Chapter One

Thinking Geographically

Cultural Landscape

• Main thing human geographers are concerned with

• Visible imprint of human activity on the landscape

Sequent Occupance

• Notion that successive societies leave the cultural imprints on a place, each contributing to the cumulative cultural landscape

Scale Differences

Maps of Washington

State

Fig. 1-3: The effects of scale in maps of Washington State. (Scales from 1:10 million to 1:10,000)

Township & Range

System in the US

Fig. 1-4: Principal meridians & east-west baselines of the township system. Townships in northwest Mississippi & topographic map of the area.

Principal Meridians & BaselinesU.S. Land Ordinance of 1785

Layers of a GIS

Fig. 1-5: A geographic information system (GIS) stores information about a location in several layers. Each layer represents a different category of information.

Uniqueness of Places & Regions

• Place: Unique location of a feature– Toponyms Place names– Site– Situation– Mathematical location

• Regions: Areas of unique characteristics– Cultural landscape– Types of regions– Spatial association– Regional integration of culture– Cultural ecology

Situation: Singapore

Fig. 1-7: Singapore is situated at a key location for international trade.

World Geographic Grid

Fig. 1-8: The world geographic grid consists of meridians of longitude and parallels of latitude. The prime meridian ( 0º) passes through Greenwich, England.

World Time Zones

Fig. 1-9: The world’s 24 standard time zones each represent about 15° of longitude. They are often depicted using the Mercator projection.

Formal Regions: also called Uniform or Homogeneous

Fig. 1-10: Presidential election results by county & state illustrate differences in regional voting patterns.

Corn Belt

Formal and Functional Regions

Fig. 1-11: The state of Iowa is an example of a formal region; the areas of influence of various television stations are examples of functional regions. DISTANCE DECAY is an important concept associated with this type of region

Vernacular Regions – also called perceptual

Fig. 1-12: A number of features are often used to define the South as a vernacular region, each of which identifies somewhat different boundaries.

World Climate Regions

Fig. 1-14: The modified Köppen system divides the world into five main climate regions.

Density and Concentration of Baseball Teams, 1952 & 2007

Fig. 1-19: The changing distribution of North American baseball teams illustrates the differences between density and concentration.