World Regions: Concepts and Issues

impact of mercator projection

made sea travel easier to comprehend

enlarges as you move away from the equator, which made regions such as Africa seem less important in relative size

impact of peter’s projection

represents size better than mercator

wildly distorts the poles

main thing to remember about the winkel tripel projection

not a rectangular projection!

large vs. small scale

large = more detail of small area

small = less detail of large area

ways to define realms

by features (physical and human)

by interactions between humans and the environment (functional)

by history (historical)

types of realms

monocentric and polycentric

regions and what defines them

smaller areas within realms

natural barriers, industry, rural vs. urban, political and religious leanings

other factors impacting realm division

climate

population density and clusters

culture

religion

state

legally defined territory

inhabited by citizens

governed from capital by central government

sovereignty

controlling power over territory

geopolitics

political relations influenced by relative geographic setting (proximity, accessibility, boundaries, population, etc)

3 Rs of conflict

real estate

resources

religion

cause for clusters in north africa and southwest asia

high population growth and need for water

wealthy going to the nicer areas

fertile crescent

varied geography leading to fruitful agriculture

dry vs. irrigation agriculture

relies on rain

revolutionizes agriculture and allows for nomadic harvest lifestyle

domestication vs. taming

breeding

habit

requirements for domestication

docile

wide diet

reason for mesopotamian downfall

environmental fragility (salination and deforestation)

major terrorist groups in North Africa and Southwest Asia

ISIS, Al Qaeda, Taliban

major components of Israel-Palestine conflict

religion and water

main resources in the north african and southwest asian realm

oil

impacts of the discovery of oil

conflict due to uneven distribution

foreign investment and connection

urban transformation

potential overreliance on oil market

curse of natural resources

countries with lots of resources more vulnerable to colonial influence

arab spring

protests began in tunisia and spread throughout North Africa

desert

less than ten inches of precipiation per year

deserts in north africa and southwest asia

arabian and saharan

mountain ranges in north africa and southwest asia

atlas (berber)

asir (saudi)

elburz (Caspian Sea)

what is happening to the dead sea

drying up (extremely salty)

stats about african land mass

makes up 6% of earth surface

20% of earth land mass

territories in africa

48 countries

6 island nations

2 disputed areas

fauna of sub-saharan africa

cross river gorilla

pygmy hippo

barre cheeked trogon

diana monkey

forest elephant

black belly seedcracker

fauna of congo basin

bonobo chimpanzee

okapis

bats, snakes, etc

what is special about bonobo chimpanzees

peaceful matriarchal structure

what is special about okapis

related to giraffes

impact of European division

arbitrary categorizing of tribes, cultures, and identities

major topography of east africa

great rift valley

rwenzori mountain

characteristic of rwenzori fauna

adapted to high altitudes

why is africa viewed as the dark continent

very little known about it

dates and purpose of berlin conference

(1884 and 1885)

dividing africa to avoid conflict among european nations

keeping congo river and niger river neutral and open for free trade

major african religions

sunni muslim

catholic

protestant

ethiopian orthodox

catholic orthodox (less so)

major language families of Africa

niger-congo

bantu

afro-asiatic

nilo-saharan

khoisan

indo-european

afro-asiatic languages

arabic

tuareg

cushitic

justifications for colonization of africa

commerce

christianity

civilization

caucasian racial classifications

white

brown

black

red

countries present at berlin conference

13 european countries (primarily france, britain, germany, and portugal) + united states

why did britain keep most of south and east africa

needed to keep connection to india

impact of ww1 on africa

many african soldier

civilian deaths from starvation

last african country to get independence

south africa in 1961, voting rights in 1994

african country with highest population density

rwanda

primary reason for growth rates in africa

high birth and replacement

not migration

principal food sources in sub-saharan africa

hunting and gathering

subsistence farming

commercial farming

types of subsistence farming

herding cattle

crop cultivation

silvopastorialism

other factors impacting harvests

conflict, droughts, flooding, locusts

europeans bringing in food to ship away

primary diseases affecting sub-saharan africa

hiv/aids, ebola, dengue, yellow fever

why was sub-saharan africa doing comparatively well with covid

used to dangerous diseases

statistics about conflict in sub-saharan africa

drc, South Sudan, mali, and sudan in top 10 of least peaceful countries

top five countries threatened by terrorism all in sub-saharan africa (burkina faso, niger, nigeria, somalia, and South Sudan)

nine coups have occured since 2020 (successful in Burkina Faso, chad, guinea, mali, and niger)

2023 conflict in ethiopia

universal declaration of human rights

established by UN in 1948

signed by countries with colonial rule over african states

african member states were Egypt, liberia, Ethiopia, and south africa

examples of african nations with corrupt leaders, and elaborate on leaders

liberia (aided by american government)

congo (wanted total power for five years)

uganda (was he a net negative?)

components of a developed country

mature and varied economy

stable and effective government

robust infrastructure

strong educational system

ample job opportunities

comprehensive health and social services

high degree of personal freedom

UN annual development index categories

low 0-.55

medium .55-.7

high .7-.8

very high .8-1

what does true stability require

a lack of corruption

what other two factors lead to development

environmental sustainability

cultural and social capital

what is the one sub-saharan country with high development

botswana

largest mineral providers in sub-saharan africa

drc, followed by botswana and south africa

white savior effect

white actors come in to “help” without input from community

examples of white saviorism

playpump and soccket

counter examples to white saviorism and african innovation

hipporoller

cardiopad

wearable technology

money transfer

computicket

major areas of innovation in sub-saharan africa

health

agriculture

energy

how many countries make up the european realm

14

how many people live in the european realm

600 million

principal european regions

western

northern

mediterranean

eastern

european core

united kingdom

ireland

netherlands

belgium

luxembourg

germany

austria

switzerland

france

andorra

Liechtenstein

Monaco

what is the european core known for

dense urbanized populations

low unemployment

conservative politics

concentration of roads and railways

productive agriculture

high crowding, congestion, and pollution

how is the grand tour reflected today

common practice for europeans to take a gap year

principal european rivers

danube (alps to Black Sea)

rhine (north sea to Switzerland)

elbe (across Germany)

boundaries of south asia

afghanistan and bangladesh

primary glaciers providing water in Himalayan mountains

ganges

indus

brahmaputra

monsoon and primary sources for it in south asia + impact of climate chance

moist air drawn in from ocean and then torentially released

arabian sea and bay of bengal

less predictable, more intense, shorter

pillars of gross national happiness

equitable and sustainable socioeconomic development

preservation of cultural and spiritual heritage

environmental conservation

good governance

russian victory day

commemorates soviet victory overs nazis

scorched earth strategy

destroying everything in order to deny resources to the enemy

principal ukrainian regions

eastern

central

western

crimea

black sea coast

reasons for the first crimean war

catholic vs. orthodox

really about european powers wanting to contain russia as ottoman empire declined

primary issues during the stalin era

holodomor (1932-1933)

deportations of ukrainian tatars to central asia

languages in ukraine

ukrainian primarily, russian

reasons for transfer of crimea from russia to ukraine

physical attachment

reliance on ukraine for food, electricity, water

orange revolution

2004

yanukovych wins elections → protests led by yushchenko → poisoning of yushchenko and new election → russian retaliation by cutting off gas supply in 2006

putin’s reasoning for invasion of crimea

protecting ethnic Russians + ukraine having always been russian (kievan rus’)

cause of time of troubles and end of rurik dynasty

dynastic crisis after ivan the terrible (death of mentally ill son and of last heir, Dmitri)

major events of time of troubles

1598-1613

invasion by polish-lithuanian commonwealth

famine and plague

romanov dynasty and major rulers

ruled for about 300 years

michael romanov, elected in 1613

alexei romanov turned about 80% of population into serfs

peter the great learned and formed alliances via travel, modernized the nation

catherine the great defeated the ottoman empire, annexed crimea, and partitioned Poland

nicholas ii was the last tsar

causes for ww1 unrest

russia was heavily invested, leading to shortages of food and goods

women’s protest in petrograd led to shut down of the city and loss of control for government

pros and cons of provisional government

abolished death penalty, granted amnesty, ended discrimination, granted civil liberties

continued ww1 involvement and did not improve living conditions

lenin

leader of the bolsheviks, sent back by germans post-exile

denounced provisional government

bolsheviks seized petrograd and imprisoned or executed opponents

conseuqnces of Brest-litovsk peace treaty

russia lost large territories to germany

ussr

union of soviet socialist republics

why was ukraine valuable to the ussr

fertile land essential for food supply

lenin’s farming policy

centralization

major five years plans under stalin

coal, iron, power, transportation

roads, railways, water transport, communication

consumer goods → weapons production

major components of soviet fighting in ww2

no surrender

penal battalions at the front