National Geographic Geography Handbook

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The Gui River, Guilin, China ▼ The story of the world begins with geography—the study of the earth in all of its variety. Geography describes the earth’s land, water, and plant and animal life. It is the study of places and the complex relationships between people and their environment. The resources in this handbook will help you get the most out of your textbook—and provide you with skills you will use for the

rest of your life. ▼ Saharan sand dunes, Morocco

The Amazon, Brazil ▼

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Places and Regions Place has a special mean- ing in geography. It is not just a geographic location. It o understand how our world is connected, some also describes characteristics. T geographers have broken down the study of geography into five themes. The Five Themes of It might describe physical Geography are (1) location, (2) place, (3) human/ characteristics such as land- environment interaction, (4) movement, and forms, climate, and plant or (5) regions. You will see these themes highlighted animal life. Or it might in the Section and Chapter Assessments in The describe human characteris- World and Its People. tics, including language and way of life. Six Essential Elements To help organize their study, geographers often Recently, geographers have broken down the group places into regions. study of geography into Six Essential Elements, Regions are united by which are explained here. Being aware of these one or more common elements will help you sort out what you are characteristics. learning about geography.

The World in Spatial Terms Geographers first take a look at where a place is located. Location serves as a starting point by asking “Where is it?” Knowing the location of places helps you Physical Systems develop an awareness of When studying places the world around you. and regions, geographers analyze how physical systems—such as hurri- canes, volcanoes, and glaciers—shape the earth’s surface. They also look at communities of plants and animals that depend upon one another and their surroundings for survival.

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Geography Handbook

Human Systems Geographers also examine human systems, or how people have shaped our world. They look at how boundary lines are deter- mined and analyze why people settle in certain places and not in others. A key theme in geography is the continual movement of people, ideas, and goods.

Environment and Society How does the relation- ship between people and their natural surroundings influence the way people live? Geographers study how people use the environment and how their actions affect the environment.

The Uses of Geography Knowledge of geography helps us understand the relationships among people, places, and environments over time. Applying geographic skills helps you understand the past and prepare for the future.

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Hemispheres To locate places on the earth, geographers use Another imaginary line runs from north to a system of imaginary lines that crisscross the south. It helps divide the earth into half globe. One of these lines, the Equator, circles spheres in the other direction. Find this line— the middle of the earth like a belt. It divides called the Prime Meridian—on a globe. the earth into “half spheres,” or hemispheres. Everything east of the Prime Meridian for Everything north of the Equator is in the 180 degrees is in the Eastern Hemisphere. Northern Hemisphere. Everything south of the Everything west of the Prime Meridian for Equator is in the Southern Hemisphere. 180 degrees is in the Western Hemisphere.

Hemispheres

Northern Hemisphere Southern Hemisphere

Indian Ocean Asia Australia Africa

Africa North Pole Europe South Pole Atlantic Pacific Ocean Antarctica Ocean

Atlantic Ocean Pacific Ocean North South America America

Western Hemisphere Eastern Hemisphere

North Europe America Asia Atlantic Ocean

Africa Pacific South Ocean America Indian Ocean Australia

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ines on globes and maps provide information L that can help you easily locate places on the earth. These lines—called latitude and longitude—cross one another, forming a pattern called a grid system.

Latitude Lines of latitude, or parallels, circle the earth parallel to the Equator and measure the distance north or south of the Equator in degrees. The Equator is at 0° latitude, while the North Pole lies at latitude 90°N (north).

Longitude Lines of longitude, or meridians, circle the earth from Pole to Pole. These lines measure distances east or west of the starting line, which is at 0° longitude and is called the Prime Meridian. The Prime Meridian runs through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England.

Absolute Location The grid system formed by lines of latitude and longitude makes it possible to find the absolute location of a place. Only one place can be found at the point where a specific line of latitude crosses a specific line of longitude. By using degrees (°) and minutes (′) (points between degrees), people can pinpoint the precise spot where one line of latitude crosses one line of longitude—an absolute location.

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he most accurate way to depict the earth is as a Mapmaking with Technology globe, a round scale model of the earth. A globe T Technology has changed the way maps are gives a true picture of the continents’ relative sizes made. Most cartographers use software pro- and the shapes of landmasses and bodies of water. grams called geographic information systems Globes accurately represent distance and direction. (GIS). This software layers map data from A map is a flat drawing of all or part of the satellite images, printed text, and statistics. A earth’s surface. Unlike globes, maps can show small Global Positioning System (GPS) helps map- areas in great detail. Maps can also display political makers and consumers locate places based on boundaries, population densities, or even voting coordinates broadcast by satellites. returns.

From Globes to Maps Great Circle Route

Maps, however, do have their limitations. As Map A you can imagine, drawing a round object on a 120°E 180° N 120°W flat surface is very difficult. Cartographers, or W E mapmakers, use mathematical formulas to S transfer information from the round globe to

a flat map. However, when the curves of a 60°N globe become straight lines on a map, the size, shape, distance, or area can change or Great Circle Distance 5,450 mi. (8,769 km) Los be distorted. AngelesTokyo 30°N True Direction Distance 5,795 mi. (9,324 km) Great Circle Routes 0° Mapmakers have solved some problems of PACIFIC going from a globe to a map. A great circle is OCEAN an imaginary line that follows the curve of the 30°S 3,0000 mi. 3,0000

earth. A line drawn along the Equator is an 0 km 3,000 example of a great circle. Traveling along a Mercator projection

great circle is called following a great circle ° Map B 0 route. Airplane pilots use great circle routes because they represent the shortest distances from one city to another. 60°E

The idea of a great circle shows one impor- N ° 60°W 40 tant difference between a globe and a map. °N 60

Because a globe is round, it accurately shows North Pole great circles. On a flat map, however, the great circle route between two points may not appear N E S 120°E W to be the shortest distance. See the maps to the Los Great Circle Route Angeles right. Tokyo PACIFIC 120°W OCEAN Tru te e Direction Rou 3,0000 mi. 3,0000 180° 0 km 3,000 Polar Gnomonic projection

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magine taking the whole peel from an orange and Winkel Tripel Projection I trying to flatten it on a table. You would either have to cut it or stretch parts of it. Mapmakers face °W °W0° 60°E60 120°E120 ARC TIC CIRCLE a similar problem in showing the surface of the 60°N round earth on a flat map. When the earth’s surface is flattened, big gaps open up. To fill in the gaps, 30°N TROPIC OF CANCER mapmakers stretch parts of the earth. They choose EQUATOR to show either the correct shapes of places or their 0°

correct sizes. It is impossible to show both. As a N TROPIC OF CAPRICOR

result, mapmakers have developed different projec- 30°S tions, or ways of showing the earth on a flat piece LE °S TIC CIRC MERIDIAN OF GREENWICH (LONDON)

of paper. 60 ANTARC Goode’s Interrupted ▼ The Winkel Tripel projection gives a good overall view of Equal-Area Projection the continents’ shapes and sizes. Land areas in a Winkel Tripel projection are not as distorted near the Poles as they are in the

ARCTIC CIRCLE Robinson projection. 60°N

30°N TROPIC OF CANCER

EQUATOR 0° Mercator Projection TROPIC OF CAPRICORN 30°S

°E°E°E 180° 150°W150 120°W120 °W90 60°W6030°W30° °E0 °E90 60°S ANTARCTIC

CIRCLE ▼ Take a second look at your peeled, flattened orange. You might have something that looks like a map based on Goode’s Interrupted Equal-Area projection. A map with this projection ARCTIC CIRCLE

shows continents close to their true shapes and sizes. This projec- 60°N tion is helpful to compare land areas among continents.

30°N TROPIC OF CANCER

EQUATOR Robinson Projection 0°

TROPIC OF CAPRICORN °W 60°W600° °E 120°E120 30°S ARCTIC CIRCLE 60°N

60°S 30°N TROPIC OF CANCER ANTARCTIC CIRCLE MERIDIAN OF GREENWICH (LONDON)

EQUATOR 0°

TROPIC OF CAPRICORN 30°S

60°S

ANTARCTIC CIRCLE MERIDIAN OF GREENWICH (LONDON)

▼ The Mercator projection shows true direction and land shapes ▼ A map using the Robinson projection has minor distortions. Land fairly accurately, but not size or distance. Areas that are located on the western and eastern sides of the Robinson map appears far from the Equator are quite distorted on this projection. Alaska, much as it does on a globe. The areas most distorted on this for example, appears much larger on a Mercator map than it does projection are near the North and South Poles. on a globe.

Geography Handbook 7 Map Key An important first step in reading a map is to note the map key. The map key explains the lines, symbols, and colors used on a map. For example, the map on this page shows the various climate regions of the United States and the different colors representing them. Cities are usually symbolized by a solid circle (•) and capitals by a star (). On this map, you can see the capital of Texas and the cities of Los Angeles, Seattle, New Orleans, and Chicago.

Climate Regions of the United States

Desert Mediterranean Highland Steppe Humid continental Subarctic Humid subtropical Tropical Marine Tundra

Scale Bar A measuring line, often called Compass Rose A map has a symbol a scale bar, helps you figure distance on that tells you where the cardinal direc- the map. The map scale tells you what tions—north, south, east, and west—are distance on the earth is represented by positioned. This symbol is called a the measurement on the scale bar. compass rose.

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General Purpose Maps Spain: Political

Maps are amazingly useful tools. You 10°W Bay of Biscay 0° can use them to preserve information, to FRANCE

display data, and to make connections ANDORRA Eb ro between seemingly unrelated things. R . N Geographers use many different types of Douro R. Zaragoza Barcelona maps. Maps that show a wide range of W E PORTUGAL general information about an area are Madrid S called general purpose maps. Two of the 40°N us R. most common general purpose maps are Tag Valencia SPAIN Balearic physical and political maps. Islands quivir R. dal e a ua S Physical Maps ▼ G a n n e Seville r a M´alaga e r Physical maps call out landforms and i t e d water features. The physical map of Sri ATLANTIC GIBRALTAR M U.K. OCEAN tar Lanka below shows rivers and moun- Strait of Gibral tains. The colors used on physical maps 0 mi. 200 0 km 200 include brown or green for land, and blue Lambert Azimuthal AFRICA for water. These colors and shadings Equal-Area projection

Sri Lanka: Physical may show relief—or how flat or rugged the land surface is. In addition,

Point Pedro physical maps may use colors to show Jaffna elevation—the height of an area above sea level. A key explains what each color and symbol stands for. Gulf of Mannar ▲ Trincomalee Bay Political Maps of Political maps show the names and Bengal SRI LANKA boundaries of countries, the location of 8°S cities and other human-made features of a place, and often identify major Kattankudi Chilaw Matale physical features. The political map of Spain above, for example, shows the Elevations Pidurutalagala boundaries between Spain and other Feet Meters 8,281 ft. 3,280 1,000 Colombo 1,640 500 (2,524 m) countries. It also shows cities and rivers 650 200 380 100 within Spain and bodies of water sur- 0 0 N INDIAN rounding Spain. W E OCEAN Mountain peak National capital S Matara 0mi. 100 Major city 0km 100 80°E

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Types of Maps

Contour Maps ▼ Egypt: One kind of physical map, called a contour map, also shows elevation. A Population Density

contour map has contour lines—one Mediterranean Sea line for each major level of elevation. Alexandria Suez All the land at the same elevation is Cairo Canal connected by a line. These lines usually 30°N El Giza N form circles or ovals—one inside the EGYPT other. If contour lines come very close W E N S i R together, the surface is steep. If the le e R d . 0 mi. 300 S lines are spread apart, the land is flat e 0 km 300 a or rises very gradually. Compare the Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area contour map of Sri Lanka below to its projection physical map on page 9. TROPIC OF CANCER

Special Purpose Maps ▲ Some maps are made to present spe- Boundary claimed Persons per by Sudan cific kinds of information. These are sq. mi. sq. km20°N called thematic or special purpose Uninhabited Uninhabited Cities Under 2 Under 1 City with more than 5,000,000 people maps. They usually show specific topics 2–60 1–25 City with 1,000,000 to in detail. Special purpose maps might 60–125 25–50 ° 30 E 5,000,000 people 125–250 50–100 Over 250 Over 100

Sri Lanka: Contour present climate, natural resources, or population density. They might also display his- 100 Contour intervals in meters torical information, such as battle sites or territorial expansions. The map’s title tells Bay what kind of special information it shows. of Colors and symbols in the map key are Gulf of Bengal Mannar especially important on these types of maps. One type of special purpose map uses 100 colors to show population density, or the average number of people living in a square 8°S 200 mile or square kilometer. As with other 100 maps, it is important to first read the title

1,000500 and the key. The population density map of

500 200 Egypt above shows that the Nile River val-

100 ley and delta are very densely populated. 1,000 500 100 200

N 500 200 INDIAN W E OCEAN S 0mi. 100 0km 100 80°E Transverse Mercator projection

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Graphs Comparing World Languages A graph is a way of sum- marizing and presenting Chinese (Mandarin) 874 information visually. Each Hindi 366 part of a graph gives useful information. First read the English 341 graph’s title to find out its Spanish 322 subject. Then read the labels Bengali 207 along the graph’s axes—the vertical line along the left Portuguese 176 side of the graph and the Languages Russian 167 horizontal line along the bot- Japanese 125 tom. One axis will tell you what is being measured. The German 100 other axis tells what units of Korean 78 measurement are being used. Number of Native Speakers (in millions) Source: The World Almanac, 2003. Bar and Line Graphs Graphs that use bars or wide lines to compare data visually are called bar guage in millions. By comparing the lengths of graphs. Look carefully at the bar graph above, the bars, you can quickly tell which language is which compares world languages. The vertical spoken by the most people. Bar graphs are axis lists the languages. The horizontal axis especially useful for comparing quantities. measures the number of speakers of the lan- A line graph is a useful tool for showing changes over a period of time. U.S. Farms, 1940–2000 The amounts being measured 7 are plotted on the grid above each 6 year, and then are connected by a 5 line. Line graphs 4 sometimes have two or more lines 3 plotted on them. The line graph to 2 your left shows 1 that the number of farms in the Number of farms (in millions) 0 United States has 1940 1950 1960 1970 1990 20001980 decreased since Source: The World Almanac, 2003. Year 1940.

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Using Graphs, Charts, and Diagrams

Circle Graphs ▼ You can use circle graphs Major Automobile- when you want to show Producing Countries, 2001 how the whole of something is divided into its parts. Japan Because of their shape, circle graphs are often called pie graphs. Each “slice” Germany represents a part or per- centage of the whole “pie.” United On the circle graph below, States the whole circle (100 per- cent) represents the world’s France population in 2002. The slices show how this popu- South lation is divided among Korea the world’s five largest Production figures for five

continents. major auto-producing countries = 1,000,000 passenger cars Source: The World Almanac, 2003. Charts Charts present facts and numbers in an reference. Look at the chart called “Population organized way. They arrange data, especially Growth” on page 88. To interpret the chart, numbers, in rows and columns for easy first read the title. It tells you what information the chart contains. Next, read the labels at the top of each column and on the left side of the chart. They explain what the World Population* numbers or data on the chart are measuring. Latin America 9% North America 5% Pictographs ▲ Europe Like bar and circle graphs, pictographs 12% are good for making comparisons. Pictographs use rows of small pictures or symbols, with each picture or symbol representing an amount. Look at the pictograph showing the number of automobiles produced in the world’s five major automobile-producing countries above. The key tells you that one car symbol stands for 1 million automobiles. The total number of car symbols in a row adds up to the auto production in each Africa 13% selected country. Asia 61% Source: World Population Data Sheet, 2003. *Excluding Australia

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Geography Handbook

Climographs ▲ A climograph, or climate Climograph: Moscow, Russia Average monthly precipitation graph, combines a line graph °F °C in. mm and a bar graph. It gives an 100 37.8 20 508 overall picture of the long-term 90 32.2 18 457.2 weather patterns in a specific place. Climographs include 80 26.7 16 406.4 several kinds of information. 70 21.1 14 355.6 The green vertical bars on the 60 15.6 12 304.8 climograph of Moscow to your 50 10.0 10 254 right show average monthly 40 4.4 8 203.2

amounts of precipitation (rain, 30 –1.1 6 152.4 snow, or sleet). These bars are 20 –6.7 4 101.6 measured against the axis on the right side of the graph. The 10 –12.2 2 50.8 Average monthly temperature Average red line plotted above the bars 0 –17.8 0 0 Jan. Feb. Mar. April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. represents changes in the aver- Source: World Weather Guide. age monthly temperature. You measure this line against the axis on the left side.

▼ when comparing the elevations—or heights— Diagrams of an area. It shows an exaggerated side view Diagrams are drawings that show steps in a of the land as if it were sliced and you were process, point out the parts of an object, or viewing it from the side. The elevation profile explain how something works. An elevation of Africa below clearly shows sea level, low profile is a type of diagram that can be helpful areas, and mountains.

Africa: Elevation Profile

Mt. Kenya 17,058 ft. 16,404 ft. (5,199 m) 5,000 m 0 mi. 300 Margherita Peak 16,763 ft. 13,123 ft. 0 km 300 (5,109 m) 4,000 m Lake Victoria 9,842 ft. 3,000 m

Indian Ocean 6,562 ft. 2,000 m Atlantic Ocean Congo River 3,281 ft. 1,000 m

Sea level

0˚ latitude (Equator)

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Volcano Mountain peak

Strait Sound Valley Cape Island

Ocean Ocean Cliff

Isthmus As you read about world cultures Bay Mouth of and geography, you will encounter Harbor river the terms listed below. Many of the terms are pictured in the diagram. Gulf Delta Peninsula

Seacoast

absolute location exact location of a place on the earth glacier large, thick body of slowly moving ice described by global coordinates gulf part of a large body of water that extends into a shoreline, basin area of land drained by a given river and its branches; generally larger and more deeply indented than a bay area of land surrounded by lands of higher elevation harbor a sheltered place along a shoreline where ships can bay part of a large body of water that extends into a shoreline, anchor safely generally smaller than a gulf highland elevated land area such as a hill, mountain, or plateau canyon deep and narrow valley with steep walls hill elevated land with sloping sides and rounded summit; gen- cape point of land that extends into a river, lake, or ocean erally smaller than a mountain channel wide strait or waterway between two landmasses that island land area, smaller than a continent, completely sur- lie close to each other; deep part of a river or other waterway rounded by water cliff steep, high wall of rock, earth, or ice isthmus narrow stretch of land connecting two larger land continent one of the seven large landmasses on the earth areas cultural feature characteristic that humans have created in a lake a sizable inland body of water place, such as language, religion, housing, and settlement latitude distance north or south of the Equator, measured in pattern degrees delta flat, low-lying land built up from soil carried downstream longitude distance east or west of the Prime Meridian, meas- by a river and deposited at its mouth ured in degrees divide stretch of high land that separates river systems lowland land, usually level, at a low elevation downstream direction in which a river or stream flows from its map drawing of the earth shown on a flat surface source to its mouth meridian one of many lines on the global grid running from elevation height of land above sea level the North Pole to the South Pole; used to measure degrees Equator imaginary line that runs around the earth halfway be- of longitude tween the North and South Poles; used as the starting point mesa broad, flat-topped landform with steep sides; smaller than to measure degrees of north and south latitude a plateau

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Geography Handbook

Mountain range

Source of Glacier river Channel Highland

Lake Plateau Hills

Canyon

River Desert Upstream Downstream Plain Lowland Basin Tributary

mountain land with steep sides that rises sharply (1,000 feet Prime Meridian line of the global grid running from the North [305 m] or more) from surrounding land; generally larger Pole to the South Pole through Greenwich, England; starting and more rugged than a hill point for measuring degrees of east and west longitude mountain peak pointed top of a mountain relief changes in elevation over a given area of land mountain range a series of connected mountains river large natural stream of water that runs through the land mouth (of a river) place where a stream or river flows into a sea large body of water completely or partly surrounded larger body of water by land ocean one of the four major bodies of salt water that surround seacoast land lying next to a sea or ocean the continents sea level position on land level with the surface of a nearby ocean current stream of either cold or warm water that moves ocean or sea in a definite direction through an ocean sound body of water between a coastline and one or more parallel one of many lines on the global grid that circle the islands off the coast earth north or south of the Equator; used to measure source (of a river) place where a river or stream begins, often degrees of latitude in highlands peninsula body of land jutting into a lake or ocean, surrounded strait narrow stretch of water joining two larger bodies of water on three sides by water tributary small river or stream that flows into a larger river or physical feature characteristic of a place occurring naturally, stream; a branch of the river such as a landform, body of water, climate pattern, or upstream direction opposite the flow of a river; toward the resource source of a river or stream plain area of level land, usually at a low elevation and often valley area of low land between hills or mountains covered with grasses volcano mountain created as liquid rock or ash erupts from plateau area of flat or rolling land at a high elevation, about inside the earth 300–3,000 feet (91–914 m) high

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