2. Human Geography / Cartography Why Are Different Places Similar? Scale: the relationship between the portion of the Earth being studied and the Earth as a whole Local scales: neighborhoods (see unique features) Global scales: encompass entire world (see broad patterns)

3. Geography matters today because it can explain human actions at all scales Globalization: a force or process that involves the entire world and results in making something worldwide in scope -very few people are isolated from other groups -globalization means that the scale of the world is shrinking -more interactions -world is becoming more uniform, integrated, and interdependent Most economic activities undertaken in one region are influenced by interaction with other regions I.e.—choice of crop to grow influenced by other markets --factory location dependent upon bringing raw materials as well as shipping the final product

4. Transnational corporation: conducts research, operates factories, and sells products in many countries -aka—multinational corporations -has led the globalization movement In the past, it was extremely difficult to transfer money from one country to another Modern technology allows money, as well as materials, products, technology, and other economic assets, to move around the world Three Major Centers of the Global Economy: 1.New York 2.London 3.Tokyo

5. Every place in the world is part of the global economy Globalization has led to more specialization at the local level -each place has assets which make it valuable -minerals, educated workers… -transnational corporations remain competitive by correctly identifying the optimal location for its different stages of operation -conducting research, developing engineering systems, extracting raw materials, producing parts, manufacturing, storing finished products, selling products, managing operations, marketing… -suitable locations may be clustered together or spread throughout the world

6. Globalization highlights economic differences found among places -factories close in one place and open in another -some areas used for technological research -some areas have many low-skilled workers Regional workers specialize in particular tasks Globalization of Culture Increasing uniform cultural preferences produce uniform ‘global’ landscapes of material artifacts and of cultural values -fast-food restaurants, service stations, and retail chains deliberately try to create similar visual appearance at different locations -customers know what to expect no matter where in the world they are

7. McDonalds in Germany, Beijing, Russia, Israel, and Japan

8. Local cultures are being threatened by global interactions -people around the world want to drive a car, own a house, and watch television -global ideas such as wearing blue jeans, Nikes, eating at McDonalds and drinking Coca-Cola are threatening local customs English is becoming a global language People are moving away from traditional religions and are converting to Christianity and Islam As more people aspire to become part of the global culture, local cultural beliefs are threatened with extinction New communications and technology try to preserve cultural diversity -television shows can be viewed in many different languages all over the world

9. Sometimes a groups ambition to retain its cultural traditions can lead to intolerance of people with different ideas -political disputes, unrest, and wars have erupted in areas where different culture groups are unable to share the same space -Southeast Europe, East Africa, Middle East Taliban Government of Afghanistan: -extreme opposition to globalization -banned television shows from the West -restricted women’s activities -supported public floggings and severing of limbs to those who didn’t support the local customs -supported the 9/11 attack on World Trade Center and Pentagon -saw these as visual symbols of U.S. led globalization

10. Human geographers recognize that many contemporary social problems result from tension between forces promoting a global culture and economy versus the preservation of local economic autonomy and cultural traditions Space: Distribution of Features Geographers think about the arrangement of people and activities found in space and try to understand why these people and activities are distributed across space as they are

11. Compare History to Geography: Historians identify the dates of important events and explain why human activities follow each other chronologically WHEN AND WHY Geographers identify the location of important places and explain why human activities are located beside one another as they are in space WHERE AND WHY Historians understand that an action at one point in time can result from past activities that can in turn also affect future actions Geographers understand that an action at one point in space can result from something happening at another point, which can affect conditions elsewhere Geographers have the luxury of traveling to different places

12. Distribution: the arrangement of a feature in space -may be numerous or scarce -may be close together or far apart Spatial distribution consists of: -density -concentration -pattern Every human-made or natural object on Earth occupies a unique space

13. Density: the frequency at which something occurs in space arithmetic density: the total number of objects in an area -commonly used to compare population distribution between countries *A large TOTAL number does not necessarily mean a high density -China has 1.3 billion inhabitants, yet Belgium has a higher population density per square mile -high population densities are not related to poverty -Mali has 9 people per square mile Netherlands has 1230 people per square mile There are also other ways to measure density physiological density, agricultural density, housing density…

14. Concentration: the extent of a feature’s spread over space Two Types of Spatial Concentration: 1. Clustered: objects in an area close together 2. Dispersed: objects relatively far apart To compare concentration levels, two features must have the same number of objects over a similar area U.S. Population: -land area is relatively the same -population growth is quite slow (less than 1% per year) with this information, we can determine that population over the United States is becoming more dispersed from previously being more clustered in the Northeast

15. Concentration is not the same as density! Locations of Major League Baseball Teams, 1952, 2000: -increased from 16 to 30 teams over the same land area -increased density -6 of the 16 teams moved; 14 new teams were added -decreased cluster; became more dispersed into West and Southwest

16. Pattern: the geometric arrangement of objects in space -some features distributed in a geometric pattern while others are distributed irregularly Linear distribution: stores along a street, subway stations Rectangles: city blocks, township system The distribution of Major League baseball teams follow a regular pattern -being located in the largest metropolitan areas Patterns in space vary according to gender and ethnicity -males and females have different roles that affect their movements through space -most U.S. neighborhoods are virtually “all white” or “all colored” which effects where ethnic groups move through space

17. Space-time compression: term used to describe the reduction in the time it takes for something to reach another place -modern communications and technology make distant places seem less remote and more easily accessible -this helps to promote rapid change as cultures and economies of one place reaches other places much more quickly than before Spatial Interaction Up to about 1800, most forms of interaction among cultural groups required physical movement -now, travel time is greatly reduced -travel is not even necessary as images and messages can be instantly transmitted When places are connected to each other through a network, geographers say there is a spatial connection between them

18. Interaction among groups can be slowed by barriers -physical: oceans, mountains, deserts -cultural: language, religion, traditions Distance Decay: the farther away one group is from another, the less likely the two groups are to interact -contact diminishes with increased distance -eventually disappears -electronic communications have removed some barriers

19. Diffusion: the process by which a characteristic spreads across space from one place to another over time -ideas today can diffuse quite quickly Hearth (node): the place from which an innovation originates -geographers document the location of nodes and how diffusion occurs -many dominant cultural, political, and economic features of contemporary U.S. and Canada can be traced to their hearths in Europe and in the Middle East -for a person, object, or idea to have interaction with another person, object, or idea, diffusion must occur

20. Two Basic Types of Diffusion: 1.Relocation Diffusion—the spread of an idea through physical movement of people from one place to another -when people migrate, they carry their culture -the concentration of the Spanish language found in Little Havana in Miami is the result of Relocation Distribution -the distribution of AIDs cases in the United States -1980—New York, Florida, and California were nodes of origin -by 1993, AIDs cases reported in every state -new medicines have since dropped the overall AIDs cases in U.S.

21. 2.Expansion Diffusion—the spread of a feature from one place to another in a snowballing process hierarchical diffusion: the spread of an idea from persons or nodes of authority or power to other persons or places -spread of Indo-European languages -spread of Hip-Hop music from large urban centers to rural areas contagious diffusion: the rapid, widespread diffusion of a characteristic throughout a population -influenza or other disease outbreaks -AIDs prevention methods stimulus diffusion: the spread of an underlying principle, even though the characteristic itself fails to diffuse -Apple’s idea to ‘point and click an icon’ caused IBM to develop Windows systems