US

North America
I. Location and Major Countries
United States: 50
states + 29
territories
Canada: 10
provinces + 3
territories

Puerto Rico:
Not the 51st State!
PR has been a U.S. Commonwealth since 1952.
-was a colony of Spain; U.S. got PR in 1898 after the Span.-Am. War.
-The people of PR born after 1941 are U.S. citizens. Are
represented in the House by a Commissioner with a voice, but no
vote. No senators b/c they’re not a state.
-Pay into (& receive) Social Sec., but don’t pay Fed. income taxes.
-Can vote in presidential primaries, but not in actual pres.
elections.
-pop. of 3.3 million (bigger than 21 states)
-More Puerto Ricans, however, live off the island than on it.

Puerto Rico:
Not the 51st State . . . Yet?
Puerto Rico has voted 6 times since 1967 in plebiscites on possibly
applying for U.S. statehood.
-Statehood defeated every time (esp. in 1998, 2012, and 2017).
-Statehood would also have to be approved by Congress.
-Not especially likely as PR is mostly Democratic, -$70
billion in debt, and has 12.4% unemployment.
+ for PR: would get senators and greater say in presidential elections.
Would also change the D-R balance in Congress and the electoral
college.
- for PR: would have to pay more federal taxes and threatens their
cultural identity.

II. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF NORTH
AMERICA
A. Big and mostly temperate.
- Maritime along the coasts, continental in the
middle
- East of the Rockies vs. West of the Rockies
B. Heavily glaciated during the Pleistocene.
-Older mountains along the east (Appalachians),
newer, higher mountains to the west (Rockies) and
flat (Great Plains) in the middle.
C. Shaped by EI and the Columbian Exchange.

ClimatesLandforms
East of the Rockies: latitude!
Rockies and West: altitude &
latitude!
E to W: bumpy, flat, pointy
W to E: pointy, flat, bumpy

III. HUMAN AND ECONOMIC GEOG.
Urban Geog.: Cities and their Hinterlands
A. Cities and Hinterlands: Central Place Theory
1. Johann von Thunen (1783-1850)
2. Walter Christaller (1893-1969)
B. Three Economic Functions of All Central Places
C. Three Land-Use Areas of All Cities

U.S. is 81% Urban
Defining cities according to the U.S. Census Bureau:
urban area: incorporated place with 2,500+ people
urban clusters: incorporated place with 2,500-50,000
city: incorporated place with 50,000+ people

A. Cities and Hinterlands:
Central Place Theory
1. Johann Von Thunen
-retired Prussian military officer.
-trying to maximize his farm’s profits.
-studied local farms and towns to see
what made the most money.
-found that the most successful farms varied
directly with distance to the nearest
city/urban market.
Johann von Thunen
1783-1850

von Thunen’s Isolated City Model (1823)
-The most successful crops
depended on their distance from a
central place.
-identified transportation and
travel time as keys to urban
geog.
Key Weakness: assumed that
central places were completely
isolated and round!

Limits of Von Thunen’s Isolated City Model:
Chicago (pop. 2,710,000)

2. Walter Christaller’s Central Place
Theory
-German geographer (1893-1969)
-improved and expanded von Thunen’s Isolated
City model:
1. What are cities?
2. How do they work?
3. How do they affect the area around them?
-Defined modern Central Place Theory:
1. Cities are central places.
2. Cities are central places best defined by their economic function
and the specialized goods and services they provide.
3. Cities affect each other and their hinterlands in an urban
hierarchy.

Walter Christaller's Central Place Theory
“Gateway Cities” 1933

URBAN HIERARCHY
-Central places are not isolated; they affect each other
according to their size and distance from each other.
-Central places vary more by size than by basic
economic function.
Spending $$
Could you spend $5,000 cash (50 $100 bills) in 1
hour in each of these 5 places?
1. __________, SD
2. Webster, SD (pop. 1,762)
3. Aberdeen, SD (pop. 28,562)
4. Sioux Falls, SD (pop. 181,883)
5. Mpls./St. Paul (pop. 3,280,000)
(No property, gifts, durable goods, etc.)

Urban Hierarchy II:
Finding a Lawyer, Buying a Wedding Ring
1. __________, SD
2. Webster, SD 5 1
(pop. 1,762)
3. Aberdeen, SD 83 7
(pop. 28,562)
4. Sioux Falls, SD 378 30
(pop. 181,883)
5. Minneapolis/St. Paul 10,800 325
(pop. 3,280,000)
No. Lawyers No. Jewelers

Urban Hierarchy III: Car Parts!
1984 Ford Escort Wagon
Fan relay switch
“We don’t have that part. We have to order it
from __________ . . .”

B. Three Economic Functions of Any Central Place
1. Creating goods and wealth.
2. Re-distributing those goods and wealth.
3. Servicing the people busy creating and re-distributing
those goods and wealth:
a. Feeding and supplying basic goods/services
b. Education
c. Political and legal services
d. Arts, culture (inc. religion), and recreation

“Little Italy” (NYC)
“Little Italy” (San Diego)
Ghetto:
Identifiable ethnic
neighborhood usually in
a
Transition Zone.

Barrio in Cleveland
(Hispanic ghetto)
Boystown in Chicago
(LGBTQ ghetto)

Suburbs

Exurbs

The 45-minute commute . . .

Land Use #3: Transportation Areas
Highways
Roads
Bridges
Railroads
Sidewalks
Parking Lots
Driveways
Bike paths
SF, SD

Roger & Me
Michael Moore, 1989
Cities are central places best defined
by their economic function.
When that function changes, that
central place—and its people—also
change!
Flint, MI GM Jobs Tot. Pop.
1980 80,000 160,000
2020 2,100 81,000