James Leigh, University of Nicosia James Leigh, University of Nicosia Tracy Bucco Cultural Geography
Dec 30, 2015
James Leigh, University of NicosiaJames Leigh, University of NicosiaTracy Bucco
Cultural Geography
Geography Fundamentals
Fundamentals
• Hemispheres, continents, oceans• Gravity, Tides, Seasons• Latitude measure N & S: parallel• Longitude measures E & W: touch
at poles• Main “lines”:
– GM– IDL– Equator– Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn– Polar Circles
• Time Zones, time change
National Geographic Globe, www.murrayhudson.com
www.maps.com
Continents
• Seven continents:– Europe– Asia– Africa– North America– South America– Australasia– Antarctica
• Subcontinents:– Central America– Middle East– Central Asia
Seven continents, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1918914/posts
CONTINENTSContinent Area sq miles Area sq kms % Land
Asia 44,485,900 17,171,557 30
Africa 30,269,680 11,684,096 20.4N America 24,235,280 9,354,818 16.3
S America 17,820,770 6,878,817 12.0
Antarctica 13,209,000 5,098,674 8.9
Europe 10,530,750 4,064,870 7.1Australasia 7,682,300 2,965,368 5.2
World Oceans by Size• 1. Pacific, 155,557,000 sq km • 2. Atlantic, 76,762,000 sq km• 3. Indian, 68,556,000 sq km• 4. Southern, 20,327,000 sq km• 5. Arctic, 14,056,000 sq km
World Oceans, http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/oceans.htm
Earth’s Seasons
Earth’s seasons, http://ncisla.wceruw.org/muse/earth-moon-sun/materials/build/material2F/index.html
Tides• Depend on the
gravity from celestial bodies– Mainly sun and
moon
• As the earth spins, the gravity of these bodies pulls the water outward to cause high tides
Tides, http://science.howstuffworks.com/tide-table1.htm
Longitude& Latitude
Longitude & latitude, http://members.shaw.ca/tannasl/image_links.htm
Maps, http://fr.mapsofworld.com/world-maps/world-map-with-latitude-and-longitude.html
Equal area maps show “correct relative size of
landforms.”
Equal area map, http://www.claymoreclan-design.com/html/promotional_maps.html
Mercator projection, http://www.culturaldetective.com/worldmaps.html
Equal area map, http://www.es.mq.edu.au/courses/GEOS264/maps/mapch2/projec.htm
24-Hour Time Clock• Conventional clock: 12 hours a.m. and p.m.• World clock: 24 hours
– Begins at midnight 00:00 hours until 23:00 hours (11 p.m.)
24 hours clock, http://amarketingprograms.com/The-24-Hour-Hot-Product-Formula-Review-Comments-and-Complaints.html
History and System• In 1884 major nations created a series of standardized time
zones.• Now world is divided into 24 time zones.• Based on GMT or UTC (Universal Time Coordinated) • Expressed from GMT e.g.:
– GMT +1 ……
– GMT -1 ……
– Up to GMT +/-12
• Adjusted in areas not to interfere with national and regional boundaries
• Adjusted in some areas for DST (Daylight Saving Time) for periods every year.
International Date Line• IDL is 180o E and W• Crossing the IDL
complicates time calculations (Brick wall).
• W E - lose a day,go to yesterday
• W E - gain a day,go to tomorrow
• Redrawn around regions
Taveuni, http://www.taveunidive.com/images/map_pacific.gif
Taveuni on IDL
World time zones
Time zones, http://www.radio6767.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5320
Taveuni dateline, http://confluence.org/special/dateline/pic2.jpg
Exploring Earth’s Countries
• ~200 countries
• Constantly changing depending on political and social forces
23 Top Nation’s
populations
• China 1.3 bn• India 1.1 • United States 300 m• Indonesia 242 • Brazil 186 • Pakistan 162 • Bangladesh 144 • Russia 143 • Nigeria 129 • Japan 127 • Mexico 106 • Philippines 88• Vietnam 84 • Germany 82 • Egypt 78 • Ethiopia 73 • Turkey 70 • Iran 68 • Thailand 64 • D R of Congo 61 • France 61 • United Kingdom 60 • Italy 58
Attraction of Cities• Civilization congregates in cities• Cities offer advantages:
– Trade– Services and amenities– Variety of jobs– Opportunity for social/cultural
interaction
• Cities attract those seeking urban lifestyle, variety, services, employment and culture
• Cities and urban areas are generally found on lowland flat areas (except Nairobi, San Francisco etc)
(Tracy Bucco)
World’stop 20cities
(population)
1 Shanghai 15 million China
2 Mumbai 12.9 India
3 Karachi 112 Pakistan
4 Buenos Aires 11.6 Argentina
5 Delhi 11.2 India
6 Manila 10.6 Philippines
7 Moscow 10.5 Russia
8 Seoul 10.4 Sth Korea
9 São Paulo 10 Brazil
10 Istanbul 10 Turkey
11 Lagos 9 Nigeria
12 Mexico City 8.7 Mexico
13 Jakarta 8.6 Indonesia
14 Tokyo 8.4 Japan
15 N Y City 8.1 USA
16 Kinshasa 8.1 D.R. Congo
17 Lima 7.9 Peru
18 Cairo 7.8 Egypt
19 Beijing 7.6 China
20 London 7.5 UK
(Tracy Bucco)