c01IntroductionWorldRegionalGeography.indd 2

ARCTIC Queen Elizabeth ARCTIC OCEAN North Land 80° OCEAN Islands 80° 80° Franz Josef Land 80° G D Svalbard a Laptev New Siberian R AN Se East Parry Islands E E L Novaya Zemlya a Sea Islands Beaufort Baffin N N ar TAYMYR PEN. Siberian Sea Point Barrow L E Barents Sea K Sea Victoria Baf Bay A E Norwegian BOOTHIA n D N R it Island Is av G a PEN. l is D trait Sea IA Y CENTRAL tr Arctic Circle an S rk S V KOLA PEN. e Arctic Circle A tr a n A S d a nm A is E e SIBERIAN L M R i e e Denali (6,190 m, 20,310 ft.) t D N n G g Faeroe I y a Y L in C U WEST N K

RA A r N D O

e A GE Iceland Islands R A R

B K T SIBERIA K M AS C N A L O R I Hudson SIBERIAN C A A C UNGAVA Shetland Islands A L Ob PLATEAU H 60° S O 60° A 60° A Gulf of T Bay PEN. Labrador C a D M T K L Cape e PLAIN K S S N Bering ALA M C O Sea North S A T Sea of A Bering N. Alaska O Farwell c L S P E Kodiak U W ti W E P K L l . N Sea Sea N G A Sea Ba LO Okhotsk IN Island Queen T N N a S Y D N EA Lake U h A IA Ireland OP g L c I R T Britain EUR l A

nds e n Charlotte N N S H Baikal Sakhalin T . la r S D o Cape Lopatka

Is T E E N OR n s

tia n Islands M R A Celtic N V Island Aleu i a U I u t N O R T H A L nub KAZAKH A l e . A H Sea Da e A L E U RAS L I A T T

A Vancouver Island O G T e I EPR S R Gre D Aral Sea UPLANDS A R l T at P S N E N H A Lak L IA S Y E I i E S e E A U s . Bay of P I Lake M S r D O A H L A S C T S N S E u A Newfoundland T P T Biscay d BALKAN A a Balqash . D C N r C s N R K ia p A I A S H M t O i Black Sea S B N A c i I

PENINSULA a O N T P S N AME R ICA G H C N Corsica e n A Hu Hokkaido Cape A Cape Cod IBERIAN a Mt. Elbrus I an C East Sea N S M I A A L zo S T g I S E Sardinia TAKLA MAKAN IN 40° Mendocino E i H 40° 40° re e A H (Sea of Japan) 40° V (5,642 m, 18,510 ft.) T R s s PENINSULA a I A C Z N A s e U DESERT U R e i M d i A D KOREAN Honshu D N s A N O A t I H

s e T A I L Sicily G H S M

i N Strait of U K PEN. p A Cape Hatteras r i R U N N I g K N U S . r Cyprus L Yellow

p P Gibraltar T S a n SYRIAN r O CENTRAL QINGHAI-XIZANG

P A e i S IRANIAN I H i M a n s DESERT n S A S e a Sea B L S E M PLATEAU HIGHLANDS I PLATEAU R ATLANTIC OCEAN A u d A O M io P s L p Jian Kyushu Shikoku J G S T A L Bermuda nd T h U u A g A G S Midway I r A sla A r N g u E a a I a s L East O n O eir te P T A n Guadalupe C l R Mad s A a f C N e G Y Islands C d IN A A o R AN NAFUD rs S S h China f S L C A e LIBYAN ia a C I i H F C I I l DESERT n n G YUNNAN Sea D E PACIFIC a M Canary Islands F w O a R E DESERT e G g AN Mt. Everest R Gulf of G a l E A O A Z u e ES ii R if N Bahamas G Z R lf G s P PLATEAU a R G u N o D R A lf LA M n r T A . N of IN (8,850 m, Iwo Jima R A S e ARABIAN I IA n A I Mexico Puerto Rico Trench H T Om Taiwan

s Tropic of Cancer i E E A M d an e Tropic of Cancer P L l a N M Cuba 29,035 ft.) an Cabo k

d T A YUCATÁN Milwaukee Deep F LI Ra’s al o

A D Cape Blanc U PENINSULA A n Oahu s Bay of Hispaniola W g h Mariana

San Lucas L R PEN. (-8,605 m, -28,232 ft.) SAHARAO NUBIAN KH DECCAN S

20° 20° 20° J S L Hadd T IN c 20°

E Campeche D TIBESTI A E A Hainan Cape DESERT e UB PLATEAU D n

L R S H Islands Wake a O e Hawai’i Revillagigedo Puerto Rico E AIR MTS. T G Philippine

Corrientes C r Island o M Jamaica Luzon P COPYRIGHTED MATERIALE N Bay of Cape Verde i H h M T i d Arabian R R c Islands d A I il r l N E N i Sea e Islands n p a A Caribbean Sea Cape T Bengal o m L G d A p Guam A F R I C A an Socotra Sea a S n e d H a South i a n ISTHMUS OF r Verde f A c A n i Challenger Deep i N lf o A m Samar r c Gu c E e a TEHUANTEPEC a ISTHMUS SAHELi T Andaman Is. M e g Cape a a G. of l T Lakshadweep S China A (-10,920 m, -35,872 ft.) Marshall r OF PANAMA e d n e r Thailand r n A Gwardafuy iv Sri Lanka c s c S

h W S ETHIOPIAN e M Sea Sulu h Caroline Islands Islands A D s e A N .

PACIFIC S M S a L L A A d e Nicobar Is. A Sea

Panama Canal O G D L HIGHLANDS a Y Mindanao i i U H n y I A A

n N H N A IG P OCEAN a E A I G H Gulf of H e L A l N Celebes a Archipiélago de Colón L N Cape Guinea . D Bioko s S L S Lake Sea M I (Galápagos Islands) Palmas Príncipe I u M e s Equator CONGO Victoria m Equator C l Borneo a 0° n l São Tomé e a 0°

o A n Mt. Kilimanjaro t Sulawesi a a o v New Hanover AMAZON az KENYA e l m n i Ireland Nauru n A Annobón r (Celebes) u w BASIN g (5,895 m, 19,340 ft.) a e Phoenix Cape d Bismarck N n d l Ne o HIGHLANDS s k w G Sea S Islands N o s SELVAS Lopez l e a Java Sea u ui l e l n o e Lake e M Banda Sea e m Aguja Point M Cape Branco h s a o P Ascension y c Flores New n O Tanganyika e J Is C D BASIN S a . OCEAN e N v Jawa Britain s Samoa o T Comoros Christmas Island a (Java) Arafura Sea Cape o r Sumba s Î Marquesas A T Timor Islands k l e u E Ñ A SOUTH Is. Cocos Islands r e Timor ARNHEM York s Lake e n c h Sea G i I Islands - u (Keeling Islands) Gulf of s T PLATEAU R l u C S BRAZILIAN Malawi iq a a l C Carpentaria E h b e A Coral r G Fiji Tonga n m h n A c R d i m a P T a Tahiti o i HIGHLANDS St. Helena n INDIAN KIMBERLEY E R n a c OCEAN French l a N B Islands s t N ç T Sea e e s A E o M A h PLATEAU R A Viti Levu r Society Islands o a IA Polynesia M C A R T g Mauritius North West a T I M R 20° 20° 20° AMERICA 20° 20° B a 20° 20° T I 20° a E Austral D Cape r O S d R g E KALAHARI Réunion D O O a WESTERN GREAT R New n Islands e C P S I E

o A Cape Frio E M ARTESIAN V E Caledonia n M DESERT R Tropic of Capricorn T H PLATEAU I

Tropic of Capricorn U A D F Pitcairn C T BASIN

c C I N h N Rapa Nui A

c Island h R G

n (Easter Island) N G

e AUSTRALIA R r

T

Mt. Aconcagua ATLANTIC OCEAN NULLARBOR A N

c (6,960 m, 22,834 ft.) T e PLAIN Great G

d a Cape Naturaliste Austrlian Bight E

Islas A Cape of m r Punta del Este Tristan da Cunha Good Hope Cape e Juan Fernández PAMPAS Mt. Kosciuszko Tasman North K Agulhas Île Amsterdam I Cape Group (2,228 m, 7,310 ft.) Cape Sea Island San Antonio Howe

40° 40° 40° N 40° 40° 40° 40° 40°

A Chatham Island I Tasmania South N

CHONOS S Island ARCHIPELAGO O Crozet Islands G Prince Edward

A Islands T Falkland

A

P Islands South Georgia South Kerguelen TIERRA Island Sandwich Islands DEL FUEGO Islands Cape Horn 60° 160° 140° 120° 60° 60° 80° 60° 40° 60° 60° 0° 20° 40° 60° 60° 60° 100° 120° 140° 160° 60° South Orkney Elevation (m) SOUTHERN OCEAN ANTARCTIC Islands SOUTHERN OCEAN SOUTHERN OCEAN PENINSULA Weddell Ice cap Antarctic Circle Sea Antarctic Circle Antarctic Circle Vinson Massif (4,897 m, 16,067 ft.) ANTA RCTIC A Ross Sea 80° 80° 80° 80° 80° 6000 80° 80° 3000 0 km 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 1500 600 0 miles 1000 2000 3000 4000 Goode Homolosine Projection 0 Scale 1:168,513,200 -150 -1500 -3000 -6000

© J. Nijman, P.O. Muller and John Wiley & Sons, Inc FIGURE 1-1

1/9/20 8:24 PM WR 18e World Figure 1.01 Third Proof Nature and culture, entwined in geography. The Tuscany CHAPTER 1 region in the northwestern corner of peninsular Italy contains some of the most elegant cultural landscapes in the world with its rolling hills, contoured grain fields, olive groves, and vineyards. © Jan Nijman © J. Nijman © J. Introduction: World Regional Geography

IN THIS CHAPTER • The power of maps • The spatial order of the world • Persistent cultural diversity • Geopolitics and the specter of terrorism • Technology and geography • The challenge of sustainable development • Widening global inequalities • The threats of global climate change • Migrants and refugees in an unequal world

CONCEPTS, IDEAS, AND TERMS Mental maps [1] Relative location [11] Global climate change [22] Sustainable ­development [33] Cartography [2] Formal region [12] Anthropocene [23] Inclusive development [34] Geographic information Spatial system [13] Population distribution [24] Global core [35] system (GIS) [3] Hinterland [14] Urbanization [25] Global periphery [36] Geospatial data [4] Functional region [15] Megacity [26] Core–periphery Spatial perspective [5] Natural landscape [16] Cultural landscape [27] ­relationship [37] Scale [6] Continental drift [17] State [28] Core area [38] Geographic realm [7] Tectonic plate [18] Sovereignty [29] Uneven development [39] Transition zone [8] Pacific Ring of Fire [19] European state model [30] Globalization [40] Region [9] Climate [20] Geopolitics [31] Migration [41] Absolute location [10] Holocene [21] Development [32] 3

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What are your expectations as you open this book? You Moreover, the United States is still the world’s biggest have signed up for a course that will take you around the ­economy, with political influence to match. Intentionally or world to try to understand how it functions today. You not, the United­ States is affecting nations­ and peoples, lives will discover how interesting and challenging the discipline and ­livelihoods, from pole to pole. That power confers on of geography is. We hope that this course, and this book, will ­Americans a ­responsibility to learn as much as they can about open new vistas, bring new perspectives, raise your those ­places, ­nations, and livelihoods, so that the decisions ­awareness of place, and help you navigate our increasingly of their ­government ­representatives are well informed. But in complex and often daunting world. this respect,­ the United States is no ­superpower. ­Geographic You could not have chosen a better time to study ­literacy is a measure of international comprehension and ­geography. The world is changing on many fronts and is awareness, and Americans’ geographic literacy­ ranks low. ­doing so ever faster in response to the rapid advancement of That is a liability, for both the United States and the rest of ­communication technologies. The world truly is ­“shrinking,” the world, because such geographic fogginess afflicts not and the likelihood has never been greater that your pro- only voters but also the representatives they elect, from local fessional ­career will be taking you to places far from home. school boards to the federal government.

If a well-formed mental map is useful for decisions in daily­ A World on Maps life, then an adequate mental map is surely indispensable­ when it comes to decision making in the wider world. You Just a casual glance at the pages that follow reveals a difference can give yourself an interesting test. Choose some part of the between this and other textbooks: there are almost as many world beyond North America in which you have an interest or maps as there are pages. Geography is more closely identified about which you have a strong opinion—for example, Israel, with maps than any other discipline, and we urge you to give Iran, Russia,­ North Korea, or China. On a blank piece of paper,­ as much (or more!) attention to the maps in this book as you draw a map that reflects your impression of the regional ­layout do to the text. It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand there: the country, its neighbors, its internal divisions, major words, and the same applies to maps. When we write “see Fig- cities, water bodies, and so forth. That is your mental map of ure XX,” we really mean it—and we hope that you will get into the place. Put it away for future reference, and try it again at the the habit. We humans are territorial creatures, and the bound- end of this course. You will have proof of your ­improved men- aries that fence off our 200 or so countries reflect our divisive tal-map inventory. ways. Other kinds of borders—between religions, languages, wealth, and poverty—partition our planet as well. When polit- ical and cultural boundaries are at odds, there is nothing like a Mapping Revolutions map to summarize the circumstances. Just look, for example, at the map of the African Transition Zone in Chapter 7: this cor- The maps in this book show larger and smaller parts of the ridor’s turbulence and challenges are steeped in geography. world in various contexts. Some depict political configura- tions; others display ethnic, cultural, economic, or environ- mental ­features. Cartography [2] (the making of maps) has Maps in Our Minds undergone a dramatic and continuing technological revolu- tion. Earth-orbiting satellites equipped with remote-sensing All of us carry in our minds maps of the world around us: the technology (special on-board sensors and imaging instru- apartment building or house we live in, the streets nearby, the ments) transmit remotely sensed information to comput- way to school or workplace, the general layout of our home- ers on the surface, recording the expansion of deserts, the town or city. You will know what lane to use when you turn into shrinking of glaciers, the depletion of forests, the growth of a shopping mall, or where to park at the movie theater. You cities, and myriad other geographic phenomena.­ Earthbound can probably draw from memory a pretty good map of your ­computers possess ever-expanding capabilities not only to hometown. organize this information but also to display it graphically. These mental maps [1] allow you to navigate your activity­ This allows geographers to develop a geographic informa- space with efficiency, predictability, and safety. When you tion system or GIS [3], ­bringing geospatial data to a monitor ­arrived as a first-year student on a college or ­university cam- that would have taken months to assemble just three decades pus, a new mental map would have started forming. At first you ago (see Box 1-1). needed the navigation tool on your smartphone or a hard-copy A parallel map revolution is embodied in the astound- map to find your way around, but soon you dispensed with ing proliferation of navigation systems in cars and on mobile that because­ your mental map became sufficient. And it will phones. Smartphones enable the use of maps on the go, and ­continue to improve as your activity space expands. many of us, in the developed world at least, have already

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Box 1-1 Technology & Geography

Geospatial Data: Understanding Our World It is estimated that approximately 80 percent of all data con- using such big geospatial datasets reveal temporal and region-

tain geographic information that can be mapped. Moreover, the al variations in the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) present in technologies that we use daily, from our automobiles to our cell the atmosphere, as well as how pollutants and other emissions phones to the Internet, are also aware of our location, and some- (e.g., smoke) travel across North America, China, and Europe. times share it with others without our knowledge. Advances in The image below is a single frame taken from a movie­

mapping technology that make use of geospatial data [4] are that shows how CO2 emissions travel around the world. ­The image driving innovations such as self-driving cars and trucks; enabling shows the situation in January. Emissions of C02 (increasing smart cities to improve sustainability; and permitting scientists intensities shown from yellow to orange to red) are most visible to monitor the causes and consequences of ­global ­environmental in the winter months of the northern hemisphere. The integra- change. tion of geospatial data, technology,­ and geography­ increases our The National Aeronautics and Space Administration— understanding of ­climate change, and can also inform how we NASA—builds instruments and launches satellites to collect respond to this critical issue. and analyze data about the Earth and beyond. By coupling ­location ­information to data on wind speed, pollution, and ­atmospheric conditions, a more complete picture of the Earth’s Access your WileyPLUS course to interact with a dynamic version of ­atmospheric ­dynamics can be obtained. Computer simulations this map and to engage with online exercises and questions. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Space Goddard NASA's

­become dependent on them to traverse cities, find a store or on-the-ground verification through field research and report- restaurant, even to move around shopping malls. While the ing. No ­satellite view of Iraq could show you the distribution of personalized maps on our smartphones allow us to navigate ­Sunni and Shi’ite Muslim adherents. Many of the boundaries you more efficiently, the maps in this book are aimed at better see on the maps in this book cannot be observed from space ­understanding the world and its constituent parts. ­because long stretches are not even marked on the ground. Satellites—even spy satellites—cannot record everything So the maps you will be “reading” here have their continued that occurs on the Earth’s surface. Sometimes the borders uses: they ­summarize complex situations and allow us to begin ­between ethnic groups or cultural sectors can be discerned ­forming ­durable mental maps of the areas they represent. by satellites—for example, in changing house types or reli- There is one other point we should make that is especially­ gious shrines—but this kind of information tends to require important when it comes to world maps: never forget that the

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world is a sphere, and to project it onto a two-­dimensional human beings will always be part of nature, no matter how flat surface must necessarily entail some very significant far technology advances. ­distortions. Try peeling an orange and flattening the entire More generally, think of this relationship between humans­ peel on a surface—you will have to tear it up and try to stretch and their environment as a two-way street. On one hand, it in ­places to get the job done. Take a look at Figure ­ 1-1 ­human beings have always had a transformative effect on and note how the Atlantic Ocean and other segments of the their natural surroundings, from the burning of forests to the ­planetary surface are interrupted. You can produce a map creation of settlements. On the other hand, humans have like this in many different ways, but you will always end up ­always been heavily dependent on the natural environment, ­distorting things. When studying world maps, there is ­nothing their individual and collective behaviors very much a product like ­having a globe at hand to remind you of our three-­ of it. There are so many examples that it is hard to know where dimensional reality. to begin or when to end: we eat what nature­ provides, and tra- ditional diets vary regionally; rivers allow us to navigate and connect with other peoples—or they serve as natural bound- aries like the Rio Grande; wars are fought over access to water­ Geography’s Perspective or seaports; landlocked countries seem to have ­different ­global connections than islands; and so forth. Geography is sometimes described as the most interdisci- plinary of disciplines. That is a testimonial to geography’s historic linkages to many other fields, ranging from geology to economics and from sociology to environmental science. Spatial Patterns And, in some ways, geography is in the lead because inter- Geographers, therefore, need to be conversant with the loca- disciplinary studies and research are now more ­prevalent tion and distribution of salient features on the Earth’s surface than ever. (Fig. 1-2). This includes the natural (physical) world, simpli- Most disciplines focus on one key theme: economics is fied in Figure 1-1, as well as the human world; our inquiry about money; political science is about power; psychology is will view these in temporal (historical) as well as spatial per- about the mind; biology is about life forms. Geography is about spective. The spatial structure of cities, the layout of farms the explanation of space on the Earth’s surface, also referred and fields, the networks of transportation, the configurations to as terrestrial­ space. Social space (cities, buildings,­ political of rivers, the patterns of climate—all these form part of our boundaries, etc.) as well as ­natural space (climates, terrain, investigation. As you will find, geography employs a compre- vegetation, etc.) are not randomly configured. ­Instead, there hensive spatial vocabulary with meaningful terms such as generally prevails a particular­ order,­ ­regularity, even predicta- area, distance, direction, clustering, proximity, accessibility, bility about the ways in which space is organized. Sometimes and many others that we will encounter in the pages ahead. it is the deliberate work of ­human beings, and sometimes it is For geographers, some of these terms have more specific the work of nature, but both produce specific patterns. Geog- definitions than is generally assumed. There is a difference, raphers consider these spatial patterns and processes as not for example, between area (surface) and region, between only interesting­ but also crucial to how we live and how we or- boundary and frontier, and between place and location. ganize our societies. This spatial perspective­ [5] has defined Sometimes, what at first may seem to be simple ideas turn ­geography from its ­beginning. out to be rather complex concepts.

Environment and Society Scale and Scope

There is another connection that binds geography and One very prominent term in the geographic vocabulary is has done so for centuries: an interest in the relationships scale [6]. Whenever a map is created, it represents all or part between human societies and the natural environment. of the Earth’s surface at a certain level of detail. Obviously, Geography lies at the intersection of the social and natural ­Figure 1-1 displays a very low level of detail; it is little more sciences and integrates perspectives from both, being the than a general impression of the distribution of land and only discipline to do so explicitly. This perspective comes into water as well as lower and higher elevations on our planet’s play frequently: environmental modification is in the news surface. A limited number of prominent features such as the on a daily basis in the form of worldwide climate change, but Himalayas and the Sahara are named, but not the Pyrenees this current surge of global warming is only the latest phase Mountains or the Nile Delta. At the bottom of the map you of endless atmospheric and ecological fluctuation. Geogra- can see that one inch at this scale must represent about 1650 phers are involved in current environmental issues not only miles of the real world, leaving the cartographer little scope by considering climate change in the context of the past, but to insert information. also by looking carefully at the implications of global warm- A map such as Figure 1-1 is called a small-scale map be- ing for human societies. Geographers are acutely aware that cause the ratio between map distance and real-world distance,

c01IntroductionWorldRegionalGeography.indd 6 1/9/20 8:24 PM World Geographic Realms 7 © John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

FIGURE 1-2 Interactive This map is an assemblage of nighttime satellite images that show the dominance of electric lighting in certain parts of the world and darkness in others. What does this spatial distribution suggest about the geography of development?

expressed as a fraction, is very small at 1:103,750,000. that is the most appropriate for your purpose, but it is not al- ­Increase that fraction (i.e., zoom in), and you can represent ways that straightforward. Suppose you had to study patterns less ­territory—but also enhance the amount of detail the of ethnic segregation: what do you think would be the most rel- map can exhibit. In Figure 1-3, note how the fraction increas- evant scale(s)? es from the smallest (1:14,600,000) to the largest (1:14,500). In this book, our main purpose is to understand the San ­Francisco is just a dot on Map A but an urban area on ­geography of the world at large and how it works, and so, Map C. Does this mean that world maps like Figure 1-1 are ­inevitably, we must deal with broad spatial entities. Our focus less useful than larger-scale maps? It all depends on the pur- is on the world’s realms and on the main regions within those pose of the map. In this chapter, we often use world maps to realms, and in most cases we will have to forgo analyses at a show ­global distributions as we set the stage for the more de- finer scale. For our purposes, it is the big picture that matters tailed ­discussions to follow. In later chapters, the scale tends most. to ­become larger as we focus on smaller areas, even on indi- vidual countries and cities. But whenever you read a map, be aware of the scale because it is a guide to its utility. The importance of the scale concept is not confined to World Geographic Realms maps. Scale plays a fundamental role in geographic research and in the ways we think about geographic problems—scale in Ours is a globalized, interconnected world, a world of inter- terms of level of analysis. This is sometimes referred to as op- national trade and travel, migration and movement, tourism erational scale, the scale at which social or natural processes and television, financial flows and Internet traffic. It is a world operate or play out. For instance, if you want to investigate the that, in some contexts, has taken on the properties of a “global geographic concentration of wealth in the United States, you ­village”—but that village still has its neighborhoods. Their can do so at a range of scales: within a neighborhood, a city, a names are Europe, South America, Southeast Asia, and others county, a State,* or at the national level. You choose the scale familiar to us all. Like the neighborhoods of a city or town, these global neighborhoods may not have sharply defined borders, but their persistence, after tens of thousands of years of human *Throughout this book we will capitalize State when this term refers to an dispersal, is beyond doubt. We call such global neighborhoods administrative division of a country: for example, the U.S. State of Ohio or geographic realms [7]. Each of the realms possesses a par- the Australian State of New South Wales. Since this term is also synony- mous with country (e.g., the state of Brazil), we use the lower case when ticular combination of environmental, cultural, and organiza- referring to such a national state. tional properties.

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EFFECTS OF SCALE A) Scale 1:14,600,000 (regional) B) Scale 1:1,800,000 (metropolitan area)

0 200 400 600 mi 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 mi

C) Scale 1:225,000 (city) D) Scale 1:14,500 (neighborhood)

0 2 4 6 8 10 mi 0 1000 2000 3000 ft © J. Nijman, M. Shin, P.O. Muller and John Wiley & Sons, Inc Nijman, M. Shin, P.O. © J.

FIGURE 1-3 Interactive

These blended, characteristic qualities are imprinted continents, enormous oceans and countless waterways, innu- on the landscape, giving each realm its own traditional merable islands, diverse habitats and cultures, and intricate attributes and social settings. As we come to understand political geographies. What constitutes a realm depends on the the human and environmental makeup of these geographic circumstances, but we can still identify three main sets of crite- realms, we learn not only where they are located but also ria that apply to all realms: why they are located where they are (a central question in geography), how they are constituted, and what their future • Physical and Human Geographic realms are based on is likely to be in our fast-changing world. Figure 1-4, there- sets of spatial criteria. They are the largest units into fore, forms the overall framework for our investigation in which the inhabited world can be divided. The criteria on this book. which such a broad regionalization is based include both physical (i.e., natural) and human (or social) yardsticks. Criteria for Geographic Realms For instance, South America is a geographic realm because physically it is a continent and culturally it com- The existence and identification of world geographic realms prises comparable societies. The realm called South Asia, depend on a combination of factors. Our world consists of a on the other hand, lies on a Eurasian landmass shared by highly complex and variable environment of large and small several other geographic realms; high mountains, wide

c01IntroductionWorldRegionalGeography.indd 8 1/9/20 8:24 PM World Geographic Realms 9 0° 20° 20° Equator 60° 160° 12 Tropic of Cancer Tropic 40° 140° OCEAN 11 PACIFIC REALM PACIFIC PACIFIC 120° OCEAN AUSTRAL REALM 100° 60° 60° 10 © J. Nijman, P. O. Muller, and John Wiley & Sons, Inc. O. Muller, Nijman, P. © J. 40° SOUTHEAST ASIA Tropic of Capricorn Tropic ACIFIC REALM 9 SOUTHEAST ASIA AUSTRAL REALM P 20° 10 11 12 EAST ASIA 8 20° SOUTH ASIA OCEAN 40° INDIAN 5 ASIA 60° 60° RUSSIA/CENTRAL 40° 7 SUBSAHARAN AFRICA EAST ASIA SOUTH ASIA 20° 6 7 8 9 4 SOUTHERN Antarctic Circle Antarctic Arctic Circle Arctic 0° EUROPE SUBSAHARAN AFRICA 60° OCEAN 40° 60° NORTH AFRICA/SOUTHWEST ASIA ATLANTIC OCEAN 20° ATLANTIC 40° 20° 40° 20° 60° NORTH AFRICA/ SOUTHWEST ASIA EUROPE RUSSIA/CENTRAL ASIA 20° 40° 5 6 4 40° 60° 3 OCEAN 80° SOUTH AMERICA ATLANTIC 60° 2 40° 20° MIDDLE AMERICA 1 2000 Miles 3000 Kilometers 20° NORTH AMERICA MIDDLE AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA 2000 1 2 3 NORTH AMERICA WORLD GEOGRAPHIC REALMS 1000 40° 1000 OCEAN 0 0 PACIFIC 60° opic of Cancer r T 120° 60° 140° Equator opic of Capricorn r T OCEAN 12

40° SOUTHERN 160° PACIFIC REALM PACIFIC 60° Regions 18e Geographic Realms 1.04 World Figure Fourth Proof 20° 40° 20° 0° FIGURE 1-4

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deserts, and dense forests combine with a distinctive century, such countries as Belarus (between Europe and ­social fabric to create this well-defined realm centered Russia/Central Asia) and Afghanistan (between Southwest on India. Asia and South Asia) lie in inter-realm transition zones. • Functional Geographic realms are the result of the in- Remember, over much (though not all) of their length, bor- teraction of human societies and natural environments,­ ders between realms are zones of ­regional change. a functional interaction revealed by farms, mines, fishing Transition zones are fascinating spaces: it is almost as if ports, transport routes, dams, bridges, villages, and count- they rebel against a clear ordering of the world’s geography. less other features that mark the landscape. ­According They remind us that the world is a restless and contested place to this criterion, Antarctica is a continent but not a geo- with shifting boundaries and changing geographic fortunes. graphic realm. They challenge the geographer, and, above all, they underscore just how complex the study of geography is. • Historical Geographic realms represent the most com- prehensive and encompassing definition of the great clusters of humankind in the world today. China lies at the heart of such a cluster, as does India. Most of Africa Geographic Realms: Dynamic Entities constitutes a geographic realm from the southern mar- Had we drawn Figure 1-4 before Columbus made his voyages gin of the Sahara (an Arabic word for desert) to the Cape beginning in 1492 (and assuming we had the relevant geo- of Good Hope and from its Atlantic to its Indian Ocean graphical knowledge), the map would have looked different: shores. Geographic realms are generally defined on the indigenous states and peoples would have determined the basis of physical features, but they are also the product boundaries in the Americas; Australia and New Guinea would of historical evolution. have constituted a single realm, and New Zealand would have Figure 1-4 displays the twelve world geographic realms been part of the Pacific Realm. The colonization, European- based on these criteria. As we will show in greater detail later, ization, and Westernization of the world changed that map waters, deserts, and mountains as well as cultural and political dramatically. Since World War II, the world map has been shifts mark the borders of these realms. We shall discuss the redrawn as a result of decolonization and the rise and then positioning of these boundaries as we examine each realm. demise of the Cold War. That Cold War division between west- ern and eastern Europe has now given way to far-reaching European integration across that geographic realm. Realms Delineating Realms: Boundaries and and regions are dynamic entities, and their geographies are Transition Zones always subject to change.

Oceans and seas are the most common natural boundaries of the world’s realms, such as the South Atlantic to Subsaharan Two Types of Realms Africa’s west or the North Atlantic to North America’s east. But where two geographic realms meet, transition zones [8], not The world’s geographic realms can be subdivided into two sharp boundaries, often mark their contacts. ­categories. The first are monocentric realms that are dom- We need only remind ourselves of the border zone be- inated by a single major political entity, in terms of territory tween the geographic realm in which most of us live, North and/or population. North America (United States), Middle America, and the adjacent realm of Middle America. The line America (Mexico), East Asia (China), South Asia (India), Russia/ in Figure 1-4 coincides with the boundary between Mexico and Central Asia (Russia), and the Austral Realm (Australia) are all the United States, crosses the Gulf of Mexico, and then sep- monocentric realms. They are, in their entirety, heavily influ- arates Florida from Cuba and the Bahamas. But Hispanic in- enced by the presence of that single country. It is as if the realm fluences are strong in North America north of this boundary,­ is organized around them. and the U.S. economic influence is strong south of it. The The second type of realm is polycentric in nature. In line, therefore, represents an ever-changing zone of regional these, the appearance, functioning, and organization of ­interaction. Again, there are many ties between South Florida­ the realm are dispersed among a number of more or less and the Bahamas, but the Bahamas resemble a Caribbean ­equally ­influential regions or countries. Europe, North Africa/­ more than a North American society. On the other hand, met- Southwest Asia, Subsaharan Africa, and the Pacific Realm all ropolitan Miami has so many ethnic Cuban residents that it is fall into this category. Polycentric realms can be more vola- sometimes referred to as the second-largest Cuban city after tile in some ways, their ­development determined by the sum Havana. of many ­different parts. In Africa, the transition zone from Subsaharan to North Two of the world’s realms are a bit more difficult to cate- Africa is so wide and well defined that we have put it on gorize. Southeast Asia is a dynamic realm that contains about the world map; elsewhere, transition zones tend to be nar- a dozen countries, some of them regarded as emerging econ- rower and less easily represented. In the third decade of this omies. Arguably, Indonesia is becoming the most influential

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power, but it would be premature to label this a monocentric • Area To begin with, all regions have area. This obser- realm. The other realm that seems to fall in between is South vation would seem obvious, but there is more to this America. Here it is Brazil that has the biggest population and idea than meets the eye. Regions may be intellectual the largest and most influential economy—but it does not constructs, but they are not abstractions: they exist in ­dominate its realm the way the U.S. does. the real world, and they occupy space on the Earth’s Of course, some of the dominant powers in the monocen- surface. tric realms influence events beyond their realm and demon- • Boundaries It follows that regions have boundaries. strate a truly global reach. The United States has dominated ­Occasionally, nature itself draws sharp dividing lines, for world events (though not unchallenged) since World War II, instance, along the crest of a mountain range or along but it soon had to make way for newly emergent powers such a coast. More often, regional boundaries are not self-­ as Japan and Germany. Nowadays, China exercises a major in- evident, and we must determine them using criteria that fluence not just across East and Southeast Asia but around the we establish for that purpose. For example, to define a globe. Our discussion of the various realms will give due con- ­cultural ­region, we may decide that only areas where sideration to the influence of global trends and outside powers. more than 50 percent of the population belong to a ­particular religion or speak a certain language qualify to be part of that region. Regions Within Realms • Location All regions also possess location. Often the name of a region contains a locational clue, as in Amazon­ The compartmentalization of the world into geographic realms Basin or Indochina (a region of Southeast Asia ­lying be- establishes a broad global framework, but for our purposes a tween India and China). Geographers refer­ to the absolute­ more refined level of spatial classification is needed. This location­ [10] of a place or region by providing­ the latitu- brings us to an important organizing concept in geography: the dinal and longitudinal extent of the region with respect to region [9]. To establish regions within geographic realms, we the Earth’s grid coordinates. A more useful­ measure is a need more specific criteria. region’s relative location [11]­ , that is, its location with Let us use the North American realm to demonstrate the re- reference to other regions. Again, the names of certain gional idea. When we refer to a part of the United States or Canada regions reveal aspects of their relative locations, as in (e.g., the South, the Midwest, or the Prairie Provinces), we employ ­Mainland Southeast Asia and Equatorial Africa. a regional concept—not scientifically but as part of everyday com- • Homogeneity Many regions are marked by a certain munication. We reveal our perception of local or distant space as ­homogeneity or sameness. Homogeneity may lie in a well as our mental image of the region we are describing. ­region’s cultural properties, its physical characteristics, But what exactly is, for example, the Midwest? How would or both. Siberia, a vast region of northeastern Russia, you draw this region on the North American map? ­Regions is marked by a sparse human population that resides in seem easy to imagine and describe, but they can be difficult widely scattered small settlements of similar form, frigid to outline with precision on a map. You might suggest that, climates, extensive areas of permafrost (permanently fro- broadly, the Midwest lies between the Ohio ­River and the zen subsoil), and cold-adapted vegetation. This dominant Rocky Mountains. Or you might use the borders of States: uniformity makes it one of Russia’s natural and cultural certain States are part of this region, others are not. Alter- regions, extending­ from the Ural Mountains in the west natively, you could use agriculture as the principal criterion: to the Pacific Ocean in the east. When regions display the Midwest is where corn and/or soybeans occupy a certain a ­measurable and often visible internal homogeneity, percentage of the farmland. Each method results­ in a differ- they are called formal regions [12]. But not all formal ent delimitation; a Midwest based on physical boundaries is ­regions are visibly uniform. For instance, a region may be different from a Midwest based on State borders or farm pro- ­delimited by the area in which, say, 90 percent or more of duction. Therein lies an important principle: regions are de- the people speak a particular language. This cannot be vices that allow us to make spatial generalizations, and they seen in the landscape, but the region is a reality, and we are based on criteria to help us construct them. If you were can use that criterion to draw its boundaries accurately. It, studying the geography of presidential-election politics, too, is a ­formal region. then a Midwest region defined by State boundaries would • Regions as Systems Other regions are marked not by make sense. If you were studying agricultural ­distributions, their internal sameness but by their functional integra- you would need a different ­definition. tion—that is, by the way they work. These regions are de- fined as spatial systems [13] and are formed by the areal extent of the activities that define them. Take the Criteria for Regions case of a large city with its surrounding zone of suburbs, Given these different dimensions of the same region, we can urban-fringe countryside, satellite towns, and farmlands. identify properties that all regions have in common: The city supplies goods and services to this encircling

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zone, and it buys farm products and ­other commodities from it. The city is the heart, the core of this region, and The Physical Setting we call the surrounding zone of ­interaction the city’s hinterland ­ [14]. But the city’s influence wanes along Natural Landscapes the outer ­periphery of that hinterland, and there lies the boundary of the functional region of which the city is The landmasses of Planet Earth present a jumble of ­natural the focus. A functional­ region [15], therefore, is usually landscapes [16] ranging from rugged mountain chains to forged by a structured, urban-centered system of interac- smooth coastal plains (Fig. 1-1). Certain continents are readily tion. It has a core and a periphery. linked with a dominant physical feature—for instance, North America and its Rocky Mountains, South America with its Andes and Amazon Basin, Europe with its Alps, Asia with its Himalaya Mountains and massive river basins, and Africa with its Sahara Interconnections and Rift Valley complex. Physical features have long influenced human activity and movement. Mountain ranges form barriers Even if we can easily demarcate a particular region and even to movement but have also channeled the spread of agricultural­ if its boundaries are sharp, that does not mean it is isolated and technological innovations around them. Large deserts sim- from other parts of the realm or even the world. All human-­ ilarly form barriers, as do rivers, although rivers also facilitate geographic regions are more or less interconnected, being accessibility and connectivity between people. River basins in linked to other regions. As we shall see, globalization is forging Asia still contain several of the planet’s largest population con- ongoing ­integration and connections among regions around centrations: the advantages of fertile soils and ample water sup- the world. Trade, migration, education, television, computer plies that first ­enabled clustered human settlement now sustain ­linkages, and other interactions sometimes blur regional hundreds of millions in crowded South and East Asia. identities. Interestingly, globalization tends to have a seem- As we study each of the world’s geographic realms, we will ingly paradoxical effect: in some ways, regions and places find that physical landscapes continue to play significant­ roles become more alike, more homogeneous (think of certain con- in this modern world. That is one reason why the study of world sumption patterns), but in other respects the contrasts can regional geography is so important: it puts the ­human map in become stronger (for example, a reassertion of ethnic or reli- environmental as well as regional perspective (see, for exam- gious identities). ple, Box 1-2).

Box 1-2 From the Field Notes …

“On the descent into Tibet’s Lhasa Gongga Airport, I have a great view of the Yarlung Zangbo Valley, its ­braided stream channels gently flowing ­toward the distant east. The ­Yarlung Zangbo is the highest ­major river on Earth, running from the Tibetan­ ­Plateau into northeastern India where it joins the mighty ­Brahmaputra ­River that continues on to ­Bangladesh where it empties into the Indian Ocean. It was mid-­ ­October and the water ­levels were low. The landing strip of the ­airport can be seen in the center-right of the photo, on the south bank. The ­airport is quite far from Lhasa, the Tibetan­ ­capital, located about 62 kilometers­ (40 mi) to its southwest. Despite ­major road and tunnel ­construction, it is still more than an hour’s drive. The airport had to be built away from the city and in this widest part of the valley because it ­allows the easiest landings and takeoffs in this especially rugged terrain. It ©Jan Nijman © J. Nijman © J. lies at 3700 meters above sea level (12,100 ft), one of the highest airports in the world.”

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Geology and Natural Hazards the Pacific Ring of Fire [19]. In comparison, Russia, Europe, Africa, and Australia are relatively safe; in other realms, the Our planet may be 4.5 billion years old, but it is far from placid. risks are far greater in one sector than in others (western as As you read this chapter, Earth tremors are shaking the still-thin opposed to eastern North and South America, for instance). crust on which we live, volcanoes are erupting, storms are rag- As we shall discover, for certain parts of the world the ­activity ing. Even the continents themselves are moving measurably, mapped in Figure 1-5 presents a clear and present danger. pulling apart in some areas, colliding in others. Hundreds of Some of the world’s largest cities, such as Tokyo and Mexico thousands of human lives are lost to natural calamities of this City, lie in zones that are highly vulnerable to sudden disaster—­ sort in almost every decade. as ­indeed occurred with Japan’s huge 2011 earthquake­ and More than a century ago, the German geographer Alfred ­tsunamis not very far north of Tokyo. Wegener used spatial analysis to explain something that is obvious even from a small-scale map like Figure 1-1: the Climate ­apparent jigsaw-like fit of the landmasses, especially across the South Atlantic Ocean. His theory of continental drift [17] The prevailing climate [20] constitutes a key factor in the held that the landmasses on the map were actually pieces of geography of realms and regions (in fact, some regions are a supercontinent, Pangaea, that existed hundreds of millions essentially defined by climate). But climates change: those of years ago. Today we know that the continents are “rafts” of dominating in certain regions today may not have prevailed relatively light rock that rest on slabs of heavier rock known there several thousand years ago. Thus any map of climate, as tectonic plates [18] whose movement is propelled by including the maps in this chapter, is but a frozen snapshot of ­giant circulation cells in the red-hot magma below (when this our constantly changing world. molten magma reaches the surface through volcanic vents, it Climatic conditions have swung back and forth for as long is called lava). as the Earth has had an atmosphere. Imagine this: just 18,000 When moving tectonic plates collide, earthquakes and years ago, great ice sheets had spread all the way south to volcanic eruptions result, and the physical landscape is the Ohio River Valley, covering most of the Midwest; this was thrown into spectacular relief. Figure 1-5 shows the outlines the peak of a glaciation that had lasted about 100,000 years of the tectonic plates and the coincidence of earthquakes (Fig. 1-6). The Antarctic Ice Sheet was bigger than ever, and and volcanic eruptions. The Earth’s largest ocean is almost even in the ­tropics great mountain glaciers pushed down val- ­completely encircled by active volcanoes and earthquake leys and onto plateaus. But then the Holocene [21] warming ­epicenters. Appropriately, this geologic frame is known as began about 10,000 years ago, the continental and mountain

EURASIAN N O R T H A M PLATE E R I C A N

P L EURASIAN PLA TE JUAN DE FUCA A PLATE T E ANATOLIAN PLATE GORDA PLATE

CARIBBEAN PACIFIC PLATE PHILIPPINE RIVERA ARABIAN PLATE PLATE PLATE PLATE INDIAN COCOS PLATE PLATE

NAZCA SOUTH AFRICAN PLA TE AUSTRALIAN AMERICAN PLATE AUSTRALIAN PLATE PLA TE PLA TE

SCOTIA PLATE WORLD TECTONIC PLATES

0 2000 4000 6000 Kilometers ANT ARCTIC PLA TE Active volcano Earthquake origin 0 2000 4000 Miles © J. Nijman, P. O. Muller, and John Wiley & Sons, Inc. O. Muller, Nijman, P. © J.

FIGURE 1-5

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Verkhoyansk Bering Omsk

Sea Anadyr

Nome RUSSIA ea S an ARCTIC pi PACIFIC as ALASKA C OCEAN OCEAN Volgograd Fairbanks NORTH Caucasus POLE Moscow Kharkiv FINLAND 80° UKRAINE Black Sea

a e Seattle SWEDEN S Norwegian

NORWAY POLAND Sea n Spokane GREENLAND a e n CANADA DEN. a r GERMANY r e Great Falls NETH. t UNITED i ITALY d Salt Lake ICELAND KINGDOM e 60° A l p s City Hudson London M Bay Bismarck IRELAND FRANCE Denver AFRICA UNITED Omaha Great PLEISTOCENESPAIN GLACIATION AND STATES Lakes ATLANTIC CURRENT ARCTIC ICE COVER St. Louis OCEAN Land areas covered Pittsburgh by glaciers Cincinnati New York 40° Land ice and glaciers as of summer 2015

T r op ic Sea ice as of summer 2018 o f C an ce 0 1000 2000 3000 Kilometers r Average extent of summer sea ice 1981–2010 0 1000 2000 Miles 20° © J. Nijman, P. O. Muller, and John Wiley & Sons, Inc. O. Muller, Nijman, P. © J.

FIGURE 1-6

glaciers receded, and ecological zones that had been squeezed This change in mean temperature may seem small but between the advancing ice sheets spread north and south. In is expected­ to have significant impacts on global climatic Europe, particularly, living space expanded and ­human num- ­patterns, agricultural zones, and the quality of human lives. bers grew. With a rise of 2°C, for example, more than half of the world’s coral reefs are expected to disappear. The full ramifications Global Climate Change In the 2020s, we are living are not known, but scenarios are being modeled so that soci- in an era of global climate change [22], particularly natural eties can confront the changes that are coming. Leaders of global warming that has been accelerated by anthropogenic some countries are more skeptical than others, and some (human-source) causes. Since the Industrial Revolution, have already made greater adjustments than others. One of we have been emitting gases that have enhanced nature’s the most significant consequences of global climate change greenhouse effect whereby the sun’s radiation becomes is that the icecap atop the Arctic Ocean is melting faster trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere. This is leading to a series than even recent models predicted, with environmental and of atmospheric changes, especially the overall warming of the geopolitical consequences. Box 1-3 introduces the notion planet. One important international organization of experts, of the Anthropocene [23], a new ­epoch in the evolution of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), pre- the Earth in which humans seem to have become, for bet- dicts an increase of about 2°C (3.6°F) during the course of the ter or worse, the predominant species affecting the natural twenty-first century for the world at large, but with signifi- environment. Climate change figures prominently in the cant regional variability (e.g., more at higher latitudes, less Anthropocene and we will be returning to this issue in various at lower latitudes). Precipitation patterns are predicted to chapters that follow. become more variable, particularly in regions where they are already seasonal. And without massive intervention through, Climate Regions We have just learned how varia-

for example, reductions of CO2 emissions, the rise in tempera- ble climate­ can be, but in a human lifetime most of us see ture may well exceed 2°C. relatively little evidence of this variability—although that

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Box 1-3 Global Climate Change: The Anthropocene

About 20 years ago, the Dutch geochemist Paul Crutzen coined the term Anthropocene that has come to connote the arrival of a new epoch in the evolution of the Earth system. It indicates that the presence of humans and their influence on the planet has reached “geologic magnitude” in terms of climate, land usage, biodiversity shrinkage, and so on. Think about urbanization, deforestation, air pollution, water consumption, threats to the ozone layer, and the diversion or drying up of rivers. The Anthropocene follows the geo- logic epoch of the Holocene which started about 12,000 years ago and, before that, the Pleistocene, which lasted about 2.6 million years (see Fig. 1-6). Considering that the Earth is about 4.5 billion­ years old, geologic time periods unfold at a huge time scale that is hard to reconcile with the identification of a new epoch that is

supposed to have arrived merely a few decades ago. But that is pre- Nijman © J. cisely why the term Anthropocene has resonated: it is not just about Well north of the latitude of the Arctic Circle, a small fishing boat science but also a call for action to control what are in some respects slowly makes its way through the melting ice in Disko Bay on devastating human impacts on our planet, including global warm- Greenland’s west-central coast in the summer of 2017. The shore- ing. Indeed, the term is now used widely beyond the discipline of line is visible as it protrudes just above the ice (upper right). This ­geology, ­including in geography and other social ­sciences. Debates is a coastal zone in which several large ice sheets are discharging concerning the Anthropocene are mostly framed outside geology, ever larger slabs of glacial ice into these northern waters of the particularly in Earth-system science, which focuses on the interac- Atlantic Ocean, where they soon melt and contribute to sea-level tions of human activity and nature along a variety of dimensions. rise worldwide. According to the latest estimates, the overall rate The total Earth system is hugely complex, and it is this complexity— of ice depletion from the Greenland Ice Sheet has quadrupled notwithstanding a wide range of consistently disturbing evidence— since 2003 as global warming intensified. that is at the root of (sometimes politically motivated) continued ­contestation of the notion of the Anthropocene.

may change as a result of global warming. We talk about If you live in the B zones of the U.S. Southwest, either in the the weather (the ­immediate state of the atmosphere) in a tan (Texas) or the yellow (Arizona) area, conditions in much ­certain place at a ­particular time, but as a technical term of Australia, southwestern Africa, or the Middle East would be ­climate defines the ­aggregate, total record of weather con- familiar to you. This can even be taken to the city scale. If you ditions at a place, or in a region, over the entire period dur- enjoy the climate of San Francisco, you will rediscover it in ing which records have been kept. ­Figure 1-7 may appear Santiago (Chile), Cape Town (South Africa), Athens (Greece), rather ­complicated, but even a glance at this map shows and Perth (Australia). Details will differ, of course—­higher its ­utility. Devised long ago by Wladimir Köppen­ and later wind incidence or maybe lower overall humidity—but, in modified by Rudolf Geiger, it represents climatic regions­ general, the similarities will be greater than such differences. through a combination of colors and letter symbols. In the And if you live in Canada, you would be prepared for much of ­legend, note that the A climates (rose, gold, and peach) ­Russia and northeastern ­China. are ­equatorial and tropical; the B ­climates (tan, yellow) are Even at this relatively small geographic scale, Figure 1-7 dry; the C climates (shades of green) are temperate, that is, can tell us a great deal about entire climate regions. For in- moderate and neither hot nor cold; the D ­climates (shades stance, among the equatorial/tropical (Af) climates, the areas of purple) are cold; the E ­climates (blue) are frigid; and the with the darkest (rose) shade get the most rain, and it falls year- H ­climates (gray) prevail in highlands like the Himalayas/­ round, so that this is where tropical rainforests still stand. But Tibetan Plateau and the Andes. in the peach-colored (Aw) areas, the rainfall regime is subject to A good way to get a sense of how this map works is dry seasons, and the vegetation reflects this by its very name: to start with a climate with which you are familiar. If you live in savanna. Much more open space and more widely scattered the southeastern United States (the large green C area extend- stands of trees prevail in these tropical grasslands. And a third ing from near the Great Lakes to Florida), you would feel at kind of regime is signified by the m after the A: for monsoon, the home—climatically—in the green area in southeastern South annual copious rainy season on which the lives of hundreds of America, in southeastern Australia, and in southeastern China. millions of people still depend.

c01IntroductionWorldRegionalGeography.indd 15 1/9/20 8:24 PM 16 CHAPTER 1 Introduction: World Regional Geography 0° Af 20° 40° 20° Cfb Aw 60° H Af Cfb Cwa 160° Equator Aw Cfa Am Cfb Af H BSk BSh 40° 140° Aw Tropic of Cancer of Tropic E Csb Csa Af Aw BWh OCEAN 120° BSh Af Af PACIFIC BSh Csb Aw BSh Am Am Csa 100° Af Cfa Aw Dfb OCEAN 60° H Cfa E 60° Am Am Dfc J. Nijman, P.O. Muller and John Wiley & Sons, Inc Nijman, P.O. © J. Af Dfc Cfa Af Cwa Dwb Aw Dwa H Dfd 40° Cwa Dwb Dwb Am E Tropic of Capricorn of Tropic BSk Dwc E 20° Aw 2000 Miles Cwa Af 3000 Kilometers H Aw Dwd BWk Aw Tundra and ice Unclassi ed highlands Cwa H Dfd 2000 20° Am 1000 BSh E H BWh 1000 BSh COLD POLAR CLIMATE HIGHLAND CLIMATE 40° BSk H OCEAN INDIAN 0 0 E H Dfc E BSk 60° BSh Aw BWk Cwa Af BSk BWh H 60° Aw H BSh BWh H Dfb H Dfa BSh BWh H Aw Dfb Cfa 40° BSk Cfa BSk Csa H E BSh Cfa BSh Cfb H Cwb Dfc E a=hot summer b=cool summer c=short, cool summer d=very cold winter Csa Cwa BSk BSh Aw Af Aw 20° Cfc BWh SOUTHERN H Cfa Csb Cfb BWh Am Csa Antarctic Circle Antarctic Cfb 0° E Cfb BSh Csa Arctic Circle Arctic BSk Csa Cfc H 60° Csb Aw BSh 40° 60° OCEAN Am ATLANTIC OCEAN 20° ATLANTIC No dry season Dry winter No dry season Dry winter Dry summer 40° 20° Cf Df Cs Cw Dw HUMID TEMPERATE CLIMATE HUMID COLD CLIMATE 40° 20° C D Af 60° Am Af Af 20° Cwa 40° Cwa Aw Cwa Cfa Af E 40° 60° Am E BSk Cfb BSh Af H Aw BSk BWk Af BWh Dfc h=hot k=cold 80° OCEAN Cfb BWk BSk Csb Aw BSh ATLANTIC Af E Am BWh 60° Aw Aw Af Aw Am Dfb 40° BSh Cfa Semiarid Arid No dry season Short dry season Dry winter Af 20° Aw E BSh Cfa Dfb Dfa Aw H Af Dfc BS Aw Am BW After Köppen–Geiger BWh HUMID EQUATORIAL CLIMATE DRY CLIMATE BWk BSk 20° BSh H A B WORLD CLIMATES BWk BWh E 40° H Csa

E Csb Cfc Cfb 60° 120° Tropic of Cancer of Tropic OCEAN PACIFIC 60° 140° Interactive E Equator

Af 40° OCEAN Tropic of Capricorn of Tropic 160° SOUTHERN WR18e 1-07 Figure Second Proof 60° 20° 40° 20° 0° FIGURE 1-7

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Let us look at the world’s climatic regions in greater detail. than 50°C (122°F) followed by a nighttime low of less than 10°C (50°F). But the highest temperature ever recorded on the Humid Equatorial (A) Climates The humid equa- Earth’s surface is not in the ­Sahara: in 2013, the 56.7°C (134°F) torial, or tropical, climates are characterized by high tempera- measured in California’s­ Death Valley­ a century earlier was offi- tures all year and by heavy precipitation. In the Af subtype, the cially ­recognized as the ­hottest. ­rainfall arrives in substantial amounts every month; but in the Am ­areas, the arrival of the annual wet monsoon (the ­Arabic Humid Temperate (C) Climates As the map shows, word for “season” [see Chapter 9]) marks a sudden ­enormous almost all these midlatitude climate zones lie just beyond the ­increase in precipitation. The Af subtype is named after the ­Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn (23.5° North and South ­latitude, vegetation that develops there—the tropical ­rainforest. The Am ­respectively). This is the prevailing climate in the ­southeastern subtype, prevailing in part of peninsular India,­ in a coastal­ area United States from Kentucky to central Florida, on North ­America’s of West Africa, and in sections of Southeast Asia, is ­appropriately west coast, in most of Europe and the Mediterranean,­ in southern ­referred to as the monsoon climate. A third tropical climate, the Brazil and northern Argentina, in coastal South Africa,­ in east- savanna (Aw), has a wider daily and annual­ temperature range ern Australia, and in eastern China and southern Japan.­ None of and a more sharply seasonal ­distribution of rainfall. these areas suffers climatic extremes or severity, but the winters Savanna rainfall totals tend to be lower than those in the can be cold, especially away from water bodies that moderate rainforest zone, and savanna seasonality is often expressed ­temperatures. These areas lie midway between the winter-free in a “double maximum.” Each year produces two periods equatorial climates and the summer-free polar zones. Fertile and of ­increased rainfall separated by pronounced dry spells. In productive soils have developed under this regime, as we will note many savanna zones, inhabitants refer to the “long rains” in our discussion of the North American and European realms. and the “short rains” to identify those seasons; a persistent The humid temperate climates range from moist, as problem is the unpredictability of the rain’s arrival. Savanna along the densely forested coasts of Oregon, Washington, and soils are not among the most fertile, and when the rains fail British Columbia, to relatively dry, as in the so-called Medi- hunger looms. Savanna regions are far more densely peopled terranean (dry-summer) areas that include not only coast- than ­rainforest areas, and millions of residents of the savanna al southern ­Europe and northwestern Africa but also the ­subsist on what they cultivate. Rainfall variability is their princi- southwestern tips of Australia and Africa, central Chile, and pal ­environmental challenge. Southern California. In these Mediterranean environments, the scrubby, moisture-­preserving vegetation creates a natural Dry (B) Climates Dry climates are found in both lower landscape different from that of richly green ­western Europe. and higher latitudes. The difference between the BW (true ­desert) and the moister BS (semiarid steppe) varies Humid Cold (D) Climates The humid cold (or but may be taken ­ to lie at about 25 centimeters (10 in) of “snow”) ­climates may be called the continental climates, for ­annual ­precipitation. Parts of the central Sahara in North ­Africa they seem to develop in the interior of large landmasses, as receive less than 10 ­centimeters (4 in) of rainfall. Most of the in the heart of Eurasia or North America. No equivalent­ land world’s arid areas­ have an enormous daily temperature range,­ areas at ­similar latitudes are found in the Southern Hemi- especially in subtropical­ deserts (whose soils tend to be thin sphere; ­consequently, no D climates occur there. Great ­annual and ­poorly developed). In the Sahara, there are recorded in- ­temperature ranges mark these humid continental climates, stances of a maximum­ daytime shade temperature­ of more and cold winters and ­relatively cool summers are the rule. In Jacques Jangoux/Alamy Stock Photo Francesco Riccardo Iacomino / Getty Images, Inc. Jacques Jangoux/Alamy Stock Photo Stock Jangoux/Alamy Jacques Francesco Riccardo Iacomino/Moment/Getty Images Iacomino/Moment/Getty Riccardo Francesco

Contrasting natural landscapes produced by humid-equatorial (A) and dry (B) climates in the Americas: the tropical-forest-swathed Guiana Highlands of southern Venezuela (left), and the vegetation-free cliffs lining southeastern California’s arid Death Valley (right).

c01IntroductionWorldRegionalGeography.indd 17 1/9/20 8:24 PM 18 CHAPTER 1 Introduction: World Regional Geography

a Dfa climate, for ­instance, the ­warmest summer month (July) realm (the Austral) with less than 30 million people and another may average­ as high as 21°C (70°F), but the coldest month (South Asia) with more than 1.8 billion inhabitants. Neither popu- (January) might average only 11°C (12°F). Total precipitation, lation numbers nor territorial size alone can delimit a geographic much of it snow, is not high, ranging from about 75 centimeters realm. Nevertheless, the map of global population distribution (30 in) to a ­steppe-like 25 ­centimeters (10 in). Compensating for shows some major clusters that are part of certain realms (Fig. 1-8). this ­paucity of precipitation­ are cool temperatures­ that inhibit Before we examine these clusters in some detail, remember the loss of moisture from evaporation and ­evapotranspiration that the world’s human population now rounds off at 7.7 ­billion ­(moisture loss to the ­atmosphere from soils and plants). (and growing), confined to the landmasses that constitute less than Some of the world’s most productive soils lie in areas 30 percent of our planet’s surface, much of which is arid desert, under humid cold climates, including the U.S. Midwest, parts of inhospitable mountain terrain, or frigid­ tundra. After thousands southwestern Russia and Ukraine, and northeastern China. The of years of slow growth, world ­population during the nineteenth winter dormancy (when all water is frozen) and the accumu- and twentieth centuries grew at an increasing­ rate. That rate has lation of plant debris during the fall balance the ­soil-forming recently been slowing down, even imploding in some parts of the and enriching processes. The soil ­differentiates into well-­ world. But consider this: it took about 17 ­centuries following the defined, nutrient-rich layers, and substantial organic­ humus birth of Christ for the world to add 250 million people to its num- accumulates. Even where the annual precipitation is light, this bers; now we are adding 250 million about every three years. While ­environment sustains extensive coniferous forests. the rate of population growth has declined in some parts of the world, in absolute terms the global population continues to grow Cold Polar (E) and Highland (H) Climates Cold apace and is expected­ to reach just under 10 billion by 2050. polar (E) climates­ are differentiated into true icecap conditions, This raises the important question as to whether there are where permanent ice and snow keep vegetation from gaining limits to the Earth’s carrying capacity—will there be enough a foothold, and the tundra, which may have average tempera- food to go around? That question has become more and more tures above freezing up to four months of the year. Like rainfor- pressing over the past decade due to rapidly rising food prices est, savanna, and steppe, the term tundra is vegetative as well resulting from increased demand in China and India, a general as climatic, and the boundary between the D and E climates in dietary shift from grains to meat and vegetables, and the use Figure 1-7 corresponds closely to that between the northern co- of agricultural resources for the production of biofuels. The niferous forests and the tundra. actual increase of population is only part of the problem; our Finally, the climates labeled H —the unclassified highlands growing appetite for certain products is another. And we are mapped in gray—resemble the E climates. High elevations and not just talking about food—think drinking water, fossil fuels, the complex topography of major mountain systems ­often pro- and minerals as well. Therefore, it seems inconceivable that al- duce near-Arctic climates above the tree line, even in the low- most 10 billion people by mid-century could be consuming at est latitudes such as the equatorial section of the high Andes of the rate we do today in the developed world. South America. Here is an important qualification to keep in mind when Major Population Clusters studying Figure 1-7: this map is also a still-picture of a chang- ing scene, a single frame from an unspooling film. Global cli- One way to present an overview of the location of people on mate never stops changing, and less than a century from now the planet is to create a map of population distribution [24] those changes may compel revisions to this map. If current (Fig. 1-8). As you can see in the map’s legend, each dot repre- predictions about rising sea levels turn out to be accurate, we sents 100,000 people, and the clustering of large numbers of may even have to start redrawing some familiar coastlines. them in certain areas, as well as the near-emptiness of oth- You will find larger-scale maps of climate in several of ers, is readily evident. By the way, there is a technical differ- the regional chapters that follow, but it is always ­useful to ­refer ence between population distribution and population density, back to this Köppen–Geiger map whenever the ­historical or which is another way of showing where people live. Density economic geography of a region or ­country is ­under ­discussion. maps reveal the number of persons per unit area. This world climatic map reflects agricultural­ ­opportunities • South Asia The South Asia population cluster is centered and limitations as well as climatic regimes,­ and as such helps on India and includes its populous neighbors, Pakistan and explain some enduring patterns of human ­distribution on our Bangladesh. This huge agglomeration of humanity focuses­ planet. We turn next to this ­crucial topic. on the wide plain of the Ganges River (A in Fig. 1-8). South Asia recently became the world’s largest population cluster, overtaking East Asia in the early 2010s. Realms of Population • East Asia The East Asia population cluster is centered on eastern China and includes the Pacific-facing Asian coastal Earlier we noted that population numbers by themselves do not zone from the Korean Peninsula to Vietnam. Not long ago, define geographic realms or regions. Population distributions,­ and we would have reported this as a ­dominantly rural, farming­ the functioning society that gives them common ground, are more population, but rapid economic growth and burgeoning ur- significant criteria. That is why we can identify one geographic banization have altered the picture. In China’s interior river

c01IntroductionWorldRegionalGeography.indd 18 1/9/20 8:24 PM Realms of Population 19 0° 20° 20° Equator 40° 60° 160° OCEAN PACIFIC Tropic of Cancer Tropic 140° 40° 120° OCEAN JAPAN 100° 60° 60° Jawa © J. Nijman, P.O. Muller and John Wiley & Sons, Inc Nijman, P.O. © J. B 40° C Tropic of Capricorn Tropic 20° 3000 Kilometers 2000 Miles CHINA BANGLADESH A 20° 2000 1000 INDIA INDIAN OCEAN 1000 40° 0 0 RUSSIA 60° PAKISTAN 60° 40° SOUTHERN Nile D 20° Valley EUROPE Arctic Circle Arctic 0° NIGERIA Antarctic Circle Antarctic 60° 40° 60° OCEAN ATLANTIC 20° 40° 20° 40° 20° 60° 40° 20° 60° 40° OCEAN ATLANTIC 60° 80° 60° Megalopolis 40° 20° 20° 40° TION DISTRIBUTION 60° sents 100,000 people e p r 120° e 60° 140° Interactive OCEAN PACIFIC One dot r OCEAN Tropic of Capricorn Tropic 40° 160° SOUTHERN Tropic of Cancer Tropic WORLD POPUL A Regions 18e 1-08 Figure Proof Third 60° Equator 40° 20° 20° FIGURE 1-8 0°

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basins of the Huang (Yellow) and Chang/Yangzi (B and C on residing in cities and towns (which globally is estimated around the map), and in the Sichuan Basin between­ these two let- 55 percent today). Some regions are urbanizing far more rap- ters, most of the people ­remain farmers. But the booming idly than others, a phenomenon we will investigate as we cities of coastal, and ­increasingly interior, China are attract- examine each realm. For now, it is important to be aware of the ing millions of new inhabitants, and in 2011 the Chinese distinction between urbanization level and urban growth rates. ­urban population surpassed the 50 ­percent milestone. The urbanization level refers to the proportion of a country’s or • Europe The third-ranking population cluster, Europe, also region’s total population living in cities (however defined by lies on the Eurasian landmass but at the opposite end from national governments). The urban growth rate, on the other China. The European cluster, including western Russia, hand, concerns the growth of the urban population over time, counts more than 700 million inhabitants, which puts it in a usually on an annual basis. So, for example, the U.S. urbaniza- class with the two larger Eurasian ­concentrations—but there tion level is 82 percent, whereas its yearly urban growth rate is the similarity ends. In Europe, the key to the linear, east– around 1 percent; for Tanzania, the urbanization level is far less, west orientation of the axis of population (D in Fig. 1-8) is not 34 percent, but the urban growth rate is a much higher 5.1 per- a fertile river basin but a zone of raw materials for industry. cent. It makes sense that urbanization levels and growth rates Europe is among the world’s most highly urbanized and are often inversely related: once the percentage of the popula- industrialized realms, its human agglomeration sustained tion already living in cities reaches a certain level, urban growth by factories and offices rather than paddies and pastures. rates will subside, as has been the case for the United States. Alternatively, when urbanization levels are low, there are ample The three world population concentrations just discussed opportunities for rapid urban growth. (South Asia, East Asia, and Europe) account for about 4 billion Thus the fastest urban growth rates tend to occur in of the world’s 7.7 billion people. No other cluster comes close realms and regions in which a large proportion of the popula- to these numbers. The next-ranking cluster, eastern North tion ­resides in rural areas, as in Subsaharan Africa as well as ­America, is only about one-quarter the size of the smallest South and East Asia. It is also worth noting—in these realms ­Eurasian concentrations. As in Europe, the population in this where urbanization levels remain low and urban growth rates zone is concentrated in major metropolitan complexes; the are high—that a considerable number of megacities [26] have ­rural areas are now relatively sparsely settled. emerged over the past three decades (see Box 1-4). These huge urban agglomerations are defined as containing populations of Toward an Urban World greater than 10 million, and in 2018, 33 of them could be found on the world map. Among the latter, only two are in North Geographic realms and regions display varying levels of America (New York and Los Angeles), whereas eight are located­ urbanization­ [25], the proportion of the total population in South Asia and no less than six in China alone.

Box 1-4 From The Field Notes …

“After a chat with the manager of a high-rise hotel in Mumbai, we are allowed access to the roof in early evening to take shots of the city’s mushrooming skyline. In the fore- ground, waterfront-lining ­Marine Drive, also known as ‘The Queen’s Necklace,’­ faces the Arabian Sea as the setting sun shines faintly on some of the low-rise Art Deco apartment blocks that date back to the 1930s. We are at the southern tip of the Mumbai Peninsu- la, from where the British ruled their South Asian empire during colonial times. Today, the megacity has expanded­ far beyond this slender peninsula onto the surrounding mainland, and the metropolitan-area pop- ulation exceeds 23 million. Looking north- ward, Mumbai’s unrelenting densification presents itself as the proverbial concrete jungle.” © Jan. Nijman © J. Nijman © J.

c01IntroductionWorldRegionalGeography.indd 20 1/9/20 8:24 PM Realms of Culture 21

­variations of cultural landscapes also occur within­ ­geographic Realms of Culture realms, such as between highly urbanized and dominantly ru- ral (and more traditional) areas, and they can be quite useful in Try to imagine yourself in northeast Africa, aboard a riverboat the process of delineating several of the world’s regions as well. on the White Nile, heading upstream (south) from Khartoum, Sudan. The desert sky is blue; the heat is searing. You pass by villages that look much the same: low, square, or rectangular The Geography of Language dwellings, some recently whitewashed, others gray, with flat roofs, wooden doors, and small windows. The minaret of a mod- Language is the essence of culture. Most people tend to feel est mosque may rise above the houses, and there may be a small ­passionately about their mother tongue, especially when they central square. There is very little vegetation; here and there a believe it is threatened in some way. In the United States today, hardy palm tree stands in a courtyard. People on the paths wear the English Only movement reflects many people’s fears that long white or colored robes and headgear. A few goats lie in the the primacy of English as the national language is under threat shade, and children are playing on the dusty ground. as a result of immigration. As we will see in later chapters, some All of this is part of Sudan’s rural cultural ­landscape [27], the governments try to suppress the languages (and thereby the distinctive attributes of a ­society ­imprinted on its portion of the cultures) of minorities in mistaken attempts to enforce national world’s physical stage. ­Continue your ­journey ­southward on unity, provoking violent reactions. the Nile, and you will soon ­witness a ­remarkable ­transition. Quite In fact, many languages emerge, thrive, and die out over suddenly, the square, ­solid-walled, ­flat-roofed houses of Sudan time, and linguists estimate that the number of lost languages give way to the round, ­wattle-and-thatch, conical-roofed dwell- is in the tens of thousands—a process that continues. One year ings of South ­Sudan. You may note that clouds have ­appeared in from the day you read this, about 25 more languages will have the sky: it rains more here, and flat roofs will not do. The desert become extinct, leaving no trace. Just in North ­America, more has ­yielded to green. Vegetation, natural as well as planted, grows than 100 native languages have been lost over the past half-­ ­between ­houses, flanking even the narrow paths. The villages century. Some major languages of the past, such as Sumerian seem less orderly, more varied. You’ll see women, ­often in color- and Etruscan, have left fragments in later languages. Others, like ful dresses, carrying water in jars on their heads from a nearby Sanskrit and Latin, live on in their modern successors. At present, well or the river to their huts. You have traveled­ from one cultural­ about 6900 languages remain, half of them classified by linguists ­landscape into another, from Arabized, ­Islamic Africa to animist/­ as endangered (“hot spots” include the Amazon ­Basin, the Andes Christian Africa. More broadly, you have crossed the boundary to its west, Siberia, and northern Australia). By the end of this between two ­geographic realms (see the photo pair below). century, the bulk of the world’s population will be speaking just a Although no geographic realm is marked by only a single few hundred languages, which means that many millions will no cultural landscape, these landscapes can help define both longer be able to speak their ancestral mother tongues. realms and regions. The cultural landscape of the high-rise Scholars have tried for many years to unravel the ­historic North American city with its far-reaching suburbs differs from roots and branches of the global “language tree,” and their that of Europe; the meticulously organized, terraced paddies­ ­debates continue. Geographers trying to map the outcome of Southeast Asia are unlike anything to be found in the of this research keep having to modify the pattern, so you ­rural ­cultural landscape of neighboring Australia. ­Important should take Figure 1-9 as a work in progress, not the final PATRICK BAZ/AFP Creative/Getty Images Creative/Getty BAZ/AFP PATRICK Cultura Travel/Philip Lee Harvey /Getty Images Cultura Travel/Philip Lee Harvey /Getty Images Cultura Travel/Philip Lee Harvey/Getty Images Harvey/Getty Lee Travel/Philip Cultura PATRICK BAZ/AFP Creative/Getty Images PATRICK BAZ/AFP Creative/Getty Images Contrasting settlement landscapes in Sudan. To the left, the town of Umm Dawban just north of the capital, Khartoum, which stands in sharp contrast with those in South Sudan (right, the village of Nyaro just south of the Sudan-South Sudan border).

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c01IntroductionWorldRegionalGeography.indd 22 1/9/20 8:24 PM 2000 Miles 3000 Kilometers AMILIES TIC TIC AN AN TED AREAS TED AREAS TIC TIC 2000 1000 VIDIAN VIDIAN ANESE AND KOREAN ANESE AND KOREAN AIC AIC T T INDO-EUROPEAN INDO-EUROPEAN AFRO-ASI A AFRO-ASI A NIGER-CONGO NIGER-CONGO SAHARAN SAHARAN SUDANIC SUDANIC KHOISAN KHOISAN URALIC URALIC A L A L SINO-TIBE T SINO-TIBE T JA P JA P DR A DR A AUSTRO-ASI A AUSTRO-ASI A AUSTRONESIAN AUSTRONESIAN TRANS-NEW GUINEA AND TRANS-NEW GUINEA AND AUSTRALIAN AUSTRALIAN AMERINDIAN AMERINDIAN OTHERS OTHERS UNPOPUL A UNPOPUL A 1000 OF THE WORLD Majority Speakers 0 Modi ed from Hammond World Atlas, 1977. Hammond World Modi ed from 0 LANGUAGE F 2 4 5 8 1 3 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 A World of States 23

product. At minimum, there are some 15 so-called language Christianity in Europe and the Americas, Islam in North Africa/ families, groups of languages with a shared but usually dis- Southwest Asia, ­Hinduism in South Asia, and Buddhism in tant origin. The most widely distributed language family, the mainland Southeast Asia. But the boundaries are usually fuzzy Indo-­European (shown in yellow on the map), includes English, and ­frequently take the form of transition zones (e.g., between French, Spanish, ­Russian, Persian, and Hindi. This encom- North and Middle America, and especially between North and passes the languages of European colonizers that were carried Subsaharan Africa). and implanted worldwide, English most of all. Today, English serves as the national or official language of many countries and outposts, and it remains the lingua ­franca (common second language) of government, commerce, and A World of States higher education in many multicultural societies (see Fig. 1-9 inset map). In the postcolonial era, English became the chief Ours is a world of about 200 countries or states [28]. As Figure medium of still another wave of ascendancy now in progress: 1-4 and Figure 1-11 suggest, geographic realms and regions are globalization. But even English may eventually go the way mostly assemblages of states, and the borders between them of Latin, morphing into versions you already can hear as you frequently coincide with the boundaries between countries— travel to different parts of the world. For example, in Hong for example, between North America and Middle America along Kong, Chinese and English are producing a local “Chinglish” the U.S.–Mexico border. It is also possible for a realm boundary you may hear in the first taxi you enter. In Lagos, Nigeria, where to cut across a state (Indonesia is one), so that state and realm most of the people are culturally and ethnically Yoruba, a lan- boundaries do not always concur (see the African Transition guage called “Yorlish” is emerging. It is hard to keep up with the Zone in Fig. 1-4). constant evolution of language. The political territorial organization of the world within a system of states is based on the notion of sovereignty [29]. It is a concept from international law, which means that the Landscapes of Religion ­government of a state reigns supreme within its borders. ­Normally, states recognize each other’s sovereignty, but this Religion played a crucial role in the emergence of ancient becomes a matter of contention in times of conflict and war. ­civilizations and has shaped the course of world history. Think, for example, of the ongoing conflict in which Russia is ­Hinduism, for instance, was one of the earliest religions that challenging Ukraine’s sovereignty in that country’s eastern helped shape an entire realm (South Asia). Later, Buddhism, provinces next to the Russian border. Or think of China’s refusal ­Christianity, and Islam emerged as major belief systems, often to even consider the possible sovereignty of Taiwan. splitting up into various branches stretching across realms and regions. Figure ­ 1-10 shows the current distribution of world religions. Our world has become more complicated in recent The European Origins of the times, and its patterns of religion are increasingly diffuse and dynamic. But today, we still find that geographic realms are Modern State often dominated by a single religion or family of religions: In the long course of human history, the modern state is a rel- atively recent invention, and so is the international system of which it forms the cornerstone. The modern state emerged from other varieties of politico-territorial organization that date back to the earliest complex civilizations. In their studies of ancient history, scholars sometimes use the term polity or proto-state to indicate the difference. Ever since agricultural surpluses enabled the growth of large and prosperous towns, this was accompanied by the more sophisticated and central- ized exercise of power and political organization. From these origins, the earliest states took shape. It was not until the seventeenth century that ­European ­rulers and governments began to negotiate treaties that ­defined the state in international law. That is why the modern­ NurPhoto/Getty Images NurPhoto/Getty state is quite often described as based on the European state Kumbh Mela (Allahabad, India, February/March 2019) is the world’s ­model [30], with definitions of nationality and ­sovereignty. largest religious festival, hosting 120 million people in a six-week ­Often, the model assumed that the state and the nation were period. It is held every three years, between four alternating holy places, of which Allahabad (now officially renamed Prayagraj), at the ideally ­conterminous, so that a nation-state would enclose confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, is perhaps the most an ethnically and culturally homogeneous people ­within sacred of all. Hinduism is the world’s third-biggest religion, with the a ­national boundary. That was never truly the case (even preponderance of believers living in India. France, the “model of models,” had its minorities), and ­today

c01IntroductionWorldRegionalGeography.indd 23 1/9/20 8:25 PM 24 CHAPTER 1 Introduction: World Regional Geography 0° 20° 20° 60° 40° Equator 160° 40° 140° Tropic of Cancer of Tropic OCEAN JUDAISM SIKHISM MORMONISM EVANGELICAL PROTESTANTS ISLAM PACIFIC I 120° S P M OCEAN 100° 60° P P P 60° J. Nijman, P.O. Muller and John Wiley & Sons, Inc Nijman, P.O. © J. P P 40° I Tropic of Capricorn of Tropic 20° 2000 Miles 3000 Kilometers I P 20° 2000 I S S CHINESE RELIGIONS and BUDDHISM – MAHAYANA SHINTOISM and BUDDHISM – MAHAYANA TRADITIONAL and SHAMANIST RELIGIONS TRADITIONALIST MIXED S 1000 1000 40° OCEAN INDIAN 0 0 60° 60° P P P 40° P I 20° I I I I SOUTHERN Antarctic Circle Antarctic 0° Arctic Circle Arctic I P HINDUISM BUDDHISM – TANTRAYANA BUDDHISM – THERAVADA 60° 40° 60° OCEAN RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD ATLANTIC 20° 40° 20° 40° 20° 60° P 20° ISLAM I Sunni Sunni in India Shia 40° P OCEAN 40° P I P 60° P P P P 80° P 60° OCEAN P P ATLANTIC I 60° P P I P 40° P P P 20° I M 20° M M M CHRISTIANITY I Mostly Roman Catholic Mostly Protestant Mostly Eastern Orthodox 40° Adapted from E. H. Fouberg et al., E. H. Fouberg Adapted from Human Geography , 9e, based on several data sources. 60° OCEAN PACIFIC 120° Tropic of Cancer of Tropic 60°

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the ­ideal state is defined as a clearly and legally defined the chapters ahead. For now, it is important to realize that the ­territory ­inhabited by a citizenry governed from a capital world map of states is far from stable in certain realms and city by a ­representative ­government. As we shall discover in regions, and that states are not the only major geopolitical Chapter 5, not even in ­Europe itself are all governments truly actors on the global scene. ­representative. ­Nonetheless, the European state model has, for better or worse, been adopted throughout the world. Although the modern state is a longstanding phenome- non, many states experience external and internal pressures Geographies of Development and challenges. For instance, European states are challenged Finally, as we prepare for our study of world regional geog- “from above” by the European Union (EU) as member-states raphy, it is all too clear that realms, regions, and states do transfer some of their power to Brussels (the EU’s headquarters not enjoy the same level of prosperity. The field of economic city), mainly because they believe it will be to their ­economic geography focuses on spatial aspects of the ways people advantage. States can also be challenged “from below” by make their living, and deals with patterns of production, dis- ­ethnic minorities, such as the Kurds in southeastern Turkey, or tribution, and consumption of goods and services (see, for by regional secessionist movements such as the Catalonians in instance, Box 1-5). As with all else in this world, these pat- northeastern Spain. terns reveal significant variation. Individual states report the nature and value of their imports and exports, farm and factory output, and many other economic data to the United Power and Geopolitics Nations and other international agencies. From such infor- mation, economic geographers can measure the comparative As the term geopolitics [31] implies, geography plays a major role in the politics of the state, in the international relations well-being of the world’s countries. The concept of develop- among states within realms and regions, and even in war- ment [32] is used to gauge a population’s economic, social, fare and terrorism. Geography does not, of course, explain and institutional growth and overall well-being. everything, but it is certainly an essential dimension in the As this definition indicates, the meaning of ­development understanding of world politics. A state’s power and influence is not confined to economics but can be expressed, for are related to its size, access to natural resources, location ­example, in access to schools or medical care, democratic vis-à-vis other states, trading routes, access to waterways, ­institutions, environmental stewardship, social inclusiveness, and the like. More than ever today, news reports about con- political ­freedom, and the quality of governance. Develop- flicts in any part of the world—whether on television, on the ment, therefore, is a broad theme that attracts attention not websites and hard-copy pages of leading newspapers, or in only from economic­ ­geographers but also from geographers ­newsmagazines—are accompanied by maps crucial to the who take a more comprehensive approach. In recent years, explanation of these clashes. the dual notions of sustainable­ development [33] and Even though the role of geography in political affairs can inclusive­ development ­ [34] have emerged as particularly be regarded as fundamental, it certainly does not remain important themes. The first focuses on the long-term viability ­static. Relative geopolitical location itself is subject to change, of economic patterns in relation to the physical environment ­especially in response to new technologies. For example, states and natural resources—think of pollution, or finite resources and regions once deemed impregnable because they could not like fossil fuels. The second emphasizes the extent of equal easily be reached by enemies (such as the United States prior economic (and social)­ opportunities for different population to the age of aviation) can swiftly see their invulnerability dis- groups, especially minorities and the poor. appear. It is not hard to imagine how the arrival of long-range missiles, state-of-the-art spy-satellite technology, advances in Development in Spatial Perspective geospatial and mapping systems, and other high-tech military innovations such as drones can hugely impact a country’s stra- Various schemes to group the world’s states into economic-­ tegic planning and positioning. geographic categories have come and gone, and others­ will The territorial functioning and integrity of many states in probably arise in the future. For our purposes, the classifica- this century have further been challenged by the emergence, tion scheme used by the World Bank (one of the agencies that proliferation, and growing sophistication of terrorist groups. monitor economic conditions across the globe) is the most Today’s most heavily contested zones of conflict are found effective. It sorts countries into four categories based on the in the North Africa/Southwest Asian realm (e.g., ­Syria, Iraq, success of their economies: (1) high-income, (2) upper-middle Yemen) where longstanding sectarian disputes have been income, (3) lower-middle income, and (4) low-income. These complicated by the rise of violent, radical organizations such categories, when mapped, display important regional patterns as the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and ISIS. Increasingly, these threats (see Fig. 1-11). Compare this map to our global framework are also being felt far beyond that realm, in places such as (Fig. 1-4), and you can see the role of economic geography in western Europe, Russia, and West Africa. You will learn about the layout of the world’s geographic realms. Also evident are the geographic dimensions of these and other key conflicts in regional contrasts within realms—for instance, between Brazil

c01IntroductionWorldRegionalGeography.indd 25 1/9/20 8:25 PM 26 CHAPTER 1 Introduction: World Regional Geography 0° FIJI 20° 40° 20° SOLOMON ISLANDS NEW NEW 60° VANUATU ZEALAND CALEDONIA Equator 160° NEW PAPUA GUINEA 40° 140° Tropic of Cancer of Tropic PACIFIC AUSTRALIA EAST TIMOR EAST 120° OCEAN PHILIPPINES OCEAN JAPAN TAIWAN 100° INDONESIA 60° S. BRUNEI 60° KOREA VIETNAM N. MALAYSIA J. Nijman, P.O. Muller and John Wiley & Sons, Inc Nijman, P.O. © J. KOREA CAMBODIA LAOS 40° THAILAND Tropic of Capricorn of Tropic SINGAPORE MYANMAR CHINA 20° SRI LANKA SRI BHUTAN 3000 Kilometers 3000 2000 Miles 2000 BANGLADESH MONGOLIA NEPAL INDIA 20° 2000 1000 KYRGYZSTAN 1000 40° TAJIKISTAN INDIAN OCEAN PAKISTAN RUSSIA MAURITIUS 0 0 AFGHANISTAN OMAN KAZAKHSTAN 60° UZBEKISTAN RÉUNION U.A.E. IRAN TURKMENISTAN COMOROS YEMEN QATAR SOMALIA SAUDI 60° ARABIA DJIBOUTI MADAGASCAR

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Box 1-5 From the Field Notes …

“As I sit enjoying breathtaking views of the spectacu- lar ­Andean highlands of southern Peru, a farmer slowly comes up the side of the hill with her donkeys. Although incomes for small farmers­ here are low and life is simple,­ she ­exudes an air of confidence and pride; she is at home here, and I am on her turf. She tells me her name is Carmen­ and when I ask, she says that the donkeys are carrying hay grass to market in the nearby town of Chinchero. Car- men’s ­family owns a small plot of land on one of these hill- sides, and the donkeys are her main means of transpor- tation. The hay will feed guinea pigs that many rural and ­small-town ­Peruvian families keep in their home … to eat. Guinea pigs are said to be quite tasty, and they are much cheaper than beef as well as a good source of protein. And they can ­easily be kept around the house until their time

comes. Soon she is on her way again, it is probably another Nijman © J.

hour or so for her to reach Chinchero, down in the valley.” © Jan Nijman

and its western neighbors, between South Africa and most of integrated, international spatial system—is structured within the rest of Subsaharan Africa, and between west and east in the framework of a dominant global core [35] and subordinate Europe. Thus the geographic scale at which we consider devel- global periphery [36]. During the nineteenth century, the core opment is of critical importance. more or less coincided with western Europe, controlling as it did vast areas of the world through its empires. In the twen- tieth century, the core expanded first to North America and A Complex, Core–Periphery World then grew to include Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. By the 1980s, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea had The economic success of human societies on the Earth’s surface become part of the core as well. And as the twenty-first century tends to be concentrated in certain areas while bypassing oth- opened, the newest entrant stepped forward: Pacific-fronting ers. This was true in ancient and more recent historical times, China. The regions constituting this still-evolving global core and it is true today. The contemporary world economy—an are mapped in tan in Figure 1-12.

Europe North America East Asia

Australia/ New Zealand

GLOBAL CORE 0 2000 4000 6000 Kilometers REGIONS 0 2000 4000 Miles © J. Nijman, P. O. Muller, and John Wiley & Sons, Inc. O. Muller, Nijman, P. © J.

FIGURE 1-12

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Note that the global core is not a contiguous area but rather coastal provinces of the Pacific Rim still overshadow those of consists of four dominant regions: North America, Europe, the west. Thus national-level­ statistics­ can conceal as much as ­eastern East Asia, and Australia/New Zealand. Moreover, they reveal, and this is why inclusive development is becoming Singapore (not shown in Fig. 1-12) is often considered to be part a leading policy goal around the world. of the Asian core region as well. Sometimes, the world outside the core is divided into a periphery and semi-periphery­ , where the latter comprises countries that occupy­ somewhat of a mid- Uneven Development and Spatial dle position between affluence and poverty,­ between dom- inance and dependency. Examples of these semi-periphery Inequalities countries today would be Brazil, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia. Core–periphery relations imply uneven development across It is also important to keep in mind that core–periphery space: economic activity tends to cluster around certain loca- relationships­ [37] are not limited to the international scale. tion or in certain regions, while others lag behind. The way the Countries as well can and do exhibit such patterns at the global economy works results in uneven development [39] national scale. China is a particularly good example: its coastal and growth at the global scale (for instance, the North American provinces form the core, while the interior and westernmost realm is richer and more economically advanced than the South reaches of the country comprise China’s periphery. Except for a American realm) but also at finer scales. Thus in the United few special ­cases, all countries contain core areas [38]. These States there is a growing urban–rural divide, where larger met- national cores are most often anchored by the country’s capital ropolitan areas (though not all) gain most employment, pro- and/or largest city: Paris (France), Tokyo (Japan), Buenos Aires duction, and consumption, while rural regions lag behind. And (Argentina), and Bangkok (Thailand) are only a few notable a State like Connecticut is substantially more prosperous than examples. Larger countries may have more than one core area, a State like West Virginia. At the same time, inequalities are pro- such as Australia with its eastern and western coastal cores and found (and have been growing) within most metropolitan areas intervening periphery. And uneven development also exists at in the United States. We will return to this issue in the chapter the local scale, especially marking the complex socioeconomic on North America and elsewhere in the book. landscapes of urban areas. The world continues to exhibit major differences in pro- ductivity and well-being. One of the most intriguing economic– spatial outcomes of globalization is that a growing number of Globalization countries have accelerated their development—but this growth is often confined to specific city-regions, whereas the rest of Globalization [40] is fundamentally a geographical process the country remains quite poor. Figure 1-12, therefore, is pro- in which spatial relations—economic, cultural, political—shift visional: it conveys a broad impression of the global core, but to the macro-scale. What this means is that what happens in we realize that it is not really a continuous geographic space one place has repercussions in places ever more distant— (and neither is the global periphery). The core-periphery con- thereby integrating the entire world into a “global village,” cept is most useful in thinking about the organization of space linked ever more tightly by recent advances in communica- as well as the geographies of power and dependence. But it is tions and transport­ technologies. Globalization now comes difficult to map precisely, not least because it operates simul- into our homes via television, computers, and smartphones; taneously at multiple scales. For instance, the United States news today has never traveled faster, and sometimes even constitutes part of the global core; its northeastern seaboard government leaders turn to the Internet on their personal elec- anchors the national core area; and New York’s Midtown and tronic devices to get the latest reports on international events. Lower ­Manhattan form the core of its largest city. Note that some places are (much) more globalized and con- We also need to add a cautionary note about spatially nected than others. Global cities, such as New York, Paris, or aggregated statistics. The concept of development, as meas- ­Singapore, are major nodes in worldwide networks of produc- ured by data that reflect totals and averages for entire national tion, consumption, trade, and travel (see Box 1-6). populations, entails certain pitfalls that we should be aware of. Globalization, however, is not all that new. The second half When a state’s economy is growing as a whole, and even when of the nineteenth century, for instance, also witnessed ­major it is “booming” relative to other states, this does not auto- advances in the intensification of global interdependence. matically mean that every citizen is better off and the income It was particularly affected by such new technologies as the of every worker is rising. Averages have a way of concealing steamship, the railway, and the telegraph, which subsequently regional variability and local stagnation. In very large states were followed by first-generation motor vehicles and aircraft. such as India and China, it is useful to assess regional, provin- But with today’s newest technologies, the global village is cial, and even local­ economic­ data to discover to what extent achieving an unprecedented level of long-distance intercon- the whole country is sharing in development.­ In the case of nectivity. Accordingly, geography and our knowledge of the India, we should know that the State of Maharashtra (contain- world’s realms and regions have become more important than ing the megacity of Mumbai)­ is far ahead of most other States ever before in understanding and navigating this transforming when it comes to sharing­ in the national­ economy. In China, the macro-spatial reality.

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Box 1-6 From the Field Notes …

“Would you like to float in an ‘infinity pool’ atop a 57-­story skyscraper that provides amazing views? You can in Singapore. I spotted this futuristic-looking ­tower across the water from downtown and thought it would be worth a visit. It turned out to be the massive Marina­ Bay Sands Hotel (developed by the Sands ­Corporation of Las Vegas) that opened for business in 2010. ­Singapore is one of the best examples of a city propelled into prominence by the forces of globalization. ­Located stra- tegically on one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes (the Strait of Malacca) and possessing a fine ­harbor, this minuscule city-state was bound to benefit from expanding world trade. It now boasts the busiest trans- shipment port on Earth, and the city has also become © Jan Nijman a shopping magnet for elites all across the ­Southeast Nijman © J. Asian realm. Like most ‘world-cities,’ Singapore­ is a hub of both production and consumption.”

Globalization and Environmental it is now easier to travel back and forth, which allows migrants to ­maintain close ties with their countries of origin. Not surprisingly, Challenges as the number of highly mobile transnational migrants has risen, these transients have become major players in the spreading of Globalization plays out in various spheres, from the environ- cultures around the world. Examples include Algerians in Paris, mental to the cultural to the economic. One of today’s most Haitians in Montreal, Cubans in Miami, Mexicans in Los Angeles, pressing environmental issues is global warming, which threat- Indians in Singapore, and Indonesians in Sydney. ens every corner of our planet. It is clear that the problem must Yet it is also important to keep in mind that people’s be addressed internationally, yet it is far from easy to agree ­mobility is often constrained because certain parts of this highly on mitigation strategies. Some countries are bigger polluters uneven world are so much better off than others. High-­income than others, some have more resources than others, and some countries exert the strongest pull on migrants—but all too ­often are more developed than others. How to divide the burdens? they cannot gain access. Millions of workers aspire to leave the Countries from around the world have been meeting for many poverty of the global periphery and seek a better life somewhere years at United Nations Climate Change Conferences, the most in the core. Trying to get there, every year many of them per- recent one held in Paris in late 2015. The main purpose is to ish in the waters of the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and the reach agreement on collective reductions in the emission of greenhouse gases so as to limit global warming—but progress has been slow. Figure 1-13 provides some insight into the geography of greenhouse gases, which emanate locally, yet have global consequences for which we all pay (see Box 1-7).

Globalization and Population Movements

Culturally, too, the world is coming closer together. This is appar- ent in the global spreading of new fashions, music, foods, and other innovations. In a more problematic way, it is also expressed in global migration flows (see Box 1-8 and Fig. 1-14). In the past, was relatively uncommon because most people migration [41] Photo Stock alliance/Alamy picture dpa were rooted in their home environment, where they lived out Children refugees wash themselves in “Camp Moria” on the Greek their entire lives. When residential relocation did occur, it used to island of Lesbos, September 25, 2018. Most of the people here have be one-way, with people migrating from one place to another and fled wars and violence in Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Their intention then staying put. But over the past quarter-century, migration is to move elsewhere in Europe, but many have been held in Moria for flows have intensified, in part because people increasingly pos- months under harsh circumstances that include shortages of food, sess better knowledge about opportunities elsewhere. Moreover, water, and medicines and a lack of proper sanitation.

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Box 1-7 Geographic Information Analysis

The Geography Of CO2 Emissions Visualizations can reveal patterns that are difficult to see when or more variation? What do you think is related to, or possibly using only tables or graphs. Of particular interest is when some- creating, the patterns of clustering and variations that you see on

thing like a bird species, or phenomena such as income or CO2 this map? Can you think of another phenomenon that would cre- emissions per capita are geographically clustered, or concen- ate similar patterns on a map? trated, in nearby locations. The corollary to such local geographic clustering is regional geographic variation across a map. What Access your WileyPLUS course to interact with a dynamic version of

does the map of per capita CO2 emissions display – more clusters this map and to engage with online exercises and questions.

CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS PER CAPITA, 2014 (METRIC TONS)

No Data 0 - 1.5 1.5 - 3 3 - 5 5 - 10 10 - 15 > 15 © J. Nijman, M. Shin, P.O. Muller and John Wiley & Sons, Inc Nijman, M. Shin, P.O. © J.

FIGURE 1-13 Interactive

Atlantic. Others risk their lives at the barriers that encircle­ the ­refugees underscore the enormous differences in prosperity global core as if it were a gated community—from the “security­ and well-being­ across the world’s realms and regions. fence” between Mexico and the United States to the razor wire that encircles Spain’s tiny outposts on North ­Africa’s shore. Migration has become a dominant political issue in much Regional and Thematic of the world, with the governments and populations of more developed countries becoming increasingly opposed to im- Geographies migration, particularly illegal immigration or the granting of asylum to refugees. Populist politicians across Europe and At the beginning of this chapter, we introduced a map of the great in the ­United States have increasingly taken anti-immigrant geographic realms of the world (Fig. 1-4). We then addressed the ­positions, particularly where it concerns poor, less educated, task of dividing these realms into regions, and we used criteria and ethnically or religiously different migrants or refugees. ranging from physical geography to economic geography. The ­Interestingly, many of these same countries actually face the result is Figure 1-15. On this map, note that we display not only growing demographic­ problems of low birth rates and graying the world geographic realms but also the regions into which populations, and from a longer-term economic perspective it they subdivide. The numbers in the legend reveal the order in can be argued that they actually need immigrants to stabilize which the realms and regions are discussed, starting with North their populations. Unquestionably, these flows of migrants and America (1) and ending with the Pacific Realm (12).

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Box 1-8 Geographic Information Analysis

Global Migration Flows The realms and regions of the world are both interconnected and America, most migration occurs within the realm itself, and is fol- constantly changing. Such linkages and change are clearly appar- lowed by migrants moving to North America and Europe. Which ent when we consider the movement of people from one place realms are the destinations of global migration? Which realms are to another. To facilitate viewing global migration—or the flow of the origins of global migration? Can you think of particular source people among realms—consider the ‘chord diagram’ below. Each and destination countries through careful analysis of the chord realm is assigned a color (e.g., South America is pink), and is iden- diagram? tified on the outside of the circle. The thickness of the ‘chords’ or lines that connect the realms together correspond to the num- Access your WileyPLUS course to interact with a dynamic version of ber of migrants moving to another realm. For the case of South this map and to engage with online exercises and questions.

East North Asia America

South Asia Southeast Asia

Austral

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Subsaharan Africa © J. Nijman, M. Shin, P.O. Muller and John Wiley & Sons, Inc Nijman, M. Shin, P.O. © J.

FIGURE 1-14 Interactive

As this introductory chapter has demonstrated, this book ­generalizations, and ­basic theories that make the discipline does not merely offer a series of descriptions of places and what it is. We continue­ this approach in the chapters ahead so areas. We will combine the study of realms and regions with that you will become­ better acquainted with the world and with an overview of ­geography’s ideas and concepts—the notions, ­geography as a science. By now you are aware that geography­

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WR18e World Realms and Regions WR18e World 1-15 Figure Fourth Proof OCEAN 40° Tropic of Capricorn Tropic 160° SOUTHERN 60° 20° 40° POLYNESIA 20° 0° FIGURE 1-15

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RINE MA GE NCE OLOG SCIE Y E G ARIN EOMO M HY R- ME RAP PHOLO TE Y EOG GY C O G Y G L RO O H IM L L AP A O IO R TO G B G L O O Y E G G Y IO B U R P B L G A A L E N N A Y E L U O S N C C H R I A G I P T N T N C B I I R U A G E A L A I T R D I N , O C P L G I E H P S O O S

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P E

G REGIONAL/THEMATIC

L B G GEOGRAPHY Y A P E E S C H H I O Y P A R Y G C V A O R H R I R O T O A G O S T P R I L O S H A H I O L E G Y G H Y P O IC G P M Y E U O H D O L N P E G AT O A M R IO EC R S O A N OG IC G PH E M R Y C G O AP ULTU ICAL ON HY G RAL MED Y C EOG APH E RAPHY GEOGR ANT HRO H POLOGY EALT S AND H ES OC IENC IOLOGY SC J. Nijman, P.O. Muller and John Wiley & Sons, Inc Nijman, P.O. © J. FIGURE 1-16

is a wide-ranging, multifaceted discipline. It is ­often ­described ­European or the Chinese city. Regional geography, therefore, as a social science, but that is only half the story: ­geography, ­borrows from the thematic field of urban geography, but it in fact, straddles the divide between the social and the physi- ­injects this ­regional perspective. In the following chapters, we cal sciences. Many of the ideas and ­concepts you will encounter call upon these thematic fields to provide you with a better involve the multiple interactions between human societies and ­understanding of the world’s realms and regions. As a ­result, natural environments. you will gain insights into the discipline of geography­ as well as Regional geography allows us to view the world in an the ­regions we ­investigate. all-encompassing way. As we have seen, regional geography­ We will begin our investigation of the world’s realms and integrates information from many sources to create an over- regions in North America. This is, after all, where most of you all image of our divided world. Those sources are not ran- were born and raised—and it is from this ­­geographic realm that dom: they represent topical or thematic geography. Research­ your expanding worldview has evolved. in the systematic fields of geography makes our world- scale ­generalizations possible. As ­Figure 1-16 shows, these ­thematic fields connect closely to those of other­ ­disciplines. ­Cultural geography, for example, is allied with ­anthropology; it is the spatial perspective that distinguishes­ cultural geography.­ Economic geography focuses on the ­spatial dimensions­ of eco- Points to Ponder nomic activity; political geography concentrates­ on the spatial imprints of political behavior. Other ­thematic fields include • According to some measures, China in 2015 surpassed the United historical, medical,­ behavioral,­ environmental, and urban geo­ States and became the world’s biggest national economy. graphy. We will also draw on ­information from biogeography, • The global human population at the outset of the 2020s is 7.7 billion marine geography, population­ ­geography, geomorphology, and is predicted to reach just under 10 billion by 2050. Will there be and climatology­ (as we did ­earlier in this chapter). enough food and water to sustain everyone? These thematic fields of geography are so named because • Global warming is expected to cause a global rise in sea level some- their approach focuses primarily on themes, not regions. Take where between one and two feet by the end of this century. Which the geographic study of cities, urban­ geography. Urbanization cities are most vulnerable? is a worldwide process, and urban­ geographers can identify • Fast forwarding the network society: the number of smartphones in certain human ­activities that all cities in the world exhibit in the world was expected to surpass 2.5 billion by 2020. Most of these one form or another.­ But ­cities also display regional proper- devices have map navigation capabilities. ties. The typical ­American city is quite distinct from, say, the

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