Geography Textbook Notes

Geography Textbook Questions #1

• Places influence cultures, identities, and daily routines.
• Places affect job opportunities, access to education and healthcare, and quality of life.
• Physical features like climate or terrain can influence climate and economic activities.
• Social and political environments in places affect rights, safety, and community values.

Physical vs. Human Geography

• Physical geography studies natural features of Earth, like landforms, climate, and ecosystems.
• Human geography focuses on human activities, cultures, economies, and how people interact with the environment.

GIS (Geographical Information System)

• GIS is a computer system used to collect, store, analyze, and display geographical data, such as maps, satellite images, and location information.
• GIS applications:
  • Mapping and analyzing crime patterns.
  • Planning urban development and infrastructure.
  • Managing natural resources and environmental conservation.
  • Tracking disease outbreaks and public health trends.

Location Types

• Absolute location: A fixed point using coordinates.
• Relative location: Describes a place in relation to other places (e.g., “next to the library”).
• Cognitive location: A personal, mental map of where things are (e.g., how you memorize your neighborhood).

Distance Types

• Absolute distance: Measured in exact units (e.g., kilometers or miles).
• Relative distance: Based on time, cost, or effort (e.g., “a 30-minute drive”).
• Cognitive distance: Perceived distance, which may vary from actual distance (e.g., a place may feel far because it’s hard to get to).

Diffusion Examples

• Expansion (contagious) diffusion: A viral social media trend spreading rapidly.
• Hierarchical diffusion: A fashion trend starting in major cities and moving to smaller towns.
• Relocation diffusion: Immigrants bringing their cuisine or language to a new country.

Landscape Examples

• Ordinary landscapes: A typical suburban neighborhood.
• Symbolic landscapes: Parliament Hill in Ottawa or the Statue of Liberty – places with deeper cultural or political meaning.

Sense of Place Development

• Through personal experiences, memories, and emotional connections.
• Through shared cultural, historical, or social meanings attached to the place.
• By participating in community events or traditions.

Importance of Geography

• Helps us understand the world and how people and places are connected.
• Shows how environments shape societies.
• Helps us solve problems like climate change.

Geography Textbook Questions #2

• Core: Wealthy, powerful, advanced economies.
• Periphery: Poorer, less developed, resource suppliers.
• Semi-periphery: In between; emerging economies, some industry.

Concept of Space in World System Model

• Relational space – how places are connected economically and politically.

Core Region Dominance

• Core regions maintain dominance over the periphery through trade control, investment, technology, and political influence.

Consequences of Colonial International Division of Labor

• Colonies exported raw materials and stayed poor; core nations grew rich from industry.

Examples of Neocolonialism

• Poor countries reliant on loans from rich countries.
• Global brands dominating local markets.

Globalization

• Growing world interconnection.
• Today’s links are faster, digital, and more widespread.

Economic and Cultural Examples of Globalization

• Economic: Global trade, outsourcing jobs.
• Cultural: Worldwide music, fast food, social media.

Globalization and Place

• Globalization connects the world, but places stay important because of their unique culture, identity, and how people adapt global trends locally.
• People still care about where things are from, like food, fashion, and traditions.

Globalization and Prosperity Differences

• Core countries benefit more—they control technology, trade, and profits.
• Peripheral regions often stay poor, exporting cheap resources and labor, while core countries grow richer from production and innovation.

Fast World vs. Slow World

• Fast world: Connected, high tech, globalized.
• Slow world: Poorer, less connected, limited access to the global economy.

Digital Divide

• Causes: Lack of internet, money, education.
• Effects: Inequality in jobs, learning, and access to information.

Geography Textbook Questions #3

• People live where the land is fertile, water is available, the climate is good, and there are jobs and safety. These factors have shaped the global population distribution.

Limitations of Crude Density Ratio

• The crude density ratio (total population divided by total land area) doesn’t reflect population distribution accurately.
• Limitations include:
  • It ignores habitable vs. uninhabitable land.
  • It overlooks urban vs. rural differences.
  • It fails to consider resource availability infrastructure.

Understanding Population Composition

• Examining population composition (age, sex, ethnicity, income, etc.) helps you understand:
  • Economic potential (e.g., size of working-age population)
  • Social needs (e.g., education for youth, healthcare for seniors)
  • Potential for political or cultural change

Insights from Population Pyramids

• Population pyramids expose:
  • Age structure (young vs. aging populations)
  • Gender imbalances
  • Historical events (e.g., wars, baby booms)
  • Growth patterns (rapid, slow, or declining)

Factors Behind Post-WWII Baby Boom

• Economic prosperity after the war.
• Social optimism and family values
• Government policies (e.g., housing, veterans benefits)
• Marriage and childbirth at younger ages.
• Reduced wartime uncertainty.

Challenges of Aging Baby Boomers in Canada

• Increased demand for healthcare and elder care.
• Greater pension and retirement system strain.
• A shrinking labor force and economic productivity.
• Need for immigration to offset population aging.

Crude Birth Rate vs. Total Fertility Rate

• Crude birth rate: Number of births per 1000 people per year.
• Total fertility rate: Average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime. TFR gives a more precise measure of reproduction levels.

Largest Population and Highest Natural Increase Rates

• Largest population: China, followed closely by India.
• Highest rates of natural increase: Africa, due to the high birth rates and declining death rates.

Demographic Transition Theory (DTT) and Critiques

• DTT stages:
  1. High birth and death rates (slow growth)
  2. Death rates fall (rapid growth)
  3. Birth rates fall (slower growth)
  4. Low birth and death rates (stable)
  5. Potential population decline
• Critiques:
  • Eurocentric: Assumes all societies follow the same path.
  • Ignores cultural, religious, and political factors.
  • May not apply well to developing countries with persistent birth rates.

Malthusian Theory

• Malthus (1798): Believed the population grows faster than the food supply, leading to famine and poverty.
• Critiques:
  • Didn’t foresee technological advances in agriculture.
  • Overly pessimistic and did not predict fertility declines.

Neo-Malthusians Criticism Cases

• Sometimes ignores wealth distribution and consumption patterns.
• Blame population rather than inequality or mismanagement.

Women’s Rights and Population Growth

• Education and empowerment lead to lower fertility rates.
• Access to contraception lead to lower fertility rates.
• Employment opportunities delay childbearing and reduce total fertility.

Geography Textbook Questions #4

• Economic development is the process of improving people’s lives through better jobs, income, education, health, and technology. It includes changes like moving from farming to factories or services, and better living conditions overall.

Key Feature of Economic Development in Geography

• How it’s uneven, some places grow and develop faster than others, creating rich and poor areas around the world.

Core-Periphery Model

• Shows how the world is split into:
  • Core: Rich countries (e.g., USA, Europe)
  • Periphery: Poorer countries (e.g., parts of Africa)
  • Semi-periphery: In between (e.g., India, Brazil)
• The core benefits most, while the periphery often depends on the core.

Resources Affecting Development Levels

• Natural resources
• Education and skilled workers
• Technology
• Money and investment
• Good government and laws

Challenges to Sustainable Development

• Pollution and climate change
• Running out of resources
• Poverty and inequality
• Bad government and corruption
• Growing populations

Location of Economic Activities

• Primary (farming, mining): In rural and poor areas
• Secondary (factories): In developing countries
• Tertiary (services): In cities and rich countries
• Quaternary (tech, research): In very developed places

Trends in Today’s Trades

• Countries are more connected than ever.
• Rich countries control high-value goods, while poorer ones often export cheap goods or raw materials.

Global Inequality and Debt Problems

• Poor countries borrow money to develop but often can’t pay it back.
• They stay stuck in a cycle of debt, relying on loans and unable to grow much.

Fair Trade Movement

• Helps farmers and workers in poor countries get fair pay and good working conditions.
• Supports sustainability and community growth.