Chapter 1: This Is Geography

Georgia Tech speech

 Spatial
Perspective

Geographers share content with many other sciences -

what distinguishes geography from all other fields is that it
focuses on a particular perspective or way of looking at
things. - that distinctive perspective is spatial.
 Spatial
Perspective

A spatial approach considers the arrangement of things

such as location, distance, direction, orientation, pattern
and interconnection - ask questions like:
Why are things where they are?
How did things become distributed as they are?
What is changing the pattern of distribution
What are the implications of the spatial distribution of
people?
 Geography
as a Field of
Study

Earliest surviving map 6200 B.C.

town in present day Turkey

Geography is one of the oldest fields of study - Greek geo-

graphy means earth writing
Two major branches
 Geography
as a Field of
Study

Physical geography- study of spatial characteristics of

various elements of physical environment (Mountains,
Climate, Volcanism)
 Geography
as a Field of
Study

Human Geography - study of spatial characteristics of

humans and human characteristics - Human geographers
specialize in subfields : populations, culture, economics,
urban areas and politics
 Maps are one of the most important tools - cartography ,
the art and science of mapmaking, is closely associated
with geography.
Geospatial technologies, such as satellite imagery and
remotely sensed data, geographic information systems
(GIS) and global positioning systems (GPS) also help
geographers organize spatial information.

Geography
as a Field of
Study
The Early
History of
Geography

In river valleys of the Huang He in China, the Tigris-

Euphrates valley in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), and
Egypt, ancient people studies geography and made maps.
 The Early
History of
Geography

The Greeks and Romans were the first people in western

Eurasia to formalize a study of geography: Aristotle was a
keen observer of the earth and its features and how they
influence human behavior.
 The Early
History of
Geography

Using geometry (noting the angles of shadows in two cities

on the Summer Solstice and calculating the distance
between them), Eratosthenes calculated the circumference
of Earth from Alexandria in Egypt during the 3rd century
BCE and was nearly correct - he coined the term
geography.
 The Early
History of
Geography

Map by Ptolemy A.D. 150

Ptolemy, a Greek who lived about 500 years after

Eratosthenes wrote a summary of Greek knowledge about
geography including the location and size of continents.
 The Early
History of
Geography

During European Middle Ages (~500 C.E. to 1450 C.E.)

Europeans rarely ventures outside their region.
The Muslim culture flourished in the Middle East and North
Africa and as people traveled they collected information
about new places, created maps and wrote books about
geography - Scholars such as Muhammad al-Idrisi (12th
century Map above 1154 AD) and Ibn Battuta (14th century).
 Modern
History of
Geography

Europeans launched new era of exploration (Columbus)

1492, one important geographer was Dutch scholar
Gerardus Mercator.
He created a world map that was very useful for sailors and
is still widely used today.
 The
Americas

While in his 40s Amerigo decided to become an explorer

and left on his first voyage.
Some believe he discovered the Americas before
Christopher Columbus, due to a letter that is dated 1497.
Historians are at odds as to who reached the Americas first.
Despite the controversy, North and South America are
named after Amerigo Vespucci.
World by
German
cartographer
Martin
Waldseemller
map, originally
published in
April 1507.
It is known as
the first map
to use the
name
"America".
Modern History of
Geography
In 18th century, a German, Alexander von Humboldt would
travel South America extensively.
His study would connect the whole world together and
began an approach that would inspire geographers ever
since.
In the past century, geographers such as Carl Sauer (1889-
1975) expanded the focus of geography beyond physical
traits of the earth to include human activity.
Geographers study spatial distributions of nearly
everything to explain what people eat to why they migrate
to how they vote.
 Concepts
Underlying the
Geographic
Perspective

Location - Locations may be absolute or relative.

Absolute location is the precise spot where something is
according to some system - usually latitude and longitude.
Latitude is the distance north or south of the equator - the
equator is designated as 0 degrees and the poles as 90
degrees north and 90 degrees south.
 The International Date Line roughly follows this line but
makes deviations to accommodate international
boundaries.
Example - Mexico is 19 N latitude and 99 W longitude.

Perspective
 Royal
Observatory
 Relative location is a description
of where something is in
relation to other things -Salt
lake City, Utah is just south of
the Great Salt Lake and just
west of the Rocky Mountains on
Interstate 15 FWY.
Relative location is often
described in terms of
connectivity (two location tied Geographic
together by roads) and Perspective
accessibility (how easy and
quickly people can interact with
each other).
 Geographic
Perspective

Relative locations can change over time - Example Ghost

Towns once had relative locations near water sources
(which dried up) along trade routes (which changed), or
near mines (which closed).
Their good relative locations lost the advantages - access to
resource or trade- they once had.
However the absolute locations (longitude, latitude)
remain the same.
 Place

Place refers to the specific human physical characteristics

of a location.
A region is a territory that encompasses many places that
share similar physical and/or cultural attributes.
Two ways to refer to place are its site and situation.
 Site &
Situation

Site can be described as the characteristics at the

immediate location - for example, the soil type, climate,
labor force.
In contrast situation refers to the location of a place relative
to its surroundings and other places.
 Geographic
Perspective

When interstate highways system was created in the U.S. in

the 1950s, the situation of many small towns (La Verne)
changed dramatically - railroad lines became less important
as centers of trade than the towns along the new
interstate.
 Geographic
Perspective

Related to the concept of place is a sense of place-

Humans tend to perceive the characteristics of places in
different ways based on personal beliefs -Ex the
characteristics of Rome different to someone that is
Catholic or Hindu.
 Geographic
Perspective

If place inspires no strong emotional ties to people it has a

placenessess.
 Toponyms

Places can also be designated by using toponyms or place

names -Providing insight into the history or culture of the
location.
Ex. Pomona (goddess of agriculture)
Geographic
Perspective

This community founded in 1887 when Isaac Wilson Lord, a

Los Angeles businessman, persuaded the Santa Fe Railroad
to extend its line through this area where he owned
considerable property.
Changed to La Verne 1917 to be more inviting (chosen
because in French the term means growing green or
spring-like).
 Geographic
Perspective

Anaheim (1857 German settlers gave it the German name

meaning "home by the river." -part of a group who first
came to the United States during the German Revolution of
1848 and settled in San Francisco - later moving south
when they learned about an abundance of cheap land that
was once part of a Spanish land grant.)
 Distance and
Time

Distance can be measured in meters, miles etc. and also in

time.
The Time-Space compression is the shrinking time
distance between location because of improved methods
of transportation and communication.
One result of time-space compression is that global forces
are influencing culture everywhere and reducing local
diversity more than ever before - mountains are no longer
obstacles to radio, T.V. and the Internet.
 Distance and
Connection

The increasing connection between places is reflected in

the growth of spatial interaction.
Spatial interaction refers to the contact, movement, and
flow of things between locations (physical -roads, or
information - internet).
 Absolute distance is the
single most determinant of
spatial interaction.
Toblers First Law of
Geography describes a
concept referred to as the
friction of distance.
Everything is related to
everything else, but near
things are more related
than distant things. Friction of
Distance
 The friction of distance
causes what
geographers call a
distance-decay effect.
Example: You are eating
in a restaurant in La
Verne or going to
Target, if you did a
survey you would
probably find that a
large number of people
live close by. Friction of
Distance
 Distance and
Connection

Human connection includes the opening of a new pet store

-typically influence is strongest in area closest to the store
and only among pet owners.
The world is more spatially connected than ever before -
Ex. a person in El Paso, Texas can shop a store in New York
City (via website or Amazon) and receive a product shipped
from a warehouse in Atlanta Georgia.
 Gravity
Model

A twist to the spatial interaction is the gravity model based

on Newtons Law of Universal Gravitation (Applied both to
cities and migration).
According to Newton, objects are attracted to each other
by gravity as a result of their respected masses.
 Gravity
Model

Example: Large city like N.Y. still have an extensive and

important interactions despite being separated by great
distances from Los Angeles.
Larger cities seem to have a greater gravitational pull.
 Density

Density- number of something in a defined area.

Population density is the number of people per square mile
(to calculate divide people by area).
A population density is higher in an apartment building
than a house that takes up the same space. (Also
psychological crowded elevator)
 Distribution

Geographers are also

interested in distribution, the
way a phenomenon is spread
out over an area.
Some areas might have a
cluster or concentration of
something that is sparse in
other areas.
 Patterns of
Distribution

Geographers look for patterns in the distribution that give

clues about the causes and effects of the distributions -
common patterns include:
Linear: phenomena arranged in a straight line - towns along
a railroad line
Nucleated: form around central area
Dispersed: Spread over a wide area
 Distance and
Distribution

Circular: equally spaced from a central point forming a

circle - distribution of homes of people who shop at a
particular store
 Distance
and
Distribution

Geometric: a regular arrangement - such as squares

formed by roads in the Midwest.
 Distance and
Distribution

Random: no order in their position - such as distribution of

pet owners in a city.
 Distance and
Distribution

Matching patterns of distribution is called spatial

association and indicates that two (or more) phenomena
may be related, or associated with one another.
Example: the distribution of Malaria matches the
distribution of mosquito.
 Distance
and
Distribution

Does not have to match - Bicycle shops distribution might

match distribution of athletic wear stores - one probably
does not cause the other but both might reflect the
distribution of active people.
 Gravity
Model
Assignment

A major earthquake has hit Los Angeles with a partner,

use the gravity model to determine which nearby cities will
most likely receive people migrating.
Las Vegas, NV
San Diego, CA
San Francisco, CA
Santa Barbara, CA
Phoenix, AZ
Salt Lake City, UT
 Human-
Environmental
Interaction

The dual relationship between humans and the natural

world are at the heart of human geography - referred to as
human-environmental interaction.
The study of how humans adapt to the environment is
known as cultural ecology.
 The belief that landforms
and climate are the most
powerful forces shaping
human behavior and
societal development is
called environmental
determinism.
In the 19th and 20th
centuries, some people
used environmental
determinism to argue
that people in some Environmental
climates were superior to Determinism
those of other climates.
 Human-
Environmental
Interaction

Economist
Entomophagy
2:09

In reaction to view known as possibilism, acknowledges

limits on the effects on the natural environment and
focuses on the role that human culture plays.
Different cultures may respond to the same natural
environment in diverse ways depending on their beliefs,
goals, and available technologies.
 The task of defining and
describing landscapes is
called landscape analysis.
The first part of landscape
analysis is careful observation
- field observation.
All this information that can
be tied to specific locations is
called spatial data.

Landscape
Analysis
 The Built
Environment

While environment may mean mature to some (Plants, air,

water, animals)
Human geographers often refer to the built environment,
by which they mean the physical artifacts that humans
have created and that form part of a landscape - Ex:
buildings, roads, signs and fences.
 The Built
Environment

The architectural style of buildings varies from place to

place creating a unique built environment.
Anything built by humans is part of the cultural landscape.
 Geographers use Four-Level Analysis to study phenomena

Landscape Analysis
Patterns
and
Processes
How to make a choropleth
map 4:00

Maps are essential in highlighting and analyzing patterns.

Nearly every map is a smaller version of a larger portion of
the earths surface.
Scale is the ratio between the size of things in the real
world and the size of those same things on the map.
 Patterns and
Processes

A map has three types of scale: cartographic, geographic

and scale of data.
Most often used is Cartographic scales which refers to the
way the map communicated the ration of its size to the size
of what it represents.
Words: for example, one inch equals ten miles - 2
inches represents 25 miles on Earth.
 Patterns and
Processes

A ratio: for example 1:200,000. This means that 1 unit of

measurement on the map is equal to 200,000 of the same
unit in reality or 1 inch on map = 200,000 inches on the
ground.
 Patterns and
Processes

Which scale is best for looking at something that is large in

scale like Death Valley?
1: 10,000
1: 100,000
1: 1,000,000
 Reference maps are
designed for people to
refer to for general
information about places:
Political maps show and
label human-created
boundaries (countries,
states, cities)
Physical maps show and
label natural features
(Mtns. Rivers, deserts)

Reference
Maps
 Reference
Maps

Road maps show and label highway and streets

Plat maps show and label property lines and land
ownership
 Thematic
Maps

Thematic maps show spatial aspects of information - four

common types
Choropleth maps use colors, shades or patterns to show
location and distribution of spatial data. Often show rates -
Ex. Density of people per mile.
 Thematic
Maps

Dot distribution maps are used to show the specific

location and distribution of something across the territory
of the map.
Each dot represents a specified quantity.
 Thematic
Maps

Sometimes confused with Graduated symbol maps which

use symbols (usually dots) of different sizes to indicate
different amounts of something.
 Thematic
Maps

Sometimes called proportional symbol maps.

 Thematic
Maps

Isoline maps use lines that connect points of equal value to

depict data across space - the most common is the
topographic map - popular with hikers.
Also weather maps showing changes in barometric
pressure.
 In a cartogram , the sizes of countries (or states, etc.) are
shown according to some specific data - For example
human populations.
Useful because they allow for data to be compared, much
like a graph and distance and distribution are also available,
like on a traditional map.
Cartograms
Projections

Because Earth is a sphere and maps are flat, all maps

distort some aspect of reality - showing a curved surface is
done using a map projection.
Cartographers decide what aspects they want to preserve
and know that other elements (shape, distance or
direction) will be distorted.
 Mercator
Projections

Purpose: Navigation constant compass bearing

Strengths: Direction are shown accurate lines of latitude
and longitude meet at right angles.
Weakness: Distance between lines appear constant
distort land masses near poles
 Peters
Projections

Purpose: Spatial Distribution related to area

Strengths size of land masses are accurate
Weaknesses- Shapes are inaccurate, especially near the
poles
 Conic
Projections

Purpose: General Use in midlatitude countries

Strength: Size and shape are both close to reality
Weakness: Direction not constant lines of longitude only
converge at one pole
 Robinson
Projections

Purpose: General Use

Strength: No major distortion
Weakness: Area, shape, size and direction are ALL slightly
distorted
 Models of
Geography

Geographic models are created to represent reality or

theories about reality to help geographers to see general
spatial patterns or understand variations from place to
place.
To help explain, describe and even predict spatial activity
there are two models that are mainly used - Spatial and
Non-spatial models.
 Models of
Geography

Spatial models look like stylized maps and they help

illustrate theories about spatial distributions - examples
include the von Thunen model.
 Models of
Geography

Non-spatial models illustrate theories and concepts using

words, graphs or tables - they depict changes over time -
examples the demographic transition model and Rowstow
modernization model.
 Use of
Models

All models are a generalization, a simplification and a

theory.
Models are never wrong or right but they can be more
or less useful in understanding the world.
Use of
Models
 Use of
Models
Is NY
really
the same
as Utah?
Use of
Models
 Use of
Models-
Is there a
difference
between
Louisiana
and
Alabama?
 Types of
Regions

Regionalization is the process geographers use to divide

and categorize space into smaller units much like a writer
divides a book into chapters.
There are three basic types: Formal, functional and
perceptual.
 Formal
Region

Formal regions (uniform regions) are united by one or more

traits.
These may be - physical, such as the Sahara, a vast desert
in northern Africa
 Culturally- northwestern Nigeria, an area where most
people speak Yoruba.
Economically- Gold Coast of Africa Ghana which exports
gold.
Types of Regions
 Functional
Regions

Functional regions are organized around a focal point and

are defined by an activity that occurs across the region.
These regions are often united by networks of
communication and transportation that are centered
around a node (focal point).
 Functional
Regions

Ex.- Pizza delivery areas are functional regions

 Functional
(Nodal)
Regions

For this reason they are also known as nodal regions: - the
pizza shop is the node - a country is a functional region, the
capital is the political node.
A necessary part of any functional region is the flow of
some phenomenon across the networks that unite a region
- whether the flow is visible (pizza) or invisible (political or
legal authority from capital).
 Perceptual regions (vernacular regions) vary widely
because people have a different sense of what defines and
unites these regions.
The American South
Perceptual (Vernacular)
Regions
 The Middle East
Their exact boundaries depends upon the person who is
defining them.
Perceptual
Regions
 One type of large region is a continent but not so easy
Europe and Asia two or one?
Where is the line between North and South America?
Is Greenland a continent?
Large World
Regions
 A sub-region shares some characteristics with the rest of
the larger region but is distinctive in some ways.
Ex. region of Latin America covers part of North and South
America from Mexico to Chile- within it sub-region Brazil.
Sub-Regions
 Most practice the
religion of Catholic but
their primary
language is
Portuguese (unlike
other countries-
Spanish speaking).
Because of its
language Brazil is a
distinct sub-region.

Sub-Regions
 Sub-Saharan Africa is
subdivided into
West, Central , East
and Southern Africa.

More
Sub-Regions
 Asia is divided into five subregions: West Asia (Middle
East), Central Asia, South Asia, East Asia and Southeast
Asia.
More
Sub-Regions
 Smaller
Regions

By changing scale or zooming in, sub-regions can be even

further divided.
Subdivision can be based on climate, landform, culture,
politics or economics.
 Smaller
Regions

Western Europe
can be divided
into
Northwestern
Europe and
Southern Europe,
each unified by
language and
religion.
 Smaller
Regions

Florida can be divided by: cultural -South, climate - warm

and humid or economics - known as the Sun belt.
 Geospatial data includes all information that can be tied to
a specific place.
Besides locations, such as mountains or roads or
boundaries, it includes human activities (poverty) and traits
(language).

Geospatial Data
Geospatial
Data

Much geospatial data is gathered in the field through:

census, surveys, photographs and observations.
Using technology is making collection and accuracy easier:
GPS uses 24 specific objects to calculate you absolute
location.
 REMOTE SENSING (cameras mounted on aircraft or
satellites to collect digital images) to: monitor weather,
assessing spread of spatial phenomena, environmental
changes and determining land cover and use.

Geospatial Data
 Geospatial
Data
Portland Urban
Planning

GIS: Geographic Information Systems (computer system

that can store, analyze and display information from
multiple digital maps to: analysis of crime, effects of
pollution, travel time analysis, urban planning.