GEO200

WORLD REGIONAL
GEOGRAPHY
Dr. George Odhiambo
Dr. George Odhiambo
Introduction Geogra!h"
Introduction Geogra!h"

The study of place and space

Studies location and distribution of

features on the Earths surface

Studies human activity, the natural

environment, and the relationship
between the two

Answers where human activities as well

as geographic phenomenon occur and
why
IN#ROD$%#ION
IN#ROD$%#ION

Dfferent feds of Geography

Ph"&ica' Geogra!h", study of the

envronment, ocaton of terran, physca
features of the and

Human Geogra!h", study of human

occupaton of the and

Regiona' Geogra!h"( anayss of

envronmenta and human patterns (and/or
actvtes) wthn an area or regon
Regiona' Geogra!h"
Regiona' Geogra!h"

Regona Geography combnes

eements of both physca and human
geography

Is concerned wth the unque

combnatons of envronmenta and
human factors whch produce
terrtores wth dstnctve andscapes
and soco-cutura attrbutes.
Regiona' Geogra!h"
Regiona' Geogra!h"

Regon: Large secton that encompass

many paces, a or most of whch share
a set of attrbutes (characterstcs) that
dffer from the attrbutes of paces that
mark a dfferent regon.

The study of Regona Geography heps

us understand how natura, soca,
potca, and cutura phenomena come
together to produce dstnct geographc
settngs.

Knowedge of Regona Geography s

cruca to understandng nternatona
deveopment.
Region&
Region&

Areas of the earths surface marked by

certain properties

Scientific devices that enable us to make

spatial generalizations

ased on criteria we establish

!riteria can be based on"

#uman $cultural% properties

&hysical $natural% characteristics

or oth
A!!roach
A!!roach

Gobazaton and the nks between

goba and oca

The unevenness of potca and

economc deveopments

The connecton between socety and

nature

The nks among and between

regons
North
Amerca
South
Amerca
Asa
Austraa
Afrca
Europe
Antarctca
Pacfc
Ocean
Atantc
Ocean
Indan
Ocean
Arctc
Ocean
New Global Order
New Global Order

'ld !lassifications

(irst )orld

*S, +urope, Australia, ,apan

free market economies

Second )orld

+astern +urope

planned and controlled economies

Third )orld

Africa, -iddle east, South America, Asia

underdeveloped poor economies

New Global Order
New Global Order

.ew !lassifications

Developed Regions

/ncludes countries such as *S, +urope, Australia

countries with diversification of economies

service 0 technologically based countries

Developing Regions

Africa, South Asia, -iddle 0 South America

countries based primarily on agriculture and basic

manufacturing industries
THE ONE!T O" REG#ON
THE ONE!T O" REG#ON

)orlds within worlds

Areas with unifying characteristics

1egions may be large or small

continental or local

ie2 )orld regions, countries, local regions

Sub3regions

regions within regions

THE ONE!T O" REG#ON
THE ONE!T O" REG#ON

1egions may be

economic

environmental

historical

cultural
other ideas4
THE ONE!T O" REG#ON
THE ONE!T O" REG#ON

Whatever method or procedure

used n cassfyng the regons must
ensure some homogenety n the
attrbute or attrbutes used.
THE ONE!T O" REG#ON
THE ONE!T O" REG#ON

)orma' Region: Groups of area

unts that have a hgh degree of
homogenety n terms of partcuar
dstngushng features (such as
regon adherence or househod
ncomes).

)unctiona' region& (noda regons):

Regons that are defned and
cassfed by patterns of spata
nteracton or spata organsaton.

De *ure +&!ace&, region&

Terrtores marked by forma, egay
recognsed boundares-natona
states, provnces, countes etc
THE ONE!T O" REG#ON
THE ONE!T O" REG#ON

)rontier Region& occur where

boundares are very weaky deveoped or
where popuaton denstes are especay
ow.

Regiona'i&m Term used to descrbe

stuatons where dfferent regous or
ethnc groups (whose members share
cutura characterstcs) wthn dstnctve
denttes co-exst wthn the same state
boundares, often concentrated wthn a
partcuar regon and sharng strong
feengs of coectve dentty.
IN#ERDEPENDEN#
IN#ERDEPENDEN#
WORLD
WORLD

G'oba'i-ation Gobazaton s a
process of nteracton and ntegraton
among the peope, companes, and
governments of dfferent natons, a
process driven by international trade
and investment and aided by
information technology.

Ths process has effects on the

envronment, on cuture, on potca
systems, on economc deveopment
and prosperty, and on human physca
we-beng n socetes around the
word.
G'oba'i&ation
G'oba'i&ation

Gobazaton descrbes an ongong process by

whch regona economes, socetes and cutures
have become ntegrated through a gobe-
spannng network of exchange.

The term s sometmes used to refer specfcay

to economic globalization: the ntegraton of
natona economes nto the nternatona
economy through trade, .oreign direct
in/e&tment, ca!ita' .'o0&, migration, and the
spread of techno'og".

However, gobazaton s usuay recognzed as

beng drven by a combnaton of economc,
technoogca, soco-cutura and potca factors.

The term can aso refer to the transnatona

dssemnaton of deas, anguages, or !o!u'ar
cu'ture.
G'oba'i&ation
G'oba'i&ation

The I&'amic Go'den Age was aso an

mportant eary stage of gobazaton,
when 1u&'im trader& and e2!'orer&
estabshed a sustaned economy across
the word resutng n a gobazaton of
crops, trade, knowedge and technoogy.

Gobay sgnfcant crops such as &ugar(

date& and cotton became wdey
cutvated across the 1u&'im 0or'd n
ths perod, whe the necessty of
earnng Arabic and competng the Ha**
created a cosmopotan cuture
G'oba'i-ation3Dri/er&
G'oba'i-ation3Dri/er&

Po'ic" and techno'ogica'

de/e'o!ment& (many IT) of the
past few decades have spurred
ncreases n cross-border trade,
nvestment, and mgraton so arge
that many observers beeve the
word has entered a quatatvey new
phase n ts economc deveopment.

poces that have opened economes

domestcay and nternatonay.
G'oba'i-ation3Dri/er&
G'oba'i-ation3Dri/er&

Promoton of free trade

Promoton of free trade:

emnaton of tari..&; creaton of .ree trade -one& wth

sma or no tarffs
Reduced transportaton costs, especay resutng from
deveopment of containeri-ation for ocean shppng.
Reducton or emnaton of ca!ita' contro'&
Reducton, emnaton, or harmonzaton of &ub&idie&
for oca busnesses
Creaton of subsdes for goba corporatons
Harmonzaton of inte''ectua' !ro!ert" aws across the
ma|orty of states, wth more restrctons
Supranatona recognton of nteectua property
restrctons (e.g. !atent& granted by Chna woud be
recognzed n the Unted States)
G'oba'i-ation3dri/er&
G'oba'i-ation3dri/er&

Informaton technooges have gven

a sorts of ndvdua economc
actors-consumers, nvestors,
busnesses-vauabe new toos for
dentfyng and pursung economc
opportuntes, ncudng faster and
more nformed anayses of economc
trends around the word, easy
transfers of assets, and coaboraton
wth far-fung partners.

Meda?

Language?
G'oba'i-ation3dri/er&

4o"age& o. e2!'oration were

another ma|or stage n the process of
gobazaton. Vasco da Gama and
Chrstopher Coumbus n the ffteenth
century opened up a whoe new
chapter n the hstory of
gobazaton.

Econom" and em!ire were the

ma|or motves.
G'oba'i-ation and
G'oba'i-ation and
%u'tura' e2change
%u'tura' e2change

Cultural globalization, drven by

communcaton technoogy (meda)
and the wordwde marketng of
Western cutures has been argued to
ead to the goba domnaton of
Western cuture (many Amercan
cuture) at the expense of tradtona
dversty.
G'oba'i-ation
G'oba'i-ation

Demogra!hic g'oba'i-ation reached ts

heght n the Amercas wth the nfux of
mons of peope from other hemspheres.
In tme the popuaton of the Unted States
became a mcrocosm of the popuaton of
the word - wth mmgrants from every
socety on earth.

The indu&tria' re/o'ution n Europe:

Europe's prosperty whetted ts appette
for new words to conquer. The Atantc
save trade was acceerated, movng
mons of Afrcans from one part of the
word to another. Europe's appette aso
went mpera on a goba scae.
G'oba'i-ation
G'oba'i-ation

At the end of the twenteth century

the human race s coser to havng
word anguages than t was n the
nneteenth century
G'oba'i-ation
G'oba'i-ation

One of the consequences of gobazaton

s that we are gettng to be more and
more alike across the world every
decade.

Homogeni-ation s ncreasng
smarty. The second accompanyng
characterstc of gobazaton s
hegemoni-ation - the paradoxca
concentraton of power n a partcuar
country or n a partcuar cvzaton.

Whe "homogenzaton" s the process of

expandng homogenety,
"hegemonzaton" s the emergence and
consodaton of the hegemonc center.
Economc Deveopment
Economc Deveopment

The word s often dvded nto two broad

categores of countres:

the More Deveoped Countres (MDCs), and

the Less Deveoped Countres (LDCs)

Such a broad regonazaton scheme s

key to be overy smpstc, yet t s
commony used and t can be qute usefu.
Often dfferent terms are used to descrbe
each regon. Thnk of other terms that you
have heard to descrbe the MDCs and the
LDCs.
1D%& and LD%&
1D%& and LD%&

Generay, most peope woud

cassfy the foowng reams as
LDC's:

Sub-Saharan Afrca

South Asa

Southeast Asa

Chna *

North Afrca and Southwest Asa

Mdde Amerca

South Amerca

the Pacfc Ream

1D%& and LD%&
1D%& and LD%&

The more deveoped reams

generay ncude:

North Amerca

|apan

Europe

Austraa / New Zeaand

Russa *
NB: Is Chna an LDC or an MDC?
Accordng to our measures of economc
deveopment Chna s defntey a ess
deveoped country wth a GNP per
capta of $620 (coud be sghty more
than that now).
GD! nominal per capita world map #$" %&&' GD! nominal per capita world map #$" %&&'
Economc Deveopment
Economc Deveopment

Frst Word Countres and Thrd Word

Countres - Why?

We, what s the Second Word? How can

you have a frst and a thrd wthout a
second?

The Second Word used to be the

command economy (communst) countres
of the Sovet Unon, Eastern Europe,
Chna, North Korea, Cuba, Vetnam, and a
few other countres. Wth the coapse of
communsm n most of these countres the
"Second Word" no onger exsts.
1ea&ure& o. Economic
1ea&ure& o. Economic
De/e'o!ment
De/e'o!ment

GNP per capta

Popuaton Growth

Occupatona Structure of the Labor Force

Urbanzaton

Consumpton per capta

Infrastructure

Soca Condtons

teracy rate teracy rate

fe expectancy fe expectancy

heath care heath care

caorc ntake caorc ntake

nfant mortaty nfant mortaty

other other
5ocio3Economic
5ocio3Economic
Indicator&
Indicator&

GNP !er ca!ita

GNP s the tota market vaue of a fna

goods and servces produced by a country
n one year.

It s a measure of economc actvty, or

how much s produced n a country.

The more that a country produces per

person, the more "deveoped" t s
assumed to be.

Whch country produces more (has a

hgher GNP), Inda or Swtzerand? Whch s
more "deveoped"?
5ocio3Economic
5ocio3Economic
Indicator&
Indicator&

The GNP of Inda s $336 bon and the

GNP of Swtzerand s $288 bon. Inda
produces more than does Swtzerand, but
everybody woud agree that Swtzerand s
more economcay advanced. Why?

The answer s popuaton. The popuaton

of Inda s 1 bon and the popuaton of
Swtzerand s 7 mon. The GNP per
capta of Swtzerand s $40,630 and the
GNP per capta of Inda s ess than $ 340.

Remember, aways use GNP PER CAPITA

when comparng the economc condtons
of dfferent countres.
Po!u'ation Gro0th

In genera, poorer countres have

more rapd rates of popuaton
growth.

Popuaton Factors:

Nataty (brth rate)

Mortaty (death rate)

Age Dstrbuton

Sex Rato

Emgraton

Immgraton
Source" http"55www2worldbank2org5depweb5english5beyond5beyondco5beg6782pdf
http"55www2inde9mundi2com5map54v:;< &opulation growth rate map =lobal ;7>>
Occu!ationa' 5tructure
Occu!ationa' 5tructure
o. the Labor )orce
o. the Labor )orce

Economc geographers dvde

economc actvtes nto prmary
actvtes, secondary actvtes, and
tertary actvtes. (Some add
quaternary actvtes and qunary
actvtes, but we w not.)
Occu!ationa' 5tructure
Occu!ationa' 5tructure
o. the Labor )orce
o. the Labor )orce

PRIMARY ACTIVITIES are those that drecty

remove resources from the earth.
Generay they ncude AGRICULTURE,
MINING, fshng, and umberng.

SECONDARY ACTIVITIES nvove convertng

resources nto fnshed products. These are
the MANUFACTURING actvtes.

TERTIARY ACTIVITIES comprse the

SERVICE sector of the economy. The
tertary actvtes ncude retang,
transportaton, educaton, bankng, etc.
Occu!ationa' 5tructure
Occu!ationa' 5tructure
o. the Labor )orce
o. the Labor )orce

As countres deveop the

occupatona structure of the abor
force changes. In LDCs most peope
are engaged n prmary actvtes.

In hgh ncome countres ke the

Unted states and |apan most peope
are nvoved wth the tertary sector.
$rbani-ation
$rbani-ation

Urbanzaton s the percentage of a

country's popuaton who ve n
urban areas.

Urban areas generay mean towns

and ctes of 2,500 or more peope.

Currenty more of the words

popuaton ve n urban areas.
Generay as countres deveop
urbanzaton ncreases.

Note the hgh urbanzaton found n

the more deveoped countres and n
South Amerca.
%on&um!tion !er ca!ita
%on&um!tion !er ca!ita

Consumpton per person s a good

ndcator of deveopment.

The rcher a country s, the more ts

ctzens consume.

But aso, the hgher the carbon

footprnt-envronmenta degradaton.
%on&um!tion !er ca!ita
%on&um!tion !er ca!ita

One consequence of consumpton s

!o''ution. Carbon doxde (CO
2
) s
emtted when foss fues are used.
Scentsts are studyng the
connecton between CO
2
bud up n
the atmosphere ant goba warmng.
ths chart shows CO
2
emssons for
varous countres
In.ra&tructure
In.ra&tructure

A country's nfrastructure s defned

as "the foundatons of a socety:
urban centers, transport networks,
communcatons, energy dstrbuton
systems, farms, factores, mnes, and
such factes as schoos, hosptas,
posta servces, and poce and
armed forces."
5ocia' %ondition&
5ocia' %ondition&

There are many other measures of

economc deveopment. Many refer
to the soca condtons of a country.
Here s a short st.

teracy rate

fe expectancy

heath care

caorc ntake

nfant mortaty

other
Human De/e'o!ment
Human De/e'o!ment
Inde2 +HDI,
Inde2 +HDI,

GNP per capta s the most used

ndcator of deveopment yet there
are some sgnfcant probems wth t.
Therefore, the Unted Natons
Deveopment Program (UNDP)
computes a Human Deveopment
Index for each country each year.
Human De/e'o!ment
Human De/e'o!ment
Inde2 +HDI,
Inde2 +HDI,

The human deveopment ndex (HDI),

composed of three ndcators: fe
expectancy, educaton (adut teracy and
combned secondary and tertary schoo
enroment) and rea GDP per capta.
(Note: for our purposes, GNP and GDP
mean the same thng and they are
synonymous wth ncome.)

To see the Human Deveopment Index

for ndvdua countres go to:
http://hdrstats.undp.org/ndcators/5.htm

http://hdr.undp.org/en/statstcs/

http://hdr.undp.org/en/statstcs/data/hd_map/

http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/goba/hdr2011/downoad/en/
http"55data2worldbank2org5indicator5S&2?@.2/-1T2/.5countries4display:map
)orld bank -ap on child mortality
Infant mortality rate is the number of infants dying before reaching one year Infant mortality rate is the number of infants dying before reaching one year
of age, per 1,000 live births in a given year. of age, per 1,000 live births in a given year.
Life Expectancy at birth (years)
over 80
77.5-80
75-77.5
72.5-75
70-72.5
7.5-70
5-7.5
0-5
55-0
50-55
!5-50
under !5
not available

http"55www2theglobaleducationproAect2org5earth5human3conditions2php
http"55www2inde9mundi2com5map54v:;< &opulation growth rate map 3 =lobal
http"55www2imf2org5e9ternal5inde92htm /-( website