IIcGR-AW.

HILL IN TE R N A TION A L E D ITION

- ::

-
Tne N.aruneor GeocRAPHY
News reports often refer to iatastrophes such as this as "nat-
ural disasters," but the central China flood was not due to
nature alone. Although'the storm was certainly a natural
event, the failure of the engineers to anticipate it shows that
human decisions can affect the impact of natute's extremes'
The social and economic actions of humans ocfllrwithin the
context of the environment.and may have environmental
and human conrequences too serious to ignore.
The interaction of humans with the environment works
both ways. People can, and often do, inflict irreparable
damage on the environment, and the environmentcan exact
a frightening toll from societies that inappropriately exploit
it or even innocently occuPy it{Figure 1-1)-
Should a ttagedy such as the Banqiao Dam collapse be
called the result of the blind forces of nature, or should it be
s€en as the logical outcome of human miscalculation and
inadequate engineering? : '
Geographers, as scientists, do not try to make value
judgments about such questions- Geography does claim,
'ho*"rr"t,
to be a valid and revealing approach to under-
standing issues of political, economic, social,-and ecological
concem. Humans and the environment in interaction, the
hirtrib,rtio.t of natural phenomena affecting human use of .
the earth, the cultural.Pattems of,settlement and exploita-
tion of the physical world-these atie the themes of that
encompassing discipline called geography'
Wn,ar Is Geocnapnv?
To many people, the word geogaphy conjures up memories
of learning the names and locations of capitals and rivers.
Although geographers value basic knowledge of place
names, geography as an academic discipline is much more.
Literally, the word geography means "writing about the
earth," just as biography meanb "writing about a life" and
photo.graphymeans "writing with ligJrt." But "writing-{9ut
the earth" is a generic descriptiori that could be applied to
almost any physical or social science.
Geography might better be defined as the study of spa-
tial variation, of how and why tlrings differ from place to
place on the surface of the earth. It is, further, the study of
how observable spatial patterns evolved through time. Why
are the mountains in the eastern United States rounded and
those in the West taller and more rugged? Why do you find
a concentration of French speakers in Quebec'but not in
other parts of Canada? Why do Americans in the Northeast
call a soft drink a "soda," whereatmidwestemers refer to
"pop"? If things were the same everywhere, if there were no
spatial variation, the kind of curiosity that we call "geo-
graphic" would simply not exist. Without the certain con-
viction that in some interesting.and important way land-
scapes,people, and opportunities differ from place to place,
there would be no discipline of geography.
But wc do not have to.deal in such abstrac-tterms. All
of us consciously or subcohsciously disfJay geographic
 awareness in our own daily lives. You are where you-are,
doing what you are doing, because of locational choices you
have faced and spatial decisions you have made. You can-
not be here reading this book and simultaneously be some-
where else-working, perhaps, or at the g1'rn. Ahd should
you now want to go to work or take an exercise break, the
- time involved in goingfrom her€ to there (wherever "the're"
is) is time not available for other activities in other locations.
Of course, the act of going implies knowing where you are
now, where "there" is in relation to "hete," and the paths or
routes you can take to cover the distance.
These are simple examPles 6f the observation that
"space matters" in a very personal way. You cannot avoid -
the implications of geography in your everyday affairs.
Your understanding of your hometown, your neighbor-
hood, or your college camPus is essentially a geographic
understanding. It G based on vour awareness of where
things are, of their spatial relation-ships, and of the varving
(b)
content of the different areas and places you frequent. You
F I G U R E' 1.1 (a)Hurricane Mitch,thefourth-strongest Atlantic carn' out vour routine acfivities in particular places and
tiurricane on record,struckCentral America in late 1998 with winds in move on vour dai i v rounds u' i thi n defi ned- geogr aphic
excess-of 290kilometefs (180miles) per hour. But rain rather than wind space, foIIon'inglogical paths of connection betn'een diffe-r-
ueateddevastation whenMitchlingered for days-over Honduras, ent locations. At the same time, those activities and move-
G u a te m ala,E lS alv adoraM, N i c a ra g uFal'o o dasn da v a l a n c hes spaw ned ments are necessarilv affected bv the physical environ-
bytorrential downpours killedmorethan10,000 people, erasedwhole
mcnt-the terrain features,the rveather conditions, and the
villages, destroyed crops, and ruined much.of the.infrastructure of the
- Ii ke-i n w hi ch they take P l ace.
countries aftected. (!) Similarprolonged, devastating rainandfloods
duringthe.earlymonths-of 2002ktlled hundreds andIorcedthousands Just as geography matters in your personal life, so it
matters on the l argcr stageas w el l . D cci si onsm adc bv cor -
ur banI ndone s i ato
of ru ra l - and n sfl e eth e i rh o me si n, c l u d i nth
g ese
o! Jakarta,Indonesia's capital, tryingto crossa flood-ed street' porati oni abor-rtthe l ocati ons of manufactur ing plant s t lr
residents
(a) Laboratory lor Atrnospheres/NASNGSFC.lh) @ APlrabn syufLana/yvide world Photos. w hrchouscs i n rel ati < l nto transportati cl nrrl utesand m a- r kct s
F I G U R E 12 Skidevelopment at WhisderMountain,BrhishColumbia, clearlyshowsthe interaction
Canada. of physicalenvironment
and
humanactivity.Climateandtenainhavemadespecialized humanu5eattractiveandpossible.Humanexploitationhasplaceda cuhurallandscape
on the nafurafenvironmenttherebyaheringiL @Kadweaherly/Corbis
tnages.

-are spatially rooted. So, too, ar€ those made by shoppfi:rg edly coined by the Greek scientist Eratosthenes.over 2200
center developers and locators of parks and grade schools. years ago from the words geo, "the earth," and graphein, "to
At an even grander scale, judgments about the projection of write." From the beginning, that writing focused both on
national power or the claim and recognition of "spheres of the physical strucfure of the earth and on the nature and
influence and interest" amohg rival countries are related to . activities of the people who inhabited the varibus lands of
the implications of distance and area. the known world. To Strabo (c. 64 6.c.-a.D. 20), the task of
Geography, therefore, is about space and the content of - geography was to "describe the several parts of the inhab-
space. We think of and respond to places from the stand- ited world, . . . to write the assessment of the countries of the
point not only of where they are but also, rather more world [and] to treat the differences between countries."
important, of what they contain or rvhat we think they con- . Even'earlier, Herodotus (c. 484-425 s.c.) had found it nec-
tain. Reference to a place or an area usually calls up images essary to devote much of his writing to the lands, peoples,
about its phvsical nature or u'hat people do there and often economies, and customs of the various parts of the Persian
suggests, r.r'ithout conscious thought, how those phvsical Empire as necessarybackground to an understanding of the
things and activities are related. "Kattsas," "farming," and cautrs and course of the Persian wars.
"tornado'- or "Coloracio." "mountains," and "s_norr'board- Creek fand, later, Roman) geographerd measured the
ing" aresimple examples.The content of an area,that is, hat earth, devised the global grid of parallels and meridians
both phvsical and cultural aspects,and geographv is alwavs (marking latitudes and longitudes; seep.7), and drew upon
cohcemed with understanding both (Figure 1.2). that grid surprisingly sophisticated maps of their known
vvorl d (Fi gure 1.3).' Theyexpl ored the apparent lat it udinal
variations in climate and described in numerous-wclrksthc
Evot-urroNoF THEDrsctpt-rNe familiar Meditcrrancan basin and thc morc remot?, partlv
rumored l ands of ntl rthcrn E ur.,pi ' , A s!a, and t 'quat or ial
Ce o g ra p h v ' s c om binat io n o f i n te re s tsw a s a p p a re n t e ven i n A fri ca._E mpkryi ngncarl y modern concepts,thcy dcscr ibcd-
thc'work of thc early Creck geographc'.rswho first gave ri vt:r systt' ms,cxpl oi t' d _cycl t' sof t,rosi on .i nd-p. it 11, 1p5
, yf
structurc to thc discipline. Ceography's namc was rcput- dcposi ti on, ci ted thc dangers of dcforcstati < ln,dcscr ibcd
 CHAPTERI'lntroduction

F I G U R E 1.3 Worldmapol lo. 2d-century Greco-Egyptiangeographer-astronomer Ptolemy. ftolemy(Claudius Ptolemaeus)adopteda

previouslydeveloped mapgridof latitudeandlongitudebasedon the divisionof the circleinto360', permitting a precisemathematical
locationfor
everyre-corded place.
Unfortunately.errorsof assumption
andmeasurement rendered both the map and its accompanying six-volumegazetteer
inaccurate.ftolemy'smap.acceptedin Europeas authoritativefor nearly1500years,was published in manyvariantsin the 1Sthandl6th centuries.
Thevefsion shownheresummarizesthe extentand contentoftheoriginal.lts underestimation of theearth's sizeconvincedColumbus a short
westward voyagewouldcarryhimto Asia.

areal variations in the natural landscape, and noted the con-
requences of environmental abuse. Against that physical
backdrop, they focused their attention on what humans did
in home and distant areas-how they lived; what their dis-
tinctive similarities and differences were in language, reli-
gion, and custom; and how they used, altered, and perhaps
destroyed the.lands they inhabited. Strabo, indeed, cau-
tioned against the assumption that the nature and actions of
humans were determined by the physical environment they
inhabited. He observed that humans were the actrve ele-
ments in a human--environmental partnership:'
The interests guiding the early Greek and Roman geog-
raphers n'ere and are enduring and universal. The ancient
Chinese, for example, were as involved in geography as an
explanatory viewpoint as were-westerners, though there
was no exchange between them. Further, as Christian
Europe entered-its Middle Ages between A.D.800 and 1400
and lost its knowJedge of Greek and Roman geographical
work, Muslim scholars----.who retaincd that knowledE"-
undertook to describe and analrze'thejr known world in its
p h ysi c al,c ult ur al, and rc g i o n a l ' v a rj i i i o n .
' Mo dc r n gc ogr ap h y h a d i ts o ri g i n s i n th c s u rg c of schol -
a rl y i n quir y t hat , bc gi n rri n gi n fh c 1 7 th c e n tu ry ,g avc ri sc t< r
many of the traditional academic disciplines we know
today. In its European rebirth, geography from the outset
was recognized-as it always had been-as a broadly based
integrative study. Patterns and processes of the physical
landscape were early interests, as was concem rt'ith humans
as part of the earth's variation from place to place. The rapid
development of geology, botany, zoologv, climatolog,v, and
other natural sciencesby the end of the 18th century strength-
ened regional geographic investigation and increased schol-
arly and popular awareness of the intricate interconnections
of things in space and betn'een places. Bv that same time,
accurate determination of latitude and longitude and rien-
tific mapping of the earth had made assignment of place
informaticln more reliablc and comprehensive. ,-
During the 19th century, national censuses,trade statis-
tics, and ethnographic studics gave firmer ioundafion to
human geographic investigation.By the end of the 19th ccn-
tqry, ge<>graphy had becomc a d istinctivc and respe'cteddisci-
plinc in univcrsitics throughout Europe and in othcr rcgions
of thc w<lrld wherc Europcan acadcmic cxamplcs were fol-
Iow-cd. Thc prolifcration of profcssion.tl geograpl.rcrsand
gc<lgraphypi()tjr&msresultcd in the devcl<lpmentof a wholc
scri cs of i ncrcasi ngl yspcci al i zcddi sci pl i nar y subdivisions,
8 cHIPTERIIntroduction
many representedby separatechapters of this book. Political
geography, urban geography, and economic gmgraphy are
examples of some of thesesuMivisions.
Geography's specializedsubfields are not isolated from
one another; rather, they are closely interrelated. Geogra-
phy in all its slrbdivisions is characterizedby three domi-
nating interests.The first is in the spatial variation of phys-
ical and human phenomena on the surface of the earth;
geography examines relationships betr.r'een human soci-
eties and the natural environments that they occupy and
modify. The second is a focus on the spatial systemsr that
link physical phenomena and human activities in one area
of the earth with other areas.Together, these interests lead
to a third enduring theme, that of regional analysis:Seogra-
phy studies human--environmental (or "ecological") rela-
tionships and spatial systemsin specitic locational settings.
This areal orientation pursued by some geographers is
called regionalgeography.
Other geographers choose to identify particular classes
of things, rather than segments of the earth's surface, for
speciatized study. These systematicgeographersmay focus
their attention on one or a few related aspects of the physi-
cal environment or of human populations and societies.In
each case, the topic selected for study is examined in its
interrelationships with other spatial systems and areal pat-
terns. Physicalgeographydirects its attention to the natural
environmental side of the human-environmental structure.
Its concerns are with landforms and their distribution, with
atmospheric conditions and climatic pattems, with soils or
vegetationassociations,and the like. The other svstematic
branch of geographyis humangeograplry.Iis emphasisis on
people: where they are, what they are like, how they inter-
act over space,and what kinds of landscapes of human use
they erect on the natural landscapes they occupy.
A grasp of the broad yet integrated concems and topics
of geography is vital to an understanding of the importaht
irational and intemational problems that dominate daily
news reports.Acid rain and the greenhouseeffect,economic
and social concerrs of central cities, intemational trade
imbalances,inadequatefood supply and population growth
in developing countries, turmoil in Africa and the Middle
East-all of these problems occur in a geographic context,
and geography helps explain them. To be geographicallv
illiterate is to deny oneself not onlv the abfirv* to comPre-
hend local and world problems but also the opporrunitv to
contribute meaningfullv to the developmentof poiics for
dealingwith them.
Also important, an understandingof the broad discipli-
nary subdivisionsexamined in this book may suggestthe
greatdiversityof job opportunitiesawaitingthosewho pur-
lA" s y s t em " i s s i m p l y a g r () u p ,if
"1 "- "n - ,,
c lc m c nt i s f t o s o m c d c g , r e e,d ir cctly o r in d ir tctlv in tcr d cp cn d t:nt w 'i th
c v (, ry ()t h i ' r t ' l c m t ' n t .
sue college training in geography.Geographic training can
help open the way to wonderfully rewarding and diversi-
fied careers(see"Careersin Geography," PP. 10-11).
ConE
Sor-ue
GeocnAPHtcCoNceprs
The topics included within the broad field of geography are
diverse. That very diversity, however, emphasizes the real-
ity that all geographers-whatever their particular topical
or regional interests-are united by the similar questions
they ask and the common set of basic concepts they employ
to consider their answers. Of either a physical or. cultural
phenomenon, they will inquire: \llhat is it? Where is it?
How did it come to be what and where it is? Where is it in
relation to other physical or cultural realities that affect it or
are affected by it? How is it part of a functioning whole?
How does its location affect people's lives and the content
of the area in which it is found?
These and similar questions are spatial in focus and sys-
tems analytical in approach and are derived from enduring
central themes in geography. In answering them, geogra-
phers draw upon a conunon store of concePts, terms, and
methods of study that together form the basic strucfure and
vocabulary of geography. Collectively, geographers believe .
that recognizing spatial pattems is th€ essential starting
point for understanding how people live on and shape the
earth's surface- That understanding is.not just the task and
interest of the piofessional geographer; it shouldbe, as well; '
part of the mental framework of alL informed pers<.rns.
G*graphers use the word spatial as an essential modi-
fier in framing their questions and forming their concepts.
Geography, they say, is a spatial science.It is concerned with
spatial behatsiorof people, with the spatinl relationsliipsthat are
observed between places on the earth's surface, and with the '
'
spatial processesthat create or mainlain those behaviors and
relationships. The word spntinl comes, of course, ftom space,
and to geographers it always carries the idea of the way
things are distributed, the way movements occur, and the
wav processes operate over the whole or a part of the surface
of the earth. The geographer's sPace, then, is earth space,
the surface area occupied or available to be occupied by
humans. Spatial phenomena have locations on that surface,
and spatial interactions occur among places, things, and
people n'ithin-the earth area available to them. The need-to.
understand those relationships, interactions, and processes
helps frame the questions that geographers ask-
Those questions have their starting point in basic obser-
vations about the location and nature of placesand about
how placesare similar to or d ifferent from one another.Sueh
obsen' ati ons,though si mpl y statcd,arc prrl fo undlyim por - - "
tant to our comprehc'nsionof the,world we occuPy..-
< > r g a n ize din a wa y that evtrv
. I' l i ces havc l ocati on,di recti on,a-nddi stanccr n*t h
respectto othcr placcs.

. A place has size; it is large or small. Scaleis important.
. A place has both physical structure and cultural
content.
. The attributes of places develop and changeover time.
o The elementsof placesinterrelate with other places.
. Placesmay be generalizedinto regions of similarities
and differences-
These are basic notions understandable to everyone.
They also are the means by which geographers,expressfun:
damental observations about theiearth spacesthey examine
and put those observations into a common framework of
reference.Each of the conceptsis worth furtherdiscussion,
for they are not quite as simple as they seem.
Location, Direction' and Distance
Location,direction, and distanceare everyday ways of assess-
ing the space around us and identifying our position in rela- - ity, and population Pattems of New York City.
tion to other things and places of interest. They are also
essential in understanding the Processes of spatial interac-
tion that are so important in the study of both physical and
human geography.
Location
The location of places and things is the starting point of all
geographic study, as well as of our personal movements
and spatial actions in everyday life. We think of and refer to
location in at least two different senses, absolute and relatioe.
Absolute'location is the identification of place by a pre-
cise and accepted system of coordinates; it therefore is
sometiines called rnathemntical location' We have several
such accepted systems of pinpointing positions. One of
them is the global grid of parallels and meridians-that
latitude and longitude (discussed in Chapter
27-28). With it, the absolute location of any point on the
earth can be accurately.described by r.eferenceto its degrees,
minutes, and seconds of-Iatitude and longitude.
Other coordinate systems are also in use- Sun'ey systems
such as the township, range,and section description of prop-
er$ in much of the United States give mathematical locations
on a regional level, and street address precisely defines a
buiiding according to the reference svstem of an individual
town. Absolute location is unique to each descriM place, is
independent of anv other characteristic or observation about
that place, 4nd has obr-ious value in the legal description of ,
places, in measuring the distance separating places, or in
finding directions between places on the earth's surface.
When geographers--or real estate agents-remark that
"location matters," howevet their reference is usually not ttl
ibsolute but to relative location-the position of-a place or
thing in relation to that of other placesor things (Figure 1.4).
Rclative location exPressesspatial interconnectionand inter-
dependcnce and may carry social-(neighborhoodcharactcr)
an d cconom ic ( as s es s c dv a l u a ti o n so f v a c a n t l a fd ) i mpl i ca- important
tions. On an immediate and perstliral lcvcl, we thin-k <lf thc
CHAPTER
t lntroduction
lixation of the schoc'rl library not in terms of its streetaddress
or room number but where it is relative to our classroonts,
the cafeteria,or another referencepoint. On the larger scene,
relative locatiorr tells us that people, things, and placesexist
not in a spatial vacuum but in a world of physical and cul-
tural characteristicsthat differ from place to place.
Nen'York City, for example,may in absoluteterms be
describetl as located at (approxin'rately)latitude 40"43'N
(read as 40 degrees,43minutes north) and longitude 73o58'
W. We have a better understanding of the rleattirrgof its
location, however, when referenceis made to its spatial rela-
tionships: to the continental interior through the Hudson-
Mohawk lowland corridor or to its position on the eastem
seaboard of the United States. Within the city, we gain
understandingof the locationalsignificanceof CentralPark
or the Lorver East Side not solely by referenceto the street
addressesor city blocks they occupy but also by their spa-
tial and functional relationships to the total land use, activ-
In view of these different ways of looking at location,
geographers make a distinction between the sife and the
situationof a place. Site, an absolutelocation concept,refers
to the physical and cultural characteristics and attributesof
the place itself. It is more than mathematical location, for it
tells us something about the internal featules of that place-
Situation" on the other,hand, refers to the extemal relations
of the locale. It is an expression of relative location with
is,
2, pages
F I G U R E 1.4 Therealityof relative location ontheglobemaybe
strikinglydiflerentfromthe impressionswe formfrom flatmaps.The'
poiiti-on
of Bussia wiihrespect toNorthAmerica whenobserved froma
pol ar-perspecti ve
emphasi zes pr0per ly
l ocati on
thatrel ati vq viewed is
und'erstanding
to our- of spatialrelationships andtnteracttons
betw een thetw ow orl dareas.
l0 CHAPTER
I lntoduction
Careers in Geography
Geography admirably serves the obiectives of a liberal edu-
cation, tt can make us better informed citizens, more able to
understand the important issuesfacing our communities, our
country, and our world and better prepared to contribute
solutions
Can it, as well, be a pa:thway to employment for t{rose who
wish to specialize in the discipline?The answer is "yes''' in a
-number of diftrent types of iobs. One broad cluster is con-
cerned with supporting the field itseFthrough teaching and
research. taching opportunities exist at all levels, from ele-
mentary to university postgraduate.Teacherswith some train-
ing in geography are in increasingdemand in elementary and
high schoolsin the United States, refecting geography'sinclu-
sion as acore subject in the ftderally adoptedEducac America
Act (Public Law 103-227) and the national determination to
create'a geographically literate society (see "The National
Standards,'p.'l9). At the college level, specialized teaching
and research in all branches of geography have tong been
established, and geographically trained scholars are promi-
nently associatedwitfi urban, community, and environmental
studieq regionat science; locational economics; and other
interdisciptinary programs"
Becauseof the breadth and diversity of the'field, training in
geography involves the acquisition of techniques and
approaches applicabte to a wide variety of iobs outside the
academic world. Moderh geographyis both a physical and
social science-and fosters a wealth of technical skills. The
employment possibilitiesit presents are as many and varied as
are the agenciesand enterprises dealing with the natural envi-
particular reference to items of significance to the place in
question. Site and situatio-n in the city context are further
examined in Chapter 11,.
Directi6n
Direction is the second universal spatial concePt. Like loca-
tion, it has more than one meaning and can be expressed in
.absoluteor relative terms. Absolute direction is basecion
the cardinal points of north, south, east, and rt'est. These
appear uniformly and independently in all cultures,
derived from the-obvious "givens" of nature: the rising and
setting of the sun for east and wcst, thc sky location of thc
noo n ti me' s unand of c crta i n fi i e d s ta rs fo r n o rth a n d south.
Wc alsocoinmonly usc relative , or rclntional,directions'
In-the Unitcd'States,-wc flo "out West," "back EasL," <tr
'!d<>wnScluth"; we worry abouLconflict irr thc "Near East"
or cci rn o m jcc ir m pc t it i' o nfro m th c " F a r f:a s tc rnc o u ntri cs."
Dcsp i tu thc ir r c f c r c nc c ttJ c a rd i n a l c o m p a s s p o i n ts, thcst'
ronment and human activities and with the acquisition and
analysis of spatial data.
Many profrssional geographers work in government, either
at the state or local level or in a variety of frderal agencies and
international organizations Although many positions do not
carry a geography title, physical geographers serve as water
and other natural nesoutte analysts, weather and climate
experts, soil scientists, and tfie tike- An area of recent high
demand is for environmental managers and technicians Geo-
graphers who have specialized in environmental studies find
jobs in both public and private agencies. Their work may
include assessing the environmental impact of proposed devel-
opment projects on such things as air and water quality and
endangered specieq as well as prepa.ring the environmental
impact statements required before construction can begin.
Human geographers work in many diftrent roles in the
public sector: Jobs include data acquisition and analysis in
health care, transportation, population studies, economic
development, and international economics. Many geography
graduates find positions as ptanners in local and state gov€rn-
mental agencies concemed with housing and community
development, park and recreation planning, and urban and
regional planning. They map and analyze land use plans and
transportation systems, monitor urban land development,
make informed recommendations about the lircation of public
facilities, and engage in basic social science research.
Most of the saree specializations are found in the private
sector. Geographic training is ideal for such tasks as business
planning and market analysis; Factory, store, and shopping
directional references are culturally based and locationally
variable. The Near East and the Far East locate parts of Asia
from the European perspectit'e; they are retained in.the
Americas bv custom and usage, even though one u'ould
normallv travel n'estn'ard across the Pacific, for example, to
reach the "Far East" trom Califomia, British Columbia, or
Chile. For manv Americans, "back East" and "out !!'est" are
refiL-ctioniof the mi*ration paths of earlief generaiionsfor
whom htrnre.w.asin the easternpart of the countrl', to n'hich
thev might look back. "Up North" and "down South"
reflect our acceptedcustom of putting north at the top and
south at tl rc bottom of our maP S -
D i stance
I)i sl nncci oi ns l ocnti ttnand di rccti ottas a comm only under -
stoocJtt' rrn.thathas dual mcani ngs ftl r geograp hcr s.l- ikc it s
tw o conrpatl i orrspati aI L-( )nc(' pt\,d i st.rncemay bc r r iewt 'd in
l rotl r an i rl rsol utcand a rcl ati vc scnsc.
 CHAPTER
I lntroduction lt

center site selection; and community and economic develop- GoognphicHeld ol Coaconbation Errploymmt0pportunhios
ment programs br banks, public utilities, and railroads Pub- andgeographic
Cartography Gartographer lor tederalgov€rnment
lishers of maps, atlaseq news and travel magazineq md the systsms
infomation lagenciessuches DelenseMopping
Agency.U.S.Geological Survey.or
like employ geographers as writers, editors, and mapmakers
Environmental ProtectionAgency)or
The combination of a traditional, broad$ased {iberal arts privatesoctor{0.9.,Environmental
perseesd\re with th€ technical skills required in SeograPhic SystemsResearchInstitute,ERDAS,
research and arnty$s giv€s graduates a competitirre Intergraph,or Bentleyl; maplibrarian;
Tlrese field$ased skills irrclude famil: GISspecialist for planners,
landdevel-
edge in the labor markel
opers,real estateagencios,utility
iarity with geographic inbrmation systems (GlS' eglained in companies, localgovernment remote-
Chapter 2), cartography and comPuter mapping, remote sens- sensingsnalystsunr€yor
ing and photogrammetry, and competence in data analysis and Physicalgeography Weatherforecast€[outdoorguid€;
problem solving. In partic'trlar,students with expertise in GlS, coastalzonemanager; hydrologis{
soilconservatiorVagricuhural
who are knowledgable about data source.s,tnrdware, and soft-
extensionagent
ware, are finding they harie read accessto employment opPor-
studies
Environmental Environmental manageqforestry
ttnrities The following table, based on the booklet "Careers in technician;parkranger;hazardous
Geography,"a summarizes some of tfie professional opporhrni- wasteplanner
ties open to students who have specialized in one (or more) of geography
Cuttural Community developer;PeaceCorps
the various subfields ofgeography. Alsq be sure to read the dis- voluntee4heatft careanalyst
geography
Economic Siteselection analystfor business
cussionofgeographycareerson the homepageofthe Association
andhdustr$ marketresearcher;
of American Geographers at www.aag.org/Careers/lntro. html. traffic/routedeliverymenageq
Additional links on the topic ofgeography careers can be fuund real estateagenVbroker/appraisec
in the Online Leamhg Center br this text. The link may be economic development researcher
found att{re end ofthis chapter. Urbanandregionalplanning Urbanandcommunity planneq
transportation planner;housing,
park andrecreation planner;
heahh
servicesplanner
geoEraphy
Regional Areaspeciaiist for federalgovernment
internationalbusinessrepresentative;
Boehm- Washington' D-C-:
"'Careers in Geography," by Rt'chard G. travelagenqtrave[writer
National Geographic Society, t996. Previously published by Peterson's
education
Geographic Elementary/secondary schoolteacher;
Guides, lnc-
Generalgeography collegeprofessor; overseasteacher _

Absolute distance refers to the spatial sParation
between two points on the earthls surface measured by an
accepted standard unit, such as miles or kilometers for
widelv separated locales, feet or meters for more closely
spaced'poinG. Relative distance transforms tho- linear
measurements into other units more meanihgful for the
space relationsirip in question.
To knort- that 5.r-ocompeting malls are*aboutequidistant
in miles irom vour residence is perhaps less important in
planning your shopping trip than is knowing that, because
of street conditions or traffic congestion, one is 5 minutes
and the other 15 minutes away (Figure 1.5).Most people, in
fact, think of time d istancerather than linear distancein their
daily activities;downtown is 20 minutes by bus, the library
i s a 5 - m inut e walk . In s o me i n s ta n c e s ,mo n e y rather than
ti mC is t lr e dis t anc c tra n s fo rma ti q n .An u rb a n d esti nati on
mi g h t be es t im at c d to b c a Sl 0 c a b ri d c a w a y , i nformabon
th a t m ay af f c c t eiihe r th c d c c i s i o n to ma k e th c tri p at al l or
the choice of travel mode to get there. As a college student,
you already know that rooms and apartments are less-
expensive at a greater distance from campus.
A psychologiccl transformation of linear distance is also
frequent. A solitary late-night walk back to the car through
an unfamiliar or dangerous neighborhood seems far longer
than a daytime stroll. of the same distance through familiar
and friendlr,' territory. A firs_t-timetrip to a new destirtation
frequentlv seems much longer than the returntrip over the
same path. Nonlinear distance and spatial interaction are
furthel considered in Chapter 8.
Size and Scale
W ht' n w t' say that a pl -acemay bc 1arg" ot s*all, r ve speak
- both of thc naturc of thc place it-selfand of-the gcneraliza-
i i ons tl r,rtcan b,' m,tdc about i t. In r' i tl rt' r i nst ance,geogr a-
phr,rs art' conct' rnt' d w i th scal e, tl rougl r w( ' m ay r r set hai
l2 CHAPIERt Introduction

term in different ways. We can, for example,study a prob-

lem such as population or landforms at the local scaleor on
a global scale.Here, the referenceis purely to the size of unit
studied. More tedrnically, scale tells us the relationship
between the size of an area on a maP and the actual size of
the mapped areaon the surfaceof the earth. In this sense,as
Chapter 2 makes clear,scaleis a feature of every map and is
.Poway essentialto recognizing n'hat is shon'n on that map.
ln both sensesof the lvord, sc'ak'implies the degree of
generalization nePr€sented(Figure 1.6).Geographicinquiry
may be broad or narrow; it occurs at many different size'
scales.Climate may be an obiect of study, but researchand
generalization focused on climates of the world will differ
in degreeand kind from study of the microclimatesof a city.
Awareness of scale is very important. In geographic work,
concepts, relationsl-rips,and understandings that have
meaning at one scalemay not be applicable at another.
For example, the study of world agricultural patterns
may refer to global climatic regimes, cultural food prefer-
ences, levels of economic development, and patterns of
world trade. Theselarge-scalerelationships are of little con-
r ,:' 1j: cern in the study of crop patterns within single counties of
the United States,where topography, soil and drainagecon-
ditions, farm size, ownership, and capitalization, or even
personal management preferences, may be of Sreater
25 explanatory significance.

F I G U B E 1.5 Linesof equaltraveltime(rsochrones.'from Greek.

isog equaf,and chronos,ttnel mark off the linear
different distances
aecessiblewithingivenspqnsof timefroma startingpoint.The
fingerlikeoutlinesof isochrohe boundaries reflectvariations
in 'oadconditions,terrain,trafficcongestion. andotheraids
to movement. 0n thismap, the areaswithin POPULATION DENSITIES
or impediments
30minutes'travel timefromdowntownSanDiegoare lltinoisCounties
recordedforthe year2002.Notethe effectof freeways Density per Square
on traveltime. Mile Kilometer Mile Kilomeler
,A%?"- o;3€'. eo-rss
ffist-ot
f
uo-127sfztt-tsz +o-zg I lto-go
-8-1s
32H39 ltz+-z+a 20-39
160-3'19Qaz-lzz 19 or less '7 or less

POPULATIONDENSITIES
Midwestern States

North

F I G U R E 1.6 Population densityandmapscale' l Dakota

i i
"Tru i i-depends - oneon ' s c a l eo l i n q u i ryM. a p(a lre v e a l s
thatthemaximurii year2000population density of
Midwestern stateswasno morethan123peopleper T
squarekilometea(319 persq mi).Frommap(bI'however, /
we seethatpopulation densities inthreelllinoiscounties '
e xce e ded 494people k i l o me te(1r 2 8p0e rs q mi )
pe rs q u a re
in 2000. lf we wereto reduc€ scaleof inquiryeven
our
further, examining individual cityblocksin Chicago, we
wouldfinddensitie-s reaching 2500or mbrepeopleper
- sq u a re p0
k ilom et ei( 10,0 e0rs qmi ).S c -a lma e tte rs l (?)
 CHAPTERllntroduction l3

tion distributions, and national diets. The physical environ-

ment simultaneously presents advantages and disadvan-
tages with which humans must deal. Thus, the danger of
typhoons in central China must be balanced against the
agricultural bounty derived from the region's favorable ter-
ral1 soil, and moistute conditions. Physical environmental
-
patterns and processesare explored in Chapters 3 and 4 of
this book.
At the same time, by occupying a given place, pmple
modify its ewironmental conditions. The existence of the
United States Environmental Protection Agency (and its
cbunterparts'elsewhere) is a reminder that humans are the
active and frequently harmful agents T the continuing
interplay between the cultural and physical worlds (Figure
1.7).Vi'rtually every human activity leavesits imprint on the
earth's soil, rvater, vegetation, animal life, and other
resources,as well as on the atmosphere common to all earth
space,as Chapter L2 makes clear.
The visible imprint of that human activity is called the
cultural landscape. It, too, exists at different scales and at
ditferent levels of visibility. Contrasts in agricultural prac-
tices and land use between Mexico and southem California
are evident in Figure 1..8,whereas the signs,structures,and
people of Los Angeles's Chinatown leave a smaller, more

F I G U R E 1.7 Sites(andsigtrtslsuchasthisimagefromManila
reminders
areall-too-frequent
Bayin the Philippines of the adverse
environmentalimpacts of humans andtheirwasteproducts. Manyof
thoseimpacts aremoresubtle,hiddenintheformof soilerosion, water
pollution,
increasedstreamsedimentation,plantandanimalextinction,
andthe llke.@Davia
deforestation, lnages
Greedy/gety

Physical and Cultural Attributes

All places have individual physical and cultural attributes
distinguishing them from other places and giving them
character, potential, and meaning. Geographers are con-
cemed with identifying and analyzrng the details of those
attributes and, particularly, with recognizing the interrela-
tionship between the physical and cultural components of
area: the human--environmerrtal interface.
The physical characteristics of a place are such natural
aspects as its climate, soil, water supplies, mineral
resources, terrain features, and the like. These natural
l a n d sca pe at t r ibut es p ro v i d e th e s e tti n g r+ ' i th i n w hi ch contrastingcultural
F I G U R E 1.8 ThisNASAimage.reveals
human action occurs. They help shape-but do not dic- landscapes alongtheMexico-California bordecMoveyoureyesfrom
tate-how people live. The resource base, for example, is theSaltonSea(thedarkpatch'at thetopof theima-ge)
southward to the
p h ysi ca lly ' det er m ine d , th o u g h h o w re s o u rc e s are- P er- landextending
agricultural to the edgeof thepicture.
Noticehowthe
ceived and utilized is culturally conditioned. of thefieldsandbrightcolors(representing
regularity growing,.
Environmental circumstances directly affect agricul- vegetationlgivewayto a marked-break, where irregularly
shaped
tural potential and reliability; indirectly, they may affect lieidsandlessprosperous agrieultureareevident.Ab-ovethebreak.is
s-uchmattcrs as employment patterns, trade flows, popula- thelmperial belowtheborderis Mexico.'auasa
Valleyof California;
14 Introduction
GHAPTERI
confined imprint within the larger cultural landscapeof the
metropolitan area itself.
The physical and human characteristicsof places are
the keys io understanding both the simple and the com-plex
interafoons and interconnections between people and the
environments they occuPy and modify' Those interconnec-
tions and modifications are not static or Permanentbut are
subject to continual change'
Attributes of Place Are Always Changing
The physical environment.surrdundqg 1t etemql.
"f*t
and unchangrng bgt, of course, it is not. ln the framework of
geologic tittie, &unge is both continuous and pronounced'
islands form and disappear; mountaiirs rise and are worn
low to su'ampy plains; vast continental glaciersform, move'
and melt awiy, and sealevels fall and rise in response' Geo-
logic time is long, but the forces that give shape to the land
are timeless and relentless.
Even within the short period irf time since the most
recent retreat of continental glaciers-12,000 or 13,000years
ago-the environments occupied by humans have been
tiUl*t to change. Glacial retreat itself marked a period of
climatic alteration, extending the area habitable by humans
to include vast reaches of northem Eurasia and North
America formerly covered by thousands of feet of ice' With
moderating climatic conditions came changes in vegetation
and fauna. On the global scale, these were natual environ-
mentalchanges;humanswere as yettoo few innumber and
too limited in technology to alter materially the course of
physical events.On the iegional scale,however, even early
Lrr*ut societies exerted an impact on the environments
they occupied. Firewas used to clear forest undergrowth, to
maintain or extend grassland fot grazing animals and Jo
drive them in the hunt, and later to clear openings for rudi-
mentary agriculture.
With the dawn of civilizations and the invention and
spread of aglicultural tec-hnologres,humans accelerated
their managementand alteration of the now no longer "nat-
ural" envir6nment. Even the classical Greeks noted how the
landscape they occupied differed-for the worse-from its
former condition. Wittr growing numbers of people, and
particularly with industrialization and the spread of Euro-
peur, e*ptoitative technologies throughout the world, the
pace of itt .tg" in the content of area accelerated'The built
iandscape-the product of human- effort-increasingly
r€placedthe natural landscape-Eachnew seftlementor city;
eachagricultural assaulton forests;eachnew min9, f1m, or
factor/ changed the content of regions-and altered the tem-
poranly spatial interconnections between
humansand "ttublitn.d
the environment.
Characteristics-of placestoday aie the result of con-
stantly changingpast conditions.They are the forerunners'
of differinghuman-environmental balancesyet to be struck'
Gcographirsare concbrnedwith plaqesat given momdnts
of tiirre. gut to understandfully the nat-ureand develop-
ment of places, to appreciate the significance of their rela-
tive locaiions, and to understand the interplay of their phys-
ical and cultural characteristics, geographers must vierv
places as the present result of past operation of distinctive
physical and cultural processes(Figure 1.9).
-
You will recall that one of the questions geographers
ask about a place or thing is "How did it come to be n'hat
and where it is?" This is an inquiry about processand about
becoming. The forces and events shaping the physical and
explaining the cultural environment of places today are an
importani focus of geography and are the topics of most of
the chapters of this book. To understand them is to appreci-
ate the changing nature of the spatial order of-our contem-
porary world.
Intemelations between Places
The concepts of relative location and distance that were
introduced earlier lead directly to another fundamental
spatial reality: places are interrelated with other places in
siructured and comprehensible ways. In describing the
processes and patterns of that spatial interaction, geogra-
phu.t add accessibility and connectivity to the ideas of loca--
tion and distance.
Tobler's First Law of GeograPhy tells us that, in a spatial
sense, everything is related to everything else but relation-
ships are stronger when things are near one another' Our
obJervation, therefore, is that interaction between places
diminishes in intensity and frequency as distance between
them increases-a statement of the idea of "distance decay,"
which we explore in Chapter 8. Think about it-are vou
more likely to go to a fast-food outlet next door or to a nearly
identical rbstaurant across town? Human decision making is
strange in many ways, and decisions are sometirnes made
for unpredictable reasons, but in this case, you can see how
the neirer place will probably be frequented more often'
Consideration of dista4ee implies assessment of
accessibility. How easy or difficult is it to overcome the
"frictioir of distance"? That is, how easy or difficult is it to
surmount the barrier of the time and sPace seParation of
places? Distance isolated North America from Europe
Lntil the development of ships (and aircraft) that reduced
the effective distance between the continents' All parts of
ancient and medieval cities were accessible by walking;
they were "pedestrian cities," a status lost as cities ex-
putta"a in area and population with industrialization'
A ccessi bi l i ty' bctw ec-nci ty di stri cts could be r r , aint ajncc
only by the development of public transit systems rvhose
fixed line-sof travel increased ease of movement betra'ee
connected points and reduced it between areas not on the
transi t l i nes themsel ves.
Aceessibility, therefore, suggeststhe idea of connectivity,
a broadcr concept implying all the tangible dnd intangible
ways in which places are connected:by physical telephone
linc}, strcct and r<ladsystemii pipeline-sand scwers; by un
'l-V
rcstraincd walking acrr)ssopc41countrysidc;by radi<tand

FIGURE
1. 9 T he p ro c e s s o fc h a n g e i n a c u ttu ral l andscape.(a)
Longlsland.New york,
was largelydevoted to agricuhure. (b) The constructionol thefreewayandcloverleaf
useito farming
replace withhousing developments and new commercial and light
broadcasts beamed outward uniformly from a central source;
and innature evenby movements of wind systems and flows
of ocean currents. Where routes are fixed and flow is chan-
nelized, networks-the pattems of routes connecting sets of
places--determine the efficiency of movement and the con-
nectedness of points (Figure'1.10). Demand for universal
instantaneous connectivity is common and unquestioned in
today's advanced societies. Technologies and devices to
achieve ii proliferate, as our own lifestyles show- Cell phones,
e-mail, broadband wireless Intemet, instant messaging, and
more have erased time and distance barriers formerly sepa-
rating and isolating individuals and grouPs and have
reduced our dependcnceon physical movement and on nct'
works fixed in the landscaPe.
There is, in-evitably, interchange between connected
placei. Spatial diffusion is the process of dispersion of an
id"u or u thing (a new consumer product or a new song, for
example) fronl a ccnter of origin to more distant points' Thc
rate and extent of that diffusion are affected, again, by the
distance scparating thc origin of the new idea or technrrlogy -
-and othc'r placcs whe-rc it is cventu4lly adop-ted'Diffusion
ratcs are also affccted by-such factors as populatiiln dcnsi-
CHAPIER
I lntroduction t5
B eforethedevel opmentofthefreew ayi nthel gT0s, t hispor t ionof su
rampsaftgredneirbyland
interchange
activities-
industrial Source:
u.s Geotosical
survey.
ties, means of communication, obvious advantages of the
innovation, and importance or prestige of the originating
node. Further discussion of spatial diffusion is found in
Chapter 8.
Geographers studv the dynamics .of spatial relation-
ships. Movement, connection, and interaction are part of
the social and economic proccsses that give character to
placed and regions. Geography's study of those relation-
ships recognizes that spatial interaction is not just an awk-
n'ard necessih' but a fundamental organizing principle of
the phvsical and scrial environment. That recognition has
become univer-I, repeatedlv expressed in the term glohal-
i :Lti i ott.Gl obal i zati on i mpl i es the i ncreas ing int er connec-
tion of all societie, rn ali parts of the world aJ the iull range
of social, cultural, political, economic, and environmental
processesbecomes intemational in scale and effect. Pro-
moted bv conti nui ng advancesj n' w orl dw ide accessibilit y
and conncctivit)', globalization encompasses other corc
gcographi c concepts of spati al i nteracti on, accessibilit y,
connecti vi ty,and di ttusi on. More detai l ed im plicat ions of
gl obal i zati i rnw i l l be touchedon i n i atcr cl rapt cr sof I 'ar t s- 2
arrtl 3 of tl ri : tcxt.
l6 CHAffiR I Introduction
Fl G U R E l. t 0 A nin d i c a ti o n o fo n e to rmo fs p a ti al
interactionandconnectr'yr?is suggested bythis-desireline-
maprecording thevolumeof dailyworktripswithinthe San
Francisco Bayareab the SiliconValleyemployment node.
Theendsofthe desirelines,connected, definethe outer
reachesof a physicalinteraction regiondefinedbythe network
of connectingroadsandroutes. Theregionchanged in sizeand
shapeovertimeasthe networkwasenlargedandimproved, the
Valleyemployment baseexpanded, andthe commuting rangeof
workersincreased. Themap,of course,givesno indicbtion of
the globafreachof the Valleyt accessibilityand interaction
throughothermeansof communication andinterchange.-
Redrawnwith permissioafron BobertCenero,SuburbanGridlocl- @ l!ffi Center
for UrbanPolicy Research,Butgerc,the *ate Unive$ity of New Jersey.
Place Similarity and Regions
The distinctive characteristics of places-physical, cultural,
locational-immedi:rtely suggest two geographically impor-
tant ideas. The first is that no two places on the surface of the
earth can be exnctly the same. Not only do they have,differ-
ent absolute locations, but-as in the.features of the human
face-the precise mix of physical and cultural characteristics
of place is never exactly duplicated- Because geography is a
spa*ial science, the inevitable uniqueness of place would
seem to impose impossible problems of generahzing spatial
information
That this is not the case results from the second i-po.-
tant idea, thai the natural and cultural characteristics of
places sholv pattems of similaritv in some areas.For exam-
ple, a geographer doing fieldwork in France may find that all
farmers in one area us€ a similar, speeialized technique to
build fences around their fields. Often, such similarities are
striking enough for us to conclude that spatial regularities
exist. They permit us to recognize and define regions, earth
areasthat display significant elementsof intemal uniformity -
and external differencesfrom surrounding terriiories. Placci
are, therefore,both unlike and like other places, creatingpat:
tcms of areal ditferentesand coherent spatial similarity.
SILIGON VALLEY,j.-
TotalNumberolTrlps by
PhcooJResldencs.
: :
-' 10r50 51-100
. i. , r
tr'|.1;;,101:€oo..,- ..,
-
';..-,j; pq.l$bo,:.',l
:- ',
501-1000'
r'1001-e000
COSTA
The problems of the historian and the geographer are
similar. Each must generalize about items of study that are
essentially unique. The historian creates arbitrary but mean-
i.gf.rl and useful historical periods for reference and study.'
The "Boaring Twenties" and the "Victorian Era" are short-
hand summary names for specific time spans, internally
quite complex and varied but significantly distinct from
what went before or followed after. The region is the geog-
rapher's equivalent of the historian's era: a device to classi$z
the complex reality of the earth's surface into manageable .
pieces. Just as historians focus on key events to characterize
certain historical periods, geographers focus on key uniSzing
elements or similarities tg determine the boundaries of
regions. By identifying and naming regions, a -complexset of -
interrelated environmental or cultural attributes can easily
be conveyed through a simpler construct.
Regions are not " grven" in nature any more than " eras"
are given in the coursc of human events. Rcgi<ms are
deviscd; they are spatial summarjes designed tb bring ordcr
to the infinite d_iversiiyof the e-ar-th's surface.At thcif nxrt,
thcy arc basc-don thc recognitioh and mapping of sltotinl
di sl ri buli onsj thc tcrri tori al occurrcncc oJ cnvir <inm - cnt al,
human, < tr < trgani z.ati onal fcaturcs sel cctcd f <lr - st udy.I r ir r

example, the location of Welsh speakersin Great Britain is
a distribution that can be identified and mapped. As many
spatial distributions exist as there are imaginable physical,
cultural, or connectivity elementsof area to examine (Fig-
ure 1.11). Those that are selected for study, however, are
those that contribute to the understanding of a specific
topic or problem.
Although there are as many individual regions as the
objectivesof spatial study and understanding demand, two
generalized$rpesof regionsarerecognized.A formal region
'essential
is one of uniformity in one or a limited number of
related physical or cultural.features (Figure 1.12). Your
home state is a formal political region defined as an anea
with a cbmmon govemment and laws, whereas the Bible
Belt sugg€stsa region basedon religious characteristics.The
Mississippi Delta and the Ozarks are formal natural regions
based on physical features.
A functional region, in contrast,may be visualized as a
spatial system.Its par-tsare interdependent,and throughout
its exteht the functional region operates as a dlmamic orga-
nizational unit. A functional region has unity not in the
sense of static content but in the manner of its operational
connectivity. It has a node, or core area,surrounded by the
total region defined by the type of control exerted. As the
degree and extent of areal control and interaction change,
the boundaries of the functional region change in response.
Tiade areas of towns, national "spheres of influence," arrd
the territories Subordinate to the financial, administrative,
wholesaling, or retailing cenhality exercised by such
' regional capitals as Chicago, Atlanta, or Minneapolis ar-e
casesin poirrt (Figure1.13).
F I G U R E 1.11 Aboveaverage boneandlointcaircermortality
ratesfor blackfemales. All spatialdatamaybemapped. Asthis
examole of bonecancermortality
of thedistribution demonstrates,
mapped distributionsfrequently patterns
revealregional thatinvite
analysis.Areasemphdsized hadaboveaverage deathratesforthe
Devesa,,etal-,Atlasol
years 1970-'1994.The question is, why? Source:,Sa-sanS.
19945A,Septenber1999
NIHPublication
CancerMonalityin theUnitedStales1950-1994.
ol Health,
Nationallnstilutes Marytand.
Eerhcsda.
CHAPTER
I Introducrion 17
Of coursc, nll art'as arc parts of ove.rlappingfunctional
and formal rt1;ions at thc same time. Consider the Neu,
York metropolitrrn area.On one hand, you can define New
York City as that arca in which people,root for the yankees
or Mets. This would bc a formal region defined by a com-
mon cultural sports prcfercnce.As you moved up ihe Co.,-
necticutcoast away from the city, you would find more and
more Boston Rcd Sox fans until eventually you would con-
sider yourself in a difftrent re,gion.But youcan also define
the New York mctlo aneaas a functional region basedon the
daily commuter rail network. From central New Jerseyto
the Hudson Vallcy of New York to southeastemConnecti-
cut, people use'anetwork of trains to commute to the city to
work, a classicfunctionalnetwork.
As you read thc chaptersof this book, noticehow many
different examplesof rc.gionsand regionalismarepresentei
in map form and discussedin the text. Note, too, 6ow those
depictions and discussionsvary between,primarily, formal
and functional regions as the subjectsand purposes of the
examples change. Chapter 13 contains additional special
regional shrdies of both types, illuminating specific iopics
that are the subjectsof Chapters3 to 12.
GeocnAPHy's
Tneues
AND STA.NONRDS
The core geographic concepts discussed so far in this chap-
ter reflect-and are statements of--both the "fundamentll
themes in geography" and the "National Geography
Standards." Together, the "themes" and "standards" have
helped organize and-structure the study of geograph|
over the past several years at all grade and college levels.
Both focus on the development of geographic literacy. The
former represent an instructional approach keyed to iden-
tification and instruction in the knowledge, skills, and per-
spectives studenb should gain from a structured program
in geographic education. The latter-"standards"----codifu
the essential subject matter, skills, and perspectives of
geography essential to the mental equipment of all edu-
cated adults.
The foe fundamental themesas'summarized by a joint
committee of the National Council for Geographic Educa-
tion and the Association of American Geographer are those'
basic concepts and topics that recur in all geographic
inquiry and at all levels of instruction. Thev are:
Location: the meaning of relative and absolute
position on the earth's surface;
Place:the distinctiveand distinguishing physical and
human characteristicsof localcs;
Ilclationshipsrvithin places:thc development and
consequences'oihuman-enr.ironmcntaI rclatiilnships;
Movement: pattemsand changei n hum an spat ial
inte rac-tionon the earth;
Il cgi ons: hoi r-thevform and cl r.rngt,.
 l8 CHAPIER
I lntroducrion

:i,:

il: ::.'

i;
irl

irr
i :r:.

F I G U R E 1.12 Thisgeneratized tandusemapof

Australiais composedof formalregionswhose internal
economiccharacteristics showesserrtial uniformities
settingthemoff fromadjacentterriloriesof different
conditionor use.

Los Angebs

FIGURE 1' 13 T hef u n c ti o n re

a ! g i o n s s h o w n o n th i s mapw erebasedonl i nkagesbetw eenrargebanks
"correspondent" otmai or' central ci ti es andt he
bankstheyf ormerly servedin smaller towns.Although theriseof natronwide
tants rrasr.eor.roiill, .i.,il,r'r.n'.", oncedefined
-animportantlormolconnectivitybewveenprincipalcitiesandlocales=beyohdtheirownimmediatemetropolitan
the
d(ed.RedrawnbyfermissionrromAn
Associationol AmericanGeographers,John B. Borchen, vol.62,p-358,
Associationol American Geographers,
lg?2.

The National Standards
.' , , ,
The inclusion of geography in the Gals 2000 national educa-
tion program reflects the conviction that a grasp ofthe skills
'
and understandings of geography is essential in an American
edueational system "tailorcd to the needs of productive and
responsiblecitizenship in thiglobal economy.l'Along with the
"basic observations" revierried in the text, the National Geog-
:ra$y Standards 1994 help frame the kinds of understanding
.,rvc will seek in the following pages and suggest the purpose
and benefit offurther study of geography.
The 18geographystandards tell us the following:
The gagraphically informed prson knowsand understands:
, TheWorld in SpatialTerms .:
:, l. How to use maps and other geographictools and
technologies to acquire, process,and report infiormation
..:.::..',.,
';1. :::1-f1gma spatial perspective. I irifuence the division and control of Earth's surhce.
2. How to use mental maps to organize inbrmation about
people,places,and environmentsin a spatialcontext.
3. How to analyze the spatial organization of people,
: placeq and environmeRts on Earthb surface.
Places and Regions
4. The physical and human characteristi-cs ofptaces.
5. That people create regions to interpret Eartht
complexity.
6.- How culture and experienceinfluencepeoplet
perceptions of placesand rbgions.
The National Geography Standards were edtablished as
part of the nationally adopted Goals 200A: Educate America
Act (*e "The National Standards"). Designed specifically
as guidelines to the essential geographic literacy to be
acquired bv students n'ho have gone through the U.S. pub-
Iic school svstem, the standards address the same convic-
5crn underlving thiq_edition of Introduction to Ceogrnplns-
that being literate in geographv is a necessarvpart of the
mental framework of all informed persons.
OncnrurzATtoN
oF THrs Boor<
The breadth of geographic.interestand sutiiect matter, the-
variety of questions that focus geographic-inquiry, and the
diversity of conccptsand tcrms geographcrsemploy require
a simplc, Iogical org,anization of topics for presentation tcr
GHAPTER
I lntroduction t9
?. The physical processesthat shape the patterns of Earth's
surface.
8. The characteristics and spatial distribution of eccisystems
on Earth's surface.
Human Systems
9. The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human
populations on Earth's surface.
10. The characteristics, distribution, and complexity of
Earth's cultural mosaics.
ll. The patterns and networks of economic
interdependence on Earth's surface.
12. The processes,patterns, and functions of human
s6ttlement.
13. Howthe forces ofcooperation and confict among people
Environment and Society
14. How human actions modifo the pAysicalenvironment.
15. How physicat systemsaffect human systems
16- The changesthat occur in the meaning, use, distribution,
and impgrtance of resources.
The Uses of Geography
17.' How to apply geographyto interpret dhepast.
18. How to apply geograp.hytointerpret the presentand
plan for the future.
Source: Geography for Life: Nationat Geograplry Standards 1994.
Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Research and Exploration, 1994.
students new to the field. Despiteits outward appearance of
complex diversity, geography should be seen to have a broad
consistenry of purpose achieved through the recognition of a
limited number of distinct but closely related "traditions."
William D. Pattison, who suggested this unifuing viewpoint,
and J. l,ewis Robinson (among others), who accepted and
gxpand-edPattison'sreasoning,found that four traditions are
logical and inclusivc ways of clustering geographic inquin'.
Although-not all geographic work is confined bythe separate
traditions, onc or- more of them are implicit in most geo-
graphic studics.The uni$ring catcgorics-the four traditions
w i thi n w hi ch geographt' rsw ork-are:
l -. the earth sci cncetradi ti on;
2. the cul tui i -c' nvi ronmcnt tradi ti on;
3. thc l ocati onal(or s-pati altradi
) ti on;
4. thc arca anal ysi s(or rcgi onal ) tradi ti on.
20 I lntoduction
CHAPTER
The mutual interdependenceof the four traditions is
suggestedby Figure 1.14,as are their common individual
and-collective ties to the full range of research and study
techniques that geographers employ: maPs, of course, but
also remote sensing, statistical tools, geographic informa-
tion systems, and other spatial analytical techniques' -
Wu han" used the four traditions as the device for clus-
tc'ring the chapters of this book (from Chapter 3 onward),
hopi"S they will help you recognize the unitary nature Qf
geography while appreciating the diversity-of topics studied
by geographers. They are, in a sense,introducedby Chapter
Z, *tict views maps (and related tools and techniques) as
essential, distinctive, and unifying tools of geographers'
The earth science tradition is the branch of the disci-
pline that addresses itself to the earth as the habitat of
i..mans. It is the tradition that in ancient Greece rePre-
sented the roots of geography,the description of the physi
cal stmcture of the earth and of the natural processesthat
give it detailed form. In modem terms, it is the vital envi-
ionmental half of the study of human<nvironmental sys-
tems, which together constitute geography's subjectmatter'
The earth science tradition PrePares the physical geogra-
pher to understand the earth and its resourcesas the com-
mon heritage of humankind and to find solutions to the
increasingly complex web of Pressuresplaced on the earth
by its expanding, demanding human occupants. Consider-
ation of the elements of the earth science badition consti-
tutes.P4rt 1 (Chapters3 to 5) of this text.
Fl G U R E l. l4 T h e fo u rtra d i ti o n s o f
geography do notstandalone.Rather, eachis
interconnectedwiththe othersandalltogether
dependon unifying research skillsand tools.
Asthediagram.indicates,the chapters of thistext
6ss:groupedby referenceto thetraditions to help
yourecognize thebroad divisions of geography as
wellasits underlyingandunitarynature. Toavoid
diagramclutter.linesconnecting eachboxtoevery
otherhavenotbeendrawnbutshould"be
understood.
Part 2 (Chapters6 to 9) details someof the content of thc
culture-environment tradition. Within this theme of geog-
raphy, consideration of the earth as a purely physical entity
gives way to a primary interest in how people f,c'rceitry the
environments they occupy.Its focus is on culture. The land-
scapes that are explore<l and the spatial pattems that are'
central are those that are cultural in origin and expression,
People in their numbers, distributions, and diversit\'; in
their pattems of social and political organization; and in
their spatial perceptions and behaviors ane the orienting
conceptsof the culture+nvironment tradition. The theme is
distinctive in its thrust but tied to the earth sciencetradition,
becausepopulations exist, cultures emerge,and behaviors
occur within the context of the physical realities and pat-
temings of the earth'ssurface.
The locational tradition----or,as it is sometimesctrllecl,
the spntial traditiorr-is the subject of the chapters of Part 3
(Chapters 10 to 12).It is a tradition that underlies all of geo-
graphic inquiry. As Robinson suggested,if we can agree
that geology is rocks, that history is time, and that sociology
is people, then we can assertthat geography is earth sPace.
The locational tradition is piimarily concernedwith the dis-
tribution of cultural phenomena or physical items of signif-
icanceto hurr,an occuPanceof 'the earth. It explores as u'ell
the spatial patterns of interaction between humans and the
ecosystemsthat sustain them.
i'urt, brlt by no means all, of the locational tradition is
concerned with distributional pattems. More central are
 CHAPTER
I lntroduction 2l

scale, movement, and areal relationshiPs.Map, statistical, TA B I E 1.1| Regional Contained

Studies in Ghapter
13
geometric, and systems analysis research are among the
tectrniquesemployed by geographen working within the
locational tradition. Irrespective,however, of the analytical Landformsasregions t[?2*473''
tools used or the sets of phenomena studied-economic :
Dynamicragions andclimate:'''
inweather {73-4?5
a-ctivities,city systems,or the impact of cultural impositions
resource
Natural regions 4?H?6
on the physical landscape-the underlying theme of the
locational tradition is the distribution of the phenomenon asregional
Population fucus 477-4?8
discussed and the flows and interconnections that unite it to tanguaEeasregion 478-479
related physical and cultural occurrences. Mentalregions {7$-480
The area analysis tradition is consideredin Chapter 13, Polhicalreg'rons_ ;- ,. $tra82
which makes up Part 4 of lntroductiotr to Geography.Again, Economicregions tl82-483
the roots of this tradition may be traced to antiquity. Urbanregions 484-{85
Strabo's Geographywas addressedto the leaders of Augus- Ecosystemsasregions {8H86
tan Rome as a summary of the nature of placesin their sep-
arate charactersand conditions-knorvledge deemed vital Relerence
Ghapter Page
Reference
to the guardians of an empire. Imperial concems may long '..,. .55: ''
Gh.SiPhysical GeographpLandforms
sincehave vanished, but the study of regions and the recog-
Gh.4:Physical GeographyWea$erandClimate 87
nition of their spatial uniformities and differences remain. i
Ch.5:TheGeography of Natural
Resourdes 13r:r ;''
Such uniformities and differences, of course, grow out of
the structure of human-environmental systems and interre' Ch.6:Population Geography , ' . 179 i,
) i'ri
lations that are the study of geography.To illustrate the role Ch.7:CulturalGeography 217
and diversity of regional studies in geography, much of Ch.8:Spatiallnteraction 267
Chapter 13 consists of speciai regional investigations and Ch.9: Political
Geography I 299
models illuminating specific topics that are the thernes of Ch.10: Economic Geography '" : . 341
.
topical Chapters 3 to 12 of this book. References to those Ch.ll: Urban Geography 389 ,
special examples are given in Thble 1.1 and repeated in the Ch.l2 tlumanlmpactontheEnvironment - tBl :'
various chapter sections to which they relate.
The identification of the four traditions of geography is
not only an organizational conveniencebut also a recogni- lapping. W.etropetheir use as organizing themes-and their
tion that, -within that diversity of subjectmatter calleCgeog- further identification in short introdtrctionsto ihe seParate
raphy, unity of interest is ever-preserved.The-traditions; sections of this book-will help you grasp the unity in
though recognizably distinctive, are intertwined and over- diversity that is the essenceof geographic study.

KevWonos

absolute direction 10 eartrr science tradition 20 relative distance 1L

absoluie distance 11 forrnal region 17 relative location 9
absolute location 9 functional region 17 scale 11
accessibilitv 74 globalization 15 site 9
"20
area analysis tradition 21, locational tradition situation 9
connectivity 1.4 natural landscape 73 spatial diffirsion 1,5
cultural landscape 13 region 1.6 spatial interaction 14
culture-environment tradition 20 relative direction 10
 I Intmduction
CHAPIER
Fon Revtew €' CoNSIDERATIoN
In what trlro*"*it gri*d for what different
purposesdo geographersreftrto location? When
ieolapt e.r Ly;to"iuo., matters;" what aspect of
locationcommandstheir interest?
z What dcnsthe terqt cultural lonilv;aq imply? Is the
natue of the culturallandscaPedictaH
-,., by the
phpicalenviroirment?1 . .:
Selecrep ReTERENoES
WEBSITES
TheWorldWde Webhasa tremendous varietyol sitespeftaining
to
geography. Webshesrelevantto the subjectmatterof thischapter
appearin the "WebLinks'sectionof the OnlineLearning Center
associated withthis book.Accessit at www.mhhe.com/getisl0e/.
Abler, Ronald F., MelvinG. lv{arcw,and}udyM. Olson, eds.
Geograplry'slnner Worldsi PercasioeThcms in Contemparary
Caigrapfu .New Bnrnswid(, NJ.: Rutgers Univdrsity
'+niAcai
Pr€ss,1992
bemko, Georgef ., with ferome Agel and EugeneBoe. Why in the
World: Adoentulesin GeogaPhy.New York: Anchor
BookS/-Doubl&ay,l99L
Fenneman, Nevin M.'The Circumference.of Geography!' Annals
af the Associationof American Gengrophns9 (7919):T7L
Geographyfor Life: National'GeographyStandards.Washington'
D.C.: National Geographic Researdnand Exploration, 1994.
Holt-Jenserr,Arild'. Geogrophy:Its History and Concepts.3d ed.
Thousand Oaks, Calrt.: Sage,1999-.
Lanegran" David A.,and Risa Palm. An lnoitation to Geography.
2d ed. Nerr York McGraw-Hill, 1978.
Uvingstone, David N.. fte G@graPhictlTraditian. Cambridge,
Mass.: Blxl<vr ell, 7992.
Martin, C'elcitrrer1l.,arrdPreston E. fames. All PossibleWorlds:A
nXtory of CeoglaphicnlUeas.3d ed- New York fohn Wiley &
Sons,1993.
3. What kinds of distance transformations are suggested
by the term relalftp ilistance?How is the conceptof
psycholosicaldislnncerelated to relative distance?
4. How are the ideas of distance,accessibih'fy,and
connectivityrelated to process€sof spatialinteraction?
c. Why do geographers concern themselves rvith
regions?How areprmal andfunctionalregions
different in concept and definition?
6. What are the/our traditions of geography? Do they
r€prcsent unifying or divided approaches to
geographic understanding?
Massey,Doreen. "Introduction: Geography Matters." In
GeographyMatters! AReader,ed' Doreen Massey and fohn
Allm, pp. 1-11. New York Cambridge University Press, 1984.
McDonald, ]ames R. "The Region: Its Conception, Design and
of AntericanGeographers
Limitations." Annals of the Association
56 (1965):515-28.
Morrill, Richard L. "The Nature, Unity and Value of GeograPhy."
ProfessionalGeographn35,no. 1 (Feb.1983):1-9-
National Research Council. Rediscovering Geography Comnittee.
Rediscooering Geograptty:Nao Releoance for kimce ond Society-
Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press,1997.
Pattison,William D. "The Four Traditions of Geography."lournal
of Geography63 (1964):211-76.
Qing, Dai. TheRizterDragon Has Come!Thc ThreeGorgesDam and
theFateof China's YangtzeRioet and Its People.Armonk, N.Y.:
M.E. Sharpe,1998.
Robinsoo J. Lei^/is. "A New Look at the Four Traditions of
Geography." I ournal of Geogr aphy 75 (7976): 52w3[ -
Rogers, Alisdair, Heither Viles,-and Ahdrew Goudie- Tfu
Stud*tt Companionto Geography.2ded. Malden, Mass.:Basil
BIackwell,1992.
Sauer,Carl O.'The Education of a Geographer-"Annals of the
Associationof AmericanGeographets 46 (1956):287-99-
White, Gilbert F. "Geographers in a Perilously Changing World'"
Annals of theAssociationof Ameritnn Geographers 75 (1985):10-i5-
Wood, Trm f. "fhinking in Geography." GagraphyT2{1987):
289-99.