AP Human
Geography
Key Concept Review
Geography as Field of Study
Geography “geo” - “the earth”
“graphein” - “to write”
Cartography - art & science of map-making
Developed early by Greeks, Romans,
Chinese, Arabs
Names in Geography
Eratosthenes - Greek scholar
Ptolemy - Greek scholar
Used geometry; accurately calculated circumference
of earth
Developed global grid system forerunner to latitude &
longitude
Idrisi - Arab geographer
Gathered maps, consulted mariners & travelers, went
on scientific expeditions
Names in Geography
Immanuel Kant - defined geography as study of
interrelated spatial patterns
George Perkins Marsh
Description & explanation of similarities & differences
between regions
Focused on impact of human actions on natural
environment
Carl Sauer - cultural landscapes
C.L.=product of interactions between humans & their
environments
Types of Geography
Physical
Political
Human - Where are people? How are they alike
and different? How do they interact? How do
they change the natural landscapes, and how do
they use them?
Urban
Environmental
Key Geographical Skills
Spatial Perspective - the way places and
things are arranged and organized on
earth’s surface
Absolute Location
Meridians, parallels, latitude, longitude
Greenwich, England
Relative Location
Use of Maps
Reference Material - tool for storing
information
Communications/education - often
thematic - can explain spatial perspective
to others - ex. Soil types
Contour Map - topography
Map Projections
Globe - only accurate representation of earth
“All maps lie flat and all flat maps lie.”
distortion
Mercator - created for navigating ships across
Atlantic Ocean; direction is true; distortion
towards poles
Robinson - good projection for general use;
distortion greatest at poles
Peters - keeps land masses equal in area;
shapes distorted
Scale
Size of unit studied - local, regional, global? Ex.
drought
Map Scale
Mathematical relationship between size of area on
map & actual size on surface of earth
Large scale maps = more details
1/24
Small scale maps = less details
1/24,000
Time Zones
Use longitude to determine
180 degrees east and west of prime
meridian, runs through Greenwich,
England (set by international agreement)
15 degrees apart - 24 sections - 1 hour
each
Encouraged by creation of railroads
“Place”
=unique location of a geographic feature
Place name - toponyms
Site Situation
Absolute location Pattern = linear vs. centralized vs.
random vs. grid/rectilinear
Ordinance of 1785
Regions
Formal/Uniform - similarities in physical or
cultural features
Functional/Nodal - organized around nodes or
cores
Core vs. periphery
Perceptual/Vernacular - places people believe to
exist a part of their cultural identity
Space-Time Compression
Describes changes that rapid connections
among places and regions have brought
First transportation and communication
Now television and computers
Impact of globalization
Geographic Technologies
GIS - Geographic Information System
computer system that can layer captured data
GPS - Global Positioning System
Uses series of satellites, tracking stations, and
receivers to determine precise absolute
locations on earth
Population
Unit Two
Demography
Study of population
Population geography = number,
composition, & distribution of human
beings on earth’s surface
Follow growth and movement of population
Distribution, Density & Scale
Distribution - arrangement of locations on earth
where people live
Dot maps
Population density - # of people in a given area
of land
90% of people live north of equator
More than 1/2 of all people live on 5% of land and 9/10
on less than 20%
Most people live close to sea level
2/3 of world lives within 300 miles of ocean
Density
Arithmetic (crude)
Total number of people divided by total land
area
Physiological population
Total number of people divided by arable land
Carrying Capacity
Number of people an area can support on
a sustained basis
Farmers using irrigation & fertilizers
support more people
Industrial societies import raw materials &
export manufactured goods
Population Pyramids
Represents a population’s age & sex
composition
Factors affecting shape:
Health care
War
Availability of birth control
Cultural values
Level of economic development
Population Concentrations
2/3 of world pop in 4 regions:
East Asia - 1/5 of world
South Asia - 1/5 of world
Southeast Asia - 500 million
Europe - primarily urban
Race and Ethnicity
Race - category composed of people who share
biologically transmitted traits that members of a
society consider important
Ethnicity - less based on physical characteristics
& emphasizes a shared cultural heritage, such
as language, religion, and customs
Important because people tend to live in areas
with people of same race or ethnicity
Population Growth & Decline
Little pop growth until mid-18th century
Agricultural or Neolithic Revolution
Until then, doubling rate was very long
Birth rates and death rates were high
1750 Industrial Revolution - England
Population explosion
Doubling time has dropped fast
Theories of Population Growth
Zero population growth movement - goal to level
off world’s pop growth to ensure earth can
sustain its inhabitants
Thomas Malthus
Food growing arithmetically vs. pop growing
exponentially
Neo-Malthusians, The Population Bomb, Paul Ehrlich,
drove international efforts using birth control and
family planning
The Vocabulary of Population Theory
CBR
TFR
Demographic momentum
CDR
IMR
NIR
Life expectancy
Demographic Transition Theory
Stage 1 - pre-industrial, agrarian societies
Stage 2 - industrialization
High CBR, lower CDR
By mid19th century - epidemiological revolution aka
mortality revolution
Stage 3 - mature industrial economy
High CBR and CDR
CBR drops, CDR low
Stage 4 - post-industrial economy
CBR continues to fall and CDR low
More women in workforce
Children expensive
Extensive education needed to fill post-industrial jobs
Population and Natural Hazards
Climate, drought, hurricanes, typhoons, tsunamis
Malthus’ “negative checks” - famine and
disease
Globalization has increased spread of
communicable diseases
AIDS
Asian bird flu
Pandemic = widespread epidemic
Swine flu
Population Policies
Expansive policies - like Mao Zedong’s
Restrictive policies
China - Deng Xiaoping
One child policy
Female infanticide
India - democracy’s problems
Family planning
Rural families
Indira Gandhi
International Policy Efforts
1994 International Conference on Population and
Development in Cairo, Egypt - agreed that
improving the status of women is essential to
population control
1995 UN Fourth World Conference in Beijing,
China - agreed that women needed to control
fertility allowing them to take advantage of
educational and employment opportunities
Population Movement
Circulation = our short-term repetitive
movements in our days
Migration = involves a permanent move to a new
location, within a country or to another country
Demographic equation = summarizes population
change over time in an area by combining
natural change (death rate subtracted from birth
rate) and the net migration
Emigration - migration FROM a location
Immigration - migration TO a location
Ravenstein’s Laws of Migration
British demographer
Wrote 11 migration laws
Most immigrants move short distance
Distance decay - decline of activity or function
with increasing distance from point of origin
Step migration - long-distance migration done
in stages
Intervening opportunities - those planning to
go long distances find other opportunities
before reaching final destination
Ravenstein’s Laws of Migration
Migrants moving longer distances tend to
choose cities as destinations
Each migration flow produces a counterflow; ex. When one group moves in to
neighborhood, another group moves in
Families less likely to make international
moves; single males more likely
Gravity Model
Inverse relationship between the volume of
migration and the distance between source
and destination
A large city has a greater gravitational pull
than a small one, but it still tends to pull
people that live closer rather than farther
away
Reasons for Migration
Push factor = encourages people to move
Pull factor = attracts people to a region
Economic Push-Pull Factors
Push
Pull
Cultural Push-Pull Factors
Push
Pull
Environmental Push-Pull Factors
Push
Pull
Major Migrations at Different Scales
Asia, Latin America and Africa have net outmigration
North America. Europe, and Oceania jave net inmigration
Largest flows are:
Asia to Europe
Asia to North America
South America to North America
U.S. Immigration Patterns
Three Main Eras:
Initial settlement of colonies
Emigration from Europe
Immigration since 1945
Initial Settlement of Colonies
About 1 million Europeans came before 1776
Another 1 million by 1840
Majority from Britain
Others from Netherlands, Sweden, France,
Germany, Iberian Peninsula
18th century - 400,000 African slaves brought
over
Emigration from Europe
19th-20th century migration one of most
significant in history
75 million departed for Americas between 18351935
Largest number to USA
Three waves:
1840s-1850s - 2 largest groups Irish & Germans
Late 1800s - 1870s-1890s - 75% NW Europe;
Germans & Irish continued & Scandinavians; pull
factor Industrial Revolution
Early 1900s- peak levels 1910; many from Southern
and Eastern Europe, esp. Italy, Russia, AustriaHungary
Immigration since 1945
Restrictions against Asians lifted in 1960s:
China, Philippines, India, Vietnam
Many came as refugees
Many went to Canada
Another major source is Latin America with
Mexico topping 8 million
1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act government issued visas to several hundred
thousand people who had previously entered
illegally
Intraregional Migrations
Within USA, African-Americans began migrating
from South to North during WWI and in the
1940s; 1970s countertrend of African Americans
moving back South
Dislocation due to ethnic strife, war, or natural
disasters
South Asia - Afghanistan - Pakistan
Southeast Asia - Vietnam - Cambodia
Balkans - collapse of Yugoslavia
Sub-Saharan Africa - Rwanda, Sudan
Migration Selectivity
=Tendency for certain types of people to
move influenced by
1. Age - young people, 18-30 and their
children
2. Education - higher levels of education more
likely to migrate long distances; follow one’s
career in professions; danger of brain drains
3. Kinship and friendship ties - chain
migration; ethnic neighborhoods such as
“Little Italies” and “Chinatowns”
Short Term Circulation & Activity Space
Activity Space - area in which an individual
moves about as he or she pursues regular,
day-to-day activities
Factors affecting activity spaces:
Age group - younger by foot/bicycle; older by
car; retired activity space shrinks
Ability to travel - suburbs vs. city; LDC vs.
MDC; income level
Opportunities to travel - self-sufficient families,
poverty, & physical isolation reduce
awareness space
Space-Time Prism
All people live within a space-time prism
that sets the limits for their activities
They have only so much time to be mobile
and their space is limited by their ability to
move
Cultural Patterns and
Processes
Unit Three
Basic Definitions:
Cultural landscape - modification of the
natural landscape by human activities
Cultural geography - transformation of the
land and ways that humans interact with
the environment
Cultural ecology - studies relationship
between natural environment and culture
Schools of Thought in Cultural
Geography
Environmental determinism - physical environment
actively shapes cultures so that human responses are almost
completely molded by environment
Possibilism - cultural heritage is at least as important as
physical environment in shaping human behavior
Environmental perception - emphasizes importance
of human perception of environment rather than actual character of
the land; shaped by culture
Cultural determinism - human culture ultimately more
important than physical environment in shaping human actions
Concepts of Culture
Culture = mix of values, beliefs, behaviors,
& material objects that together form a
people’s way of life
Non-material culture = abstract concepts of
values, beliefs, behaviors
Values = culturally-defined standards that guide way people assess
desirability, goodness and beauty & serve as guidelines for moral living
Beliefs = specific statements people hold to be true, almost always
based on values
Material Culture = includes wide range of
concrete human creations = artifacts
Cultural Hearths
Areas where civilizations first began that
radiated the customs, innovations, and
ideologies that culturally transformed the
world
Developed in SW Asia, North Africa, South
Asia, East Asia - river valleys
Cultural Diffusion
Expansion diffusion
Contagious diffusion
Hierarchical diffusion
Stimulus diffusion
Relocation diffusion
Acculturation
Assimilation
Transculturation
Ethnocentrism
Cultural relativism
Syncretism
Language = key to culture
=systematic means of communicating
ideas and feelings through the use of
signs, gestures, marks, or vocal sounds
Also allows for continuity of culture
(cultural transmission)
Writing invented 5000 years ago
Most people illiterate until 20th century
Languages
Currently between 5000-6000 languages
10 languages spoken by 100+ million
people: Spanish, Portuguese, Russian,
German, Mandarin and Wu Chinese,
English, Hindi, Bengali, Arabic, and
Japanese
Linguistic fragmentation = many languages
spoken especially by a relatively small
number of people; ex. Eastern Europe
Language Families
Languages usually grouped into families
with a shared, fairly distant origin
Indo-European family - languages spoken
by half the world’s people, English most
widely used; thought to be rooted in Black
Sea area
Other families = Afro-Asiatic, Niger-Congo,
Dravidian, American Indian
Standard languages - recognized by govt and
intellectual elite as norm for use in schools, govt,
media, & other aspects of public life
Official languages - language endorsed &
recognized by govt as one that everyone should
know and use
Dialects - regional variants of a standard
language
Isoglosses - boundaries within which words are
spoken
Bilingualism - ability to communicate in 2
languages
Multilingualism - ability to communicate in more
than 2 languages
Pidgin - amalgamation of languages that borrows
words from several
Creole - when a pidgin becomes the first
language of a group of speakers
Lingua franca - established language that comes
to be spoken & understood over a large area
Toponymy - study of place names
“town”, “ton”, “burgh”, or “ville” = town
Extinct Languages
Ex. Gothic, died out in 16th century
Some organizations try to preserve
endangered languages like European
Union’s Bureau of Lesser Used
Languages; ex. Welsh in Wales, Quecha in
Peru
Religion
Varies in its cultural influence
Distinguished from other belief systems by
emphasis on the sacred and divine
Explains anything that surpasses the limits of
human knowledge
Affected most societies in history but today has
been replaced in some places by new ideas
Humanism - ability of humans to guide their own lives
Marxism - communism
Religions
Universalizing Religions = Christianity,
Islam, Buddhism; 60% of world’s religions
Ethnic Religions = appeal primarily to one
group of people living in one place; 24% of
world’s religions
16% of world identifies with no religion
Divisions within religion
Branches - large, basic divisions within
religion
Denominations - divisions of branches that
unite local groups in a single administrative
body
Sects - relatively small groups that do not
affiliate with the more mainstream
denominations
Christianity
2 billion followers
Most widespread distribution
Predominant religion in North & South America,
Europe & Australia
3 major branches:
Roman Catholic - 50%
Protestant - 25%
Eastern Orthodox - 10%
Remaining 15% cannot be categorized into the 3
main branches
Religion in the United States
Over 50% Protestant
25% Catholic
2% Jewish
What about the Mormons?
Islam
1.3 billion adherents
Predominant in Middle East from North Africa to
Central Asia
About half of world’s Muslims live in Indonesia,
Pakistan, Bangladesh and India
Growing faster than Christianity
7-10 million Muslims in USA
Youngest of world religions
Divisions of Islam
Sunni - 83% of Muslims; Indonesia largest
concentration
Shiite - 16% of Muslims; concentrated in
Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Turkey, Azerbaijan,
Afghanistan and Yemen
Split occurred over the rightful successor
of Muhammad
Buddhism
365 million followers
Began on Indian subcontinent
Diffused through Silk Road and water
routes across Indian Ocean to East and
Southeast Asia
3 Main Branches of Buddhism
Mahayana - 56% - “Big Wheel” - East Asia
Theraveda - 38% - stricter adherence to
Buddha’s teachings - Southeast Asia
Tantrayana - 6% - Tibet and Mongolia
Accurate count difficult because eastern
religions don’t require followers to identify
with one religion
Other Universalizing Religions
Sikhism - 21 million in Punjab region of
India; combo Hinduism and Islam; founder
Guru Nanak
Baha’i - founded in 1844, most in Iran,
viewed by some Shiite Muslims as heretics,
believe in a different prophet
Ethnic Religions
Hinduism
Confucianism
Daoism
Shintoism
Judaism
Shamanism
Spatial Impact
Large cities - tallest, most centralized &
elaborate buildings are often religious
structures
Churches, mosques, temples,
synagogues, pagodas
Bodhi trees in Buddhist areas
How religions dispose of the dead
Popular & Folk Culture
Folk = traditionally practiced by small,
homogeneous groups living in isolated
rural areas
Popular = found in large heterogeneous
societies that are bonded by a common
culture despite the many differences
among the people that share it
Folk Culture
Controlled by tradition
Resistant to change
Self-sufficient
Example - Amish
Relatively isolated
Usually agricultural with limited technology
Ex. Dutch wearing wooden shoes to adapt to
working in wet fields below sea level
Ex. Hindu taboos against eating beef
Housing styles - based on environment materials
Housing Styles
Folk Music
North American folk music began as
immigrants carried their songs to the New
World but became Americanized and then
new songs about American experiences
Regions
Northern song section
Southern and Appalachian song area
Western song area
Black Song Style Family
Popular Culture
Primarily urban based
General mass of people conforming to and
then abandoning ever-changing cultural
trends
Breeds homogeneity
Pop culture takes on a national character
Globalization of pop culture has caused
resentment
Environmental impact of popular culture
Uniform landscapes - fast food restaurants, chain
hotels, gas stations, convenience stores;
designed so residents and visitors immediately
recognize purpose of building or name of
company
Increased demand for natural resources - fads
demand animal skins; consumption of food not
efficient to produce (ex. 1 lb beef requires animal
consuming 10 lbs grain; ratio for chicken 1 to 3)
Pollution - high volume of wastes
Cultural Landscape = Cultural Identity
Landscapes & values = Native Americans vs.
Europeans
Landscapes & identity = people express culture
by transforming elements into symbols like flags,
slogans, religious icons, landscaping and house
styles
Can clash like Muslim practice of never depicting Allah
or Muhammad in drawings clashed with western
freedom of press with Danish cartoon in 2005
Symbolic landscapes = all landscapes are
symbolic - signs and images convey messages
Political Organization
of Space
Unit Four
Political geography
Study of the political organization of the
planet, a constantly changing collage of
countries that once were kingdoms or parts
of empires
Concept of territoriality
Efforts to control pieces of the earth’s
surface for political and social ends
Political culture = the collection of political
beliefs, values, practices and institutions
that the government is based on
Boundaries
Invisible lines that mark the extent of a state’s
territory and the control that its leaders have
Some set by physical features, some by
negotiation or war
Frontiers historically separated states - a
geographic zone where no state exercises power
while a boundary is a thin, imaginary line
Physical Boundaries
Easy to see - make good boundaries
Rivers, lakes, oceans not usually used as
boundaries - those set in water follow medianline principle
Ocean boundaries problematic because nations
claim boundary out at sea, not at coast
1983 The Law of the Sea standardized territorial
limits for most countries at 12 nautical miles (14
land miles) and gave rights to fish and other
marine life within 200 miles
Cultural boundaries
Set by ethnic differences, primarily based
on language and/or religion
Aka consequent boundaries
Ex. Indian and Pakistan
Ex. Breakup of Austria-Hungary after WWI
Ex. Balkanization & shatter belts
Territorial morphology
Describes the shapes, sizes, and relative
locations of states
Shapes of states
Compact - distance from center to any boundary
is about the same
Prorupted - compact state with large projecting
extension; proruptions often exist to get at a
natural resource
Elongated - long & narrow; often communication
problems; is capital centralized?
Fragmented - have several discontinuous pieces
of territory (any archipelago qualifies)
Perforated - a state that completely surrounds
another one; ex. South Africa around Lesotho
Exclaves & Enclaves
Exclaves - small bits of territory that lie on coasts
separated from the state or territory of another
state
Cabinda - part of Angola separated by the DRC
Enclave - landlocked within another country so
that the country totally surrounds it
Enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh is an exclave of
Armenian Christians that are surrounded by Muslim
Azerbaijan
Size of states
Largest - Russia - 6.5 million square miles,
11% of earth’s surface
Microstates - Liechtenstein, Andorra, San
Marino
Large size increases chance of having
resources
Small states tend to have a more
homogeneous population
Does size equal power?
Relative Location
Significance of size and shape as factors
in national well-being can be modified by
state’s absolute & relative location
Landlocked states - lacking ocean frontage
& surrounded by other states disadvantage (about 40 countries)
Good location example - Singapore
Sovereignty - the ability of the state to
carry out actions or policies within its
borders independently either from the
inside
Nationalism = national consciousness
Boundary Disputes
Since WWII, almost half of world’s sovereign
states have been involved in border disputes
with their neighbors
The more neighbors, the more possibility of
disputes
4 types of boundary disputes:
Positional/definitional disputes
Territorial disputes
Resource/allocational disputes
Functional/operational disputes
4 types of boundary disputes:
Positional/definitional disputes - states argue where
border actually is (ex. US & Mexico, Argentina &
Chile)
Territorial disputes - arise over ownership of region,
usually around mutual borders; often people want to
annex people ethnically related - irredentism - German
invasion of Czechoslovakia & Poland
Resource/allocational disputes - involve natural
resources like fertile farmland, mineral resources, or
rich fishing areas that lie in border areas (ex. Iraq &
Kuwait Persian Gulf War)
Functional/operational disputes - arise when
neighboring states cannot agree on policies that apply
in a border area (Ex. US-Mexico immigration/drug
trafficking
Evolution of the Nation-state
Ancient Egyptians ruled by pharaoh god-kings
Ancient Mesopotamia & Greece organized into
city-states
Then the empires - Persian, Macedonian,
Roman, Han
Middle East caliphates
Medieval European kingdoms - decentralized
feudalism
Largest organized political unit of all times Mongol Empire - ruled by a “khan” (universal
ruler), a military leader supported by a web of
kinship ties
The Nation-state Concept
Today power is territorially organized into states
(countries) that control what happens within their
borders
State - defines who can and cannot use
weapons & force and it sets rules as to how
violence is used; sponsor armed forces
State - includes institutions - stable, long lasting
organizations that help turn political ideas into
policy
States exercise sovereignty - ability to carry out
actions or policies within their borders
independently from interference either from
inside or outside
Nation - group of people that is bound together
by a common political identity
Nation-state - a state whose territorial extent
coincides with that occupied by a distinct nation
or people, or at least, whose population shares a
general sense of unity and allegiance to a set of
common values
Nationalism - sense of patriotism or pride an
loyalty that individuals feel toward their nations
Examples: Armenians in Azerbaijan
Variations of the Nation-state
Binational or multinational state - contains more
than one nation
Ex. Former USSR - multinational state
Ex. Russia - has faced breakway movements like
in Chechnya
Stateless nations - people without a state
Ex. Kurds - a nation of c. 20 million people
divided among 6 states and dominant in none
The Organization in States
Important geographical clues to
understanding how states are organized
are
Its core areas
Size and function of its capital cities
Core Areas
Most early nation-states grew from core areas,
expanding outwards until they bumped up
against other nation-states, causing them to
define boundaries
State’s periphery (outlying areas) - town’s get
smaller, factories fewer, & open land more
common
Multicore states - may be problematic, especially
if areas are ethnically diverse; ex. Nigeria
(northern core primarily Muslim and southern
core is Christian - capital moved from Lagos in
south to Abuja near the geographic center of the
state)
The Capital City
Usually houses the government and serves as
economic and cultural center
Will be the primate city if no other city rivals it in
size and influence
Washington DC is NOT primate city
Forward capital - capital city which serves as
model for national objectives (Ex. Japan moved
capital from Kyoto to Tokyo; Brazil moved capital
from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia
Electoral Geography
Electoral process - methods used in a
country for selecting its leaders - in
democracies an important connection
between citizen and state
Electoral geography - study of how the
spatial configuration of electoral districts
and voting patterns reflect and influence
social and political affairs
USA
435 legislative districts, each electing one
representative to lower house of legislature
Boundaries redrawn with census every ten years
Gerrymandering - political party in control
usually attempts to redraw boundaries to
improve chances of its supporters to win seats derived from Eldridge Gerry
Minority/majority districting - rearranging districts
to allow minority representative to be elected,
just as controversial, North Carolina
Colonialism & Imperialism
18th century European political philosophers
developed idea of modern state with basic
concept that people owe allegiance to a state
and people it represents rather than to its leader
Spread from 1789 to 19th century
Colonies, dependent areas, were created &
given fixed & recorded boundaries where none
had formally existed
Colonialism - term before 19th century
Imperialism - term 19th & 20th centuries
“the sun never sets on the British empire”
Most African & Asian colonies became
independent in the decades following WWII
Ethiopia, Liberia, & Thailand only independent
states
3 Types of states - internal geographic
distribution of power
Unitary system - concentrates all policy-making
power in one central geographic place
Confederal system - spreads the power among
many sub-units (such as states) and had weak
central govt (ex. Articles of Confederation,
Confederate States of America, modern
Switzerland)
Federal system - divides power between central
govt and sub-units (ex. USA, Canada, Australia)
Supranational Organizations
Cooperating groups of nations that operate
on either a regional or international level
Ex. European Union, United Nations
Centripetal Forces (unite)
Bind together people of a state
Nationalism - encourages allegiance to a
single country, encourages people to obey
all laws
Promoted by se of symbols, songs, flags,
holidays
Schools expected to instill society’s beliefs,
values, behaviors
Fast and efficient transportation can unify
Centrifugal Forces (fragment)
Destabilize country
Tends to lose loyalty of citizens
Weak institutions can fail to provide cohesive
support that govt needs
Nationalism can be strong among different
ethnicities which can divide rather than unite; can
lead to separatist movements
Devolution - decentralization of decision-making
to regional govts (ex. Britain has devolved power
to Scottish and Wales parliaments to keep
peace)
Devolutionary forces - ethnic forces
Ethnonationalism - tendency for an ethnic
group to see itself as a distinct nation with
a right to autonomy or independence
Ex. French Canadians in Quebec
Ex. Yugoslavia in 1990s
Ex. Canada - Inuit - creation of Nunavut separate territory in 1999
Devolutionary forces - economic forces
Economic inequalities, especially regional
ones
Italy - North wealthier than south, divided
by “Ancona line”
Catalonia in northern Spain - makes up
17% of population but 40% of all industrial
exports
Devolutionary forces - spatial forces
Most often occur on the margins of a state
Distance, remoteness, and peripheral
location promote devolution
Ex. Puerto Rico
Geopolitics
Study of the spatial and territorial dimensions of
power relationships within the global-territorial
order
Friedrich Ratzel 19th century - theorized a state
compares to biological organism with a life cycle
from birth to death with a predictable rise & fall of
power
Sir Halford Mackinder concerned self with power
relationships surrounding Britain’s global
empire; believed a land-based power would
ultimately rule world
Heartland theory - stated the pivot area of the earth
(Eurasia) holds resources, natural &human, to
dominate globe - USSR
Geopolitics
Rimland theory - Nicholas Spykman 1944
Argued that the Eurasian rim, not its heart,
held key to global power
Rimland = large swath of land encircling the
heartland - China, Korea, Japan, Southeast
Asia, India, Arabian Peninsula, Europe
Supranational Organizations
Concept began with Concert of Europe in
early 1800s
To League of Nations following WWI
To United Nations following WWII
Supranational Organizations - UN
1945 - 49 nations
2009 - 192 nations
Can vote to send peacekeeping missions to
“hotspots” & requires states to contribute military
forces
Security Council - 5 permanent members (US,
Britain, France, China, Russia) - power of veto
Many sub-organizations promote general welfare
and monitor and aid world trade; ex. World Bank,
IMF, UNESCO
Supranational Organizations Regional Organizations
NATO vs. Warsaw Pact
OAS
Arab League
OAU
Supranational Organizations - EU
Promises to redefine the meaning of sovereignty
Countries of Europe are deeply affected by trend
towards integration
Created to revitalize war torn Europe after WWII
Treaty of Maastricht established 3 pillars or
spheres of authority
Trade & economic matters, Euro
Justice & home affairs
Common foreign & security policy
Democratization
One essential requirement is competitive
elections that are regular, free, fair
Are Russia, Nigeria, Indonesia?
Other characteristics:
Civil liberties
Rule of law with equal treatment of citizens
Neutrality of judiciary and other checks
Open civil society allows citizens to lead private lives
& mass media independent from govt
Civilian control of military that restricts likelihood of
military seizing control of govt
“Third Wave” of Democratization
According to Samuel Huntington, 1970s
1st wave - gradually over time
2nd wave - after WWII until early 1990s
3rd wave - defeat or dictatorial or
totalitarian rulers from South America to
Eastern Europe to some parts of Africa
Reasons for Democratization
Loss of legitimacy by both right and left wing
authoritarian regimes
Expansion of urban middle class in developing
countries
New emphasis on “human rights” by US and EU
“snowball effect” - when one country in a region
becomes democratic, it influences the others to
do so (ex. Poland in 1980s)
One of greatest obstacles to democratization is
poverty
Movement Toward Market Economies
Old command economies are fading except in
combination with market economies
What kind of market economy will be most
successful? A mixed economy or a pure market
economy
Marketization - state’s re-creation of market in
which property, labor, goods and services can all
function in a competitive environment to
determine their value
Privatization - transfer of state-owned property to
private ownership
Revival of Ethnic or Cultural Politics
Few political scientists had predicted that
fragmentation would become increasingly
important in world politics
Today politicization of religion - use of religious
principles to promote political ends and vice
versa)
Huntington argues that our most important &
dangerous future conflicts will be based on
clashes of civilizations, not on socioeconomic or
ideological differences (the West, the Orthodox
World (Russia), Islamic countries, Latin America,
Africa, the Hindu world, the Confucian world, the
Buddhist world, Japan)
2010 FRQ - Can you do it?
2. Since 1950 many states have faced challenges in
developing a strong national identity.
A. Using contemporary examples, explain how each of
the following has contributed to the development of
national identity and the strengthening of a state.
1. Economic development
2. Relocation of a state’s capital (since 1950)
B. Using contemporary examples, explain how each of
the following may detract from the development of
national identity and weaken a state.
1. Ethnicity
2. Transportation infrastructure
Agriculture: Primary
Economic Activities
Unit Five
Economic Activities
Primary Sector - agriculture
Secondary Sector -transforms raw materials to
manufactured goods
Draws raw materials from the natural environment
Includes agriculture, raising animals,fishing, forestry, an
mining
Largest in low income, pre-industrial nations
Grows quickly as societies industrialize
Tertiary Sector - involves services rather than goods
Dominates post-industrial societies
Construction, trade, finance, real estate, private services,
govt, transportation
Quaternary Sector - subset of tertiary
Research & development, management & administration,
processing & disseminating info
Post-Industrial Societies
Ex. United Kingdom
1.4% engaged in agriculture
80.4% in services
Ex. United States
.6% in agriculture
76.8% in services
Origin & Spread of Agriculture
Agriculture = deliberate tending of crops &
livestock in order to produce food & fiber
Hunters & Gatherers - migrations
depended on seasonal growth of plants
and movement of game; left little imprint on
the land
Neolithic Revolution - c. 8000 BCE
Neolithic Revolution
Developed in different agricultural hearths over a
large period of time
Results:
Increase in reliable food supplies
Rapid increase in total human population
Job specialization
Widening of gender differences
Development of distinction between settled peoples
and nomads
According to Carl Sauer….
Vegetative planting - earliest form of plant
cultivation - new plants are produced from
direct cloning from existing plants
Seed agriculture came later - production of
plants through annual planting of seeds
Vegetative Planting
Probably originated in diverse topography of
Southeast Asia
Included roots like taro & yams & tree crops like
bananas and palm
Diffused NE to China and Japan and west
through India, SW Asia, tropical Africa, and
Mediterranean
1st domesticated animals probably dogs, pigs,
chickens
Other hearth - South America - manioc, sweet
potatoes, arrowroot
Seed Agriculture
Sauer identified 3 hearths: western India,
northern China, Ethiopia
Diffused to SW Asia where wheat & barley
domesticated, & domesticated cattle, sheep,
goats
Diffused to Europe & N Africa
China hearth - millet
Ethiopia hearth -millet & sorghum
Southern Mexico (Squash & maize) & northern
Peru hearth (beans, cotton, squash)
Innovations Contributing to Seed
Agriculture
Irrigation - channeling of water to fields
Plowing to loosen and turn soil
Fencing to keep animals out of fields
Fertilizing with plant & animal wastes
Weeding
Columbian Exchange helped spread crops
between hemispheres
Second Agricultural Revolution
Preceded Industrial revolution - late 1600s
early 1700s Western Europe
Technology like Jethro Tull’s seed drill,
Bakewell’s animal husbandry,
development of better irrigation, dykes and
dams - led to increased agricultural output
Led to increased population
Enclosure movement pushed small
farmers to cities
Subsistence Agriculture
Most prevalent in LDCs
Produce just enough food to feed family,
little to no surplus
Commercial Agriculture
Production of food surpluses
Most crops destined for sale outside
farmer’s family
Mostly in MDCs
Generally not sold to consumers but to
food-processing companies
Called agribusiness
Comparison
Percentage of farmers in labor force
Use of machinery
SF - high percentage of people (many countries in
Africa have more than 60% of their citizens engaged
in agriculture)
Cf - less than 2% of all workers in US and Canada are
farmers
Sf - work done with hand tools and animal power
Cf - tractors, combines, planters largely replace
manual labor; rely on transportation like railroads and
trucks; use scientific advances like fertilizers,
herbicides
Farm size
Sf - small
Cf - big
Subsistence Farming - Subregions
Intensive Subsistence - large amount of output
per acre but still subsistence; East and South
Asia with wet, or low land rice, labor intensive;
mostly done by hand
Shifting Cultivation - aka “slash and burn” or
swidden agriculture - rain forests; extensive type
of subsistence -requires frequent movements;
large percentage of arable land on planet;
intertillage common = growing various crops;
done by hand
Pastoral Nomadism - follow the herds (sheep,
cows, reindeer, camels, horses) - also extensive
subsistence
Commercial Agriculture: Subregions
Mixed crop & livestock farming - most common
form in west USA & Europe - raise crops &
livestock on same land spread; practice crop
rotation
Dairy farming - in areas outside large urban
areas (milkshed) - New Zealand world’s largest
producer of dairy products; disadvantage = need
to buy all their feed, labor intensive
Grain farming - winter wheat area in Kansas,
Colorado, Oklahoma; spring wheat area Dakotas & Montana, Washington;
“breadbaskets”
Commercial Agriculture: Subregions
Livestock ranching - practiced in arid or
semi-arid regions where crops are
impractical; much of western US; pampas
and llanos
Mediterranean agriculture - also in
California, Chile, South Africa, Australia;
based on horticulture - growing of fruits,
vegetables, flowers
Commercial Agriculture: Subregions
Commercial gardening and fruit farming - aka
truck farming - mostly in SE US - apples,
asparagus, cherries, lettuce, mushrooms,
tomatoes - most sold for canning and freezing
Plantation farming - large farm that specializes in
one or two crops; found in Latin America, Africa,
Asia; called cash crops; colonial legacies
Von Thunen’s Model: Rural Land Use
Four Rings That Surround Market Centers:
Market gardening and dairy
Forest - in 19th century towns surrounded by
belts of forests
Provided food for fuel and construction, bulky and
heavy to transport
Field crops
Perishable products, expensive to deliver
Less perishable crops like wheat; usually crops
rotated from one year to the next
Animal grazing
Requires lots of space
Generally unprofitable to farm beyond this ring transportation costs too high
Von Thunen’s Model: Rural Land Use
Assumed a flat terrain, uniform soils, no
significant barriers to transportation to market
Did acknowledge spatial arrangement could vary
according to topography; rings would be
arranged with hills and rivers in mind
First effort to analyze spatial character of
economic activity
Identified the interplay of transportation costs
and value of products on rural land use - at heart
of location theory
Global Patterns of Rural Land Use
Regional scale -Organic products - more
perishable, affects profit margin
Global scale - farmers far away from markets in
North America and Western Europe less likely to
grow highly perishable products or crops that are
bulky and expensive to transport
Other factors that influence rural land use are:
climate & soil conditions, farming methods,
technology & historical influences (colonialism)
Patterns of Settlement
Intensity of crop cultivation affects density
of housing in rural areas
Dispersed settlement pattern - in extensive
agricultural areas
Nucleated settlement pattern - ex.
Indonesia, villages quite close together
with small surrounding fields; land use is
intense but labor intensive
Most common pattern of agricultural
settlement
Housing Styles and Geography
Flood-prone areas - stilts
Heavy snow - steep-sided roofs
Nomads - light weight transportable materials
Early Midwest settlers - sod houses
Building materials:
Wood - linked to distribution of forests
Brick - major element of modern construction
Stone Wattle - refers to poles and sticks woven tightly
together and then covered with mud; many African
houses with thatched roofs
Villages
Usually describes a small number of people who
live in a cluster of houses in a rural area
How big? Canada says <1000 people; USA
says <2500 people
Types:
Round - houses circle around a central corral for
animals with fields extending outside ring
Walled - ancient days to protect villagers from attack
Grid - straight street patterns in parallel and
perpendicular lines
Linear - follow major roads, lined with houses,
businesses, and public buildings
Cluster - more than one major road that they build
along, & may have clusters around large public
buildings
Influence of Land Ownership &
Survey Techniques
Rules about property inheritance often determine land
distribution
In areas where primogeniture is practiced, all land
passes to eldest son, resulting in land parcels that are
large and tended individually
Rectangular survey system - used by US govt to
encourage settlers to disperse evenly across interior
farmlands; section lines drawn in grids
Metes & bounds - natural features are used to mark
irregular parcels of land (eastern seaboard US)
Long-lot survey system - divides land into narrow
parcels that extend fro rivers, roads, canals (Quebec,
Louisiana, Texas)
Modern Commercial Agriculture
Roots in mercantilism- goal to benefit mother
country by trading goods to accumulate precious
metals & enrich country
Major products included cotton in Egypt, India,
Sudan; tobacco and cotton in American colonies;
sugar from Caribbean and Brazil
Colonial patterns still in effect in many places in
modern world today
Ex. Colombia still produces coffee & Guatemala still
produces bananas
Diffusion of Industrial Agriculture
I.A. = current stage of commercial agriculture
resulting from shift of farm as center of
production to a position as just one step in
multiphase industrial process that begins on
farms and ends on consumer’s table
Characterized by specialization - growing of
specialized crops because they seem to be the
most profitable
Farmers must weigh cost of production machinery, fuel, fertilizer, labor - and deal with
unpredictable weather and/or disease
Agribusiness - contract farming - farmers sign
contracts with buyer-processors
Third Agricultural Revolution
Began mid-20th century with industrial
agriculture
Methods - innovation in agricultural machinery,
genetic technology, creation of new markets for
consumption, and global trade
Biotechnology - use of genetically altered crops
and DNA manipulation in livestock in order to
increase production
IR8 - hybrid rice 1930s
IR36 - hybrid rice 1980s - larger quantities,
shorter growing cycle, more resistant to pests
Green Revolution
1970s - collection of new agricultural
techniques involving 2 important practice:
Use of new higher-yield seeds
“miracle wheat seeds”
Expanded use of fertilizers
Resulted in agricultural production
outpacing population growth by late 20th
century
Praise for Green Revolution
Agricultural production outpaces population
growth - avoiding famines of past
Nitrogen-based fertilizers greatly increased farm
production
Scientists continue to invent new food sources
Higher productivity is primarily responsible for
reducing dependency on imports in Asia
New irrigation processes have greatly increased
crop yields
Agribusiness has increased productivity of cash
crops, yielding profits for farmers and raising
large amounts of basic crops to feed world
Criticism for Green Revolution
Poor countries cannot always afford machinery,
seeds, fertilizers
Cost increases inequities between rich and poor
countries
Fertilizers also lead to groundwater pollution
Many fishing areas are already over-fished
Many people in sub-Saharan Africa are not getting
enough to eat with millions of people facing famine
Irrigation has led to groundwater depletion, negatively
impacting water supplies for urban populations
Agribusiness usually focuses on one type of crop
instead of a diversity for a balanced diet, esp. in poor
countries
Effects on Sub-Saharan Africa
Famine still strong in Sub-Saharan Africa
Lack of resources to buy seed, fertilizer,
machinery
Made worse by rapid population growth
Desertification - land has been overgrazed
by animals, soils have been exhausted
from overplanting; soil erosion
Environmental Impact of Modern
Agriculture
More land has been cleared & land is farmed
more intensely
Erosion - extends areas subject to flooding
Changes in organic content of soil - more
pressure on land to be farmed, more likely soil
loses fertility
Depletion of natural vegetation - such as when
intensive farming or livestock move into semiarid regions
Presence of chemicals in soils & ground water caused a trend toward organic agriculture
Future Food Supplies
Expansion of agricultural land -only 11% of
world’s land area is currently cultivated but most
of remaining land is not arable; urbanization cuts
down on available land space
Increase in land productivity - Green Revolution
has made this viable
Identification of new food sources - ocean?
Taboos?
Improved distribution of food - top three exports
are wheat, corn, rice
1/2 of global corn exports and 1/4 of wheat exports
come from US
Thailand leading exporter of rice
2009 FRQ - Can you do it?
3. Agriculture in the United States has changed
significantly in the past few decades. With
respect to the past, present, and projected trends
in agriculture shown in the diagram above,
answer the following:
A. First identify and then explain TWO factors
contributing to the steady decline in the number
of dairy farms since 1970.
B. First identify and then explain TWO factors
contributing to the increase in the number of
organic farms since 1970.
2008 FRQ - Yikes!
Von Thunen’s model of land use and
Burgess’model of land use are similar in
appearance but different in their geographic
setting. Analyze and discuss the two models in
terms of each of the following:
A. For each of these models, identify the type of
land use the model addresses
B. Identify two assumptions that are shared by
both models
C. For each of these models, explain how
relative location affects land-use patterns.
Industrialization &
Economic
Development
Unit Six
Economic Geography
Study of impact of economic activities on the
landscape
Investigates reasons behind locations of
economic activities
Interested in changes that industrialization has
brought to the cultural and social landscapes ,
especially in different patterns of wealth that it
has created
Divide between rich and poor nations has
become more pronounced
Industrialization
Process by which economic activities on
earth’s surface evolved from producing
basic, primary goods to using factories for
mass-producing goods for consumption
Primary economic activity - directly
extracts products from the earth
Secondary economic activities - industry
that transforms raw materials into usable
products, giving them usefulness
Primary Sector - Agriculture
Draws raw materials from natural
environment
Agriculture, raising animals, fishing,
forestry, mining
Largest in low-income, pre-industrial
nations
First appeared 10,000 years ago
Secondary Sector - Industry
Transforms raw materials into
manufactured goods
Grows quickly as societies industrialize
Includes refining petroleum into gasoline
and turning metals into tools and
automobiles
Tertiary Sector - Services
Involves services rather than goods
Grows with industrialization and comes to
dominate post-industrial societies
Production based on computers and other
electronic devices that create, process, store and
apply information
Society’s occupational structure changes
significantly - construction, trade, finance, real
estate, private services, govt, transportation
Quaternary sector - subset of tertiary - research
& development, management & administration,
processing & disseminating info
Economic Indicators of Development
GDP - value of total output of goods and services
produced in a country in a year
GDP per capita - measure of average person’s
contribution to generating a country’s wealth in a
year
>$20,000 in MDCs
C. $1000 in LDCs
Related to social characteristics including literacy
rates and education levels since economic
development is dependent on a skilled workforce
Economic Indicators of Development
Types of jobs - middle income nations
have a greater mix of jobs from 3 sectors
Worker productivity - MDC workers are
more productive than LDC workers
because of access to technology productivity measured by the value added
by each worker (subtract cost of raw
materials and energy from gross value of
product - higher value added in MDCs)
Economic Indicators of Development
Access to raw materials - Industrial Rev
began in England because of its raw
materials; also motivated imperialism
Availability of consumer goods - do people
have the means to buy nonessential goods
Theories of Economic Development
Modernization Model
Cultural environment of Western Europe
favored change in the late 18th century
British model spread to rest of Europe and
USA
Identifies tradition as greatest barrier to
economic development
Theories of Economic Development
Dependency Theory
Puts primary responsibility for global poverty
on rich nations
Holds that economic development of many
countries in the world is blocked by the fact
that industrialized nations exploit them
Roots of inequality in colonial era
Theory is outgrowth of Marxism
Modernization Theory - Rostow’s Stages
Traditional stage - lives centered around families, local
communities, & religious beliefs; similar to lives of ancestors;
limited wealth; subsistence farmers
Take-off stage - people experiment with producing goods for
profit; something like an industrial revolution;urbanization
increases; technology breakthroughs; greater individualism and
risk taking
Drive to technological maturity - economic growth widely
accepted; attaining higher living standards; economy diversifies
as people can afford luxuries; poverty reduced; population
growth reduced; international trade expands
High mass consumption - living standards raised; mass
production encourages consumption of industrial products; high
incomes; most workers in service sector
Modernization Theory
Claims
MDCs can help LDCs
by encouraging them
to control population
growth, increase food
production, & take
advantage of
industrial technology
Criticisms
It’s a justification fro
capitalist systems to
continue to exploit noncapitalist countries
Fails to recognize that
rich countries often block
development in poor
countries
Dependency Theory: Wallerstein’s
Capitalist World Economy
A global economic system that is based in
high-income nations with market
economies
Traced economic inequality among nations
to colonial era when Europeans first took
advantage of the wealth of world.
Divided countries into 3 types according to
how they fit into global economy
Dependency Theory
1. Core countries - rich nations that fuel world’s
economy by taking raw materials from around
world & channeling wealth to North America,
Europe, Australia, Japan through multinational
corporations that operate worldwide
2. Countries of the periphery - low-income
countries drawn into world economy by colonial
exploitation, continue to support rich ones today
by providing inexpensive labor and large market
for industrial goods
3. Countries of the semiperiphery - remaining
countries of world somewhere in between
According to Wallerstein….
World eco benefits rich societies & harms other
countries by making them dependent on core
countries
Perpetuated by narrow, export-oriented products
such as oil, coffee, fruit
Lack industrial capacity so caught in cycle of
selling inexpensive raw materials & buying
expensive manufactured goods, spending more
than they take in
Result high foreign debt
According to Wallerstein,
dependency theory
Emphasizes that no country develops in
isolation because global eco shapes
destiny of all nations
Is this reality
Growth & Diffusion of Industrialization
England mid 18th century
Textiles first
James Watt - steam engine
New industries transformed England’s
landscape- urbanization spread
Western Europe’s industrial success based also
on ability to access raw materials through
colonies; also had comparatively skilled laborers
USA industrialization 1800s - concentrated in
Northeast
20th Century Industrialization After WWI
Change from coal as energy source to oil
and natural gas
US and Europe increasingly turned to
foreign countries vesting new power in
countries with oil
Ex. Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, China, Russia,
Kuwait, Iran, Mexico, Venezuela
Evolution of Economic Cores &
Peripheries
Locational theory - explains locational
pattern of economic activities by identifying
factors that influence this pattern
Primary industry - develops around
location of natural resources, such as
industrial belt in British Midlands
Secondary industry - as transportation
improves - less dependent on resource
location
Location of secondary industries
depends on several factors:
Variable costs - energy, labor, & transportation
less expensive in some areas, encouraging
industries to develop
Friction of distance - although secondary industry
may transport raw materials to factories, the cost
usually goes up the farther the distance of
transport from source to factory. At some point,
distance is too great for practical transportation
Distance decay - industries are more likely to
serve markets of nearby places than those far
away. As distance increases, business activity
decreases until it becomes impractical to do
business
Weber’s Model for Location of Industries
Alfred Weber developed model for location of
secondary industries
Least cost theory - explained location of industries in
terms of three factors:
Transportation - cost of moving raw materials to factory &
finished products to the market; truck transportation
cheapest over short distances; railroads most cost efficient
over medium distances; ships cheapest long distances
Labor - cheap labor may make up for higher transportation
costs
Agglomeration - when several industries cluster in one city,
they can provide support by sharing talents, services, &
facilities
Deglomeration - exodus of businesses from crowded area
Locational Interdependence Theory
Influence on a firm’s locational decision by
locations chosen by its competitors
2009 FRQ - Can you do it?
A large proportion of urban residents in the
megacities of the periphery of the world system
live in squatter settlements.
A. Describe a typical location of squatter
settlements within urban areas of megacities on
the global periphery.
B. Describe two factors that contribute to the
formation of squatter settlements.
C. Give a detailed account of THREE
consequences of the rapid growth of squatter
settlements. The three consequences you
discuss may be social, economic, political or
environmental
