World Regional Geography
Ptolemy’s First World Map, circa A.D. 150
Michael Reed
Office: Natural Sciences (NS) 209
Phone: 310-660-6016 Email: mreed@elcamino.edu
Web Page: http://www.elcamino.edu/Faculty/mreed/index.htm
• B.A. History, Brown University, 1992
• Geography Coursework, Cabrillo College,
1995
• M.A. Geography, SDSU, 1999
• Associate Professor of Geography, Glendale
CC, 2000-2005
• Instructor of Geography, El Camino CC,
2005-present.
• 27 jobs at last count, including tour guide,
gondolier, waiter, newspaper reporter, N.Y.C.
fashion executive, McDonald’s kitchen crew,
stereo salesman, shoe salesman,
receptionist, and many others.
My Teaching Philosophy
• I try to teach this class the same as I would anywhere else. Community
colleges should not be second rate.
• You are responsible for your own education, particularly now that you are
in college. I am a guide, a helper, if you will. College is what you make of
it.
• I consider my responsibilities to include fairness, honesty, and
compassion. Most of all, I think it is my job to earnestly attempt to make
geography interesting and fun, without making it frivolous.
• I promise this: if you take this class seriously, you will learn a great deal
about the world.
What Is Geography?
• Introduce yourself to two other people.
• Spend the next three minutes deciding
together what geography is about.
• Each person writes their definition on a
blank sheet of paper for submission.
Include your name and class time.
• Three correct answers (randomly
selected) get extra credit on the first test: 5
points for an A, 4 for a B, 3 for a C.
• GO!
What is Geography?
Geography is the study of what is where and
why it’s there.
Mike Reed
What is Geography?
Geography is a representation of the whole known
world together with the phenomena which are
contained therein.
Ptolemy, Geographia 2nd Century A.D.
Geography is the science of place. Its vision is grand, its
view panoramic. It sweeps the surface of the Earth,
charting the physical, organic and cultural terrain, their
areal differentiation, and their ecological dynamics with
humankind. Its foremost tool is the map.
Leonard Krishtalka, Carnegie Museum of Natural
History, 20th Century A.D.
Organized knowledge of the earth as the world of
people.
Dave Balogh
Five “Key Themes” of
Geography
• 1. Location – specific location, where?
• 2. Place – unique properties of a place
• 3. Movement – diffusion, communications
• 4. Region – an area’s uniform characteristics
• 5. Human-Earth Relationships –
human interaction with an environment
Divisions of Geography
• Physical Geography
•
Rocks and Minerals
•
Landforms
•
Soils
• Animals
•
Plants
•
Water
• Atmosphere
•
Rivers and Other Water Bodies
•
Environment
•
Climate and Weather
Human Geography
Population
Settlements
Economic Activities
Transportation
Recreational Activities
Religion
Political Systems
Social Traditions
Human Migration
Agricultural Systems
Geography is a bridge between the
natural and social sciences.
Geography is a holistic or synthesizing science.
Fig. 1-7, p. 12
Chapter 1:
Globalization and Diversity
Map of World Regions (fig. 1.2)
Regions defined by Rowntree et al.
Week One Goals
• Understand framework for studying world regional
geography
• Examine varied aspects of globalization
– Economic, cultural, geopolitical, environmental, social
• Understand the following models and terms
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Demographic transition
Measures of population growth and change
Indicators of social development
Measures of economic development
State, nation, and nation-state
Culture
Core-periphery model
Globalization
• The increasing
interconnectedness of
different parts of the
world through common
processes of
economic, political, and
cultural change.
Economic globalization
is happening fastest.
Discussion: How is globalization
affecting you? Can you see it in
your everyday life?
Panama, 1997
Diversity Amid Globalization
• Globalization: the increasing interconnectedness of people and
places through the converging processes of economic, political, and
cultural change
• Converging Currents of Globalization
– Global communications link world regions
– Global transportation moves goods quickly
– Transnational conglomerate corporations; international financial
institutions more powerful than many countries
– Global free-trade agreements
– Market economies replace state-controlled economies
– Globalized market for consumer goods (needed or not)
– Globalization of workers, managers, executives
• Global Consumer Culture
• May erode local diversity
• Can cause social tensions between traditional cultures and
new, external globalizing influences
– Examples: clothing, food, movies, and more
– Hybridization: sometimes occurs when forms of American
popular culture spread abroad then are melded with local
cultural traditions
• world beat music, Japanese comic books, global rap, that
are now found worldwide
• The Geopolitical Component
• Globalization goes beyond national boundaries
• United Nations provides representation to all countries
• Global trade and cultural exchange are the product of
international agreements
• Environmental Concerns
• Globalized economy creates and intensifies
environmental problems, disrupts local ecosystems as
transnational firms search for natural resources and
factory sites
• Native peoples may lose resource base
• Globalization aggravates world environmental problems
(climate change, air & water pollution, deforestation)
• International treaties may help
• Social Dimensions
• Increased international migration
–
–
–
–
Asians, Latin Americans to the U.S.
Africans, Asians to Western Europe
Japan and Korea less homogeneous
Immigrants from poor countries to less poor countries
nearby
• Criminal element to globalization
– Terrorism (discussed later in the chapter)
– Drugs
• Illegal narcotics link remote mountains of Burma to the
global economy
• Economies reorient to drug smuggling & money
laundering
– Pornography and prostitution
– Gambling
Drug Trade
The Global Drug Trade (Fig. 1.6)
• Advocates and Critics of Globalization
– The Proglobalization Stance (Advantages)
• Globalization is logical expression of capitalism
• Removing trade barriers will increase efficiency, spread new
technology and ideas
• Free flow of capital will enhance global economic wealth
• The world’s poorer countries will catch up through globalization
– The Antiglobalization Stance (Disdvantages)
• Today’s core, developed countries did not use globalization’s freemarket economic model to foster their own development
• Globalization creates greater inequalities
• It promotes free-market, export-oriented economies, at the expense
of local, indigenous economies
• Spreads undesirable things (diseases, crime, harmful flora and
fauna)
Global Economic Inequity 1960-2000
(Fig. 1.9)
Inequity
• Diversity in a Globalizing World
• Will globalization bring a homogenous, culturally bland
world?
• The world is still a diverse place
– Language, religion
– Foods, architecture, urban form
– Politics, economics
• Ethnic and cultural differences are contributing to
separatist political movements
• Politics of diversity demands attention to worldwide
tensions over terrorism, ethnic separateness, regional
autonomy, political independence
Themes and Issues in World
Regional Geography
• Geography describes Earth and explains spatial
patterns
• Themes and Issues in World Regional
Geography
•
•
•
•
•
Environmental geography
Population and settlement
Cultural coherence and diversity
Geopolitical framework
Economic and social development
Population and Settlement: People on the Land
• The human population is at its largest point: more than 6 billion
people on earth
– About 86 million born each year (10,000 each hour)
– 90% of population growth in developing regions (Africa, Latin
America, South Asia, East Asia)
• Several important population issues
• Population growth rates vary from region to region; some
grow rapidly, others with slow or no growth
• Regions and countries have vastly different approaches
to family planning (to increase or decrease population),
from regulation to incentives and social cooperation
• Migration is very important; some migrate for better life,
but others migrate to flee war, persecution, or
environmental disasters
• The greatest international migration in human history is
occurring NOW
(Fig. 1.12)
– Population Growth and Change
• There are several important population statistics that you
need to know (memorize)
– Rate of Natural Increase (RNI): annual growth rate for a country
or region as a percentage increase
• (annual number of births) – (annual number of deaths) =
RNI
• Current world RNI is 1.3% per year
– Crude Birth Rate (CBR): total number of births divided by the
total population, giving a figure per 1,000 of the population;
world CBR is 22 per 1,000
– Crude Death Rate (CDR): total number of deaths divided by the
total population, giving a figure per 1,000 of the population;
world CDR is 9 per 1,000
– Population Growth and Change
• More population statistics you must know
– Total fertility rate (TFR): the average number of children born
by a statistically average woman (world average is 2.8, 1.4 in
Europe to 5.2 in Africa)
– Percentage of population under age 15
• Signals future rapid population growth
– Percentage of population over age 65
• Older people need more health care, social security from
younger workers
– Population pyramids: show the gender and percentage of the
population in specific age groups
Population Pyramids
(Fig. 1.14)
Population
Pyramids
The Demographic Transition
(Fig. 1.15)
Demographic
Transition
Model
• Migration Patterns
– Today, about 125 million (2%) of total world
population are migrants of some sort
• Much international migration linked to global economy
• Push factors: negative conditions that drive people from a
location
– Examples: cultural oppression, war, unemployment, natural
disasters
• Pull factors: favorable conditions at a destination that attract
people
– Examples: economic opportunity (jobs), freedom, good climate
• Most migration involves both push and pull factors working
together
– Networks of families, friends, and sometimes labor contractors
connect migrants from their origins to their destinations
• An Urban World
– Cities are the focal points of the modern globalizing
world
– The size and growth rate of some cities is staggering
• Mexico City and Sao Paolo (Brazil)
– More than 20 million residents
– And they’re adding 10,000 new people each week
– Both are predicted to double in the next 15 years
• Urbanized population: percentage of a country’s people who
live in cities
– Currently, 47% of world’s population lives in cities
– U.S., Europe, Japan, Australia are more than 75% urbanized
– Rates of urbanization in developing world is usually less than
50%, and may be considerably lower
Growth of World Cities (Fig. 1.18)
(2000 and projected 2015)
• Culture
• Culture is LEARNED (not innate), is shared (not
individual) behavior, and includes both abstract
(language, religion) and material elements (architecture,
technology)
• When Cultures Collide
• Cultural imperialism: active promotion of one’s cultural
system over another
• Cultural nationalism: the process of defending a cultural
system against offensive cultural expression while at the
same time actively promoting local or national values
• Cultural syncretism or hybridization: the blending of
elements of culture to form a new culture
• Language and Culture
• Language and culture are closely tied
– Language is often the characteristic that best defines
cultural groups
– Since language is the means for communication within
a cultural group, it includes other aspects of cultural
identity (politics, religion, commerce, folkways, customs)
• Dialect: a distinctive form of a language associated
with a specific region (e.g., American and British
English)
• Lingua franca: a third language that is adopted by
people from different cultural groups within a country
who cannot speak each other’s language (e.g.,
Swahili in Africa, or English in India)
WorldLanguages
Languages (Fig. 1.22)
Geography of World Religion
• Religion is another extremely important defining
trait of cultural groups
• Universalizing religion: attempts to appeal to all
people regardless of location or culture (examples:
Christianity with 2 billion, Islam with 1.2 billion, Buddhism)
• Ethnic religion: identified closely with a specific
ethnic group; does not actively seek converts
(examples: Judaism, Hinduism with 850 million in India)
• Secularization: exists when people consider
themselves to be non-religious or outright atheistic
(about 1 billion)
Religions
Major Religious Traditions (Fig. 1.36)
Geopolitics: Fragmentation & Unity
• Geopolitics: term that describes the close link between
geography and political activity
– Focuses on the interaction between power, territory, and
space at all scales
• State: a political unit with territorial boundaries recognized
by other countries and internally governed by an
organizational structure
• Nation: a large group of people who share many cultural
elements (e.g.: language, religion, cultural identity) and
view themselves as a single political community
• Nation-state: a relatively homogenous cultural group with
its own fully independent political territory (e.g.: Japan,
France); Kurds are a nation without a state
Kurds: A Nation without a State (Fig. 1.26)
Geopolitics: Fragmentation & Unity
Micronationalism: group identity with the goal of selfrule within an existing nation-state
- On the rise, and a source of geopolitical tension in the
world
Centrifugal and Centripetal Forces
Centrifugal forces: Cultural and political forces acting
to weaken or divide an existing state
- Examples: linguistic minority status, ethnic separatism,
territorial autonomy, disparities in income and well-being
Centripetal forces: Forces that promote political unity
and reinforce the state structure
- Examples: shared sense of history, need for military
security, overarching economic structure
• Global Terrorism
• 9/11 terrorist attacks not attached to a nationalist or
regional geopolitical aspiration to achieve independence
or autonomy
• Global terrorism is a product and an expression of
globalization
– Asymmetrical warfare: the differences between a
superpower’s military technology and strategy and the lower
level technology and decentralized guerilla tactics used by al
Qaeda and the Taliban
• Colonialism and Decolonialization
• Colonialism: formal establishment of rule over a foreign
population
• Decolonialization: the process of a colony’s gaining (or
regaining) control over its territory and establishing a
separate independent government
The Colonial World in 1914 (Fig. 1.42)
Economic and Social
Development: The
Geography of Wealth
and Poverty
• Economic
development, when
successful, brings
increased prosperity
to individuals, regions,
and nation-states
Measuring Economic Wealth
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP): value of all final goods
and services produced within a country
• Gross National Product (GNP): GDP plus the net income
from abroad; but omits non-market economic activity
(bartering, household work)
• Gross National Income (GNI): the value of all final goods
and services produced within a country plus net income
from abroad
– GNI per capita – obtained by dividing the GNI by a country’s
population
• Purchasing power parity (PPP): a comparable for a
standard “market basket” of goods and services purchased
with a local currency
• Economic growth rate: annual rate of expansion for GNP
(Gross National Product)
GNI
World Gross National Income (GNI) Per Capita (Fig. 1.31)
Indicators of Social Development
•Life expectancy: average length of life expected at birth
for a hypothetical male or female, as based on national
death statistics
•Mortality rate under 5 years: measure of the number of
children who die per 1,000 persons
•Adult illiteracy rates: percentage of a society’s males
and females who cannot read
•Female labor force participation: percentage of a
nation’s labor force that is female
• Conclusion
• Globalization is driving a fundamental reorganization of
economies and cultures through trade agreements,
supranational organizations, military alliances, and cultural
exchanges
• Discussion of each region includes 5 themes:
– Environmental Geography
– Population and Settlement
– Cultural Coherence and Diversity
– Geopolitical Framework
– Economic and Social Development
Geographies
End of Chapter 1: Diversity and
Globalization
Fig. 1-4a, p. 8
Maps Affect Our
Environmental Perception
Human-Environment Interaction
(Cultural Ecology)
• Successful cultures are those that adapt
well to their environments. (Chaco
Canyon, North Africa, Fertile Crescent,
Easter Island)
Chaco Canyon, New Mexico
Easter Island, Polynesia