World Geography Ch. 5 & 6
Ch. 5 Human Geography
Ch. 6 Human Systems
Population
• Population density – average number of
people living in an area
• World population is NOT spread evenly
• There are 4 major regions of dense
settlement
– Eastern Asia
– South Asia
– Europe
– Eastern North America
Population Density maps
Population Change
• 3 factors cause change in populations.
– Birthrate
– Death rate
– Migration
• Emigrants – people who leave a country
• Immigrants – people who enter a country
• Natural increase - population growth
based just on birthrates and death rates.
SECTION 1
Population Geography
Reasons for Population Increases
medical advances lead to
better health care, which
allows people to live
longer.
agricultural advances lead
to increased food
production, which allows
more people to live in an
area.
sanitation advances lead
to cleaner living
conditions, which help
people stay healthy.
Population Growth
•
•
•
•
•
•
1 A.D. – 300 million
1600 – 600 million
1850 – 1.2 billion
1930 – 2 billion
1975 – 4 billion
Today – 7 billion
– Increasing 80 million per year or
220,000 per day
World population map
Culture
• Culture – all the features of a people’s way of life
• Culture Traits – activities and behaviors that people
do
• Culture Region – an area that has many shared
culture traits
• Ethnic Groups – a people with common cultural
background or ancestry
• Culture Change
– Acculturation – when one culture changes a great deal
through its meeting with another culture
– Innovation – new ideas that are accepted into a culture
– Diffusion – an idea or innovation spreads from one person
or group to another and is adopted
SECTION 2
Cultural Geography
government
religion
Example: democratic
system, elected officials
at local, state, and
national levels
education
language
Culture Traits
economy
food
housing
clothing
Every plane trip in the world in a
24 hour period
Religion
• Religion is a key culture trait that binds
many societies together and gives meaning to
people’s lives.
• Ethnic religions – focus on an ethnic group
• Animist religions – believe in presence of
spirits and forces of nature
- Usually polytheistic (belief in many gods)
• Universalizing religions – Believe that their
religion is for everyone and seeks converts
– Christianity and Islam are the two largest.
– Monotheistic religions (belief in one God)
Hinduism
Buddhism
Islam
Judaism
Christianity
Economics
• Economics is:
– The study of how things are made, bought,
sold, and used.
– The study of how people make choices to
satisfy their wants.
• This includes goods (stuff) and services
(things done for you)
• The study of economics begins with the
idea that people cannot have everything
they need and want.
NEED
• necessary for survival
such as air, food, and
shelter
WANT
• Items and services
that are desired but
not essential to
survival
• Different countries have different economies.
– Subsistence economy – goods and services for
survival
– Market economy – people freely choose what to buy
and sell
• Free enterprise – competition determines prices
• Capitalism – goods and services are privately
owned
– Command economy – government decides what to
produce, where to make it, and what price to charge
• Property is publically owned
• Communism – is a command economy where the
government controls all means of production
SECTION 1
Economic Geography
Economy
Motivator
Description
Location
traditional or
subsistence
survival
People make goods for
themselves or their
families with little
surplus.
mostly in poor
countries and rural
areas
market
profit
People freely choose
what to buy and sell.
most of the world’s
rich countries
command
government
regulations
The government
establishes products,
locations, and prices.
communist
countries
Subsistence Economy
FREE MARKET
1. People are free to buy, sell, and
produce whatever they want,
whenever they want, and any way
they want
2. People can work wherever they
want
24
FREE MARKET
3. Capitalism is another name for
market economies
4. People enjoy a free enterprise
system
25
Command Economy
1. Government decides what
products to make, how many to
make, how to make them, and
who gets them
2. Government controls factories,
farms, natural resources,
transportation systems, and
stores
26
Command Economy
3. Individual has little or no say
4. Soviet Union used to have this
type of economy
5. There is no competition
27
Economic Indicators
• Ways to measure economic development
– Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the
dollar value of all final goods and services
produced within a country’s borders in a
given year.
– Amount of industry
– Literacy
– Infrastructure
– Technology
Developed and Developing Countries
• Developed countries - the world’s
wealthiest countries
– Have industry, good education, etc.
• Developing countries – poorer countries of
the world.
– ¾ of the world lives in these
– Little of no industry and education, etc.
– Rural people who live on subsistence
farming
Old terminology
New Terminology
Hunting, Gathering, and Agriculture
• Hunting and gathering –hunting,
foraging, or collecting foods from the
surrounding land. (living off the
wilderness)
• Agriculture – farming and animal
herding (living from cultivating the land
for use)
SECTION 2
Urban and Rural Geography
Agriculture and Human History
Hunter-gatherers
move with the
seasons in search
of food.
Humans
domesticate
plants and
animals.
People develop
agriculture and
transform their
environments.
Agriculture provides
surplus food and
allows people to
learn new crafts and
skills.
Towns and
cities grow as
civilizations
develop.
Trade between
cities increases
cultural diffusion.
City Life
• Urbanization – growth in people living
in towns and cities
• In developed countries about 75% of
people live in cities.
• In developing countries less than half of
people live in cities.
• As population grows so will
urbanization.
Politics
• Government is the governing body of a
nation, state, or community.
– How a country is run or runs itself.
• Not everyone has the same type of
government.
• United Nations - worldwide organization
that tries to settle problems among and
within countries
SECTION 3
Political Geography
Type of
Boundary
Description
Example
natural
follow a feature of the
landscape
U.S.-Mexico border along
the Rio Grande
cultural
based on cultural traits
such as religion or
language
Spain-Portugal border
geometric
follow regular, geometric
patterns such as latitude
and longitude
U.S.-Canada border
Government and Countries
• Nationalism – feeling of pride and loyalty to
one’s country
• Totalitarian government – government
ruled by one person or a few people.
(Dictator).
• Democracy – people decide who will govern
(majority always rules)
• Republic – The people elect representatives
who govern the nation (Rule of Law)
– The United States is a Democratic Republic.
– The majority elects officials, but individual
rights are protected by the Constitution.