Country - politically organized body of people under a single government; countries are sovereign(supreme) and not subject to any higher governmental authority.

192 Independent Countries or States

While the terms country, state, and nation are often used interchangeably, there is a difference. A State (note the capital "S") is a self-governing political entity. The term State can be used interchangeably with country.

A nation, however, is a tightly-knit group of people which share a common culture. A nation-state is a nation which has the same borders as a State.

A “state” (lower case) is division of federal State (TX, NY, CA,)

Do you recognize these countries?

TYPES OF GOVERNMENTS

Direct democracy started in Athens, the cradle of democracy

DEMOCRACY -

MAJORITY RULE

REPUBLIC - USA

CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHYThe ability to make and pass legislation resides with an elected Parliament, not with the Monarch

“I made it the old-fashioned way - Divine right.”

MONARCHY Heirs

DICTATORSHIP

TOTALITARIAN

IRAN

THEOCRACY

Supreme LeaderHighest religiousand political leader

ANARCHY - No Government

What are the 3 Geographic Characteristics of Nations?

What are some landlocked countries?

What are the Natural Boundaries of Texas? What are Artificial Boundaries of Texas?

City - center of population, commerce, culture; a town of significant size and importance

What is Urban Geography?What are suburbs?What are exurbs

City + Suburbs + Exurbs =

Metropolitan Area

What city is this?

Demographers study the characteristics of human populations as well as where people settle.

Urbanization - number of cities and their populations increase resulting in changes in lifestyles and standard of living

Starting in 1700’s, the Industrial Revolution greatly increased the speed of urbanization.

WHY did this event cause an increase in urbanization?

A megalopolis is an urban area made up of adjoining cities and their suburbs. The feature shared by all the megalopolises on the map is that they

A. are located along the East Coast C. are adjacent to bodies of water B. extend through two or more states D. are located in river valley

Megalopolis in World

World Urban Population - 50.5% and rising!

Megacities - over 5 million people

US and Japan at night

City land use patterns: Residential, Industrial, Commercial - Where do you live?

CBD

What is the CBD?

What happens to the price of land as you move from CBD to suburbs?

The rapid growth of urban areas is the result of two factors: natural increase in population and migration to urban areas.

SquatterSettlements

SquatterSettlements

In less developed countries, people often arrive from the countryside without education or resources. These newcomers may settle in squatter settlements or shanty towns, usually found outside of the city. A shanty town is a slum settlement where poor people live in dwellings made form scrap materials.

Geographic characteristics - Why cities are where they are.

Topography, Climate Transportation and Natural Resources

Chicago: The Great Lakes; start of the Great Plains; railroad and ship crossroads Denver: Edge of the Rocky Mountains; was a rendezvous site during Mountain Men era Detroit: Access to Great Lakes and close to raw materials for manufacturing Houston: Port on the Gulf Coast; near oil; trade with Latin America and Europe Los Angeles: Pacific Ocean; trade with Pacific Rim countries, Asia, and Latin America Mexico City: Central location; high elevation and cooler, wetter climate Monterrey: San Juan River tributary to the Rio Grande; Near Gulf Coast; mineral wealth in region Montreal: On St. Lawrence Seaway; access to Great Lakes; near raw materials; near international border New York: Port on Atlantic Ocean; trade with Europe and Africa; Hudson River trade and transportation

Sudan, Africa

US

RURAL or URBAN Where do you live?Rural areas (the country / countryside) in the US are areas that are not urbanized. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture. Other areas in the world might have small huts/simple cottages where people maintain traditional ways.

The human population has lived a rural lifestyle through most of history.

The world’s population, however, is quickly becoming urbanized. In 1950, less than 30% of the world’s population lived in cities. This number is expected to grow to 60% by the year 2025.

What is the largest city in the World?

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Urban Pop. Developed Developing

3

2.5

2

1.5

1

.5

0Billions