Chapter 5-6 Review
Language and Religion
Introduction
1. 7,299 languages in the world today
2. Only 10 are spoken by at least 100 million people
3. Language is the means through which cultural
values (religion, ethnicity) are spread
4. Geographers look at similarities to understand
diffusion around the world
5. Is ENGLISH the language of power?
Globalization?
6. People are trying to preserve local diversity and
identity through language
English Speaking Countries
Origin of English
1. Celts invaded by Anglos & Saxons who were German
tribes.
2. Combined with Normans (French) and Vikings to produce
English.
a. French was the official language for 300 years (10661362)
Dialects
1. Dialect – variation of a language, distinguished by
vocabulary, spelling and pronunciation.
2. Geographers study dialect to show distinctive differences in
the environment in which groups live
3. A language with many dialects, one may be the standard
language
4. BRP=British Received Pronunciation—preferred dialect –
London, Oxford & Cambridge.
Key Issue 2: Why Is English Related to Other
Languages?
Indo-European Branches
1. Language family (trunk) is a collection of languages related through
ancestral language that existed before recorded history
2. Language branch is within the family a collection of languages
related through common ancestral language
3. Indo-European is divided into eight branches:
a. Indo-Iranian – South Asia
b. Romance – southwestern Europe and Latin America
c. Germanic – northwestern Europe and North America (English)
d. Balto-Slavic – Eastern Europe
4. Albanian, Armenian, Greek, and Celtic are used less often
5. Language group is a collection of languages within a branch,
common origins, recent past
Diffusion
1. Language diffuses primarily through conquest and
warfare
2. Native languages triumph due to farming over
hunting
3. After generations of isolation, distinct languages
emerge
Key Issue 3: Where Are Other Language Families
Distributed?
Classification of Languages
1. Indo-European Family such as English – spoken by 48%
2. Sino-Tibetan Family such as Mandarin – 26%
3. Afro-Asiatic such as Arabic – 6%
4. Language families form the trunks of the trees
a. Branches are languages related through common ancestral
language
b. Individual languages are the leaves
5. The larger the trunk and leaves, the more speakers there are
6. Superfamilies are shown as the roots – existence speculative
Key Issue 4: Why Do People Preserve Local Languages?
Preserving Language Diversity
1. Distribution of a language is a measure of the fate of an ethnic
group
2. 516 languages nearly extinct
a. 46 in Africa, 170 in the Americas, 78 in Asia, 12 in Europe
210 in the Pacific
b. 1500s Peru – 500 languages now only 92
3. Only 300 languages safe from extinction
4. Hebrew disappears by 400 BC
a. 1948 – Hebrew becomes official language of the new Israel
b. Used to unify the new country
c. Had to be revived with 4,000 new words
Global Dominance of English
1. Lingua franca – language of international
communication
2. Pidgin language – simplified lingua franca to
communicate with another language
3. More than 90% of students in EU learn English
4. 500 million people speak English as a second
language
5. Most effective way to participate in global
economy is participate in global culture
6. English is expansion diffusion – spreads in a
snowball effect
Introduction – Religion
1. Geographers watch how one religion diffuses across
space and may conflict with others
2. Geographers also observe how religion derives from
the environment and modify it
3. Spatial connections: place of origin, diffusion,
process of diffusion, why more widespread
4. Universalizing Religion – attempt to be global,
appeal to all people wherever they live
5. Ethnic Religion – appeals to one group living in one
place – 24% of the population
Universalizing & Ethnic Religions
Ethnic Religions
1. 860 million adherents of Hindu – world’s third
largest religion
2. 97% clustered in one country, India – thus, an
ethnic religion
3. Hindus believe it is up to the individual to
worship God
4. Path varies – devotion, action, knowledge,
renunciation
5. You alone are responsible for your actions…
and consequences
Key Issue 2: Why Do Religions Have Different Distributions?
Origin of Christianity
1. Jesus was born in Bethlehem between 8 BC and 4 BC
2. He died on a cross about 30 AD in Jerusalem
A. Preached the coming of the Kingdom of God
3. Christian Bible documented miracles/deeds performed by Jesus
4. Resurrection provides hope for salvation
5. Roman Catholics believe God conveys his belief through seven sacraments:
a. Baptism, Confirmation, Penance, Anointing the sick, Matrimony, Holy
Orders, Eucharist
6. Eastern Orthodox accepted seven sacraments but rejected other doctrines
added after 700 AD
7. Protestants split in 1500s when Martin Luther posted 95 theses
a. Individuals have responsibility for salvation trough communication
with God
b. Grace is achieved through faith rather than sacraments
Distribution of Christians
Diffusion of Christianity
1. Christianity diffuses through relocation, expansion (snowballing),
hierarchical, and contagious
2. Spreads from its hearth in Palestine with missionaries – relocation
3. Would spread with contagious diffusion in the Roman Empire
4. Dominance in Rome with hierarchical when emperor accepts it
5. Expands to North and South America, Australia, New Zealand
Diffusion of Islam
1. Muslims conquer Palestine, Persian Empire, and
India and convert
2. Later, Muslims capture North Africa and
Western Europe
3. Spreads to Indonesia because of Arab traders in
13th Century
Key Issue 3: Why Do Religions Organize Space in
Distinctive Patterns?
Places of Worship
1. Christian church more important than buildings in
other religions
2. Usually the largest and tallest building placed in a
prominent location
3. Muslim masques are places for community gathering
4. Hindus – important religious functions are performed
in the home – temples are shrines
5. Buddhist – pagodas contain relics of Buddha but not
for worship
Key Issue 4: Why Do Territorial Conflicts Arise
Among Religious Groups?
Religion vs. Government
1. North America and Western Europe believe
economic development and religion are
compatible
2. Less developed countries view it differently –
Muslims, Hindus, etc.
Taliban
1. US backs their govt. in Afghanistan to prevent another Russian
invasion
2. Taliban creates Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the
Prevention of Vice
a. Men beaten for shaving their beards
b. Stoned for committing adultery
c. Homosexuals were buried alive
d. Prostitutes were hanged in front of audiences
e. Thieves had their hands cut off
f. Women had their fingers cut off for wearing nail polish
g. Banned western activities like TV, music, even flying kites
Jews vs. Muslims
1. British announces they’re leaving Palestine; UN sets up two
independent countries
a. One Jewish, one Muslim; Jerusalem would international open to all
2. 1948 – UK withdrawals, Jews declare all territory the state of Israel
a. Next day, neighboring Arab states invade
b. Old City Jerusalem becomes part of Jordan; new city belongs to
Israel
3. 1967 Six-Day War – Israel gains West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights,
Sinai Pen., Jerusalem
a. Israel returns Sinai and Egyptian President assassinated for
“recognizing” Israel
4. Fatah Party will recognize Israel if they return all land obtained in 1967
5. Hamas Party does not recognize Israel; will fight for ALL the land
6. Jerusalem – as long as one religion controls city, there will not be peace
Chapter 7-9 Review
Ethnicity, Political Geography, and
Development
Key Issue 1: Where Are Ethnicities Distributed?
United States
1. Hispanics (Latinos) = 14%; African
Americans = 12%
2. African Americans are located in the
Southeast
a. 1/3 of MS is African American
b. Nine states have fewer than 1% African
Americans (Plains, N.E.)
3. Hispanics in the Southwest
a. 64% of Hispanics come from Mexico;
10% from Puerto Rico
b. 1/3 of TX, ¼ of CA are Hispanic
c. California is home to 30% of ALL
Hispanics
4. Asian Americans are located in the West and
Native Americans in the SW and Plains
a. Chinese account for 23% of all Asian
Americans
b. 40% of Hawaii is Asian American
c. 50% of ALL Asian Americans live in
California
Immigration to the North
1. Farm machinery and decline in
land devoted to cotton reduced
demand for labor
2. Pushed off farmers and pulled at
the prospects of jobs in the North
3. Two Waves – before and after WW
I and before and after WW II
a. Only 1% of Detroit in 1910;
500,000 by 1960
Expansion of the Ghetto
1. 500K African Americans lived in
3-square mile area of South Side
Chicago
2. Ghettos average 100,000 people
per square mile
a. American suburbs average
5,000 per square mile
Difference Between Ethnicity & Race
1. Asian as a race & Asian American as ethnicity are the same group
2. African American- Black is different & can be from other places, like
L.A.
a. Some American blacks trace their heritage to someplace other than
Africa
3. Hispanic or Latino is not a race
4. Traits that are race can be transmitted genetically
5. Racism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human
traits and capacities and racial differences produce an inherent
superiority of a particular race
6. Ethnicity derives from distinctive features of a particular place on
Earth
7. Geographers don’t like to classify humans by race because they are not
rooted to a place
8. Race does matter because it determines where people live attend
school, recreate, etc.
White Flight
1. Brown v Board of Education of Topeka (1954) –
separate schools was unconstitutional
a. Racial separation branded minority children as
inferior – inherently unequal
2. Rather than integrate, whites left the cities
a. White flight – whites leaving in anticipation of
blacks immigrating in
b. Detroit’s white population dropped by 1 million in 25
years
3. 1950 Detroit – 1.7 million white, 300,000 black
4. 2000 Detroit – 200,000 white, 800,000 black
5. Kerner Commission – US cities were divided into two
unequal societies
Nationalities
1. Identity with a group of people who share
legal attachments and personal allegiance to a
particular country.
2. Similar to ethnicity – shared cultural values.
Different from race
3. Most U.S. immigrants identify themselves by
ethnicity rather than nationality.
4. Does Quebec have a different ethnicity or
nationality from Canada?
Nation-States
1. Self determination- ethnicities govern themselves
2. Nation-State – Correspond to geographical area of a ethnicity.
a. WW II – Germany wanted to unite all German speaking people.
b. Denmark – almost all Dutch speakers but what about Greenland?
Faeroe Islands?
c. Many borders redrawn after WW I based on ethnicity
Nationalism
1. Loyalty to state, one nation above all others –
a. Emphasize shared values
2. Mass media – independent news is a risk to nationalism – what about
US?
a. Nearly every country regulates communications – mail, phone,
TV, etc.
3. Protest – should burning the flag be illegal?
Multinational States
1. Multiethnic States – more than 1 ethnicity.
2. Multinational States – 2 distinct ethnicities coexisting peacefully
a. Usually one nationality tries to dominate the other
b. U.K. is multinational Wales, Scotland, England, N. Ireland. – very
different historically
3. Former USSR – 15 republics now 15 independent states; 20% non-Russian
4. Russia is now largest multinational state. 39 nationalities- some want
independence
a. Chechnya (near Georgia) Sunni Muslims, has petroleum
b. Armenia – the most ethnically homogenous country in the region.
c. Many Moldovans want to merge with Romania
d. Kazakhstan – 53% Muslim, 30% Christian but still peaceful – why?
e.Tajikistan – Muslims aligned with Christians fighting Tajik communists
f. Azeris and Armenians are in border conflicts – Armenia divides
Azerbaijan
5. Georgia Ossetians vs. Abkhazians – Ossetians want to be united with Russia
a. Russia invades to help South Ossetia and Abkhazia separate in August
2008
b. Troops remain as “guests” of the new countries
Introduction – Political Geography
1. We take for granted the division of our planets
surface into a collection of spaces
2. Power is gained through connections among states for
economic reasons
3. There were only about 50 countries in the 1940s; 192
today
4. State – An area organized into a political unit and
ruled by an established government.
5. Sovereignty – Independence from the control of its
internal affairs by other states
6. Country – Synonym for state
Problems of Defining States
1. Korea – one state or two?
a. Divided at 38 north after WW II
b. Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (north) invades the south in 1950
c. Korean War lasts 3 years – border is the same as the beginning of the war
d. Both Koreas want to reunite, agreed to family visits in 2000
e. North Korea’s commitment to nuclear weapons?
2. China & Taiwan: one state or two?
a. According to China, Taiwan is not a sovereign state
b. Taiwan disputed this in 1999
c. US recognized the Nationalist Party living in Taiwan as the real govt. until
1971
d. Taiwan is the most populous state not in the UN
3. Western Sahara or Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
a. Considered by most Africans as a sovereign state
b. Morocco claims it and built a wall around it
Key Issue 2: Why Do Boundaries Cause
Problems?
Five Basic Shapes of States
1. Compact – shorter distance from the
center to borders
a. Ideally shaped like a circle with
the capital at the center
b. Shorter boundaries to defend
c. Better communications
d. Does not mean peacefulness
e. Examples – Kenya, Rwanda
2. Prorupted – Compact state with large
projecting region
a. Provide a resource to a country –
Congo or Namibia
b. Separate two states from sharing a
boundary – Afghanistan
Five Basic Shapes of States
3. Elongated – long narrow shape
a. Creates isolation, poor communications
b. Chile is 2,500 north to south and 90 miles
east to west
c. Gambia – 300 miles E-W, 15 miles N-S
and surrounded by Senegal
4. Fragmented – several pieces of discontinuous
areas
a. All states that have islands are fragmented
b. Indonesia has 13,677 islands across 3,000
miles
c. Russia’s Kaliningrad is 250 miles away
near Lithuania
d. Tin Bigha, India – corridor from India only
measures 600 feet by 300 feet
1. Divided by Britain according to religion
e. Panama used to be fragmented until the
canal was returned
5. Perforated – a state that completely
surrounds another state
a. South Africa surrounds Lesotho
Electoral Geography
1. 435 US legislative boundaries
redrawn every 10 years for equal
population
2. Gerrymandering – redrawing
boundaries to benefit party in
power
a. Wasted Vote – spreads
opposition across many districts
b. Excess Votes – concentrates
opposition party into a few
districts
c. Stacked Votes – oddly shaped
boundaries
3. Recent gerrymandering has been
Stacked – just gain a simple
majority
4. Gerrymandering was ruled illegal
in 1985 by the US Supreme Court
Utah House Districts 53 & 25
Economic Cooperation
1. The world has moved to a pattern of multiple superpowers
a. Economic power instead of military
b. Leading power is a union of states – European Union
2. 2004 – eight former communist states join EU
3. Goal – promote development through economic cooperation
4. Free trade – goods, services, capital, people move freely between
members
5. Common currency – eliminated different prices, interest rates
Supranationalism
1. Political, economic, and/or cultural cooperation among states to promote
shared objectives
2. States tend to give up political power to a higher authority to pursue
common objectives
a. Political, economic, military, or environmental goals
b. Ex. EU, NAFTA, UN NATO, Warsaw Pact, OPEC
Devolution
1. Granting of powers from central government to government at regional or
local level
2. Regions within a state demand and gain political strength at the expense of
the central government – breakup of a state - balkanization
3. Growing autonomy within a state
a. Ex. Yugoslavia, USSR, Czechoslovakia, British India
b. UK, Canada, Spain, India/Pakistan
Key Issue 1: Why Does Development Vary Among Countries?
Economic Indicators of Development
1. Human Development Index (HDI) – measure of economic, social, and
demographic levels
a. Economic Factor = PCI (Gross Domestic Product Per Capita)
b. Social Factors = Literacy Rate
c. Amount of Education (primary, secondary and tertiary years total, %)
d. Demographic Factor = Life Expectancy
2. GDP per capita – value of the total output of goods and services
produced in a year divided by the number of people
a. $15/hour in MDCs vs. $2/hour in LDCs
b. 18 countries with per capita GDP lower than $1000; 15 in Africa
c. Some progress in LDCs: $800 in 1990 to $4400 in 2005; 450%
increase
3. Misleading? US per capita GDP = $40,000 but 1/8 live in poverty
Human Development Index (HDI)
Types of Jobs
1. Primary – extract materials from the Earth –
agriculture, mining, fishing, etc.
2. Secondary – manufacturing, assemble raw materials
into consumer goods
3. Tertiary – selling consumer goods – retail, banking,
law, education, government
4. LDCs – 60+% in agriculture; 5% in MDCs
a. Low primary sector means low number of farmers
can produce enough food
5. MDCs – primary and secondary jobs have decreased,
tertiary has increased
a. Continues to increase for demand of goods and
services
Consumer Goods
1. Wealth in MDCs purchases goods and services –
transportation, communication
a. Automobile provide access to jobs and services
b. Automobile distribute products
c. Telephones enhance interaction with suppliers
and customers
d. Computers facilitate sharing info with suppliers
and customers
2. Greater exposure means MDCs have more
cultural diversity than LDCs
3. Ironically, cell phone ownership is higher in
LDCs
Social Indicators of Development
1. MDCs use their wealth to build schools, hospitals, welfare
services, etc.
a. MDCs are better educated, healthier, and better protected
b. As such, the population can be more economically productive
2. The higher the development the better the education
a. Measured in student/teacher ratio and literacy rate
b. MDCs = 10 years of school vs. 2 in LDCs
c. Student/teacher ratio is double in LDCs
3. Health care expenditures – 8% of GDP in MDCs vs. 6% in LDCs
a. More money means more hospitals, doctors, and nurses
b. Many countries provide health care at no cost
c. US actually resembles LDCs in individual costs
4. MDCs also provide help to elderly, sick, poor, disabled, orphaned,
veterans, widows, single parents, or unemployed
5. MDCs may need to increase taxes to keep, though
Demographic Indicators of Development
1. Life Expectancy – avg. number of years are infant can
expect to live at current mortality rates
a. MDCs mid 70’s; LDCs early 40’s
2. Infant Mortality – MDCs >1%; LDCs 6%
3. Natural Increase Rate (NIR) – LDCs = 1.5%; MDCs =
1/10 of 1%
a. Means they building new schools, etc. instead of
building better for existing pop.
4. Crude Birth Rate (CBR) - LDCs = 24 per 1,000; MDCs
11 per l,000
5. CDR does not indicate society’s level of development
a. Diffusion of medical technology
b. MDCs hive older populations
Key Issue 2: Where Are More and Less
Developed Countries Distributed?
Anglo-America (HDI 0.94)
Western Europe (HDI 0.93)
Japan (HDI 0.94)
Eastern Europe (HDI 0.80)
Latin America (HDI 0.80)
East Asia (HDI 0.76)
Middle East (HDI 0.68)
Southeast Asia (HDI 0.58)
Key Issue 3: Where Does Level of Development Vary by Gender?
Gender-Related
Development Index
1. The U.N hasn’t found a
single country where
women are treated as well
as men
2. Gender-Related
Development (GDI) –
same formula as HDI
adjusted for gender
3. GDI penalizes a country
for large disparities
between men and women
a. Norway is the highest
at 0.96
Key Issue 4: Why Do Less Developed Countries Face Obstacles
to Development?
1. Looking much better for LDCs:
a. IMR down from 85 to 60
b. NIR down from 2.1 to 1.5
c. PCI up from $500 to $4,500
2. 1/5 of people living in MDCs consume 5/6 of world’s goods
a. 14% of people live in Africa but consume 1%
3. Americans spend more on cosmetics than the cost of providing
2 billion kids schools
4. Europeans spend more on ice cream than the cost to provide 2
billion toilets
5. Two problems for LDCs – funding and policy to promote
development