Introduction to Geography

People, Places, and Environment, 6e

Carl Dahlman
William H. Renwick

Chapter 1: Introduction to Geography

Holly Barcus
Morehead State University
& Joe Naumann - UMSL
Conclusion from a healthy world
view

• "The deeper we look into

nature the more we
recognize that it is full of
life, and the more
profoundly we know that
all life is a secret, and we
are all united to all this
life."
• Albert Schweitzer

2
Overview: Chapter 1

• The Nature of Geography

• Evolution of the Discipline

• Some Basic Geographic Concepts

• Geography’s Themes and Standards

• Maps - Cartography
3
Geography

The study of the interaction of all

physical and human phenomena
at individual places and of how
interactions among places form
patterns and organize space.
The Nature of Geography

• Geographers apply the spatial perspective

whereas historians apply the time
perspective
• For maximum understanding, the
geographer must also be aware of the time
perspective and visa versa.

5
Geographic focus

• What geographers look for

– Distributions
– Distances
– Directions
– Shapes & forms
– Patterns
– Cores
– peripheries

6
Basic Geographic Concepts

• Location, Direction and Distance

• Size and Scale
• Physical and Cultural Attributes
• Attributes of Place are Always Changing – a
dynamic reality
• Interrelations Between Places
• Place Similarity and Regions

7
What Is Geography?

• Systematic Perspective
– Physical – subdivisions
– Human/ Cultural – subdivisions
• Regional Perspective
Tools of Geography
• Cartography (tool & means of expression)
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

8
Subfields of Geography

• Physical Geography studies • Human Geography studies

– Origin & nature of continents – Growth & distribution of
& landforms population
– Origin & nature of oceans – Nature of cities
– Climates (past & present) – Communications
networks
– Rivers
– Location of businesses &
– Glaciers
industries
– Others
• Soils
– Growth & collapse of
• Animals empires & nations
• Plants – Spread of culture traits
• Technology
• Trends & styles
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• Religions & ideologies
Geography is Broad and Integrative

• Broad:
Geography
frequently tries to
focus on the
“whole picture”
• Integrative: It
draws upon
almost every
academic
discipline seeking
patterns and
connections

10
Geography as Mother of many
Sciences

11
People as well as academic disciplines
have different perspectives

12
Awaken to the Wonders of Geography

13
Geography began with questions.

14
Origins of Geographic Study

• Natural human inquisitiveness

• Thinking geographically is one of the oldest
human activities. Perhaps the first geographer
was a prehistoric human who crossed a river or
climbed a hill, observed what was on the other
side, returned home to tell about it, and scratched
the route in the dirt. Perhaps the second
geographer was a friend or relative who followed
the dirt map to reach the other side.
– James M. Rubenstein in Contemporary Human
15
Geography
 Origins of Geographic Study

• Ancient civilizations/empires made

maps
• Greek philosophy
– Geography = geo (earth) + graphy
(inscribe – write about)
– Why are things where they are & why are
they the way they are – causations and
conclusions
16
History of Geography
• Classical Western World
– Erastosthenes (275-195 B.C.)
– Hipparchus (180-127 B.C.)
• Non-European World
– Al-Edrisi (1099-1154)
– Ibn-Battuta (1304-1378)
– Ibn-Khaldun (1332-1406)
– The Tribute of Yu
– Phei Hsiu
– Kangido 17
Since the 1400’s…
• General geography (1650)
– Bernhard Varen
– Special geography = regional geography
– General geography = topical/systematic
geography
• Human-environment tradition
– Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859)
• Cosmos
– George Perkins Marsh (1801-1882)
• Man and Nature (1864) 18
Environmental Determinism

• Humans must adapt to natural conditions

• Nature sets rather rigid parameters and
humans must act within them – culture will be
determined by them
• This was the prevailing view from Hippocrates
through the 19th century
– Friedrich Ratzel
– Ellsworth Huntington
– Ellen Semple
• Too rigid and absolute to be accepted today.
19
 Possibilism – a balanced
approach
• Nature may influence human action, but not
determine it
• Ultimately, humans make the choices for their
responses to natural conditions.
• Technology allows humans to alter or widen
the parameters set by nature
• A more realistic approach than environmental
determinism

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 Rationale for Geographic Study

“The information that any citizen

needs in order to make an
informed decision on an
important question of the day is
largely geographic.”
IRAQ
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Geography Today

• Association of American Geographers

– 55 topical specialties
– www.aag.org
– Where?, What?, When?, Why?, and Why there?
• Three approaches
– Area analysis (areal systems analysis)
– Spatial analysis
– Geographic information systems analysis

22
Area Analysis

• Site – (absolute location)

– Exact location of a place
• Situation or relative location
– Location of a place relative to other places
– Accessibility
– Constant change
– Scale
• Globalization Geographic
Theme: Location
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 WHERE IN THE WORLD IS?

Bosnia Bhutan
Kosovo Bangladesh
Chechnya Somalia
Vojvodina Macedonia
Kyrgyzstan Andorra
Rwanda Liechtenstein
Lesotho Tasmania
Myanmar Qatar 24
Regions (Geographic Theme)

• Formal regions
– Exhibit uniformity across a cultural or physical
characteristic
• Functional regions
– Defined by interactions among places
• Vernacular regions
– Widespread popular perception of existence

25
Formal & Functional Regions

• Formal
– Time zones
– States
– Cities &
Metropolitan areas
• Functional
– Chicago & its
hinterland
F
U
N
C
T
I
O
N
A
L
VERNACULAR REGIONS
Spatial Analysis

• Distribution
• Three properties of distribution
–Density
–Concentration
–Pattern

29
DISTRIBUTION
Areal (spatial) systems analysis

31
Movement (Geographic Theme)
• Distance
– Measurements
• Absolute
• Time
• Cost
• Psychological (perception)
– Friction of distance
• Distance decay
– As distance increases, importance of a
particular phenomena decreases
• Ex. Newspaper circulation
32
FACTORS AFFECTING MOVEMENT
Three Types of Diffusion

• Relocation diffusion
• Contiguous diffusion
• Hierarchical diffusion

• Barriers to diffusion
– Cultural barriers
• Oceans, deserts, distance, time
• Political boundaries, cultural differences
34
Hierarchical
Diffusion
4 Physical Systems

• Atmosphere (air)

• Lithosphere (Earth’s solid rocks)

• Hydrosphere (water)

• Biosphere (living organisms) 36

Earth’s 4 Interrelated Physical
Systems

37
Human-Environmental
Interaction (Geographic Theme)

• Reciprocal interaction
• Culture
– Language, food, religion, social ceremonies
• Natural landscapes
– Without evidence of human activity
• Cultural landscapes
– Reveals how humans modify local environment

38
 The Geographic Grid (absolute location)

• Longitude
– Measures distance east to west around the
globe beginning at the Prime Meridian
– Prime Meridian
– International Date Line
– 0-180 degrees East or West
• Latitude
– Location on the Earth’s surface between the
equator and either the north or south pole
– Parallels
– 0-90 degrees North or South 39
Locating Points on a Sphere: the Grid
System

• Latitude – angular distance measured north or

south of the Equator through 90º of arc. Degree
of constant length – 69 miles.
– Parallels – not lines of latitude
• Poleward reduction in length
• Longitude – angular distance measured east or
west of the Prime Meridian through 180º of arc.
Degree distance decreases poleward.
– Meridians – not lines of longitude
• All meridians have the same length ½ of
Equator 40
A Grid

Latitude and longitude may be combined on a

globe or map to create a grid. One specific
parallel will only intersect a specific meridian at
one place on the earth. Using the two together
allows for locating places precisely.

41
Creating
a Grid
Longitude and time zones

• Approximately 15º
of longitude wide
because 360º
divided by 24
(hours in a day)
equals 15º. Actual
boundaries vary
from precise
meridians to
accommodate
political and cultural
differences 43
The Reality of Time Zones
 Alpha-numeric Grid – commonly
used in atlases and on road maps

St. Louis is located in section D8 45

The 5 Themes of Geography
• LOCATION

• PLACE

• MOVEMENT

• HUMAN/ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION

• REGIONS

(See MyGateway – Supplemental Materials – Chapter 1

folder for a more detailed explanation of the themes and
the two subcategories each one has.
46
 The Five Themes in Education

• All elementary and

secondary textbooks
currently are built
around the Five
Themes of Geography
• The Five Themes are
easy to remember and
use

47
Quick Overview of 5 Themes – Click
on the picture below to see the video

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Map Making
• Cartography
• Scale
– Fraction 1/24,000
– Ratio 1:24,000
– Written statement “1 inch equals 1 mile”
– Bar style
• Detail and area 0 1 2 3 4
– Small scale map = less detail, large
denominator (1:1,000,000)
– Large scale map = more detail, small
denominator (1:100,000)
49
The Map is the medium or language
of geography

• Can convey much information quickly and

effectively
• Can be used to establish theories
• Can be used to solve geographic problems
• May reveal possible interactions and
connections
• Can illustrate patterns, flows, distributions,
connections, sequent occupance, etc.
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 Five Requirements of a Good Map

1. Grid – to facilitate locating places

2. Direction arrow or compass rose – to orient the
map to the real world
3. Scale – to translate map distances to real-world
distances
4. Key or Legend – to interpret symbols used on the
map
5. Title – to alert the map reader to the topic or
theme of the map
Other useful information: Copyright date & Projection
used
51
Map Scale – the concept

• Scales Of Area Shown – inverse

relationship between scale and area
shown.
– Large Scale Maps – show small areas
in great detail
– Small Scale Maps – show large areas
with less detail
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SMALLEST SCALE

LARGEST SCALE
 Simulating a 3rd
Dimension
• Topographic Maps and
Terrain Representation
1. Hachure Lines
2. Contour Lines
(topographic)
3. Combination Hachure &
Contour
4. Combination Contour &
Shaded Relief
55
Profile made from a topographic map.

56
For precision, every intersection should be plotted
 Symbol Choices (the Key)
• Point Symbols – dots or pictorial symbols or
proportional squares or boxes
• Area Symbols – differences in kind and differences
in quantity – differing colors often used
– Choropleth – differences in quantity
– Cartogram – differences in quantity
• Line Symbols – transportation – differing types of
lines and colors
– Isolines – lines of constant value such as contour lines
• Isobar – barometric pressure; isohyet -- precipitation
• Isotherm – temperature; isochrome – travel time from a
point
• Contour line – equal elevation
57
More Choices

• Map of culture regions or agricultural regions –

different colors (area symbol)
• Map of oil, automobile, or wheat production –
proportional circles or squares or multiple pictorial
symbols (one symbol = a given amount)
• Map of temperatures or precipitation – isolines
(isotherm or isohyet) – barometric pressure --
isobar
• Traffic volume or trade volume – flow lines
• Urban center locations – dot
• Urban size – proportional circles or other symbol
• Distribution of a phenomenon – dot distribution 58
Projections

• Scientific (mathematical) method of

transferring locations on Earth’s surface to
a flat map
• 4 types of distortion – all maps are
distorted in some way or other!
– Shape
– Distance
– Relative size
– Direction 59
 Types of Map Projections

• Cylindrical
• Conic
• Planar
• Equal Area
• Equidistant
• Conformal
• Special cases
60
Mercator Projection: Conformal –
useful for navigation

Proportional areas!

Equal-area Projection: good

for spatial comparisons.
Geographic Information
Technology

• Automated cartography
– Manual techniques expensive
– Computer Assisted Drawing (CAD)
• Sophisticated, specialized digital
cartography systems
• Easier, cheaper editing

62
Remote Sensing

Acquisition of data about

Earth’s surface from a
satellite orbiting the planet
or from high-flying aircraft
Satellites

• Landsat
– 1972; 1999
– Sensors measure radiation of colors of visible
light
– Pixel size (resolution): 59x59 meters
– IKONOS resolution: 1.5x1.5 meters

• Weather satellites
– Very large pixels
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Remotely Sensed Data

• Human activities
– Changes in plant growth
– Drainage patterns
– Erosion associated with agriculture
– Logging and forest management
– Wetland monitoring
• Wartime applications

66
Change in Forest Cover
GIS

• Database software for digital information

– Contains same information as regular database
– PLUS
• Spatial characteristics such as boundary information or
coordinates
• An identifying characteristic that locates the item in
space (i.e., address)
• Layers
– Information with specific characteristics
• Soils, hydrology, land ownership
– Can be combined for analysis
68
 GIS – Commercial & Educational
Applications

• After selecting the

data, the different
layers of information
are sandwiched
together
• Cartographer can
examine different
combinations and
select the best one
70
Digital Geographic Information

• Raster
– Grid cells of data
• Remote sensing images
• Pixels
• Vector
– Point, line, polygon data
– X and Y coordinates
• Different uses and spatial accuracies
71
Digital Data

• Conversion of paper to digital formats

• Digital database creation
– Remote sensing images
– Digitizing
• Tracing lines
• Available types of data
– Topographic maps
• DRG and DLG
– US Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetlands
Inventory
– Census Bureau TIGER files
72
GIS Spatial Analysis

• Calculating densities and distribution of

population
• “Counting” lakes
• Monitoring environmental changes with
satellite images
• Analyzing changes in food production and
land use

73
Purposely Misleading or to “See
With New Eyes”?
• Map projections can be selected to express
information as accurately as possible.
• Map projections can be selected to
purposely mislead the map reader.
• The map reader must be prepared to
distinguish truth from misleading
information.
• Map projections, or quasi-projections can be
selected or used to create an unexpected,
revealing view 74
Point of View or World View

75
See – I didn’t make it up!

76
 A Hemisphere is a
Hemisphere, is a
Hemisphere….

Land Hemisphere

Water Hemisphere

The possibilities are infinite 77

If the possibilities are unlimited . . . . .
How about a N. Atlantic Hemisphere?

78
Map Projection and Specialty
Examples

79
Dot Distribution

80
Choropleth Map

81
Cartogram

82
Making a Cartogram

• Computer programs can adjust the areas to the data,

such as population, and adjust the shapes to obtain a
recognizable configuration. 83
Flow-line Maps show direction and
volume or intensity.

84
Boundaries can really generalize a
transition zone -- climate

85
Boundary transitions
-- language

86
Animated Maps

• Show change over time such as population growth and 87

dispersion
Types of common maps

• Physical/Political map – combines political

boundaries and physical features and
possibly more – good general reference
• Topographic maps – Primary feature: uses
contour lines to give impression of the land
surface – also includes cultural features --
good for hiking, hunting, camping,
orienteering, for selecting potential sites for
human use
• Road or transportation map – shows various
means of transportation plus political 88
features
General purpose road maps

• Often published by individual states of US

– Often supplied in at least class-set quantities to
educators without cost
– Usually free to travelers at information/rest stop
locations, particularly near the state border
• Combine much information
– Some major physical features
– Roads, railroads, rivers, airports
– Parks, national forests, special tourist attractions
– State and county boundaries
89
THE JOY OF MAPS IS THAT IT OPENS A
LOVE OF THE WORLD FOR YOU!

90
Geographic Contribution

• Superb antidote to “tunnel vision” in an age

of specialization
– Live in a world of growing & strengthening
interconnections
• Scope of geography can be narrow or broad
enough to encompass the whole earth
• Has relevance to much that happens
• Spatial perspective reveals linkages and
interconnections
• Cartographic aspect is extremely useful
91
 What we do or don’t do, impacts the
environment – we must be responsible
world citizens. We have to live on earth with
the consequences of our actions.

92
End of Chapter 1

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