearth region

a concentration or gathering point, often synonymous with the concept of a home base, agriculture decreases as you move away from the centre (distance decay)

key factors of the agricultural revolution

1. domestication: controlled breeding of plants and animals

2. irrigation: led to farming year-round and higher yields than dry farming

theories of the shift to domestication

1. drought forced people into smaller areas for food stability\

2. increased population led to agricultural experimentation

industrial revolution

began in western Europe in the 18th century

further magnified humanities impact on the enciroment

industrial revolution is based on

technological breakthroughs that made it possible from a variety of factors

key inventions

steam engines: replaced manual labour

• transportation

• factories, mills, distilleries

• machines that aided in the mining and extraction of natural resources

things to consider with population geography

the number of people on the planet

the rate at which people consume finite resources

population density

the places with more people than other places

population cartogram

relative size reflects a countrys share of the global population

birth rate

annual number of lice births per 1000 people

death rates

annual number of deaths per 1000 people

population change rate

birth rate minus the death rate

factors influencing death rates

correlate mainly with health factors

life expectancy 1800-2021

31-73

rapid population increase

if birth rate is hight and death rate is low, life expectancy increases and population surges

the DTM (demographic transition model)

correlates the changes in birth and death rates to economic development over time

DTM conclusion

development is the best birth control

critique of the DTM

assumes common course of development for everyone, everywhere

catastrophists

Thomas Malthus, believed human populations, grow exponentially, would exceed food supplied which frow only arthimetically

problems with Malthusian theory

insufficient data to validate claims

did not forsee full transformations brought by industrial revolution

cornucopians, optimists

believe we can raise the earths carrying capacity via innovation

types of concern

overpopulation

overconsumption

overpopulation

characteristic of LDCs

overconsumption

characteristics of MDCs

a third revolution?

resolving population/ consumption crisis will require a fundamental shift in the way we interact with our environment

map projections

geographers use maps to communicate

projections

mathematical equations that take a somewhat spherical Earth and transform the features on it into a 2D map

projections polar (Azimuthal)

polar projections that are useful for accurately depicting polar regions

disadvantage: only shows half of the globe at once

no core shipping in the arctic

only open at certain times of the year depending on the level of sea ice

chloropleth census map

self-reported data collected on a countrys citizens, usually every 5 or 10 years

economic geography

a sub field of hyman geography that emphasizes the interrelationships of geography and economic activity

inequality comes out of

the unequal distribution of finite global resources and people

factors determining population density (physical

topography, weather, soil quality, water supply, vegetation, raw materials

factors determining population density (human)

agriculture, industry, infrastructure, economic/polirical decisions, war and conflict

physiological density

the number of people living per unit of cultivable land

arable land and human population are both

unevenly distributed

social distance econ

the distance that exists between populations of different social-sconomic classes

more developed and less developed

we habitually divide the world into haves and have nots

development based on 3 criteria

1. poverty

2. human assets weakness

3. economic vulnerability

outdated terms

the third world: used to refer to areas of economic differences as first world and the third world

the second world: soviet union era

North vs. South: the Brandt report was headed by German chancellor Willy Brandt

measuring development

traditionally measured with an overt economic approach

Gross Domestic product

total annual output of goods and services for home use per capita

Purchasing power parity

a means of offsetting differences in the relative prices of goods and services, making international economic figures more comparable

the wealth gap

the average per capita GDP (PPP) amongst the MDCs is approximately 5 times greater than the average for LDCs

world bank defined poverty line

1.90/day

problems with economic measures of development

what can social and cultural factors do to ameliorate poor economic conditions

GNH vs. GNP in Bhutan

Bhutan is oft-cited as the happiest country in the world

GNH

Not without its critics

• bhutan has been cited for human rights violations

the ideas of GNH have merit

Human Development index

measures development in terms of life expectancy, adult literacy, standard of living

• 1.0= perfect score

UN HDI reports

the 23/24 report emphasized the need to cooperate in an increasingly polarized world

roots of global inequality

resource wealth or poverty, adcantageous location, cultural and social factors

dependency theory

worldwide economic pattern established by European colonialism; effectivlycreated dependent nationals vecause people and reasources were stolen from LDCs

modernization theory

as modern nations become wealthier, they tend to adopt more liberal, democratic political systems

world-systems analysis

surmised that global inequalities resulted from western european feudalism that fueled the industrial revolution

allowed the rise of capitalism and the ability of western european countries to guide global markets