Geography
What is geography all about?
Geography studies Earth
and how humans live here
• Where is it located?
• What is it like there?
• How do people live and work there?
• Why is it so?
Before we begin looking at how humans
interact with their physical environment, we
need to be able to locate places on the
Earth’s surface…..
Let’s start with the basics!
The Compass Rose
These are called the
Cardinal Points.
NEVER
NW
WHEAT
NE
W
E
SE
SW
S
SHREDDED
EAT
The sun rises in the….
EAST
And sets in the…
WEST
Continents and Oceans
Also called the Americas
Also called Eurasia
Also called Oceania
World Map
How many
countries can you
name?
Major Cities
Rio de Janeiro
Sydney
Cairo
Beijing
Los Angeles
Montreal
Kabul
Paris
Bombay
Mexico City
London
Ottawa
Moscow
Jakarta
Tokyo
Shanghai
New York
Calcutta
Rome
Baghdad
The Titanic
in 1912….
Where exactly
is sunk
the Titanic?
41° N, 49° W
The wreckage wasn’t discovered until 1985…..it took over 70
years to locate the ship at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean….
49°W
What do those numbers mean?
41°N, 49°W
41°N
North
South
The Atlantic Ocean is VERY big place to locate a wreckage…….
West
East
41°N, 49°W
These are the coordinates of the Titanic Wreckage
Latitude
The Equator is an imaginary line that divides the Earth
into two halves, the Northern Hemisphere and the
Southern Hemisphere.
Parallel to the Equator are a series of lines that draw
circles around the Earth. These are called Parallels and
they measure Latitude.
North
South
They allow us to locate places NORTH and SOUTH of the Equator.
North Pole
The Equator is 0° latitude.
There are 90° North of the
Equator and 90° South of the
Equator.
90°N is the North Pole.
90°S is the South Pole.
South Pole
Look carefully and give
the degree of latitude for
letters A to J.
Axis
Longitude
Meridians are imaginary lines that run from the North Pole
to the South Pole. They measure Longitude.
The Prime Meridian or Greenwich Meridian divides the Earth
into two halves, the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
Prime Meridian
WEST
EAST
Meridians help us locate places East and West of the Prime Meridian.
They are in the shape of semi-circles.
0° longitude is the Prime Meridian
or Greenwich.
There are 180° East and
180° West of the Prime
Meridian.
Look carefully and
give the degree
of longitude for
letters A to J.
Pinpointing a Location
In order to pinpoint a location on Earth, we give its
coordinates in degrees latitude and degrees longitude.
Ex: 41°N, 49°W (wreckage of the Titanic)
We always give the latitude (N or S)
first, then the longitude (E or W).
Look carefully and give the coordinates of letter A to G.
Remember, give the N and S coordinate first, then E and W.
E
North
A
G
B
F
D
C
South
West
East