Geography

Ch. 7

Physical Regions – areas of common physical features, resources and wildlife (e.g. Sahara Desert, Amazon Rain Forest)

Cultural Regions – areas of common cultural characteristics such as language, history, politics, or religion

• Middle East – most speak Arabic, follow Muslim religion, wear similar clothing

•Latin America – common history, speak related languages

Political Regions – a country is a political region define by political characteristics with its own government, borders and sovereign (independent) power. (e.g. United States)

Economic Regions – regions defined by economic characteristics

•European Union (EU) – European countries that have eliminated customs duties and workers travel freely between countries; also use same currency – the Euro

•NAFTA – North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico where custom duties between these countries are lower

Developed countries – countries with advanced economies and high standards of living

Developing countries – countries with less advanced technology and lower standard of living

Demographic Data – population; geographers look at birth rate, death rate, and infant mortality rate to determine development

•Developed nations – low birth, death, and infant mortality rate (e.g. United States)

•Developing nations – high birth, death, and infant mortality rate (e.g. India)

Educational Data – education; literacy rate – percentage of people who can read. Also based on percentage of people attending college

•Developed nations – high literacy rate and percentage of people in college; large number of doctors and hospitals

•Developing nations – lower literacy rate and percentage of people in college, low numbers of doctors and hospitals

Economic Data - economy; Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – total value of all goods and services produced by a nation in one year; Per Capita Income – the average earnings by a person in a year

•Developed Nation – high per capita income, high standard of living; technology in work force

•Developing Nation – low per capita income, low standard of living, primitive working tools

Urbanization – the movement of large numbers of people into cities

•Improvements in agriculture and the Industrial Revolution led many people to move to cities

•Towns and cities developed around factories

•Canals, railroads, and roads linked cities together

Population Density – how many people live in a given area; often showed with special maps

•Dot population map – uses dots to indicate major towns; the legend indicated how many people are represented by each dot

•Population density map – uses patterns or shading to indicate number of people in an area

Migration – the movement of people from one area to another

•“Push” factors – conditions that push people out of their old location

•“Pull” factors – attractions that lure migrants to a new location

Social Factors

•Religious persecution such as the Pilgrams leaving England is an example of a “push” factor

•Ethnic persecution such as the Tutsi in Rwanda leaving is another example of a “push” factor

Political Factors

•Many leave an area when they are persecuted for political beliefs or wish to seek new freedoms elsewhere

•Many left East Germany during the Cold War because of the oppression of the Soviet Communist regime

•Many Cubans were drawn to the United States since the 1950’s because of freedoms not offered under Fidel Castro’s regime

Economic Factors

•Many leave an area when there are no jobs or extreme poverty exists

•Many left Southern Europe in the late 1800’s to find work in the United States

Environmental Factors

•Many leave when threatened by environmental disasters such as floods, crop failures, droughts, and earthquakes

•IN the 1840’s, many people left Ireland when potato famine destroyed a large portion of the nation’s diet

How the Characteristics of American Regions Have Changed Over Time

•The United States was once a vast wilderness until westward movement and immigrantion brought ideas and a new way of life changing the landscape forever

•U.S. population also began to shift in the 1970’s from the Northeast and Midwest to the Southeast because of technological advancements (e.g. air conditioning and hydroelectric power plants) Rustbelt

•This area has from westward and has become known as the Sunbelt

How Changes in Technology, Transportation and Communication have Affected the Location of American Economic Activities

•The U.S economy has become nationwide due to these factors

How Geographic Processes have Led to Changes in American Society

•Many Americans have left the inner cities in the 20th century for the suburbs – green, comfortable, rural-like areas on the outskirts of major cities