Chapter 3
The Study of Human Geography:
Languages, religions, customs and
economic and political systems
Where People Live
• Population Density
– Some areas, average number of people in a square mile
or a kilometer, is very high. Other areas have few or no
inhabitants.
• Natural Obstacles can restrict living locations.
– 2/3 of earth covered in water.
– Half of land area is uninhabitable.
– Almost everyone lives where soil is fertile, water is
plentiful and climate is mild enough to grow crops.
People and Environment
• People adapt.
– How?
• Human activity has altered physical landscape.
– How?
Population Density
• Calculated by dividing the total population of
a region by the region’s land area.
• Some geographers prefer to figure a country’s
population density in terms of its arable land.
– Results can be misleading, ex. Egypt.
– Pop. Density in 2000 was 177 people per sq. mile.
– Arable land density was 8,839 people per sq. mi.
Population Growth
• Dramatic increase in recent centuries.
• Factors that have contributed:
– Modern technology
– Improved medical care
*** Poses a problem for poorer countries
The Effects of Growth
• Predictions of increases in:
BAD
– Famine
– Disease
– Natural resource depletion
GOOD
– Levels of technology
– creativity.
Comparing Growth Rates
• Growth is uneven throughout the world.
• Different birthrate and death rate cause
countries to balance individually.
• A country’s total population is also affected by
differences in immigrants and emigrants.
• When combined birthrate and immigration
rate equals the combined death rate and
emigration rate, a country is said to have
reached “zero population growth.” ex. China
• Developing countries – birthrates = high,
death rates falling due to increase health.
Patterns of Settlement
• Densest areas: East Asia, South Asia, Europe
and eastern North America… Live in
metropolitan areas.
• Most Europeans and North Americans live in
cities, and urbanization is going on
throughout the world.
• In many countries, urban populations are
growing twice as fast as rural.
The Nature of Culture
• Cultures change slowly over time.
• It is reflected in:
– Objects
– Ideas
Is this a material or nonmaterial custom?
Cultural Hearths
• Ex. Southwest Asia, people first learned to tame
and herd animals and grow crops. Writing and
Math also originated in this cultural hearth.
• Another EX. of a cultural hearth would be China.
• Olmecs, Mayas and Toltecs formed culture hearths
in Mexico and Central America.
Language
• Without language, people would not be able
to communicate.
• All cultures have language.
• Reflects a culture’s identity.
• Many societies include large groups of people
who speak different languages. Ex. India
Religion
• Religion helps people answer basic questions
about the meaning and purpose of life.
• Religions and practices vary around the world.
• Worship of one god is called monotheism.
• Worship of more than one god is called
polytheism.
• Struggles over religious differences are a problem
in many countries.
Cultural Landscapes
• Technology is an important part of culture.
• Human beings produce unique cultural
landscapes as they use natural resources or alter
the surface of the earth.
• Ex. Great Plains US vs rural landscapes of China.
Social Organization
• Every culture creates a social structure.
• Meant to help people of a culture work together to
meet their basic needs.
• Family is the most important unit of social
organization.
• Most cultures have social classes.
• May be based on money, occupation, education,
ancestry, or other highly valued factors.
Women and Minorities
• In many cultures, social mobility is restricted.
• Limits are often imposed on women, ethnic
minorities, and religious minorities.
• Ex. Some cultures discourage women from
assuming leading roles in govt. They believe that a
woman’s role should be that of wife and mother.
Women and Minorities continued…
• Some societies encourage women to disfigure
their bodies.
• Centuries ago, Chinese women were expected
to have their feet tightly bound with cloth in
order to stunt the growth of their feet.
Women and Minorities continued…
• Long history of discrimination and violence
against ethnic and religious minorities.
• At various times and in various places, Jews,
Christians, Muslims, and other religious
groups have all suffered as minorities.
– Denied high paying jobs, or best lands, property
seized or forced to live within a restricted area.
Cultural Change
• Cultures change by internal and external
influences.
• New discoveries and ideas can bring change.
• Technology plays a role.
• Changes come from inventions or new ways of
doing things.
– Ex. Use of Fire = significant advance
– Ex. Tools and language
Cultural Convergence
• Transportation and communication intensifies
the speed and frequency of cultural change.
– Ex.
– Popularity of Mexican food in US is also a
convergence.
Cultural Convergence Continued…
• Diffusion often occurs through the migration of
people who take their cultural traits with them to
new locations.
– Ex. When Europeans came to the Americas and
introduced new religions.
– Process of adapting some traits from other cultures is
called acculturation.
– Cultural traits and practices can diffuse when different
groups come in contact with one another and
exchange goods and ideas.
• Europeans/Native Americans exchanging potatoes, corn and
beans.
Cultural Divergence
• In order to limit cultural contact, repressive
governments seek to control transportation
and communication.
• Restrict free movement, limit access to
newspapers, internet, radio and Tv.
– Ex. Romania and Eastern Europe’s Fall of
communism.