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ELEMENTS
OF
HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
1. Cultural
3. Political
2. Population
5. Urban
4. Economic
HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
IS
THE STUDY OF PEOPLE AND CULTURES
1. PLACE: across the globe; many world cultures
(different language, religions, customs & beliefs).
2. LOCATION: population is unevenly distributed. People
cluster in areas where there is WATER (fertile soil,
adequate supply of water & a climate mild enough to
grow crops)
3. REGION: political regions, population, economic
development & culture.
4. MOVEMENT: people from one culture travel or move
to regions with different cultures.
5. HUMAN/ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION: cultures use
surroundings to satisfy diverse needs, economic
systems & values.
1. CULTURE:
The knowledge, attitudes, beliefs &
behaviors that are shared and passed on by a
group of people (their way of life or “personality”)
2. CULTURE is what makes us all similar and different…
can tie us to one group & separate us from another.
(It is the patterns for behavior that helps people “fit” into a group).
3. TWO MAJOR ASPECTS OF CULTURE:
A. Material Culture: Objects or “stuff” - things that
people build, make & grow
EX: buildings, food, clothing, technology, arts & crafts
“Stuff” produces the big picture…how material culture
changes an area is its Cultural Landscape (its
personality)
B. Non-Material Culture: Ideas & Beliefs – ethics &
values, language, religious & spiritual beliefs,
superstitions, traditions & customs
4. MOVEMENT OF CULTURE
Some major changes in a culture can occur
through
A. INNOVATION: taking existing technology and
resources and creating something new to meet
a need (invention, innovation & discovery)
1. CULTURAL HEARTHS:
Places from which important ideas
(innovations & inventions) &
technology begin and spread
to other cultures.
2. Early Cultural Hearths:
a. EGYPT (Nile River Valley)
b. IRAQ (Tigris/Euphrates River Valley)
c. INDIA (Indus River Valley)
d. CHINA (Hwang He River Valley)
e. AMERICA (Mesoamerica)
3. Cultural Hearths began in river valleys
4. River Valleys provided
a. Arable land (fertile soil, water & mild temperature)
b. Transportation & Trade
c. Protection
5. Discoveries & innovations were made &
spread to other cultures
a. Domestication of animals & plants (no
longer hunters & gatherers)
b. Division of Labor
c. Developed writing, science &
mathematics; invented useful “stuff”
MOVEMENT of CULTURE, cont.
B. CULTURAL DIFFUSION:
the spread of people, goods
& ideas to surrounding cultures.
1. Barriers to Diffusion:
a. Physical – Deserts, Mountains, Bodies of Water
b. Human – Language, Religion, Barriers like the
Great Wall of China & Berlin Wall
HOW DOES DIFFUSION OCCUR TODAY?
Today, diffusion is spread rapidly with
communications technology,
modern transportation & global trade
(companies like McDonalds/ Nike…)
5. ACCULTURATION:*
The process of one group
accepting, borrowing or
making the ideas or traits of
another culture part of their
own culture
* Acculturation can change
a culture.
7. CULTURAL LANDSCAPE
* A Core Element of Geography:
a visible imprint of human activity &
culture on the landscape (surroundings).
Ex: Layers of buildings, forms & artifacts
sequentially imprinted on an area by
human occupants (a timeline of human
culture & change…many changes-overtime can be seen)
Where is this evident at KHS?
9. RELIGION: a belief in a supernatural power or
powers regarded as creators and maintainers of the
universe.
a. 3 Categories
1. Monotheism: belief in one God
2. Polytheism: belief in more than one God
3. Animism: traditional/spiritual (often with belief in
divine forces in nature)
b. Religions spread across the world through diffusion
and converts.
c. Major religions:
1. Three major religions: Judaism, Christianity &
Islam all began in Southwest Asia (all monotheistic)
2. Three of world’s major religions: Hinduism,
Buddhism and Sikhism are concentrated in South
Asia. Hinduism, one of the world’s oldest religions (c.
5, 000 yrs. old) is considered polytheistic.