5 Themes Notes Handout
5 Themes: Place, Region, Location, Human-Environment Interaction
PLACE: A specific point on Earth distinguished by a particular character. Place deals with senses and
perceptions. It is the notion of what we see and how we see a location. It is how we view a place.
 Think of description type of words when using place
 Often based on cultural attributes or the cultural landscape of an area
o Often can be subjective
 Ex: NYC, the city that never sleeps
 How would you describe MECPS as a place?
REGION: an area of Earth distinguished by a distinctive combination of cultural and physical features
 Regions link places together using an array of parameters, such as economics, cultural
similarities, physical similarities, etc
o Ex: The Corn Belt: a region in the Midwest where corn serves as the major agricultural
and economic product.
o Ex: Bible Belt: a region in the South consisting of Evangelical Christians. This region is
known for being conservative. Many of these states oppose(d) gay marriage and some
areas within the Bible Belt are known as “dry counties”
 3 Types of Regions: Formal, Functional, and Perceptual/Vernacular
o Formal: an area within which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive
characteristic.
 Ex of common characteristic include: cultural values such as common language,
economic activity such as the production of a certain crop, environmental
property such as climate
 Ex: STATES and COUNTRIES: everyone within the formal region of NY shares a
government that passes laws, collects taxes, and issues licenses
 The characteristic may be predominant rather than universal
 Ex: corn is grown in the Corn belt, but so are other crops to a lesser
degree
 Use of formal region: Pro= explain broad global or national patterns. Con= may
over generalize the region/minimize the voice of minorities
o Functional: an area focuses around a node or focal point. Whatever characteristic is
chosen as focus of the region is strongest at the center or node and diminishes in
importance outward.
 Ex: the reception area of a radio station
 Use of functional region: often used to display information about economic
areas
 What economic area could NYC be considered the node for?
 What would you consider the node for your main economic activity?
 Note: sphere of influence is reduced as the distance increases: distance
decay
 Note: new technology is breaking down traditional functional regions
 Ex: listen to radio stations online, online shopping, etc
o Vernacular Region: a place that people believe exists as part of their cultural identify.
Such regions emerge from an informal sense of place (like the mental maps)
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Ex: The South
 Can be subjective: what constitutes the South?
o States below the Mason-Dixon Line?
o States that fought for the Confederacy?
 Excludes Kentucky/West Virginia
o Conservative States?
Regions can OVERLAP
LOCATION: The position of anything on Earth’s surface
 Answers the question “Where Am I?”
 Two types of Location: Relative and Absolute
o Relative Location: giving the location in reference to another feature on Earth’s surface
 Ex: Somebody asks you how to get to Prospect Park, so you give them directions
based on the knowledge they do know.
 Ex: I’m across the street from Target
 Useful for communication, but can be troublesome if someone’s mental map or
knowledge of the area varies greatly from yours.
o Absolute Location: using latitude and longitude coordinates
 Latitude: system of parallel lines running East-West
 Equator=0 degrees latitude
 North Pole=90 degrees N; South Pole =90 degrees S
 NYC=41 degrees N
 Longitude: system of arcs/meridians running North-South
 Connect at the poles
 0 degrees line=Prime Meridian
o Runs through Greenwich, England
 180 degrees=International Date Line
 Every 15 degrees traveled E or W is a new time zone
 Note: the location of the prime meridian is a human creation. Any meridian
could have been 0 degrees. The Equator is scientifically driven as it derived from
Earth’s shape and rotation around the Sun.
HUMAN ENVIRONMENT-INTERACTION: How people modify or alter the environment to fit individual or
scientific needs? How does the environment shape human activities?
 Humans depend on the environment: food, shelter, clothing
 Humans modify the environment: build dams, plow and irrigate fields, build houses
 Humans adapt to the environment: the ways people choose to adapt to their settings reflect
their economic and political circumstances and their technological abilities
 Ex: Las Vegas, Nevada: Thriving city located in the middle of the dessert
o Constructed the Hoover Dam to create the electricity needed to power the city. It also
created flooded backwaters which made the land in and around Las Vegas more suitable
for living.
o Las Vegas has enacted strict water laws with hefty fees for offenders
 The 5 Too’s : Too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry, too hilly
o Humans have been able to adapt to some previously unsuitable locations with new
technologies. For instance there is now an Ice Hotel in Sweden
Spatial Interaction or Movement: How well an area is connected to the world?
 The more connected an area is the more important it is deemed
o Importance of transportation/infrastructure
 In the 1800’s when railroads were first being created, the location of a train
station virtually guaranteed that area would grow in importance/become
developed
 Airlines: what due the presence of airports tell us about the place? What kind of
airports are the most valuable in relation to spatial interaction/movement
 Distance-Decay: Sphere of influence is reduced as the distance increases
 Situation: the location of a place relative to other places
o Singapore: a major trading and distribution hub in SE Asia due to its location next to the
strategically important Strait of Malacca
o New Orleans: historically at a great situation due to its base at the Mississippi River
 Great for trading
o What do a lot of the major U.S. cities have in common?
5 Theme Review
Place: What’s it like there?
Region: How and why is one area similar to each other?
Location: Where is it? Where am I?
Human-Environment Interaction: How do I adapt to the environment? How have I changed it?
Movement or Spatial Interaction: How connected is an area? Why?
QUIZ ON THE 5 THEMES OF GEOGRAPY NEXT TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22nd!