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pDid You Know?Did You Know?

The term geography comes from the Greek word geographia and means “Earth’sdescription.” Geography is the science of studying Earth as the home ofhumans. Geography helps us understand ourselves, the places where we live,our relationships with the natural environment, and our interdependencewith other places and people in the United States and throughout the world.Studying Georgia’s geography helps us answer such questions as why theIndians lived in certain areas of the state, why early settlers moved to par-ticular areas, how the location of a town affects its economy, and even whydepartment stores carry certain kinds of clothing.

Now that you can define the word geography, what do you need to knowto become a “geographically informed” person?

Understand the world in spatial terms: Be able to use maps and othertools to acquire, process, and report information; use mental mapsto organize information about people, places, and environments; analyzethe spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth’ssurface;Understand places and regions: Comprehend the physical and humancharacteristics of places; realize that people create regions to interpretEarth’s complexity; know how culture and experience influence people’sperceptions of places and regions;Understand Earth’s physical systems: Know the physical processes thatshape the patterns of Earth’s surface; understand the characteristics andspatial distribution of ecosystems on Earth’s surface;Understand the human systems of Earth: Know the characteristics,distribution, and migration of human populations on Earth; understandEarth’s cultural mosaics, the concept of economic interdependence, theprocess, patterns, and functions of human settlement, and the influenceof the forces of cooperation and conflict;Understand environment and society: Comprehend how human actionsmodify the physical environment, how physical systems affect human sys-tems, and the changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, andimportance of resources; and, finally,Understand the uses of geography: Realize how to apply geography tointerpret the past, to understand the present, and to plan for the future.

Location, Location, LocationWhen we talk about studying geography, we are simply describing a par-

ticular part of Earth—Georgia. So, as geographers, where are we?One basic geographic skill is the ability to describe where a place is located.

Location is either relative or absolute. Relative location describes where a place

As you read, look for:• six uses of geography,• the difference betweenrelative and absolute location,• use of latitude and longitudeto describe location, and• vocabulary terms: geogra-phy, relative location, absolutelocation, hemisphere, axis,equator, parallels, meridians,prime meridian, and longitude.

What is Geography?Section PreviewSection Preview

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Section 1: What is Geography? 5

?On a map, you need to know

where the cardinaldirections—north, south,

east, and west—are. It is alsoimportant to know the

intermediate directions—northwest, northeast,

southwest, and southeast.One symbol on a map helps

you locate those directions. Itis a compass rose (below).

is located compared with other places. For example, Darien is located nearBrunswick; Dalton is located eighty-eight miles northwest of Atlanta; FortBenning is southeast of Columbus. You might describe your school’s loca-tion by saying that it is near a certain mall or a particular business. Now, youtry it. What is the relative location of your house or apartment to your school?

Absolute location identifies a precise position on Earth’s surface. In yourhometown, your street address designates a local location and defines theabsolute location of your home. To find the absolute location of states orcountries, we use maps and globes and we need markers more precise thanstreet addresses.

Globes are round in shape like a sphere and are scale models of Earth.Spheres can be divided into two halves called hemispheres. If you examinethe globe in your classroom, you will see that the globe turns on an axis, animaginary straight line around which an object rotates. The north end ofthe axis is called the North Pole. The south end of the axis is called the SouthPole. The line that goes around the globe exactly halfway between the twopoles is called the equator. It divides Earth into two hemispheres. Somethingthat may surprise you is that right this minute you are actually moving about1,000 miles per hour. That is because Earth, which is about 25,000 milesaround at the equator, is moving on its axis every twenty-four hours. Now,that’s something to think about!

The northern hemisphere extends from the equator to the North Pole,and the southern hemisphere extends from the equator to the South Pole.The United States is located in the northern hemisphere, but there is moreto the absolute location of our state.

Map 1The Hemispheres

Map Skill: What othercountries in North America liein the northern hemisphere?

North Pole

PrimeMeridian

0°

Equator 0°

90°

North Pole

PrimeMeridian

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Equator 0°

90°

Northern Hemisphere

Southern Hemisphere

Eastern Hemisphere

Western Hemisphere

6 Chapter 1: Where in the World is Georgia?

Equator 0°

North Pole

PrimeMeridian

0°

Equator 0°

90°

Latitude and LongitudeExamine the globe and you will find lines that run east and west side by

side with the equator. These lines are called parallels. They are used to de-scribe latitude, which is the distance north or south of the equator. Sincethere is only one equator, there is only one line on a globe which is 0° lati-tude. All of the other lines or parallels mark distances north (N) or south (S)of the equator.

These distances are measured in units called degrees. The North Pole islocated at 90° N, and the South Pole is found at 90° S. Each degree can bedivided into smaller measurements called minutes so that each degree con-tains 60 minutes. Each minute can be divided into even smaller measure-ments called seconds, so that each minute contains 60 seconds. Locationsare usually written in just degree and minute designations. In expressing

latitude, you must always add theletter N or S to the number of de-grees. For example, the port of Sa-vannah is located at latitude 32° 02'N. Georgia is located between 30° 21'and 35° N latitude. However, that isonly one of the pieces of informa-tion needed for an absolute location.

Examine the globe again andyou will find lines that run from onepole to the other. These lines run-ning north and south are called

Map 2Georgia in theUnited States

Map Skill: Without using theexamples already used,describe Georgia’s relativelocation.

Did You Know?Did You Know?

Section 1: What is Geography? 7

?The geographic center of

North America is located inRugby, North Dakota. Rugby

is 1,500 miles from thePacific Ocean, the Atlantic

Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, andthe Gulf of Mexico.

It’s Your TurnIt’s Your Turn

Map 3Latitude andLongitude

Map Skill: What Georgiacity is located at 33° 57' Nlatitude and 83° 19' Wlongitude?

meridians. The starting point forthe meridians is the prime merid-ian, a line running from the NorthPole through England and part ofAfrica to the South Pole. Meridiansmeasure degrees of longitude,which tells how far east or west ofthe prime meridian a place is lo-cated. The prime meridian is locatedat 0° longitude. All locations west ofthe prime meridian are numberedand labeled with the letter W, and alllocations east of the prime meridianare numbered and labeled with theletter E. Georgia is located between80° 50' and 85° 36' W longitude.

If you wrote a pen pal in Austra-lia and described where you lived,how would you describe Georgia’srelative location? You might say thatGeorgia is located in the northernhemisphere, or in North America,or in the southeastern corner of theUnited States. You might add thatfive other states touch Georgia bor-

ders—Florida on the south, Alabama on the west, Tennessee and North Caro-lina on the north, and South Carolina along the Savannah River on thenortheast. You can include that Georgia is also bordered by the Atlantic Oceanon the east.

However, if you wanted to shareGeorgia’s absolute location with yourpen pal, you would have to say thatGeorgia is located between 30° 21'and 35° N latitude and between 80°50' and 80° 36' W longitude.

In terms of land area, Georgia isthe largest state east of the MississippiRiver. Its greatest length is 315 miles,and its greatest width is 250 miles.There are 58,910 square miles of landand 854 square miles of inland wa-ter in Georgia. The state has almostas much land as all of the New En-gland states combined. The geo-graphic center of the state is locatedat a point 18 miles southeast of Ma-con in Twiggs County.

8 Chapter 1: Where in the World is Georgia?

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1. What is your relative,absolute, and locallocation? Can youdetermine your absolutelocation from the map onthis page?

2. Define latitude andlongitude.

3. If you go to five differentInternet sites, you willprobably find five differentfigures for Georgia’s landarea. Why would that bethe case? Check it out.