Unit 1

Thinking Geographically: the one-page sheet

1.1 Introduction to Maps

Maps are tools with jobs. Reference maps show where things are; thematic maps show a measure, using shades, dots, sized symbols, lines of equal value or resized areas. Every projection distorts shape, area, distance or direction, so choosing one is a trade-off. Maps show absolute and relative distance and direction, clustering and dispersal, and elevation.

A reference map shows where things are (borders, cities, roads). A thematic map shows one topic or measure across places.
Thematic types: a choropleth map shades areas by a rate or class; a dot density map shows counts as dots; a graduated symbol map sizes symbols by amount; an isoline map joins points of equal value; a cartogram resizes areas by a value.
A map projection flattens the globe and always causes distortion of shape, area, distance or direction. Choosing one is a trade-off.
Absolute distance and direction use kilometers and the compass; relative distance and direction depend on time, cost or the viewer. Maps also show clustering, dispersal and elevation.

every map projection distorts shape, area, distance or direction other properties are stretched, so each projection suits some jobs and not others the map type (shades, dots, symbols, lines) decides which pattern you can see

map: A drawing of part or all of the Earth's surface that shows where things are or how something varies from place to place. Every map selects what to show and leaves the rest out.
reference map: A map that shows where things are, such as borders, cities, roads and rivers, with no single theme.
thematic map: A map that shows one topic or measure across places, such as income, rainfall or the number of people, with a legend that explains it.
map projection: A method for flattening the round Earth onto a flat map. Every projection distorts shape, area, distance or direction in some way.
distortion: A change in shape, area, distance or direction that happens when the round Earth is drawn on a flat map.
absolute distance: Distance measured in a fixed unit such as kilometers or miles.
relative distance: How far a place feels, measured in time, cost or ease of travel instead of kilometers.
absolute direction: Direction given by the compass (north, south, east, west), which does not depend on where you stand.
relative direction: Direction that depends on the speaker's point of view, such as "up north" or "the Far East".
clustering: A pattern in which things are grouped close together in one or a few places.
dispersal: A pattern in which things are spread out over an area rather than grouped together.
elevation: The height of the land above sea level, often shown on maps with lines of equal height or with colors.
choropleth map: A thematic map that shades whole areas, such as countries or provinces, by classes of a measure. It works best for rates and percents.
dot density map: A thematic map that shows counts as dots, each standing for a set number, such as 10,000 people.
graduated symbol map: A thematic map that uses symbols, usually circles, sized by the amount at each place.
isoline map: A thematic map with lines that join points of equal value, such as the same height or the same temperature.
cartogram: A thematic map that resizes each area by a value, such as its number of people, so shapes and true sizes are given up.

1.2 Geographic Data

Geographic data are tied to places. Quantitative data are counts and measurements, from sources such as satellite images and GPS; qualitative data are words and pictures, from interviews, field notes, travel accounts, news and documents. Field observation gives rich local detail, remote sensing covers large areas over time, and a GIS layers data so geographers can see how they relate.

Geographic data are information tied to a location. They can be quantitative (numbers you count or measure) or qualitative (words, pictures and experiences).
Field observation means going to a place to record, count, sketch, photograph or interview. It is rich but covers a small area and a short time.
Remote sensing gathers data from far away, usually by satellite. A satellite navigation system such as GPS finds exact locations.
A geographic information system (GIS) is software that stacks data as layers on a map, so you can see where they overlap.

the question decides which kind of data is needed quantitative data from counts, satellites or GPS fit best qualitative data from interviews, field notes or documents fit best the geographer can see where patterns overlap

geographic data: Information tied to a location, such as where something is or how much of it is found in a place.
geographic information system: A geographic information system: computer software that stores data tied to locations as layers, so they can be mapped and compared on one map.
satellite navigation system: A satellite navigation system, such as the United States' GPS, that uses signals from satellites to find the exact location of a receiver like a phone.
remote sensing: Gathering data about the Earth from a distance, usually with satellites or aircraft that record images or light.
field observation: Collecting data by going to a place to watch, count, sketch, photograph or interview people there.
quantitative data: Data that are numbers you can count or measure, such as the number of stalls on a street or the yearly rainfall of a city.
qualitative data: Data in the form of words, pictures and experiences, such as interviews, field notes, photos and travel accounts.

1.3 The Power of Geographic Data

Census data and satellite images are powerful because decisions follow them: where a family buys a home, where a company opens a store, where a city lays pipes, how a country shares seats and money, and where aid goes after a disaster. They inform choices at every scale, from a block to the world. Every source also has limits: censuses age and undercount, satellites miss what clouds or roofs hide, and data for large areas hide what happens inside them.

A census is an official count of all the people in a country, often every ten years, with facts about households.
Census data and satellite images inform decisions by individuals (where to buy a house), businesses (where to open a store) and governments (where to build, how to share seats and money).
These decisions happen at every scale: a school board (local), a national agency, a group of countries or the whole world.
Every source has a limitation of data: censuses age and miss people; satellites cannot see through clouds or into homes; data for a whole city hide its neighborhoods.

decision makers learn how many people live where and how places are changing the data shape where schools, clinics, pipes and aid go decisions can send resources to the wrong places

census: An official count of all the people in a country, often taken every ten years, with facts about each household such as ages and housing.
limitation of data: Something a data source cannot show or may get wrong, such as being out of date, missing some people or giving one value for a large area.

1.4 Spatial Concepts

Geographers locate places in two ways: absolutely, with latitude and longitude, and relatively, by what a place is near. Site is the character of the spot itself; situation is its links to other places, and both explain why places grow. Place is a location with meaning; space is how things are arranged across an area. Flows connect places, distance decay weakens contact with distance, and time-space compression makes far places feel closer.

Absolute location is an exact position, given by latitude and longitude. Relative location describes a place by what it is near.
Site is the physical character of a place itself (land, water, climate). Situation is its location relative to other places and routes.
Place is a location plus the meaning people give it (its sense of place). Space is the area between places and how things are arranged in it, forming a spatial pattern.
Flows move people, goods, money and ideas between places. Distance decay says contact falls with distance; time-space compression says faster links make places feel closer.

it can serve ships, trade or settlement on the spot flows of goods and people pass through it, and it grows nearby places interact more than far ones time-space compression weakens distance decay, and far places interact more

absolute location: The exact position of a place on the Earth, usually given by latitude (degrees north or south of the equator) and longitude (degrees east or west of the prime meridian).
relative location: Where a place is compared with other places or features, such as "near the center of the United States, where two rivers meet".
space (geography): The area between and around places, and how people and things are arranged across it.
place (geography): A location plus the meaning, character and feelings people give it. Those feelings are called a sense of place.
flow: A movement of people, goods, money or ideas from one place to another.
distance decay: The idea that contact between places falls as the distance between them grows.
time-space compression: The way faster transport and communication cut the time needed to link places, so distant places feel closer.
pattern (spatial): How things are arranged across space, such as clustered, dispersed or in a line along a river.
site: The physical character of a place itself, such as its landforms, water, soil and climate.
situation: The location of a place relative to other places, routes and features, which shapes its links to them.

1.5 Human-Environmental Interaction

People and the environment shape each other. Natural resources can be renewable or nonrenewable, and how people use land changes the environment. Sustainability means using resources so they last for future users. Geographers once held environmental determinism, the idea that the environment decides how people live; they rejected it as wrong and as a cover for unequal rule, and moved to possibilism: the environment sets limits, and people choose.

Natural resources are things from nature that people use. Renewable ones (sunlight, wind, fish, water) can replace themselves; nonrenewable ones (oil, coal) are used up.
Land use is how people use an area of land: forest, farms, homes, roads, factories.
Sustainability means using resources so that people now meet their needs without harming the ability of future people to meet theirs.
Environmental determinism said the environment decides human behavior; it was rejected and was used to justify European rule. Possibilism says the environment sets limits and people choose.

people face choices about how to use the land and its natural resources land use changes: fields on slopes, land taken from the sea, cities in deserts the land, water or fish run down, which is not sustainable

natural resource: Something from nature that people use, such as water, soil, fish, forests, oil or sunlight. Renewable resources replace themselves; nonrenewable resources are used up.
sustainability: Using land and resources so that people now meet their needs without harming the ability of future people to meet theirs.
land use: How people use an area of land, such as for forest, farms, homes, roads or factories.
environmental determinism: An old, rejected idea that the physical environment, especially climate, decides how people live and behave. It was used to justify European rule over other peoples.
possibilism: The idea that the physical environment sets limits and offers options, and people choose how to live within them using their culture and technology.
colonialism: One country taking control of another place and its people, governing them directly and often sending settlers there.
terracing: Cutting a hillside into flat steps so it can be farmed and so soil and water stay in place, as on the Ifugao rice terraces of the Philippines.
irrigation: Supplying water to crops by canals, pipes, ditches or sprinklers, so land can be farmed where rain alone is not enough.

1.6 Scales of Analysis

Geographers study patterns at the global, regional, national and local scales, naming the scale from the unit of the data. Aggregated data combine small units into large ones and hide variation, so a pattern at one scale can look different at another. Processes connect scales: global demand, trade and climate change reshape local places, and local choices respond. Always state the scale of a claim and match it to the question.

The four scales of analysis, global, regional, national and local, each fit inside the one above. Name the scale from the unit of the data.
Aggregated data combine smaller units into a larger one. They make comparison easy but hide variation inside.
A pattern at one scale can disappear or reverse at another: one shade for India hides rich and poor states.
Processes link scales: world demand for avocados changes hillsides in Michoacán, Mexico; rising seas change streets in Miami Beach, Florida.

the differences between the small units disappear a new pattern can appear, such as rich and poor states inside one country it changes places at another scale, such as one coast or one city

aggregated data: Data made by combining values for smaller units into one value for a larger unit, such as adding provinces into a national figure. Aggregated data can hide differences between the smaller units.

1.7 Regional Analysis

Regions group places that share something. Formal regions share a measurable trait, functional regions are tied to a center by flows, and perceptual regions rest on what people believe. Regions exist at local, national, regional and global scales, usually fade out across transition zones, and can overlap or be contested, because people draw them for different purposes.

A region is an area grouped together because its places share something. Regions exist at every scale, from a neighborhood to a group of countries.
A formal region shares a measurable trait (language, climate, a main crop). A functional region is tied to a center by flows (commuters, deliveries). A perceptual region rests on beliefs ("the South").
Region edges are usually transition zones, where one region fades into another, like the Sahel between the Sahara and grassland.
Because people draw regions for different purposes, regions can overlap and their edges can be contested.

geographers group them into a formal region they form a functional region, strongest near the center they form a perceptual region, whose edges differ from person to person regions have transition zones and edges that can overlap and be contested

region: An area that geographers group together because its places share something: a trait, a tie to a center or a shared belief.
formal region: A region whose places share one or more measurable traits, such as a main language, a climate or a main crop. Also called a uniform region.
functional region: A region tied together by flows to and from a center, such as the area a city's commuters come from or a newspaper delivers to. Also called a nodal region.
perceptual region: A region defined by what people believe or feel about places, such as "the South" in the United States. Also called a vernacular region.
transition zone: The area at the edge of a region where its defining trait fades and another region begins, such as the Sahel between the Sahara and the grasslands to the south.