North
America
Regional Geography
• Two broad categories in geography:
– Physical and human
• Overarching subfields
– Integrate physical and human geography
skills
– Focus on specific parts of the World
• Voilá: Regional Geography:
– Selected parts of Earth defined and identified
by similar spatiality
North America
• A Continent
• Four nation-states:
– Canada, Greenland, Mexico, United States
• Nation-states divided further:
– E.g., Pacific Northwest, Great Plains, etc.
• Regions may have distinct characteristics
– E.g., Sun Belt, Bay Area, etc.
– Physical features: e.g., watersheds,
ecoregions, etc.
Region
• Types of Regions
– Formal
• Institutional or political identity and distinct
boundaries (e.g., “New England”)
– Functional
• Interconnections or usefulness (Salt Lake City
Metro Area)
– Vernacular
• Defined by insiders who clearly know “their”
regional boundaries (e.g., “Dixie”)
Regional Classification
• Homogeneous
– Similar
• E.g., religion, language, climate, etc.
• Heterogeneous
– Different
• E.g., Quebec
• Nodal
– Core more important
• E.g., San Francisco
Regions of North America
• Bypassed Atlantic
Periphery
• Megalopolis
• Quebec
• North America’s
Heartland
• Inland South
• Coastal South
• Great Plains
• Rocky Mountains
• Intermontane West
• US-Mexico
Borderlands
• California
• Pacific Northwest
• Far North
• Hawai’i
Basic Themes
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Urbanization
Industrialization
High Mobility
Resource Abundance & Dependence
High Income and Consumption
Political Complexity
Variety of Cultural Origins
Environmental Impacts
Urbanization
• Why Do Cities Exist?
– General Functions
– Specialized Roles
• United States
– 75% Urbanized
– 1/4 in Megalopolis
• Canada
– 79% Urbanized
– 1/3 of Total Population along ecumene
Industrialization
• General Pattern
• Sectors of The Economy
– Primary
– Secondary
– Tertiary
– Quaternary
• Basic vs. Non-basic Economic Activities
High Mobility
• 20% of The US Population Moves Yearly
• Migration
– Classifications
• Internal vs. External
• Voluntary vs. Forced
– Explanations
• Pull Factors vs. Push Factors
Resources
• More than ½ world’s food exports originate
in the US or Canada
• Tremendous Agricultural Productivity
– Suitable Climate
– Arable Land
– Technology
– Investment Capital
• Diversity of fossil fuels, ores, metallic
minerals, timber
General Agricultural Scheme
High Income and Consumption
• Annual per capita incomes rank among the
highest in the world
• Disposable incomes generate demands, ensure
massive consumption, and propel the
economies
• Retail establishments are ubiquitous
• US & Canada consume 28% of the world’s oil
• Implications of high consumption in a finite
environment?
• Presence of poverty
Political Complexity
Variety of Cultural Origins
• United states
–
–
–
–
–
Native Americans
European
African
East Asian
Latin American
• Canada
– European: split along
British & French
traditions
– Native American
Environmental Impacts
• Most themes have negative environmental
impact:
– Urbanization
– Industrialization
– High mobility
– Resource abundance & dependence
– High income and consumption
• Middle ground?
Regional Organization
Garreau’s Nine Nations
Our Scheme
Other Schema
Readings and Discussion Question
• Readings:
– Robert Bailey, American Ecoregions, 2005
– John Garreau, quick bio
– Agnew, John A. 1999. “Regions of the Mind Does Not
Equal Regions of the Mind,” Progress in Human
Geography 23: 91–96.
• A captivating insight of regions, perception, and mental
maps.
The regional organization of this course is pretty
standard. Are there other ways the Region
could be organized? If so, how and why?
Related Books
• Allen, James, Doreen Massey, and Allan Cochrane. 1998.
Rethinking the Region. London: Routledge.
– British geographers really think outside the box. This is no exception!
• Ayers, Edward L. and Peter S. Onuf. 1996. Introduction to All Over
the Map: Rethinking American Regions, Edward L. Ayers, Patricia
Nelson Limerick, Stephen Nissbaum, and Peter S. Onuf, eds.
Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1–10
– While the whole book is fun, this is a historical look at US regions, and
why thinking regionally helps us better understand people and places.
• Haggett, Peter. 1995. The Geographer’s Art. London: Blackwell.
– A superb study on geography’s ontology.
• Martin, Geoffrey J. and Preston E. James. 1993. All Possible
Worlds: A History of Geographical Ideas. New York: John Wiley and
Sons.
– Often required reading in graduate geography programs because of its
large scope. A solid overview of the history of geographic thought.
WebSources
• CIA World Factbook
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
• NAFTA Information
http://www.fas.usda.gov/itp/Policy/NAFTA/nafta.html
• U.S. Employees by Economic Sector
http://www.census.gov/econ/census02/
• The American Geographical Society
http://www.amergeog.org/
• Association of American Geographers
http://www.aag.org
• The National Council for Geographic Education
http://www.ncge.org
• The National Geographic Society
http://www.nationalgeographic.com
• The Royal Canadian Geographical Society (Société géographique
royale du Canada)
http://www.rcgs.org/rcgs/