INTRODUCTION TO REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY II (PAGES: 16-41)

 Definition: Shared patterns of learned behavior  Components:  Beliefs  Institutions  Technology REGIONS & CULTURE What people care about? What people take care of? *Ethnicity- language, religion, traditions *Conflicts

 A wide-ranging and comprehensive field that studies spatial aspects of human cultures  Major components focus on:  Cultural Landscapes  Culture Hearths  Cultural Diffusion  Cultural Environments  Culture Regions Not mutually exclusive - constantly interacting with each other CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY A visible character of a region in many ways: architecture, forms of transportation, clothing of people, religion, etc.

 The composite of human imprints on the earth’s surface.  Carl Sauer’s definition: “the forms superimposed on the physical landscape by the activities of man” CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

 The source areas from which radiated ideas, innovations, and ideologies that change the world beyond CULTURE HEARTH

Church of the Nativity: Bethlehem SEQUENT OCCUPANCE E.J.PALKA

 A subfield within the human branch of geography  The study of the interaction of geographical area and political process  The spatial analysis of political phenomena and processes POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY

World Political Boundaries (2007) Fig. 1-2: National political boundaries are among the most significant elements of the cultural landscape

 A politically organized territory  Administered by a sovereign government  Recognized by a significant portion of the international community.  A state must also contain: a permanent resident population an organized economy a functioning internal circulation system STATE Boundaries (changes- Germany, Cold war), capital cities

Must a nation be a place?  Some examples of stateless nations: the Cherokee Nation, the Kurds, the Palestinians NATION

THE KURDS KURDISH REGION

 A country whose population possesses a substantial degree of cultural homogeneity and unity NATION - STATE An Example of a Nation-State: Japan Other Examples?

 4 major clusters 1) East Asia2) South Asia 3) Europe4) Eastern North America POPULATION DISTRIBUTION

PATTERNS OF DEVELOPMENT  Economic geography  Economic conditions (World Bank’s groupings) High-Income Upper-middle-income Lower-middle-income Low-income  Core areas versus peripheries

PATTERNS OF DEVELOPMENT

Symptoms of underdevelopment  High NIR  Short life expectancy  High IMR  Low urban rates  Low literacy rates  Small income  Poor health & sanitation  National debt  Mismanagement & corruption

Causes of contrast  Climate & human capacity, environmental degradation  Overpopulation  Cultural heritage- resistance to change  Colonial exploitation  Neocolonialism & distribution of natural resources  High tariffs against the products of poorer countries  Foreign interference  Mismanagement  Globalization- positives and negatives

Globalization and terrorism

Globalization- A New Revolution  The march of international capitalism, open market, and a free trade.  World Trade Organizations  It simulates commerce, brings jobs to remote places (US jobs).  Globalization in culture- Americanization  Negatives and positives

INTRODUCTION TO REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY II (PAGES: 16-41)