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World Geography
Themes, Fact, and the Basics!
5 Major Themes of Geography
• Location: Most
geographic study
begins with learning
the location of places.
Location can be
absolute or relative.
– Absolute: Absolute location
provides a definite
reference to locate a place.
The reference can be
latitude and longitude, a
street address, or even the
Township and Range
system.
– Relative: Relative
location describes a
place with respect to
its environment and its
connection to other
places.
Place
• Place: Place
describes the
human and
physical
characteristics of a
location.
• Physical characteristics
include a description such
things as the mountains, rivers,
beaches, topography, and
animal and plant life of a place.
• Human characteristics include
the human-designed cultural
features of a place, from land
use and architecture to forms
of livelihood and religion to
food and folk ways to
transportation and
communication networks.
Movement
• Movement: Humans
move, a lot! In
addition, ideas, fads,
goods, resources,
and communication
all travel distances.
This theme studies
movement and
migration across the
planet.
Human-Environment Interactions
• Human-Environment
Interactions: This theme
considers how humans
adapt to and modify the
environment. Humans
shape the landscape
through their interaction
with the land; this has
both positive and
negative effects on the
environment.
Regions: Region divides the world into manageable
units for geographic study. Regions have some sort
of characteristic that unifies the area. Regions can be
formal, functional, or vernacular.
• Formal: are those that are designated by official
boundaries, such as cities, states, counties, and
countries. For the most part, they are clearly indicated
and publicly known.
• Functional: are defined by their connections. For
example, the circulation area for a major city area is the
functional region of that paper.
• Vernacular: are perceived regions, such as "The South,"
"The Midwest," or the "Middle East;" they have no formal
boundaries but are understood in our mental maps of the
world.
World Facts!!!
Age of the Earth: 4.6 Billion Years old!
Circumference of the Earth: 25,000
miles (Diameter: 8,000 mi)
Speed of the Earth making
Revolution: 700 mph
The Water area found on the surface
of the Earth: 361,132,000 sq km ;
70% Surface Area of the Earth
• We would Freeze if we did not Have???
CO2 (Ozone) and the Sun of Course!
Name of all one Continent?
• Pangaea
The Land we find on the Earth’s Surface?
• Tectonic Plates:
Earth's crust is broken into huge plates that
move apart or push together at about the rate our fingernails grow.
Convection of semi-molten rock in the upper mantle helps drive
plate tectonics. (50 Miles thick!)
Reason For Continents to Move…
• 3 ways-cause earthquakes, volcanoes,
mountains etc..
– A) Hit each other head on-Subduction: Ural
Mts., Himalayas; Mariana Trench (35, 827
feet deep!) FOLDS
– B) Move away from each other-Diverging:
African Great Rift Valley, Atlantic Mountains
– C) Slide against one another- NeutralCalifornia-Moving Towards Alaska.
Continent in all 4 Hemispheres?
• Africa
Windiest and Driest Continent?
• Antarctica!
Largest Island In the World:
Greenland
What do we call Global Winds?
• Polar Easterlies: 60
to 90 Degrees
Latitude
• Prevailing
Westerlies: 30 to
90 Degrees
Latitude
• Tropical Easterlies:
0 to 30 Degrees
Latitude
Where are Doldrums Located?
Around the Equator
• Sailors noticed the stillness of the rising (and not
blowing) air near the equator and gave the
region the depressing name "doldrums." The
doldrums, usually located between 5° north and
5° south of the equator, are also known as the
Intertropical Convergence Zone or ITCZ for
short. The trade winds converge in the region of
the ITCZ, producing convectional storms that
produce some of the world's heaviest
precipitation regions.
Highest Peak in the World: Mt.
Everest
29,035 Feet High!
Highest Peak in U.S.: Mt. Denali
20,320 feet
Largest inland Sea?
Caspian Sea
Largest Salty Lake:
Caspian Sea
Largest Fresh Water Lake:
Lake Baikal
Lowest Point on Earth?
The Dead Sea , Israel-Jordan
Average Global Temperature:
•58 Degrees
Where on the Earth’s Surface can
we find Life?
• Everywhere from the Poles to the
Equator=> Up to 11 mile High
Warm water along the Coast which
in turns Changes climate patterns:
•El Nino
Direction winds or ocean currents
move in the Northern Hemisphere:
• Clockwise!
Largest Rainforest:
Amazon
We are losing up to 5% per year!
½ of all the Earth’s Oxygen comes
From the Amazon!
Longest Day:
June 21st (Summer Solstice)
• Equinoxes are the time of the year when
the Day’s and Night’s are approximately
the same length.
Map Making:
Cartography
These measure or create a location
north or south of the Equator:
Latitude Lines
• Measures Location East or West of the
Prime Meridian: Longitude Lines
Start by creating a grid
• Latitude measures the north-south position of locations on the
Earth's surface relative to a point found at the center of the Earth
(Figure 2b-2). This central point is also located on the Earth's
rotational or polar axis. The equator is the starting point for the
measurement of latitude. The equator has a value of zero degrees.
A line of latitude or parallel of 30° North has an angle that is 30°
north of the plane represented by the equator (Figure 2b-3). The
maximum value that latitude can attain is either 90° North or South.
These lines of latitude run parallel to the rotational axis of the Earth.
• Longitude measures the west-east position of
locations on the Earth's surface relative to a
circular arc called the Prime Meridian
(Figure 2b-2). The position of the Prime
Meridian was determined by international
agreement to be in-line with the location of
the former astronomical observatory at
Greenwich, England. Because the Earth's
circumference is similar to circle, it was
decided to measure longitude in degrees. The
number of degrees found in a circle is 360.
The Prime Meridian has a value of zero
degrees. A line of longitude or meridian of
45° West has an angle that is 45° west of the
plane represented by the Prime Meridian
(Figure 2b-3). The maximum value that a
meridian of longitude can have is 180° which
is the distance halfway around a circle. This
meridian is called the International Date
Line. Designations of west and east are used
to distinguish where a location is found
relative to the Prime Meridian. For example,
all of the locations in North America have a
longitude that is designated west.
Some parts of this are language,
religion, government, education,
etc:
•Culture!
First Person to Reach the South
Pole:
• Norwegian Explorer.
Roald Engelbregt
Graving Amundsen
American Robert E. Peary was the
First to the North Pole!
The air we breath…
• 10 gases…Nitrogen, Oxygen, Argon,
Carbon Dioxide, Neon, Helium, Methane,
Krypton, Hydrogen, and Xenon
• Physical Map:
Shows names and
relative locations of
natural features
such as:
Mountains,
Forests, Deserts,
and Rivers/Lakes.
• Political Maps:
Show boundaries
between states,
countries or
providences.
Usually includes
names, capitals,
and major cities.
4 Different Types of Maps
• Thematic Maps:
Show single topics
such as population,
rainfall, land use,
climate, etc…
• Regional Maps:
Provide a close up
view of certain areas.
Gives detailed
information of that
area.