World Regional Geography
Instructor: Jessica
Douglas
Lecture 1
Introduction
Introduction to World Geography
 Census
 Syllabus
 Ch. Introduction Lecture
 Intro Activity
 Video
 Student Questions
A World on Maps
IN THIS CHAPTER
• The power of maps
• The spatial order of
the world
• Global climate change
• Dangerous places
• Globalization and its
discontents
• The power of place
World Geography
A World on Maps
INTRODUCTION
A World on Maps
Maps in Our Minds
•Mental Maps
‒ Maps in our minds of our
activity spaces
The Map Revolution
•Cartography—the making of
maps
‒ Remote Sensing—scanners
and cameras on satellites
send information to
computers on Earth
‒ Geographic Information
System (GIS)—programs
allow presentation and
analysis of spatial data
Geography’s Perspective
Spatial Perspective—spatial
patterns are crucial to how we
live and how we organize our
societies
•Space on the Earth’s surface
•Organization of that space
Geography’s Perspective
Environment and Society
Relationships between human
societies and the natural
(physical) environment
• Humans transforming natural
surroundings
• Humans dependent on the
natural environment, behavior
a product of that dependence
The intersection of social and
natural sciences and
integrated perspectives from
both
Spatial Patterns
Knowledge of location and
distribution of significant
features of Earth’s surface
•Human and natural worlds
•Temporal (historical)
perspective
Scale and Scope
Scale and Scope
• Scale—relationship
between distance on a map
and distance on the ground
expressed as a ratio
• Small-scale map—ratio
between map distance and
real-world distance is very
small
• Operational scale—scale at
which social or natural
processes operate
Realms
WORLD GEOGRAPHIC
REALMS
Geographic Realms—global
neighborhoods possessing
particular combinations of
environmental, cultural, and
organizational properties
• Criteria
‒ Physical and human
‒ Functional—interaction of
human societies and natural
environments
‒ Historical—interaction over
time
Realms
WORLD GEOGRAPHIC
REALMS
Boundaries and Transition Zones
• Natural boundaries—oceans
and seas
• Transition zones—where two
geographic realms meet, no
sharp boundaries
Realms
WORLD GEOGRAPHIC
REALMS
Two Varieties of Realms
• Monocentric—dominated
by a single major political
entity, in terms of territory
and/or population
‒ Example: United States,
Mexico, China, India, Russia,
Australia
• Polycentric—appearance,
functioning, and
organization of the realm
are dispersed among a
number of more or less
equally influential regions
or countries
‒ Example: Europe, North
Africa/Southwest Asia, SubSaharan Africa, Pacific
Realm
Regions
REGIONS WITHIN REALMS
Regional concept—refined
level of spatial classification
requiring more specific
criteria
•Region—device that allows
making spatial
generalizations, based on
selected criteria to construct
them
Criteria for Regions
• Area—space occupied on
Earth’s surface
• Boundaries—nature’s sharp
divisions or divisions
determined by using
specific criteria
• Location—region’s name
may give a clue
‒ Absolute location—
latitudinal and longitudinal
coordinates
‒ Relative location—location
with reference to other
regions
Regions
Criteria for Regions
• Homogeneity—sameness
‒ Formal regions—display
measurable and often
visible internal homogeneity
• Regions as systems—
functional integration (the
way they work)
‒ Spatial systems—formed by
the areal extent of the
activities that define them
• Core—heart, center of
activity
• Hinterland—surrounding
zone of intersection
• Functional region—forged
by a structured, urbancentered system of
interaction with a core and
a periphery
Interconnections
• All human regions are
interconnected
• Globalization—Paradoxical
effect
‒ Regions and places become
more alike, more
homogeneous
‒ Contrasts can become
stronger
Physical Landscapes
THE PHYSICAL SETTING
Natural (Physical) Landscapes
• Natural landscapes—
mountain chains to coastal
plains
‒ Influence human activity
and movement
Geology and Natural Hazards
THE PHYSICAL SETTING
Geology and Natural Hazards
•Continental drift
‒ Pangaea—supercontinent
that broke up and continues
to drift apart
•Tectonic plates—lighter rock
continents rest on slabs of
heavier rock plates that move
by magma circulation cells
within the Earth
‒ Collision of tectonic plates
causes earthquakes and
volcanic eruptions
Geology and Natural Hazards
THE PHYSICAL SETTING
Geology and Natural Hazards
Pacific Ring of Fire
• Zone of active volcanoes
and earthquake epicenters
that completely encircle
the Pacific Ocean
Compare Tectonics with Natural Hazards
Climate
THE PHYSICAL SETTING
CLIMATE
Ice age—periods when
average temperatures were
low, allowing glacial ice to
expand toward the equator
Cyclical periods
•Glaciations—cold phases with
glaciers expanding
•Interglacials—warm phases with
ice receding
Climate Change
THE PHYSICAL SETTING
• Global Climate Change
‒ Natural and anthropogenic
(human-source) causes or
warming or cooling
• Greenhouse effect
‒ Sun’s radiation becomes
trapped in the Earth’s
atmosphere, leading to
climate changes
• Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC)
‒ Predicts a global
temperature increase of
several degrees with
significant regional
variability
Natural vs. Anthropogenic Climate Change:
 How has Earth’s climate changed over time?
 What causes climate to change?
 Which form is most relevant to the world now?
 What can people do to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and slow global warming?
Climate Classifications
Climatic Regions
• Weather—immediate state
of the atmosphere in a
certain place at a given
time
• Climate—aggregate, total
record of weather
conditions at a place or a
region over an entire
period during which
records have been kept
 Classifications:
Köppen’s Climatic Regions
• A climates—equatorial and tropical
• B climates—dry
• C climates—temperate
• D climates—cold
• E climates—frigid, polar
• H climates—highlands
Climate Regions
Climatic Regions
•A—Humid Equatorial Climate
‒ High precipitation and
temperatures
•Three A Climates
‒ Af—tropical rainforest
‒ Aw—tropical savanna
‒ Am—tropical monsoon
Climatic Regions
• C—Humid Temperate
Climate
‒ Mid-latitudes with no
temperature extremes
• Three C Climates
‒ Cf—no dry season
Climatic Regions
• B—Dry Climate
‒ Low precipitation with
varying temperature
averages
• Two B Climates
‒ BS—semiarid
‒ BW—arid
‒ Cw—dry season in winter
‒ Cs—dry season in summer
Climate Regions
Climatic Regions
• D—Humid Cold Climate
‒ Continental with
temperature extremes
• Two D Climates
‒ Df—no dry season
‒ Dw—dry season in winter
Climatic Regions
• E—Cold Polar Climate
‒ High latitude, large
temperature ranges
• Two E climates
‒ ET—tundra
‒ EF—ice
• H—Highland Climate
‒ High altitude, large
temperature ranges
Population Realms
REALMS OF POPULATION
• World population—7.1
billion
• Occupies less than 30% of
Earth’s surface
Major Population Clusters
•Population distribution—
every dot represents 100,000
people
•Population density—number
of persons per unit area
•Urbanization—percentage of
the total population living in
cities and towns
Major Population Clusters
• South Asia—became world’s largest cluster in 2010
‒ Centered on India, Pakistan and Bangladesh
• East Asia
‒ Centered on China
• Europe
‒ Europe including western Russia
• Three clusters account for almost 4 billion people
Cultural Realms
REALMS OF CULTURE
Cultural landscape—
distinctive attributes of a
society imprinted on its
portion of the world’s physical
stage
The Geography of Language
•Language—essence of culture
Language families
• 15 language families—shared but distant origins
- Indo-European—most widely distributed language family
- ex. English, French, Spanish, Russian, Persian, Hindi
• Lingua franca—common second language used in government, commerce,
and higher education
• English primacy a result of colonization and globalization
Religions
Landscapes of Religion
•Crucial influence on world
civilizations and history
•Strong connection between
realms and religion
World Countries
A WORLD OF STATES
• 200 countries (states) in the
world
• States—countries
• Sovereignty—government
of a state rules supreme
within its borders
• European state model—
assumed that state and
nation were ideally
conterminous
‒ Nation-state would enclose
an ethnically and culturally
homogeneous people
within a national boundary
World Countries
A WORLD OF STATES
• Ideal state—defined as a
clearly and legally defined
territory inhabited by a
citizenry governed from a
capital city by a
representative government
• Modern state—challenged
‒ “From below” by ethnic
minorities and regional
secessionist movements
‒ “From above” through
increasingly powerful
international organizations
Countries, Realms, Regions
A WORLD OF STATES
States, Realms, and Regions
•Realms—assemblage of
states
•Realm boundaries
‒ Coincide with boundaries
between states
‒ Can cut across a state
•Consist of groups of states
whose boundaries mark the
limits of the realm
Politics
A WORLD OF STATES
Political Geography
•Shapes world-scale
geographic regions
•Global boundary
framework continues to
change
Economies and Development
GEOGRAPHIES OF DEVELOPMENT
Economic Geography—
focuses on spatial aspects of
ways people make their living
and the patterns of
production, distribution, and
consumption of goods and
services
Development—gauges a
state’s economic, social, and
institutional growth
Development
GEOGRAPHIES OF DEVELOPMENT
Core-Periphery World
• Core areas—places of
dominance whose
inhabitants exerted their
power over their
surroundings near and far
• Periphery—sustained the
core
• Spatial networks—nodes of
variable centrality and
importance
Globalization
GLOBALIZATION
• Globalization—
geographical process in
which spatial relations
(economic, cultural,
political) shift to ever
broader scales
• World is getting ever more
interconnected
Globalization
Global Challenges, Shared
Interests
• Global warming—threat to
world
• Conference on Climate
Change (2011)
‒ Governments from around
the world committed
themselves to preparing a
comprehensive global
agreement to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions
‒ Developed (including United
States) and developing
countries included
‒ Target date for completing
all agreements is 2015
‒ Actual reductions
commence in 2020
• Global migration—flows
create global cultural
interaction
• Transnational migrants
Globalization +/Winners and Losers
•Win
‒ International capitalism,
open markets, free trade
‒ Globalization breaks down
barriers to foreign trade,
stimulates commerce,
brings jobs to remote
places, and promotes social,
cultural, political, and other
kinds of exchanges
•Lose
‒ Uneven development,
inequality
Globalization and Income
• Gross National Income—
GNI
‒ Total income earned from
all goods and services
produced by the citizens of
a country within or outside
its borders during a calendar
year
• Emerging markets
• World Trade Organization
(WTO)
‒ Countries must agree to
open their economies to
foreign trade and
investment
‒ 154 member-states
Global Framework and Perspective
REGIONAL FRAMEWORK AND
GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVE
• Geography is both a social
and physical science
• Types of study:
‒ Regional geography—
borrows information from
many sources to create an
overall image of the world
‒ Systematic geography—
topical study with a spatial
perspective
Homework/Activity
1. Read Textbook Introduction Chapter
2. Intro Activity in class
(Orientation using campus map, Latitude/Longitude assignment)
3. Sign-in sheets will be provided for all future
activities; attendance is required for activity credit.
4. Website: http://geographyventuracounty.info/
5. Homework: Choose one “@from the Field
Notes” subsection topic in Ch.0 textbook;
summarize (1 page) and search the ‘www.’
link to learn more.