THE STUDY OF HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
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Students should be able to: distinguish population size from
population density, identify causes of rapid population growth,
and list some traits that define culture.
The Web of Culture--The whole
world as 100 people

If we could shrink the earth’s population to a village
of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human
ratios remaining the same it would look like this:

Asians

Europeans

North American

Latin American

Africans

females

Christian

Non-white

malnourished
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Results—The Wheel of Culture

Asians--60

Europeans—10.4

North American--5

Latin American—8.6

Africans—15.5

females—49.8

Christian—31

Non white-70

malnourished--13
Stats taken from: http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
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86-99
The Wheel of Culture
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What does the word culture mean to you?
How is it connected to Geography?

Culture consists of all the skills, behaviors, values, and
customs particular to a certain group of people. Culture is
learned behavior – or simply: a way of life.


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It is reflected in both objects and ideas (material and
nonmaterial items)
Human Geographers study people. They might look at
populations, rates of birth, marriage, death, beliefs, and actions
that define a way of life.
Geographers might also look at population density – or
how many people live in a given area. They might even
consider why people live where they do.
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Human Geography

This aspect of geography includes the study of
topics like:
Languages
 Religions
 Economic Systems
 Political System
 Food
 Clothing
 Architecture
 Arts/Crafts
 Technology
 Patterns of Behavior

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The Nature of Culture


Culture is reflected
in both objects and
ideas – meaning it
can be found in the
tangible and
intangible or material
and nonmaterial.
What are some
aspects you can list?
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Culture and Human
Environmental Interaction

Humans adapt to the
environment, but also change
the environment, and use the
environment.
 Just
a Few Examples:
 Deforestation
 Introduction
of new grasses
 Plowing
soil
 Damming rivers
 Burning fossil fuels.
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Culture and Cultural Landscapes

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

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As human beings use natural
resources or alter the surface of
the earth, they produce unique
cultural landscapes that reflect
specific cultures.
A cultural hearth is the
beginning point for ideas.
Examples?
Cultures are changed by internal
and external forces/influences.
Sometimes these are referred to
as push/pull factors. Think
about the migration of people.
The movement of cultural
components is called diffusion
(examples).
The modifying of cultural
components is acculturation-McDonald's Menu
What cultural characteristics do you see?
Use the topics
you just
considered…
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What cultural characteristics do you see?
Use the topics
you just
considered…
Pages: 86-99
What cultural characteristics do you see?
Use the topics
you just
considered…
Pages: 86-99
What cultural characteristics do you see?
Use the topics you just considered…
Pages: 86-99
What cultural characteristics do you see?
Use the topics
you just
considered…
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Where People Live:


The world contains over 6.7 billion people.
(You won’t even live 1 billion seconds until you
are 31 years old!)
Some places have lots of people, while others
are empty. What factors lead people to live where
they do?
71% of the earth is water, the remaining land has
limited amounts of land that will support people.
 As a result, people live where: soil is arable, water
is plentiful enough, climate is mild enough for
crops.

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Due to unequal distribution of
resources…

The world is populated in an unequal
distribution. What is the geographic
measurement of people in a given area?
Population Density. How is it calculated?
 Total population of an area / total land area
 Problems with this calculation?
 Perhaps figure tot. pop / arable land
 Other suggestions?

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Population is growing, but where?

Look at the graphs
in your textbook on
page 90-91.
 When
did the
population boom
begin?
 Where is it
happening?
 Significance?
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What will the effects of
population growth be?



There is more than
one answer here.
Some geographers
predict horror, while
others are optimistic
about technology and
human creativity.
What do you think?

Do these population
events impact our
life?
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Most people live in one of four
regions:

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
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East Asia –China, Japan
South Asia – India,
Pakistan
Europe
Eastern North America
Many of these regions are
highly urban (related to
city population) – opposite
of rural (countryside
population) – the pattern
of movement is toward
urbanization.
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Human Geography

A special focus of geography is demography
(description of a given population) –
demographics like:
 Birth
rate
 Literacy
 Gross Domestic Product
 Person Per Physician
 Life Expectancy
 There are many others…
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A few of the first questions asked by
geographers include…

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Where do people live and why?
What are these people like?
How have they adapted, changed, used
the environment?
Have they moved ideas, goods,
populations?
Can they be connected to other groups
that are alike?
All of these questions helps to provide
a basis for the human geography of a
place or region.
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