►  Migration patterns

§    About 3% of today’s population are migrants or displaced people

§    About half of all migrants move to either

► A developed country or

► A country with a booming economy

§    Industrial

§    Mining petroleum extraction

► An Urban World

§   All over the world, people are moving from the countryside to cities

§   Some cities are growing very quickly

§   Currently, 48% of the world’s population lives in cities

§   Traditionally, industrialized regions tend to be more urbanized (Fig. 1.18)

§   Over-urbanization: when the urban population grows more quickly than services to support the people (e.g., jobs, housing, transportation, sewer, water, electrical lines)

§   Squatter settlements:  illegal developments of makeshift housing on land neither owned nor rented by the settlers (more common in developing countries) (Fig. 1.19)

§   Urban landscapes are increasingly similar

Cultural Coherence and Diversity:  The Geography of Tradition and Change

► Culture can be thought of as the weaving that keeps the world’s diverse social fabric together.

► Western popular culture is spreading throughout the world.

► In response to the spread of a common world culture, many people are revisiting their traditional and historical identities as ethnic groups.

►  Culture in a Globalizing World

§    Culture:

► Is learned (not innate) behavior

► Is shared (not individual) behavior

► It is held in common by a group of people, empowering them with a “way of life”

► Includes both abstract (language and religion) and material (technology and housing) dimensions

► Is dynamic, not static

► Is a process, not a condition

► Is constantly adapting to new circumstances

§    There are always tensions between the conservative, traditional elements of a culture and newer forces promoting change and modernity (Fig. 1.23)

§   Folk or Ethnic culture:

►The most tradition-bound type of culture

►Living/dressing/eating/celebrating the way parents and grandparents did before

►ethnic identity may include a sense of feeling as a minority within a larger society

§     Popular culture: 

►  primarily urban-based

►  encompasses great heterogeneity

►  is constantly changing and fluid

►  relationships with people may be ephemeral, even shallow

►  materials are mass produced in international factories

►  Its quintessential landscapes include

§    The shopping mall

§    Suburban housing tracts

§     World culture: 

►  a subset of popular culture

►  transnational economies

►  electronic communication

►  international politics producing citizens of indeterminate national and home base

►  Example:  the internet

►   When Cultures Collide

§     Cultural imperialism: 

►  The active promotion of one cultural system over another

►  Example:  colonialism

§     Cultural nationalism: 

►  the process of protecting a certain cultural system against influences from another culture

§     Cultural syncretism or hybridization:

►  The blending of two or more cultures to form a new, synergistic culture (Fig. 1.24)

► Language and Culture in Global Context (Fig. 1.25)

§   Language and culture are intertwined

§   Language families: 

►A first-order grouping of languages into large units based on common ancestral speech

►Examples:  Indo-European and Altaic

§   Dialect: 

►a distinctiveness associated with a specific region

§   Example:  American & British English

§   Lingua franca: 

►a third language that is adopted by people who cannot speak each other’s language

§   Example:  Swahili is the lingua franca of eastern Africa

§   Today, English is increasingly the common language of international communications (Fig. 1.26)

►  A Geography of World Religions

§    Another extremely important and often defining trait of cultural groups is religion (Fig. 1.27)

§    Universalizing religion: 

► Attempts to appeal to all peoples regardless of place or culture

► Examples:

§    Christianity

§    Islam

§    Buddhism

§    Ethnic religion: 

► Identified closely with a specific ethnic group

► Faiths that usually do not seek new converts:

§    Judaism

§    Hinduism

§   Christianity

►2 billion adherents

►3 major branches

§   Eastern Orthodox

§   Roman Catholic

§   Protestant

§   Islam (Fig. 1.28)

►1.2 billion members

►2 major branches:

§   Sunni

§   Shiite

§     Hinduism

►  About 850 million adherents

►  Closely linked to India

§     Buddhism

►  350-900 million adherents

►  Derived from Hinduism

►  Widespread in Asia

►  Three branches:

§    Lamaism (around Tibet)

§    Mahayana Buddhism (East Asia)

§    Theravada Buddhism (Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka)

§     Judaism

►  About 18 million adherents

►  Israel is the only country where Judaism is the religion of the majority

►  Several branches

§     Secularization: 

►  when people consider themselves to be either non-religious or outright atheistic

Geopolitical Framework:  Fragmentation and Unity

►  Geopolitics:

§    The close link between geography and political activity

§    focuses on the interaction between power, territory, and space, at all scales

►   Global Terrorism

§     Attack on World Trade Center on September 11, 2001

§     Reminder of interconnections between:

►  political activity

►  cultural identity

►  economic linkages in the world

§     A product and expression of globalization

§     Asymmetrical warfare:  the difference between a superpower’s military technology and strategy and lower level technology and guerilla tactics used by groups like Al Qaeda and the Taliban

►   Nation-states

§     State:

►  A political entity with territorial boundaries recognized by other countries and internally governed by an organizational structure

§     Nation:

►  A large group of people who share numerous cultural elements such as language, religion, tradition, or simple cultural identity, and, more importantly, view themselves as forming a single political community (Fig. 1.31)

§     Nation-state: 

►  A relatively homogenous cultural group with its own political territory (relatively rare)

►  Centrifugal and Centripetal Forces

§    Centrifugal forces:

► Cultural and political forces acting to weaken or divide an existing state (Fig. 1.32):

§    Linguistic minority status

§    Ethnic separation

§    Territorial autonomy

§    Disparities in income and well-being

§   Centripetal forces:

►Forces that promote political unity and reinforce the state structure

§   A shared sense of history

§   A need for military security

§   An overarching economic structure

§   Enough money to build and maintain the infrastructure of highways, airports, and schools

►  Colonialism and Decolonialization

§    European colonial power has been an important influence

§    Colonialism:

► Formal establishment of rule over a foreign population (Fig. 1.33)

§     Decolonialization: 

► The process of a colony gaining (or regaining) control over its territory and establishing a separate, independent government (Fig. 1.34)

Economic and Social Development:  The Geography of Wealth and Poverty

►   Economic development usually brings increased prosperity

►   More and Less-Developed Countries

§     Today, we talk about “More Developed Countries” (MDC) or “Less Developed Countries” (LDC) (Fig. 1.37)

► Indicators of Economic Development

§   Development: 

►Structural changes in the use of

§   Labor

§   Capital

§   technology

►Example:  change from agricultural to industrial base

§   Growth: 

►Increase in the size of a system

►Example: the agricultural or industrial output of a country may grow

§   Measuring Economic Growth

►Gross National Income (GNI) (formerly referred to as Gross National Product, GNP): 

§   The traditional measure for the size of a country’s economy

§   The value of all final goods and services produced within its borders (gross domestic product or GDP) plus the net income from abroad

§   this omits non-market economic activity (bartering, household work), and does not consider the degradation or depletion of natural resources that may constrain future economic growth (e.g., clear-cutting forests)

► Measuring Economic Wealth

►GNI per Capita 

§   divide the GNI by the country’s population

►GDP Average Annual Growth

§   The average annual growth of the GNI over 5 years

►   Indicators of Social Development

§     Mortality and Literacy Rates

►  Mortality rate under 5 years: 

§    Number of children who die per 1000 people in the population

§    Influenced by:

►  Health care

►  Sanitation

►  Availability of food

§    Given for 1990 and 2004 so we can see change

§    Adult illiteracy rates for both men and women

► What factors influence illiteracy rates?

§    A country’s investment in education

§    Gender disparities (a high birthrate usually accompanies female illiteracy) (Fig. 1.40)

The End