General Suggestions
All course materials (textbook, lecture, assignments, and films) are fair game for exam material, even if not
listed in this study guide. Likewise, just because something is on the study guide, does not mean it will be on
the exam. But generally, the material I emphasize in lecture tends to be what I think is most important.
You will also notice that some themes/concepts and questions overlap between chapters. This is because
many exam questions will require you to apply themes/concepts/questions to different areas – and
sometimes more complex/challenge situations – that require you to demonstrate how
themes/concepts/questions link across the material we have covered. Finally, be sure to know examples
covered in lecture/textbook for “Themes + Concepts”.
Chapter 6
Themes + Concepts
- Standard Language: Published, wildly distributed, and purposely taught (Governments can help
sustain a standard language by making it official and requiring literacy in the language for government
jobs
- Dialects (Variants of standard language among regional or ethnic lines. Marked by differenced in
vocab, syntax, pronunciation, cadence, and pace of speech)
- Toponym
- Pidgin (created when people speaking two or more languages are in contact and they combine parts
of their languages in simplified structure and vocab)
- Creole (pidgin language with a more complex structure and vocabulary that has become the native
language of a group of people)
- Lingua Franca (language used among speakers of different languages for the purposes of trade and
commerce. Can be a single language or a mixture of two or more languages)
- Cognate (words that have same origin and are derived from the same word)
Questions
- How does language shape identity, culture, and, in turn, countries’ locations?
(Language reflects where a culture has been, what it values, and how people within the culture think,
describe, and experience events. Language helps cement cultural identity. Language creates linguistic
landscapes and dialects, which are variants of standard language along regional/ethnic lines.)
- What factors influence the diffusion and change of language over space and time?
(The five geolinguistic patterns are divergence, layering, specialization, persistence, and decategorization)
- What geographic examples of primary, secondary, and tertiary languages spoken today were given in
lecture (both by country/region and at the state-level in the USA)?
(Primary: The USA’s main language being English. Secondary: Spanish in USA, English is most
popular second language worldwide, Diverse secondary in London. Tertiary: Wales and Native
Languages)
- What examples were given in lecture about governments suppressing or banning language?
(The US governments suppression of Native American languages, specifically in children forced into
boarding school. Canada and China also suppressed or banned languages.)
- With what is the slogan “Every Child Matters” associated? (Raise awareness about the atrocities that
were committed so that we can move forward, specifically Native Indians who were affected by
boarding school systems.)
- Who are the Māori?
(The Māori is a language that was implemented by New Zealand to be the official language, 50k
people speak Māori well and 180k have an understanding of it out of a 5 million population.)
- What are the major linguistic families?
(Indo-European, European languages)
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What theories explain the diffusion of Indo-European languages?
(The conquest theory: early speakers spread from the hearth into Europe on horseback,
overpowering earlier inhabitants which started the diffusion of Indo-European languages.
The agricultural theory: said to be diffused westward through Europe with the diffusion of
agriculture.)
Chapter 7
Themes + Concepts
- Monotheistic (Worship a single deity) vs. polytheistic (Worship more than one deity) vs. animistic
(are centered on the belief that inanimate objects possess spirtis) religions
- Universalizing religions: (Actively seek converts, view themselves as offering belief systems that are
universal, EX: Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism) VS
- Ethnic religions: (Adherents are born into the faith, do not actively seek converts, spatially
located//Judaism is exception) (EX: Hinduism, Confucianism, Daoism, Shintoism)
Questions
- What is a religion?
(A system of beliefs and practices that attempts to order life in terms of culturally perceived ultimate
priorities)
- What are the major religions of the world, where are there hearts, and where are they practiced
today?
 Hinduism: Spread from the Indus valley to the Ganges River and then throughout South Asia
and into Southeast Asia. Practiced mostly in India and South Asia, but large amounts elsewhere.
 Buddhism: Derived from Hinduism around 2500 years ago. Practiced for the majority in South
and East Asia, also seen in Europe and North America.
 Judaism: Hearth was in Jerusalem, the romans dispersed the jews from Israel to across Europe.
Some jews in North/South America.
- Which countries/regions were discussed as hotspots of religious violence today?
(Middle East/Israel vs Palestine)
Chapter 8
Themes + Concepts
- State vs. nation vs. nation-state vs. stateless nation vs. multinational state
State: a politically organized territory
Nation: refers to a group of people with a sense of cultural connection that is not tied to existence of a
state.
Nation-state: idea that the map of states should align with the map of nations
Stateless nation: lack of fit between nations and states is that some nations don’t have a state.
Multinational state: when a nation stretches across borders and across states
- Sovereignty: (a recognized right to control a territory both politically and militarily.)
- Belt and Road Initiative:
- Devolution: (Transfer of power “downwards” from the central government to regional governments
within a state.)
- Capitalism: (individuals, corporations, and states produce good and services exchanged for profit.)
- Commodification: (process of placing a price on goods, services, or ideas and then buying, selling,
and trading that item.)
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- Unitary system vs. federal system (know examples)
Unitary: centralized states whose administrative framework is designed to ensure the central
government’s authority over all parts of the state. (EX. China)
Federal: regions have substantial authority over such matters as education, land use, and infrastructure
planning. (EX. United States, Australia)
- EEZ (Exclusive economic zone, states have control over all resources in EEZ)
- Supranational organization (An institution created by 3 or more states to promote cooperation.)
Questions
- Who is responsible for drawing Montana’s legislative districts?
(The Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission)
- What are the rules for drawing legislative districts in Montana? How do they relate to themes
discussed in the course?
(The districts must be equal, consist of compact territory, must be contiguous (meaning a district
must be in one piece), cannot be drawn to favor a political party, and must keep communities of
interest intact.) (This relates because it is a form of political geography)
- What is a state? What defines state sovereignty?
(State: A politically organized territory. Has a permanent population, defined territory, and a
government. It must be recognized by other states.)
- When and how were modern states born?
(Arose in modern Europe as a system of political units with fixed, distinct boundaries)
- When and how were most state boundaries drawn across Sub-Saharan Africa? By whom?
(Europe exported the concepts of state, sovereignty, and the desire for nation-states through two
waves of colonialism.) (Countries in First wave: Britain, France and Netherlands. Second Wave: All
of first wave + Belgium, Germany, and Italy)
- What is World System Theory?
(It’s the understanding of any states position within the global economy. Used to explain reasons for
the rise and fall of states, income inequality, social unrest, and imperialism.)
- Physically, what are political boundaries and what do they include?
(Follow an agreed upon feature in the natural landscape. Ex. Mountain range or center ponint of a
river)
- What agreement established maritime boundaries? How far do maritime boundaries extend? (United
Nations Convention on the Law of the sea, 1982) (They extend 200 nautical miles)
- How can countries try to expand their maritime boundaries? Which country has been accused of
doing this?
Countries such as China have expanded their maritime boundaries past their 200 nautical EEZ with
military and ignoring international ruling over disputed territories.
- What are examples of supranational organizations?
The United Nations, European Union, Etc.
Chapter 9 + Film 2
Themes + Concepts
- Urbanization (the growth of population in cities)
- City (an agglomeration of people and buildings clustered together to serve as a center of politics,
culture, and economics)
- Conurbation (region that includes cities, large towns, and other urbanized areas that merged to form
a continuous developed area that functions as one.)
- Urban morphology (A city’s layout, includes size and shapes of buildings and pathways of
infrastructure)
- Functional zone (division of a city into different regions by use or purpose)
- Urban hierarchy (The relative size and spacing of cities)
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Central place theory (predicting where central places in the urban hierarchy would be located)
Primate city (a country’s leading city, always very large and exceptionally expressive national capacity
and feeling. Usually former colonial centers.)
Nighttime lights (Examine urbanization patterns across Africa using remote sensed derived
population data.)
Blockbusting (Realtors convince white ppl to sell their homes by telling them black families were
moving in) + redlining (Loan Corps and banks would draw red lines around neighborhoods
considered to be risky and refuse to offer mortgages to anyone purchasing homes in that
neighborhood) + white flight (Movement of whites from the city to the outlying suburbs)
Gentrification (renewal or rebuilding of lower income neighborhoods into middle to upper class
neighborhoods. Lead to increased housing prices and cost of goods nearby.)
Questions
- What was “Megacities” about? On what locations does it focus?
It was about the biggest cities on earth, discussed their differences and how cultures vary. Focused
on Shanghai, London, Mexico City, Dhaka, and Tokyo.
- How are urban vs. rural locations/populations defined?
In the US an urban area has 50k people or more and an urban cluster has 2500 to 50k people. Some
characteristics are minimum population threshold and the presence of infrastructure. (paved roads)
- Globally, which areas are urbanizing the fastest? Which are the most urbanized today? And, which
house the greatest number of urban people?
Sub-Saharan Africa, South and East Asia are urbanizing the fastest. Europe, North America, and
Latin America are the most urbanized today. China and India house the most urban people.
- What are the six early urban hearts?
Mesopotamia, Nile River Valley, Indus River Valley, Huang He and Wei Valleys, Mesoamerica, and
Peru.
- How does both site and situation influence the location and importance of cities? What examples
were given?
Site: absolute location, chosen for its advantages in trade, defense, or center for religious practice (ex.
NYC)
Situation: relative location, its place in the region and the world around it. (Cities on the east coast)
- Where were trade roots, and thus cities, located in North/West Africa prior to European
colonization?
Near rivers and large bodies of water.
- What is the rank size rule? What examples were given?
Attempt to get a model to explain growth and distribution of growth across the planet. (City with
most pop ranked #1, city rank #2 has half pop of #1, city rank #3 has 1/3 pop of #1.) [EX.
Bangkok and Belgium]
- Why are secondary cities important?
Secondary cities are smaller but still significant urban centers that contribute to economic growth,
improving regional connectivity, helps
- How historical structural reasons influence who is most impacted by environmental problems in
many American cities?
Poor air quality, more pollution, and the lack of trees in certain areas of city’s creates environmental
problems.
- What did we learn about Favelas from the Vox film?
Brazil is trying to hide and push out favela residents to make the city look more appealing to
Olympic tourists.
- What did we learn about North Bozeman? Who studied it? How is it changing?
There is a surplus of people that is causing housing issues. They are attempting to build more
communities and houses.
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Chapter 10
Themes + Concepts
- Development (Advances in technologies, eliminating poverty and ensuring ecological sustainability.)
- GDP vs. GNP vs. GNI (per capita, too)
GDP: goods and services produced within a country during a year
GNP: measure of total value of officially recorded goods and services produced by residents in a year
GNI: Calculation of monetary value of what is produced within a country, includes income from
investments outside of country, subtracts income payments to other countries. (Per Capita: common
way of standardizing GNI data by dividing the population of a country)
- PPP (Purchasing powering parity, equalizes purchasing across currencies)
- Big Mac Index (Measure of purchasing powering parity, economic metric to measure how much a
basket of goods cost in a country compared to another country)
- Digital Divide (Caused by lack of internet access)
- Human Development Index (Quantifies aspects of human development. Long and Healthy Life,
Knowledge, Decent standard of living)
- SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals, helped reduce poverty)
- Rostow’s Modernization Model (Assumes that all countries follow a similar path to development or
modernization, through 5 stages.)
- Bretton Woods institutions (Created the World Bank and the International financial instructions
aimed at promoting economic reconstruction, free trade, and economic exchange.)
- Neocolonialism (major world powers continue to control economies of poorer countries; even
though the poorer countries are independent states)
Questions
- Who was Norman Borlaug? Who was Amartya Sen? How is their work related to Malthus’ theory?
Norman Borlaug explained that western nations haven’t experienced the physical sensation of
hunger. Amartya Sen said that starvation isn’t the characteristic of there not being enough food to eat
but rather people not having enough food to eat.)
- How is development policy rooted in the history of the industrial revolution?
Development policy often follows industrialization patterns, emphasizing economic growth,
infrastructure, and technology as paths to modernization.
- How has wealth inequality changed over the past 200 years?
As global wealth increased, the more inequality took place. Most of the emissions that relate to
climate change are caused by the top 10% of richest people across the globe. Poorest 50% only
responsible for 10% of emissions.
- Since the 1990s, how have child mortality rates changed worldwide? How does this change related to
“development”?
Global under five mortality rates decreased from 93/1000 deaths in 1990 to 37.9/1000 in 2019. 58%
reduction in under-5 deaths from 1990 to 2019.
- How does the increase in global wealth relate to global environmental change?
Increase in resource consumption, more pollution, and climate change.
- Who is most responsible for environmental impacts? What % of the planet’s CO2 do these people
emit? (Rich/wealthy people. 50% of CO2 attributed to top 10% wealthiest)
- How has global food insecurity changed over the past 20 years?
It has decreased by a large amount; however, it is on the rise again since 2019.
- Which countries have grown their economies while reducing their carbon footprint?
The US, UK, Ukraine, Romania, Poland, and Bahrain
- What influenced Rostow’s Modernization Model?
Motivated by a concern with how the dozens of newly independent countries in Africa and Asia
would survive economically.
- What is Dependency Theory and how is it related to the World Systems Model?
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Political and economic relationships between countries and regions of the world control and limit the
economic development possibilities of lower income areas. Relates because a dependency ratio can
be factored into the world systems model.
What’s going on with cobalt? How is it related to sustainability? Which country is being impacted?
How is this related to World Systems Theory, development, and historical structuralism?
The DRC, who produces 70% of worlds cobalt, is the country most impacted by the mining, workers
aren’t working in safe conditions and companies don’t make enough money. Used in the world
systems theory to understand their position in global economy. Relates to development because
cobalt mining is corrupt. It relates to historical structuralism because they were once colonized by
Belgium who were brutal to the local population which has stuck with them.
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