Introduction to Regional Geography

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• Introduction to Regional Geography

E.J. PALKA
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Know your Concepts, Ideas, and Terms
OUTLINE

• Geography The discipline
• Geographic Realms - guided by spatial
  perspectives and analyses
• Transition Zones boundaries not sharp
• Regions
• Formal
• Functional

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Spatial Perspectives
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GEOGRAPHY deals with spatial perspectives

• The study of place and space
• Studies the location and distribution of features
  on the Earths surface
• Studies human activity, the natural environment,
  and the relationship between the two
• Answers where and why
• Why is Timbuktu where it is, and why did the
  settlement evolve on this site?

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Geographic Realms
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CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS
Taxonomy kingdom, phylum, Class, order, family,
genus, species
Biologists
3 Major rock groups, subsidiary groups,
geological time
Geologists
Historians
Eras, ages, periods
Geographers
Geographic Realms and/or Regions based on sets
of spatial criteria
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GEOGRAPHIC REALMS
Realms are based on Spatial Criteria
I

• The largest geographic units into which the
  inhabited world can be divided
• Based on both physical (natural) and human
  (cultural) yardsticks

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GEOGRAPHIC REALMS
II

• The result of the interaction between human
  societies and natural environments
• A functional interaction
• Revealed by farms, mines, fishing ports,
  transport routes, dams, bridges, villages, and
  other features on the landscape

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GEOGRAPHIC REALMS
III

• Represent the most comprehensive and encompassing
  definition of the great clusters of humankind in
  the world today

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WORLD GEOGRAPHIC REALMS
Refer to Map on p. 4-5

• Geographic realms change over time.
• Where geographic realms meet, transition zones,
  not sharp boundaries, mark their contacts.

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Transition Zones
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TRANSITION ZONE

• An area of spatial change where peripheries of
  two adjacent realms or regions join
• Marked by a gradual shift (rather than a sharp
  break) in the characteristics that distinguish
  neighboring realms

Look at the transition zone (brown stripe lines
over Africa) on the map on page 4-5
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• Look at the boundary line drawn between the North
  America Geographic Realm and the Middle America
  Realm
• There is a strong Hispanic influence north of the
  boundary line and a strong U.S. economic
  influence south of the line.
• Therefore, the boundary line must be considered
  as transitional

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When these transition zones between realms are
large or lengthy, they are considered zones of
regional change. Example Kazakhstan between
Russia and the predominantly Muslim S.W. Asia
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• Geographic Realms change over time
• These changes may depend on world events
• Historic events demonstrated that colonization
  and Westernization changed the way we define
  realms today
• Future geographic realms may well be defined by
  what we do today that may shape changes to come,
  e.g. Chinas growth economic activities may
  introduce a new spatial organization of world
  trade patterns

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Regions
What constitutes a region? How do we define a
region?
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Regional Concept
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REGIONS

• Areas of the earths surface marked by certain
  properties
• Scientific devices that enable us to make spatial
  generalizations
• Based on criteria we establish
• Criteria can be based on
• Human (cultural) properties
• Physical (natural) characteristics
• or Both

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Consider this example We may all be familiar
with the term The Midwest. It reveals our
perception of place and our mental image of the
region But what exactly is The Midwest? Where
is its boundaries? What makes a place belong to
The Midwest?
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REGIONS

• All regions have
• Area
• Boundaries
• Location

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Regional Boundaries
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• Boundaries can be natural, e.g. a river or a
  ridgeline
• Boundaries can be artificial as defined by
  humans, e.g. national borders, school district
  boundaries
• Boundaries can be visible, e.g. the Mississippi
  River divides Wisconsin and Minnesota
• Boundaries can be invisible, e.g. going from one
  climatic zone to another
• Some boundaries are often transitional or
  gradual, e.g. cultural boundaries

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• Location
• Absolute location
• Relative location

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Formal Region
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FORMAL REGION

• Marked by a certain degree of homogeneity in one
  or more phenomena
• Also called a uniform region or homogeneous region

Examples Corn Belt Megalopolis
Refer to map of the corn belt on p.157
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Functional Region
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FUNCTIONAL REGION

• A region marked less by its sameness than its
  dynamic internal structure

• A spatial system focused on a central core
• A region formed by a set of places and their
  functional integration
• Also called a nodal region

Example Los Angeles Metropolitan Area
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Hinterland
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HINTERLAND

• Literally means country behind
• A term that applies to a surrounding area served
  by an urban center
• Urban center is the focus of goods and services
  produced in the hinterland, and is the latters
  dominant focal point as well

Periphery
Periphery
Core
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Scale
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GEOGRAPHICAL CLASSIFICATION
CONCEPT OF SCALE
The World
Realms
Regions
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Refer to the four maps of different regions at
different scales on 8
Although at different scales, the areas on each
of these maps can be called a region
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Natural Landscape Physical geography
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THE PHYSICAL SETTING

• Physical Geography
• Alfred Wegners
• Continental drift
• Tectonic plates
• Subduction
• Pacific Ring of fire
• Weathering
• Erosion
• Deposition

Refer to map on p.9 on tectonic plates
Refer to map on p.10 on Pacific ring of fire
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Continental drift Subduction
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• Climate
• Desertification
• Glaciation
• Ice Age

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CLIMATE

• Hydrologic cycle
• Precipitation patterns
• Climate regions

Refer to map on p. 14
Refer to map on p. 12
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Interglaciation Hydrologic cycle
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Climatic regions
Refer to map on p. 14-15
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Physiography
Physiography refers to the physical setting of
the land, providing general information about
landform and vegetation types.
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Culture
CULTURE

• Definition Shared patterns of learned behavior
• Components
• Beliefs
• Institutions
• Technology

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Regional Character
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Over time, these regional components (beliefs,
institutions, and technology) take on dominant
qualities that become regional characters.
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CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY

• A wide-ranging and comprehensive field that
  studies spatial aspects of human cultures
• Major components focus on
• Cultural Landscapes
• Culture Hearths
• Cultural Diffusion
• Cultural Environments
• Culture Regions

Not mutually exclusive - constantly interacting
with each other
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Cultural Landscape

• The composite of human imprints on the earths
  surface.
• Carl Sauers definition the forms superimposed
  on the physical landscape by the activities of
  man

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CBD, or Central Business District (generally
refers to the downtown financial and business
district of a city)
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Ethnicity

• Culture is not necessarily based on Ethnicity
• Different ethnic groups can achieve a common
  cultural landscape
• People of same ethnic background can be divided
  along cultural lines

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CULTURE HEARTH

• The source areas from which radiated ideas,
  innovations, and ideologies that change the world
  beyond

See map on next slide
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CULTURE DIFFUSION

• The process by which ideas, innovations, and
  ideologies are spread to other parts of the world
  from their origins.

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SEQUENT OCCUPANCE (term not in text)

• The process by which human occupation and use of
  the land change from one era to another.

Shatin, a neighborhood in Hong Kong, experienced
great changes from the 1940s photo to the 1990s
photo. The land use changed dramatically in 50
years.
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POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY

• A subfield within the human branch of geography
• The study of the interaction of geographical area
  and political process
• The spatial analysis of political phenomena and
  processes

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NATION
Must a nation be a place?

• Some examples of stateless nations the Cherokee
  Nation, the Kurds, the Palestinians

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KURDISH REGION
THE KURDS
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State European state model
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STATE

• A politically organized territory
• Administered by a sovereign government
• Recognized by a significant portion of the
  international community.
• A state must also contain
• a permanent resident population
• an organized economy
• a functioning internal circulation system

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NATION - STATE

• A country whose population possesses a
  substantial degree of cultural homogeneity and
  unity

An Example of a Nation-State Japan
Other Examples?
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• Geographic realms are mostly assemblages of
  states.
• Geographic realm boundaries may follow state
  boundaries
• The realm boundary can also cut across states,
  e.g. Chad and Sudan.
• New independent states may lie in zones of
  regional change, e.g. Belarus and Kazakstan

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Population distribution
Answers the question where population is found.
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Population density
Answers the question how concentrated is the
population.
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WORLD POPULATION DISTRIBUTION

• 4 major clusters
• 1) East Asia 2) South Asia
• 3) Europe 4) Eastern North America

Refer to map on p. 18-19
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Urbanization Megalopolis
Megalopolis A term first used by a Swedish
geographer, Jean Gottman, to refer to the large
urbanization belt in the Northeast seaboard of
the United States from Boston to Washington, D.C.
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Cartogram
A cartogram is a map-like diagram that purposely
distorts the physical space to represent another
set of thematic data, e.g. a population cartogram
will show China and India as the largest
countries in the world, based on population and
not area. (refer to population cartogram on p.20)
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Development Economic geography
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PATTERNS OF DEVELOPMENT

• Economic geography
• Economic conditions (World Banks groupings)
• High-Income
• Upper-middle-income
• Lower-middle-income
• Low-income
• Core areas versus peripheries

Refer to map on p. 22-23
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Core area Periphery
Core area refers to the clustering of richer and
high income countries.
Periphery refers to the clustering of poverty
and low income countries that are outside the
core area.
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Regional disparity
The gap between the rich poor countries creates a
Regional disparity. This gap seems to widen
and perpetuate due to physical reasons (climate)
as well as cultural reasons (resistance to
change).
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Advantage
Advantage the notion that some countries have it
and others dont because of factors such as
geographic location, natural resources, political
stability, labor skills, etc.
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Neocolonialism
Neocolonialism the notion that even after
nations become independent, they are still under
the economic control of rich countries. This is
seen by poor nations as an entrenchment of the
old system under a new disguise.
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Globalization
Globalization The gradual reduction of regional
contrasts at a global scale, resulting from
increasing international culture, economic, and
political exchanges.
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Examples of globalization
Chinese Supermarket in Paris, France
A McDonalds in a Beijing suburb
A Dunkin Donuts in Barcelona, Spain
The use of the English language
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THE GEOGRAPHERS PERSPECTIVES

• Regional Geography
• Systematic Geography

REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY
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Introduction to Regional Geography II (PAGES
14-37)