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)
