1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

1200 1250 1300 1350 1400 1450 1500 1550 1600 1650 1700 1750 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000 2050*

Pop

ulat

ion

in b

illio

ns

Source: United Nations Population Division

*Estimate

Human geography studies populationand culture, as well as languages, reli-

gions, customs, and economicand political systems. Cultureis made up of people’s beliefs,actions, and way of life.

The world’s population todayis more than six billion. Thepopulation density in someplaces is much higher than inother places. Population den-sity is the average number ofpeople in a square mile or squarekilometer.

The world’s population has beengrowing very rapidly since the 1950s (seechart). This increase is not dividedequally among countries or parts ofcountries. Urbanization, or the

growth of city populations, is happeningthroughout the world.

Differences in population are often theresult of differences in cultures. Socialorganization is the way members of a cul-ture organize themselves into groups. Inall cultures the family is the most impor-tant part of social organization. Groups ofpeople who speak the same languageoften share the same customs. Religionsupports the values that a group of peoplebelieve are important.

Both internal and external influencesaffect a culture. Cultural convergenceoccurs when customs of a society come incontact with those of another culture.Cultural divergence, on the otherhand, refers to the restriction of a culturefrom outside cultural influences.

THE STUDY OFHUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Population and Culture

SECTION 1

TEXT SUMMARY

C H A P T E R

3

12 CHAPTER 3 Guide to the Essentials © Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Population is dis-tributed unevenlyover the world.During the twenti-eth century, theworld’s populationgrew more rapidlythan ever before.

T H E BIG I D E A

1. In what kinds of places would youexpect to find the greatest popula-tion density?

2. Graph Skills What was theworld’s population in 1950?

REVIEW QUESTIONS

For many centuries,

the world’s population

grew at about the

same rate.

GRAPHIC SUMMARY: World Population Growth: A.D. 1150 to 2050

Objective 2.2.2: Population, Culture and Languages of the Region (Text pages: [3.1] 87 – 98) - Define the following terms: Population Density- Birth/Death Rate- Immigrant/Emigrant- Urbanization- Rural- Cultural Hearth- Language Families- Cultural Convergence- Diffusion- Cultural Divergence- QUESTIONS: 1. Why is the population density different in various parts of the world? 2. What are some possible positive effects of world population growth?

3. What are some possible negative effects of world population growth? 5. How can the movement of a group of people from one country to another cause cultural change? 4. List 10 elements of culture

IDENTIFYING MAIN IDEAS

Write the letter of the correct answer in the blank provided. (10 points each)

____ 1. The process in which peoples adopt thepractices of their neighbors is calledA. cultural diffusion.B. Industrial Revolution.C. Renaissance.D. migration.

____ 2. Which physical feature surrounds much ofWestern Europe?A. the AlpsB. oceans and seasC. the Northern European PlainD. rivers

____ 3. How does Western Europe’s proximity tothe sea affect this region’s climate?A. It makes the region prone to hurri-

canes.B. It makes the climate mild.C. It makes the region prone to tsunamis.D. It makes the climate very cold.

____ 4. The highest point of a mountain is called aA. summit.B. peak.C. slope.D. base.

____ 5. What is the euro?A. another name given for Western Euro-

pean nationsB. the period when people migrated to

Western EuropeC. a common market between countriesD. a single currency used by European

Union member nations

____ 6. Which of the following have affectedWestern Europe’s ecosystem?A. climate and historyB. economic activitiesC. human influence and varying altitudesD. migration and cultural diffusion

____ 7. Western Europe occupies how much of theworld’s landmass?A. 97 percentB. 3 percentC. 15 percentD. 54 percent

____ 8. Which of the following has encouragedpeople to migrate to Western Europe insearch of employment opportunities?A. economic growthB. the Industrial RevolutionC. the formation of the European UnionD. the strong agricultural industry

____ 9. The European Union was formed byA. companies that do business in Western

Europe.B. people who work in factories in Western

Europe.C. all the countries in Europe.D. six Western European nations that

wanted a “common market” for theirmutual economic benefit.

____ 10. A compulsory education is an educationthat isA. for people who want to pursue a profes-

sion in science.B. required for a certain number of years.C. based on mathematics.D. for students who want to learn fine arts.

TestC H A P T E R 1 4

48 CHAPTER 14 Guide to the Essentials © Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Name _______________________________________________ Class _________________________ Date ___________

There are about 200 independent coun-tries in the world. Four ideas define aplace as a country: clearly defined territo-ry, population, sovereignty, and govern-ment. Sovereignty is freedom from out-side control.

Countries have different governmentsystems. A country with a central gov-ernment that rules the entire nation hasa unitary system. A federation refersto a country in which the national gov-ernment shares power with state govern-ments. In a confederation, smaller lev-els of government keep most of thepower and give the central governmentvery limited powers.

Governments differ in authority. In anauthoritarian government, leadershold all, or nearly all, political power.Today the most common form of author-itarian government is a dictatorship, inwhich a person or small group holds mostpower. Dictators usually take power bymilitary force.

Throughout history, the most commontype of authoritarian government hasbeen a monarchy. Monarchs are heredi-tary rulers, such as kings and queens, whowere born into the ruling family.

In a democracy, people elect theirleaders. Most democracies have represen-tative governments in which adult citi-zens can vote for people to make laws.

A country’s economic system deter-mines how goods and services are pro-duced and distributed. In a traditionaleconomy, all goods and services producedare consumed in the family or village,

leaving little surplus for trade. Amarket economy allows indi-viduals or companies to makedecisions concerning productionand distribution. In a commandeconomy, a central governmentcontrols the economic system.

POLITICAL ANDECONOMIC SYSTEMS

SECTION 2

TEXT SUMMARY

© Prentice-Hall, Inc. Guide to the Essentials CHAPTER 3 13

1. How is the way a monarch getspower different from the leader ofa democratic country?

2. Diagram Skills In which eco-nomic system is the governmentmost involved?

REVIEW QUESTIONS

Determine Prices and Production

Government

OwnsBusinesses

Determines Production

OperatesBusinesses

Little Surplus

Little Exchangeof Goods

ConsumersLaws of Supplyand Demand Private

Enterprise

GovernmentRegulations

Produce for PersonalConsumption

Families

Countries have dif-ferent ways of organ-izing their govern-ments and theireconomies.

T H E BIG I D E A

GRAPHIC SUMMARY:World Economic Systems

Each economic system

has its own way of

organizing economic

activities.

Political and Economic SystemsDirections: As you read Section 2, complete the chart below by ranking political oreconomic systems based upon the characteristic indicated.

Name

Date Class

Many

ew inventions

he way Americans

ved in the 1920s. The

opment of radio, which

connected the lives o

millions across the

untry and around

the world, was

a true turning

Thnew on effimade fac

during the productive.

nodern lifeflocke

Guided Reading and Review32 Chapter 3 Section 2

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Political and Economic Systems

Political systems: confederation, federation, unitary systemCharacteristic: most to least central governmentauthority

Political systems: democracy, dictatorship Characteristic: most to least power of citizens

Economic systems: traditional economy, commandeconomy, market economyCharacteristic: most to least government control of the economy

Rankings

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

B. Reviewing VocabularyDirections: Read the statements below. If a statement is true, write T in the blank. If it isfalse, write F.

9. Sovereignty refers to the land and water of a country.

10. The United States is a democracy and a federation.

11. Great Britain is both a confederation and a constitutional monarchy.

12. A dictatorship is an authoritarian form of government.

13. In a monarchy voters elect a king and a queen.

14. A market economy is commonly associated with totalitarianism.

15. A country may have a unitary government and a market economy.

16. Many rural parts of less developed countries have traditional economies.

17. Command economies often exist in democratic countries.

Name

Date Class

People and Geography 43

Population

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Activity 1 Population Trends

Many tools are available for measuring trends in population. Tables provide exact dataabout a variety of factors. Diagrams or graphs can provide information at a glance.

Working with a Table of CountriesFactors such as birthrate, death rate, and the level of national development have an impact on the population trends of a country. Consult the Table of Countries on pages 742–753 of your textbook to answer the following questions.

Analyzing a Table1. What happens to a population when the birthrate exceeds the death rate? Examine the

summary information at the beginning of the table. Which category of countries has thegreatest difference between birth and death rates?

2. Population doubling time is the time it takes for a population to double at its presentrate of growth. Is doubling time usually shorter in developed nations or in developingnations? How does the population doubling time relate to future population density?

3. Latin America has one of the world’s largest populations of people under age 15. Whatdoes this information suggest about the future growth of this region?

Working with Population PyramidsPopulation pyramids provide a quick way to assess how rapidly or slowly a nation’spopulation is growing. In the pyramids below, shaded areas show the breakdown of agegroups for a given population. Study the shapes of the three pyramids. Pyramid 1, witha broad base of children under age 15, is typical of a population that is growing rapidly,as in Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America. In these places, each new generation islarger than the previous one. Pyramid 2 is typical of a fairly stable population.

Over 45

15 - 45

Under 15

1 2 3

Source: Gallant, Roy A. The Peopling of Planet Earth (New York: Macmillan, 1990), p. 105.

Analyzing Population Pyramids4. According to the annual growth rates listed in the Table of Countries on pages 742–753

of your textbook, which countries would be best represented by pyramid 2?5. What population growth pattern does pyramid 3 suggest? List three nations from the

Table of Countries that might be represented by pyramid 3.

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Interpreting Population PyramidsDirections: Compare the population pyramids below. Then, answer the questions thatfollow. You may use p. 218 of your textbook to help you.

Map/Graph Skills

1. Which age group is the largest in Pakistan?

2. Which three age groups are the largest in Spain?

3. Which age group is the smallest in Pakistan?

4. Which age group is the smallest in Spain?

5. In which country is a greater percentage of the population over 40 years of age?

6. In which country is a greater percentage of the population under 20 years of age?

7. In the 30–34 age group in Spain, which is greater, the percentage of males or of females?

8. How does Pakistan’s population growth rate compare with the population growthrate in Spain? How can you tell?

Pakistan

80+75–7970–7465–6960–6455–5950–5445–4940–4435–3930–3425–2920–2415–1910–145–90–4

MalesFemalesSpain

MalesFemales

0Percent of Total Male or Female Population

20 16 12 8 4 4 8 12 16 20 0Percent of Total Male or Female Population

20 16 12 8 4 4 8 12 16 20

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, International Data Base

Ages

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Date Class

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Comparing Education DataEducation is important in the countries of Western Europe, but there are differences ineach country’s education system. Compare and contrast the education systems ofseveral Western European countries and the United States below.Directions: Use the data from the Regional Atlas Database on pp. 300–301 in yourtextbook to make a bar graph that compares percentages of students in primary,secondary, and tertiary schools for the countries in the database. The first country hasbeen done for you. Fill in the key with the color or pattern you have chosen for eachlevel of schooling. After you have completed the bar graph, give it a title. Then answerthe questions that follow based on your graph and the information in the database.

Finland

Per

cent

age

of S

tude

nts

0

96100

88

80

72

64

56

48

40

32

24

16

8

France

Title: __________________________________________

Italy UnitedKingdom

United States

Key

Primary School

Secondary School

Tertiary School

1. Which country has the greatest percentage of students in tertiary school? Whichcountry has the lowest percentage?

2. As students move from primary school to secondary school, how does thepercentage of students in school change? What is the general trend?

3. How does the percentage of students in tertiary school compare to the percentage ofstudents in primary and secondary schools? Why do you think this is the case?

4. Does the information in your graph and in the database tell you how well thestudents in these countries are educated? Explain your answer.

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Comparing Health CareAfter the fall of communism, health care systems in Central Europe and Northern Eurasiachanged. Today each country struggles to build a system to care for the health of its citizens.Directions: Use the data from the Regional Atlas Database on pages 384–385 in your textbookto create a bar graph that compares life expectancy at birth for women and men in Poland,Romania, Russia, and Ukraine. After you have completed the bar graph, give it a title. Fill in thekey to the right of the graph with the color or pattern you have chosen for each gender. Thenanswer the questions that follow based on your graph and the information in the database.

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1. (a) In which nation do both men and women have the greatest life expectancy?(b) What is the life expectancy of men and women in that nation?

2. (a) Which country has the lowest life expectancy for both men and women?(b) How many fewer years are men expected to live in this country than in the

country with the greatest life expectancy?

3. Do men or women generally have a higher life expectancy?

4. Why might one nation have a much higher life expectancy than another?

Poland

Life

Exp

ecta

ncy

in Y

ears

58

70

71

72

73

74

75

76

77

78

69

68

67

66

65

64

63

62

61

60

59

Romania

Title:

Russia Ukraine

Key

Female

Male

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