I N TR ODUCT ION:

Some Background Basics

1

The imprint of human activity created by this windfarm dominates this California landscape.

Key Concepts
1. The nature of geography and the role of human geography, 4. Why geographers use maps and how maps show spatial
pp. 2–5. information, pp. 18–25.
2. Seven fundamental geographic observations and the basic concepts 5. Other means of visualizing and analyzing spatial data: mental maps,
that underlie them, pp. 5–15. systems, and models, pp. 25–27.
3. The regional concept and the characteristics of regions, pp. 15–18.
 Getting Started
The fundamental question asked by geographers is “Does it make a physical environment and the human use of that environment, they
difference where things are located?” If for any one item or group are sensitive to the variety of forces affecting a place and to the
of objects the answer is “You bet it does!” the geographer’s interest interactions among them. To explain why Brazilians burn a sig-
is aroused and geographic investigation is appropriate. For exam- nificant portion of the tropical rain forest each year, for example,
ple, it matters a great deal that languages of a certain kind are spo- geographers draw on their knowledge of the climate and soils
ken in certain places. But knowledge of the location of a specific of the Amazon Basin; population pressures, landlessness, and
language group is not of itself particularly significant. Geographic the need for more agricultural area in rural Brazil; the country’s
study of a language requires that we try to answer questions about foreign debt status; midlatitude markets for lumber, beef, and
why and how the language shows different characteristics in differ- soy beans; and economic development objectives. Understanding
ent locations and how the present distribution of its speakers came the environmental consequences of the burning requires knowl-
about. In the course of our study, we would logically discuss such edge of, among other things, the oxygen and carbon balance of
concepts as migration, acculturation, the diffusion of innovation, the earth; the contribution of the fires to the greenhouse effect,
the effect of physical barriers on communication, and the relation- acid rain, and depletion of the ozone layer; and the relationship
ship of language to other aspects of culture. As geographers, we between deforestation, soil erosion, and floods.
are interested in how things are interrelated in different regions and Geography, therefore, is about geographic space and its content.
give evidence of the existence of “spatial systems.” We think of and respond to places from the standpoint not only
of where they are but, rather more importantly, of what they
contain or what we think they contain. Reference to a place or
an area usually calls up images about its physical nature or what
What Is Geography? people do there and often suggests, without conscious thought,
Many people associate the word geography simply with know- how those physical objects and human activities are related.
ing where things are: whether they be countries such as Myanmar “Colorado,” “mountains,” and “skiing” might be a simple example.
and Uruguay, cities such as Timbuktu or Almaty, or deposits of The content of area, that is, has both physical and cultural aspects,
natural resources such as petroleum or iron ore. Some people pride and geography is always concerned with understanding both
themselves on knowing which are the longest rivers, the tallest (Figure 1.1).
mountains, and the largest deserts. Such factual knowledge about
the world has value, permitting us to place current events in their
proper spatial setting. When we hear of an earthquake in Turkey
or an assault in Timor-Leste, we at least can visualize where they
Evolution of the Discipline
occurred. Knowing why they occurred in those places, however, is Geography, the “mother of sciences,” initiated in antiquity lines of
considerably more important. inquiry that led to the development of separate disciplines such as
Geography is much more than place names and locations. anthropology, demography, ecology, and economics. Geography’s
It is the study of spatial variation, of how and why things differ combination of interests was apparent even in the work of the
from place to place on the surface of the earth. It is, further, the early Greek geographers who first gave structure to the discipline.
study of how observable spatial patterns evolved through time. Geography’s name was reputedly coined by the Greek scientist
Just as knowing the names and locations of organs in the human Eratosthenes over 2200 years ago from the words geo, “the earth,”
body does not equip one to perform open-heart surgery, and just and graphein, “to write.” From the beginning, that writing focused
as memorizing the periodic table does not enable one to formulate both on the physical structure of the earth and on the nature and
new medications, so knowing where things are located geographi- activities of the people who inhabited the different lands of the
cally is only the first step toward understanding why things are known world. To Strabo (ca. 64 b.c.–a.d. 20) the task of geography
where they are, and what events and processes determine or change was to “describe the several parts of the inhabited world . . . to
their distribution. Why is Chechnya but not Tasmania wracked by write the assessment of the countries of the world [and] to treat
insurgency, and why do you find a concentration of French speak- the differences between countries.” Even earlier, Herodotus
ers in Quebec but not in other parts of Canada? Why are famines (ca. 484–425 b.c.) had found it necessary to devote much of his
so frequent and severe in East Africa and why, among all the con- book to the lands, peoples, economies, and customs of the various
tinents, has African food production and distribution failed to keep parts of the Persian Empire as necessary background to an under-
pace with population growth over the past half century? standing of the causes and course of the Persian wars.
In answering questions such as these, geographers focus on Greek (and, later, Roman) geographers measured the earth,
the interaction of people and social groups with their environment— devised the global grid of parallels and meridians (marking lati-
planet Earth—and with each other; they seek to understand how tudes and longitudes—see page 20), and drew upon that grid sur-
and why physical and cultural spatial patterns evolved through prisingly sophisticated maps of their known world (Figure 1.2).
time and continue to change. Because geographers study both the They explored the apparent latitudinal variations in climate and

2 Chapter 1 Introduction
Figure 1.1 The ski development at Whistler Mountain, British Columbia, Canada, site of 2010 Winter Olympic events, clearly shows the interaction
of physical environment and human activity. Climate and terrain have made specialized human use attractive and possible. Human exploitation has
placed a cultural landscape on the natural environment, thereby altering it.

20 160
60

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70 80 90 100 110

Figure 1.2 World map of the 2nd-century a.d. Greco–Egyptian geographer–astronomer Ptolemy. Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus) adopted
a previously developed map grid of latitude and longitude based on the division of the circle into 360 , permitting a precise mathematical location
for every recorded place. Unfortunately, errors of assumption and measurement rendered both the map and its accompanying six-volume gazetteer
inaccurate. Ptolemy’s map, accepted in Europe as authoritative for nearly 1500 years, was published in many variants in the 15th and 16th centuries.
The version shown here summarizes the extent and content of the original. Its underestimation of the earth’s size convinced Columbus a short westward
voyage would carry him to Asia.

Chapter 1 Introduction: Some Background Basics 3

described in numerous works the familiar Mediterranean basin and that same time, accurate determination of latitude and longitude and
the more remote, partly rumored lands of northern Europe, Asia, scientific mapping of the earth made assignment of place informa-
and equatorial Africa. Employing nearly modern concepts, they tion more reliable and comprehensive.
described river systems, explored causes of erosion and patterns During the 19th century, national censuses, trade statistics,
of deposition, cited the dangers of deforestation, described areal and ethnographic studies gave firmer foundation to human geo-
variations in the natural landscape, and noted the consequences graphic investigation. By the end of the 19th century, geography
of environmental abuse. Against that physical backdrop, they had become a distinctive and respected discipline in universi-
focused their attention on what humans did in home and distant ties throughout Europe and in other regions of the world where
areas—how they lived; what their distinctive similarities and dif- European academic examples were followed. The proliferation of
ferences were in language, religion, and custom; and how they professional geographers and geography programs resulted in the
used, altered, and perhaps destroyed the lands they inhabited. development of a whole series of increasingly specialized disci-
Strabo, indeed, cautioned against the assumption that the nature plinary subdivisions.
and actions of humans were determined by the physical environ-
ment they inhabited. He observed that humans were the active
elements in a human—environmental partnership.
These are enduring and universal interests. The ancient Chinese,
Geography and Human
for example, were as involved in geography as an explanatory view- Geography
point as were Westerners, though there was no exchange between
them. Further, as Christian Europe entered its Middle Ages between Geography’s specialized subfields are not divisive but are inter-
a.d. 500 and 1400 and lost its knowledge of Greek and Roman geo- related. Geography in all its subdivisions is characterized by three
graphical work, Muslim scholars—who retained that knowledge— dominating interests. The first is in the areal variation of physical and
undertook to describe and analyze their known world in its physical, human phenomena on the surface of the earth. Geography examines
cultural, and regional variation (see “Roger’s Book”). relationships between human societies and the natural environments
Modern geography had its origins in the surge of scholarly that they occupy and modify. The second is a focus on the spatial
inquiry that, beginning in the 17th century, gave rise to many of the systems1 that link physical phenomena and human activities in one
traditional academic disciplines we know today. In its European area of the earth with other areas. Together, these interests lead to
rebirth, geography from the outset was recognized—as it always had a third enduring theme, that of regional analysis: geography studies
been—as a broadly based integrative study. Patterns and processes human—environmental—“ecological”—relationships and spatial
of the physical landscape were early interests, as was concern with systems in specific locational settings. This areal orientation pur-
humans as part of the earth’s variation from place to place. The rapid sued by some geographers is called regional geography (see also
development of geology, botany, zoology, and other natural sciences
by the end of the 18th century strengthened regional geographic 1
A “system” is simply a group of elements organized in a way that every element is to some
investigation and increased scholarly and popular awareness of the degree directly or indirectly interdependent with every other element. For geographers, the
intricate interconnections of items in space and between places. By systems of interest are those that distinguish or characterize different regions or areas of the earth.

Roger’s Book

The Arab geographer Idrisi, or Edrisi (ca. 135 kilograms (300 pounds). Lost to looters in Though Idrisi worked in one of the most
a.d. 1099–1154), a descendant of the Prophet 1160, the map is survived by “Roger’s Book,” prestigious courts of Europe, there is little
Mohammed, was directed by Roger II, the containing the information amassed by Idrisi’s evidence that his work had any impact on
Christian king of Sicily in whose court he academy and including a world map, 71 part European geographic thought. He was
served, to collect all known geographical maps, and 70 sectional itinerary maps. strongly influenced by Ptolemy’s work and
information and assemble it in a truly accu- Idrisi’s “inhabited earth” is divided into misconceptions and shared the then common
rate representation of the world. An academy the seven “climates” of Greek geographers, Muslim fear of the unknown western ocean.
of geographers and scholars was gathered to beginning at the equator and stretching north- Yet Idrisi’s clear understanding of such
assist Idrisi in the project. Books and maps of ward to the limit at which, it was supposed, scientific truths as the roundness of the earth,
classical and Islamic origins were consulted, the earth was too cold to be inhabited. Each his grasp of the scholarly writings of his
mariners and travelers interviewed, and scien- climate was then subdivided by perpendicular Greek and Muslim predecessors, and the
tific expeditions dispatched to foreign lands lines into 11 equal parts beginning with the faithful recording of information on little-
to observe and record. Data collection took west coast of Africa on the west and ending known portions of Europe, the Near East,
15 years before the final world map was fab- with the east coast of Asia. Each of the result- and North Africa set his work far above the
ricated on a silver disc some 200 centimeters ing 77 square compartments was then dis- mediocre standards of contemporary Chris-
(80 inches) in diameter and weighing over cussed in sequence in “Roger’s Book.” tian geography.

4 Chapter 1 Introduction
page 15). For some, the regions of interest may be large: Southeast interrelated in particular places and regions give us a clearer under-
Asia or Latin America, for example; others may focus on smaller standing of the economic, social, and political systems within
areas differently defined, such as Alpine France or the United States which we live and operate. Its analyses of those spatial systems
Corn Belt. make us more aware of the realities and prospects of our own soci-
Other geographers choose to identify particular classes of ety in an increasingly connected and competitive world. Our study
things, rather than segments of the earth’s surface, for specialized of human geography, therefore, can help make us better-informed
study. These systematic geographers may focus their attention citizens, more able to understand the important issues facing our
on one or a few related aspects of the physical environment or of communities and our countries and better prepared to contribute to
human populations and societies. In each case, the topic selected their solutions. Importantly, it can also help open the way to won-
for study is examined in its interrelationships with other spatial sys- derfully rewarding and diversified careers as professional geogra-
tems and areal patterns. Physical geography directs its attention to phers (see “Careers in Geography”).
the natural environmental side of the human—environment struc-
ture. Its concerns are with landforms and their distribution, with
atmospheric conditions and climatic patterns, with soils or veg-
etation associations, and the like. The other systematic branch of
geography—and the subject of this book—is human geography.
Demography
Hi
Human Geography sto
ry

e
nc
Population H

cie
Human geography deals with the world as it is and with the world Geography Ge isto

S
og ric

al
ra al

hy
rap l
as it might be made to be. Its emphasis is on people: where they are,

og ica
litic
ph
y

Po

Ge olit
what they are like, how they interact over space, and what kinds of

Science,
landscapes of human use they erect on the natural landscapes they

Urban Stu ial

Urban Soc ing
Geograp
occupy. It encompasses all those interests and topics of geography

Urban
Anthropol tory

that are not directly concerned with the physical environment or, hy

Plann
ogy,

HUMAN
Cultural
, His

dies,
like cartography, are technical in orientation. Its content provides Geograp GEOGRAPHY

hy
Sociology

integration for all of the social sciences, for it gives to those sci-
ences the necessary spatial and systems viewpoint that they other-

y
wise lack. For example, economists are generally concerned with

ies ,
ra l

ud ge
ph
og ia
B

St ua
Ge Soc
trends and patterns over time, not space, and psychology rarely Ge eha

s ng
og vio

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considers the interaction between space and behavior. At the same ra ra

lig y,
Ps ph l
Economic

Re iolog
y y
time, human geography draws on other social sciences in the Ec ch
on olo Geography

c
So
om gy
analyses identified with its subfields, such as behavioral, political, ics ,
omics,
economic, or social geography (Figure 1.3). Regional Econ
Economics
Human geography admirably serves the objectives of a lib-
eral education. It helps us to understand the world we occupy and
to appreciate the circumstances affecting peoples and countries
Figure 1.3 Some of the subdivisions of human geography and the
allied fields to which they are related. Geography retains its ties to them
other than our own. It clarifies the contrasts in societies and cul- and shares their insights and data reinforcing its role as an essential
tures and in the human landscapes they have created in different synthesizer of data, concepts, and models that have integrative regional
regions of the earth. Its models and explanations of how things are and spatial implications.

background basics
Core Geographic Concepts How is it part of a functioning whole? How do people affect it?
How does its location affect people’s lives and the content of the
The topics included in human geography are diverse, but that very area in which it is found? These and similar questions are rooted
diversity emphasizes the reality that all geographers—whatever in geography’s central concern with space and place and in the
their particular topical or regional specialties—are united by the special meanings geographers attach to those terms.
similar questions they ask and the common set of basic concepts For geographers, space implies areal extent and may be under-
they employ to consider their answers. Of either a physical or cul- stood in both an absolute and a relative sense. Absolute space is
tural phenomenon they will inquire: What is it? Where is it? How objectively and physically real with measurable extent and defin-
did it come to be what and where it is? Where is it in relation to able boundaries. In that sense, space is fundamental to areal rela-
other things that affect it or are affected by it? How is it changing? tionships among physical or cultural features on the earth’s surface

Chapter 1 Introduction: Some Background Basics 5

and is basic to such geographic interests as making maps, analyzing surface, and spatial interactions occur between places, things, and
distributions, and conducting spatial analysis of locational pat- people within the earth area available to them. The need to under-
terns. Relative space is perceptual, not objective, and variable, not stand those relationships, interactions, and processes helps frame
permanent, over time. In this relative sense, space can be seen as the questions that geographers ask.
socially produced, reflecting activities and the interrelationships Additionally, those questions have their starting point in basic
between activities. Since activities and relationships are constantly observations about the location and nature of places and about how
changing, relative space adjusts in size and form in response to places are similar to or different from one another. Such observa-
developing socioeconomic processes and the passage of time. tions, though simply stated, are profoundly important to our com-
For human geographers, place is the companion concept to prehension of the world we occupy.
space. In common understanding, place is a synonym for location.
• Places have location, direction, and distance with respect to
In human geography, however, place refers to the attributes and
other places.
values we individually associate with a location. Our home town
and neighborhood, the university we attend or the high school from • A place has size; it may be large or small. Scale is important.
which we graduated, a favorite downtown shopping area, and the • A place has both physical structure and cultural content.
like are all examples. Clearly, our sense of place—the attachments • The attributes of places develop and change over time.
we have to specific locations and their complex of attributes—is • The elements of places interrelate with other places.
unique to each of us, though we may share some aspects of our • The content of places is structured and explainable.
regard for a place with many others. And clearly, too, we can even
• Places may be generalized into regions of similarities and
have a favorable sense of place about locations we may never have
differences.
personally experienced: Rome or Mecca or Jerusalem, for example,
or—closer to home—Mount Rushmore or the Washington Mall. These are basic notions understandable to everyone. They
Our individual or group sense of place and attachments can, also are the means by which geographers express fundamental
of course, set us off from others. Our home neighborhood that we observations about the earth spaces they examine and put those
find familiar and view favorably may equally be seen as alien and, observations into a common framework of reference. Each of the
perhaps, dangerous by others. The attributes and culture of places concepts is worth further discussion, for they are not quite as sim-
shape the lives and outlooks of those who inhabit them in ways ple as they at first seem.
basic to the socioeconomic patterning of the world. The view-
points, normative behavior, religious and cultural beliefs, and ways
of life absorbed and expressed by a white, middle-class, suburban
Location, Direction, and Distance
American are undoubtedly vastly different from the understand- Location, direction, and distance are everyday ways of assessing
ings, cultural convictions, and life expectations of, for example, the space around us and identifying our position in relation to other
a young, unemployed male resident of Baghdad or the slums of items and places of interest. They are also essential in understand-
Cairo. The implicit, ingrained, place-induced differences between ing the processes of spatial interaction that figure so importantly in
the two help us understand the resistance to the globalization of the study of human geography.
Western social and economic values by those of vastly different
cultural backgrounds and place identification.
The sense of place is reinforced by recognized local and
Location
regional distinctiveness. It may be diminished or lost and replaced The location of places and objects is the starting point of all geo-
by a feeling of placelessness as the uniformity of brand-name graphic study as well as all our personal movements and spatial
fast-food outlets, national retail store chains, uniform shopping actions in everyday life. We think of and refer to location in at
malls, repetitive highway billboards, and the like spread nationally least two different senses, absolute and relative.
and even internationally, reducing or eliminating the uniqueness Absolute location is the identification of place by some pre-
of formerly separated locales and cultures. We’ll examine some cise and accepted system of coordinates; it therefore is sometimes
aspects of the sense of place and placelessness as we look at folk called mathematical location. We have several such accepted sys-
and popular cultures in Chapter 7. tems of pinpointing positions. One of them is the global grid of
Geographers use the word spatial as an essential modifier in parallels and meridians (discussed later, beginning on page 18).
framing their questions and forming their concepts. Geography, With it the absolute location of any point on the earth can be accu-
they say, is a spatial science. It is concerned with spatial behav- rately described by reference to its degrees, minutes, and seconds
ior of people, with the spatial relationships that are observed of latitude and longitude (Figure 1.4).
between places on the earth’s surface, and with the spatial pro- Other coordinate systems are also in use. Survey systems such
cesses that create or maintain those behaviors and relationships. as the township, range, and section description of property in much
The word spatial comes, of course, from space, and to geographers, of the United States give mathematical locations on a regional
it always carries the idea of the way items are distributed, the level, while street address precisely defines a building according
way movements occur, and the way processes operate over the to the reference system of an individual town. For convenience
whole or a part of the surface of the earth. The geographer’s space, or special purposes, locational grid references may be superim-
then, is earth space, the surface area occupied or available to be posed on the basic global grid. The Universal Transverse Merca-
occupied by humans. Spatial phenomena have locations on that tor (UTM) system, for example, based on a set of 60 longitude

6 Chapter 1 Introduction
 Careers in Geography

The study of geography is an essential part activities and with the acquisition and analysis Most of these same specializations are also
of a liberal arts education and helps students of spatial data. found in the private sector. Geographic training
become better citizens as they come to under- Many professional geographers work is ideal for such tasks as business planning and
stand local, national, and global issues. in government, either at the state or local market analysis; factory, store, and shopping-
Can it, as well, be a pathway to employ- level or in a variety of federal agencies and center site selection; community and economic
ment for those who wish to specialize in the international organizations. Although many development programs for banks, public utili-
discipline? The answer is “Yes,” in a number positions do not carry a geography title, ties, and railroads; and similar applications.
of different types of jobs. One broad cluster physical geographers serve as water, mineral, Publishers of maps, atlases, news and travel
is concerned with supporting the field itself and other natural resource analysts; weather magazines, and the like employ geographers
through teaching and research. Teaching and climate experts; soil scientists; and as writers, editors, and mapmakers.
opportunities exist at all levels, from elemen- the like. An area of recent high demand is The combination of a traditional, broadly
tary to university postgraduate. Teachers with for environmental managers and technicians. based liberal arts perspective with the techni-
some training in geography are increasingly Geographers who have specialized in envi- cal skills required in geographic research and
in demand in elementary and high schools ronmental studies find jobs in both public analysis gives geography graduates a competi-
throughout the United States, reflecting geog- and private agencies. Their work may include tive edge in the labor market. These field-based
raphy’s inclusion as a core subject in the fed- assessing the environmental impact of pro- skills include familiarity with geographic
erally adopted Educate America Act (Public posed development projects on such things information systems (GIS), cartography and
Law 103-227) and the national determination as air and water quality and endangered spe- computer mapping, remote sensing and pho-
to create a geographically literate society. At cies, as well as preparing the environmental togrammetry, and competence in data analysis
the college level, specialized teaching and impact statements required before construc- and problem solving. In particular, students
research in all branches of geography have tion can begin. with expertise in GIS, who are knowledgeable
long been established, and geographically Human geographers work in many dif- about data sources, hardware, and software, are
trained scholars are prominently associated ferent roles in the public sector. Jobs include finding that they have ready access to employ-
with urban, community, and environmental data acquisition and analysis in health care, ment opportunities. The following table, based
studies, regional science, locational econom- transportation, population studies, economic on the booklet “Careers in Geography,”* sum-
ics, and other interdisciplinary programs. development, and international economics. marizes some of the professional opportunities
Because of the breadth and diversity of Many geography graduates find positions as open to students who have specialized in one
the field, training in geography involves the planners in local and state governmental agen- (or more) of the various subfields of geogra-
acquisition of techniques and approaches cies concerned with housing and community phy. Also, be sure to read the informative dis-
applicable to a wide variety of jobs outside development, park and recreation planning, cussions under the “Careers in Geography”
the academic world. Modern geography is and urban and regional planning. They map option on the home page of the Association
both a physical and social science and fosters and analyze land use plans and transportation of American Geographers at [Link]/.
a wealth of technical skills. The employment systems, monitor urban land development, Additional links on the topic of geography
possibilities it presents are as many and var- make informed recommendations about the careers can be found in the Online Learning
ied as are the agencies and enterprises deal- location of public facilities, and engage in Center for this text. That connection may be
ing with the natural environment and human basic social science research. found at the end of this chapter.
Geographic Field of Concentration Employment Opportunities
Geographic technology Cartographer for federal government (agencies such as Defense Mapping Agency, U.S.
Geological Survey, or Environmental Protection Agency) or private sector (e.g.,
Environmental Systems Research Institute, ERDAS, Intergraph, or Bentley); map
librarian; GIS specialist for planners, land developers, real estate agencies, utility
companies, local government; remote-sensing analyst; surveyor
Physical geography Weather forecaster; outdoor guide; coastal zone manager; hydrologist; soil conservation/
agricultural extension agent
Environmental geography Environmental manager; forestry technician; park ranger; hazardous waste planner
Cultural geography Community developer; Peace Corps volunteer; map librarian
Economic geography Site selection analyst for business and industry; market researcher; traffic/route delivery
manager; real estate agent/broker/appraiser; economic development researcher
Urban and regional planning Urban and community planner; transportation planner; housing, park, and recreation
planner; health services planner
Regional geography Area specialist for federal government; international business representative; travel agent;
travel writer
Geographic education or general geography Elementary/secondary school teacher; college professor; overseas teacher

*“Careers in Geography,” by Richard G. Boehm. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 1996. Previously published by Peterson’s Guides, Inc.

Chapter 1 Introduction: Some Background Basics 7

 90
300 miles

12
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60
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15
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Moscow
Tropic of Cancer

Pacific
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Hanoi Alaska
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105°E 110° 115°

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Figure 1.4 The latitude and longitude of Hong Kong is 22 15! N,
114 10! E (read as 22 degrees, 15 minutes north; 114 degrees, 10
minutes east). The circumference of the earth measures 360 degrees;
Figure 1.5 The reality of relative location on the globe may be
strikingly different from the impressions we form from flat maps. The
each degree contains 60 minutes and each minute has 60 seconds of
position of Russia with respect to North America when viewed from a
latitude or longitude. What are the coordinates of Hanoi?
polar perspective emphasizes that relative location properly viewed is
important to our understanding of spatial relationships and interactions
zones, is widely used in geographic information system (GIS) between the two world areas.
applications and, with different notations, as a military grid refer-
ence system. Absolute location is unique to each described place, Site, an absolute location concept, refers to the physical and cultural
is independent of any other characteristic or observation about that characteristics and attributes of the place itself. It is more than math-
place, and has obvious value in the legal description of places, in ematical location, for it tells us something about the internal features
measuring the distance separating places, or in finding directions of that place. The site of New Orleans, for example, extends from the
between places on the earth’s surface. natural levee on the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain, much of
When geographers—or real estate agents—remark that “location which lies below sea level (Figure 1.6). Situation, on the other hand,
matters,” their reference is usually not to absolute but to relative refers to the external relations of a locale. It is an expression of rela-
location—the position of a place in relation to that of other places tive location with particular reference to items of significance to the
or activities (Figure 1.5). Relative location expresses spatial inter- place in question. The situation of New Orleans might be described
connection and interdependence and may carry social (neighbor- as being as close as possible to the mouth of the Mississippi River,
hood character) and economic (assessed valuations of vacant land) which drains 41% of the land area of the continental United States,
implications. On an immediate and personal level, we think of the taking in much of the area from the Appalachian Mountains to the
location of the school library not in terms of its street address or Rocky Mountains. Waterways on the Upper Mississippi, Missouri,
room number but where it is relative to our classrooms, or the caf- Arkansas-Red-White, Ohio, and Tennessee River systems drain
eteria, or some other reference point. On the larger scene, relative through the Lower Mississippi, connecting New Orleans to many
location tells us that people, things, and places exist not in a spatial of the country’s important agricultural and manufacturing regions
vacuum but in a world of physical and cultural characteristics that (Figure 1.7). While the flood-prone site makes it a challenging place
differ from place to place. to build a city, the incredible advantages offered by its situation have
New York City, for example, may in absolute terms be inspired generations of residents to make it their home.
described as located at (approximately) latitude 40 43! N and lon-
gitude 73 58! W. We have a better understanding of the meaning
of its location, however, when reference is made to its spatial rela-
Direction
tionships: to the continental interior through the Hudson–Mohawk Direction is a second universal spatial concept. Like location, it has
lowland corridor or to its position on the eastern seaboard of more than one meaning and can be expressed in absolute or relative
the United States. Within the city, we gain understanding of the terms. Absolute direction is based on the cardinal points of north,
locational significance of Central Park or the Lower East Side south, east, and west. These appear uniformly and independently in
not solely by reference to the street addresses or city blocks they all cultures, derived from the obvious “givens” of nature: the rising
occupy, but by their spatial and functional relationships to the total and setting of the sun for east and west, and the sky location of the
land use, activity, and population patterns of New York City. noontime sun and of certain fixed stars for north and south.
In view of these different ways of looking at location, geogra- We also commonly use relative or relational directions. In the
phers make a distinction between the site and the situation of a place. United States we go “out West,” “back East,” or “down South”; we

8 Chapter 1 Introduction
 Pacific, for example, to reach the “Far East” from California, British
Lake Pontchartrain Columbia, or Chile. For many Americans, “back East” and “out West”
L. Pontchartrain
Causeway 10 are reflections of the migration paths of earlier generations for whom
University of
New Orleans home was in the eastern part of the country, to which they might look
back. “Up North” and “down South” reflect our accepted custom of
Gentilly putting north at the top and south at the bottom of our maps.
Ridge
10
610
10
Distance
10
New Orleans Distance joins location and direction as a commonly understood
term that has dual meanings for geographers. Like its two com-
French Quarter panion spatial concepts, distance may be viewed in both an abso-
Louisiana
lute and a relative sense.
Superdome
(Evacuation Absolute distance refers to the spatial separation between
center) two points on the earth’s surface measured by some accepted stan-
90 dard unit such as miles or kilometers for widely separated locales,
Mis iver feet or meters for more closely spaced points. Relative distance
sissippi R
0 3 transforms those linear measurements into other units more mean-
Miles
ingful for the space relationship in question.
Areas below sea level To know that two competing malls are about equidistant in
miles from your residence is perhaps less important in planning
Figure 1.6 The site of New Orleans is hardly ideal for building a your shopping trip than is knowing that because of street condi-
city. The city was built by the French on the most suitable high ground tions or traffic congestion one is 5 minutes and the other 15 min-
they could find near the mouth of the Mississippi River. The site extends utes away (Figure 1.8). Most people, in fact, think of time distance
north from the “high ground” along the Mississippi River to former
swamp and marshland near Lake Pontchartrain. Much of the city and its
suburbs are located below sea level on sinking soils composed of soft
78
sediments deposited by past river floods.
30
Encinitas 15
Ramona
5
Solana Beach
56 Poway

25 805
30

Lakeside
La Jolla Santee
52
8

20
15 163 El Cajon
New Orleans La Mesa
Pacific San Diego Lemon
Ocean Grove
Mississippi River Basin 15 5 94
10
10
Coronado 10 National City
Figure 1.7 The situation of New Orleans is ideal for building a city. 15
As the port at the mouth of the Mississippi River, New Orleans receives
Chula Vista
imports from Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa and exports grain, 0 miles 5 15
other food products, and petroleum from the United States. New Orleans
is connected to 14,500 miles of waterways as the Mississippi River drains a 0 km 5
Imperial Beach 20 25
basin that stretches from the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachian Mountains.

worry about conflict in the “Near East” or economic competition from Figure 1.8 Lines of equal travel time (isochrones: from Greek, isos,
equal, and chronos, time) mark off the different linear distances accessible
the “Far Eastern countries.” These directional references are cultur-
within given spans of time from a starting point. The fingerlike outlines of
ally based and locationally variable, despite their reference to cardinal isochrone boundaries reflect variations in road conditions, terrain, traffic
compass points. The Near and the Far East locate parts of Asia from congestion, and other aids or impediments to movement. On this map,
the European perspective; they are retained in the Americas by custom the areas within 30 minutes’ travel time from downtown San Diego are
and usage, even though one would normally travel westward across the recorded for the year 2002. Note the effect of freeways on travel time.

Chapter 1 Introduction: Some Background Basics 9

rather than linear distance in their daily activities; downtown made about it. In either instance, geographers are concerned with
is 20 minutes by bus, the library is a 5-minute walk. In some scale, though we may use that term in different ways. We can,
instances, money rather than time may be the distance transfor- for example, study a problem—say, population or agriculture—at
mation. An urban destination might be estimated to be a $10 cab the local scale, the regional scale, or on a global scale. Here the
ride away, information that may affect either the decision to make reference is purely to the size of unit studied. More technically,
the trip at all or the choice of travel mode to get there. As a col- scale tells us the mathematical relationship between the size of an
lege student, you already know that rooms and apartments are less area on a map and the actual size of the mapped area on the sur-
expensive at a greater distance from campus. face of the earth (see page 18). In this sense, scale is a feature of
A psychological transformation of linear distance is also fre- every map and essential to recognizing the areal meaning of what
quent. The solitary late-night walk back to the car through an unfa- is shown on that map.
miliar or dangerous neighborhood seems far longer than a daytime In both senses of the word, scale implies the degree of general-
stroll of the same distance through familiar and friendly territory. ization represented (Figure 1.9). Geographic inquiry may be broad
A first-time trip to a new destination frequently seems much lon- or narrow; it occurs at many different size scales. Climate may be
ger than the return trip over the same path. Distance relationships, an object of study, but research and generalization focused on cli-
their measurement, and their meaning for human spatial interaction mates of the world will differ in degree and kind from study of the
are fundamental to our understanding of human geography. They microclimates of a city. Awareness of scale is very important. In
are a subject of Chapter 3, and reference to them recurs throughout geographic work, concepts, relationships, and understandings that
this book. have meaning at one scale may not be applicable at another.
For example, the study of world agricultural patterns may
refer to global climatic regimes, cultural food preferences, lev-
Size and Scale els of economic development, and patterns of world trade. These
When we say that a place may be large or small, we speak both of large-scale relationships are of little concern in the study of
the nature of the place itself and of the generalizations that can be crop patterns within single counties of the United States, where

POPULATION DENSITIES
Midwestern States Illinois Counties

Density per Square

North Mile Kilometer
Dakota
Minn. 1280 or more 494 or more
South 640–1279 247–493
Wisc.
Dakota 320–639 124–246
Mich.
160–319 62–123
Iowa
Nebraska 80–159 31–61
Ohio
Ill. Ind. 40–79 16–30
20–39 8–15
Kansas
Missouri 19 or less 7 or less
Kentucky

(a)

(b)

Figure 1.9 Population density and map scale. “Truth” depends on one’s scale of inquiry. Map (a) reveals that the maximum year 2000
population density of Midwestern states was no more than 123 people per square kilometer (319 per sq mi). From map (b), however, we see that
population densities in three Illinois counties exceeded 494 people per square kilometer (1280 per sq mi) in 2000. If we were to reduce our scale
of inquiry even further, examining individual city blocks in Chicago, we would find densities reaching 2500 or more people per square kilometer
(10,000 per sq mi). Scale matters!

10 Chapter 1 Introduction
topography, soil and drainage conditions, farm size, ownership, is a reminder that humans are the active and frequently harmful
and capitalization, or even personal management preferences may agents in the continuing interplay between the cultural and physi-
be of greater explanatory significance. cal worlds (Figure 1.10). Virtually every human activity leaves its
imprint on an area’s soils, water, vegetation, animal life, and other
resources and on the atmosphere common to all earth space. The
Physical and Cultural Attributes impact of humans has been so universal and so long exerted that
All places have physical and cultural attributes that distinguish essentially no “natural landscape” any longer exists.
them from other places and give them character, potential, and The visible expression of that human activity is the cultural
meaning. Geographers are concerned with identifying and ana- landscape. It, too, exists at different scales and different levels of
lyzing the details of those attributes and, particularly, with rec- visibility. Differences in agricultural practices and land use between
ognizing the interrelationship between the physical and cultural Mexico and southern California are evident in Figure 1.11, while
components of area: the human—environmental interface. the signs, structures, and people of, for instance, Los Angeles’s
Physical characteristics refer to such natural aspects of a Chinatown leave a smaller, more confined imprint within the
locale as its climate and soil, the presence or absence of water sup- larger cultural landscape of the metropolitan area itself.
plies and mineral resources, its terrain features, and the like. These Although the focus of this book is on the human charac-
natural landscape attributes provide the setting within which teristics of places, geographers are ever aware that the physical
human action occurs. They help shape—but do not dictate—how content of an area is also important in understanding the activity
people live. The resource base, for example, is physically deter- patterns of people and the interconnections between people and
mined, though how resources are perceived and utilized is cultur- the environments they occupy and modify. Those interconnec-
ally conditioned. tions and modifications are not static or permanent, however,
Environmental circumstances directly affect agricultural but are subject to continual change. For example, marshes and
potential and reliability; indirectly they may influence such mat- wetlands, when drained, may be transformed into productive,
ters as employment patterns, trade flows, population distributions, densely settled farmland, while the threat or occurrence of erup-
and national diets. The physical environment simultaneously tion of a long-dormant volcano may quickly and drastically alter
presents advantages and drawbacks with which humans must established patterns of farming, housing, and transportation on or
deal. Thus, the danger of typhoons in central China or monsoonal near its flanks.
floods in Bangladesh must be balanced against the agricultural
bounty derived from the regions’ favorable terrain, soil, and mois-
ture conditions.
The Changing Attributes of Place
At the same time, by occupying a given place, people The physical environment surrounding us seems eternal and
modify its environmental conditions. The existence of the U.S. unchanging but, of course, it is not. In the framework of geologic
Environmental Protection Agency (and its counterparts elsewhere) time, change is both continuous and pronounced. Islands form and

Figure 1.10 Sites such as this landfill are all-too-frequent reminders of the adverse environmental impacts of humans and their waste products. Here,
bulldozers compact solid waste and spread a daily cover at a “sanitary” landfill.

Chapter 1 Introduction: Some Background Basics 11

Figure 1.11 This NASA image reveals contrasting cultural landscapes along the Mexico–California border. Move your eyes from the Salton Sea (the
dark patch at the top of the image) southward to the agricultural land extending to the edge of the image. Notice how the regularity of the fields and the
bright colors (representing growing vegetation) give way to a marked break, where irregularly shaped fields and less prosperous agriculture are evident.
Above the break is the Imperial Valley of California; below the border is Mexico.
© NASA

disappear; mountains rise and are worn low to swampy plains; vast the spread of European exploitative technologies throughout the
continental glaciers form, move, and melt away, and sea levels fall world, the pace of change in the content of area accelerated. The
and rise in response. Geologic time is long, but the forces that give built landscape—the product of human effort—increasingly replaced
shape to the land are timeless and relentless. the natural landscape. Each new settlement or city, each agricultural
Even within the short period of time since the most recent assault on forests, each new mine, dam, or factory changed the con-
retreat of continental glaciers—some 11,000 or 12,000 years tent of regions and altered the temporarily established spatial inter-
ago—the environments occupied by humans have been sub- connections between humans and the environment.
ject to change. Glacial retreat itself marked a period of climatic Characteristics of places today are the result of constantly
alteration, extending the area habitable by humans to include vast changing past conditions. They are, as well, the forerunners
reaches of northern Eurasia and North America formerly covered of differing human—environmental balances yet to be struck.
by thousands of feet of ice. With moderating climatic conditions Geographers are concerned with places at given moments of time.
came associated changes in vegetation and fauna. On the global But to understand fully the nature and development of places,
scale, these were natural environmental changes; humans were to appreciate the significance of their relative locations, and to
as yet too few in numbers and too limited in technology to alter comprehend the interplay of their physical and cultural charac-
materially the course of physical events. On the regional scale, teristics, geographers must view places as the present result of
however, even early human societies exerted an impact on the the past operation of distinctive physical and cultural processes
environments they occupied. Fire was used to clear forest under- (Figure 1.12).
growth, to maintain or extend grassland for grazing animals and You will recall that one of the questions geographers ask
to drive them in the hunt, and later to clear openings for rudimen- about a place or thing is “How did it come to be what and where
tary agriculture. it is?” This is an inquiry about process and about becoming. The
With the dawn of civilizations and the invention and spread forces and events shaping the physical and explaining the cultural
of agricultural technologies, humans accelerated their manage- environment of places today are an important focus of geography.
ment and alteration of the now no longer “natural” environment. They are, particularly in their human context, the subjects of most
Even the classical Greeks noted how the landscape they occupied of the separate chapters of this book. To understand them is to
differed—for the worse—from its former condition. With grow- appreciate more fully the changing human spatial order of our
ing numbers of people and particularly with industrialization and world.

12 Chapter 1 Introduction
(a) (b)

Figure 1.12 The process of change in a cultural landscape. (a) Miami, Florida, in 1913 was just a small settlement on the banks of the Miami
River amidst woodlands and wetlands. (b) By the end of the 20th century, it had grown from a few thousand inhabitants to some 350,000, with
buildings, streets, and highways completely transforming its natural landscape.
Sources: (a) Historical Museum of Southern Florida; (b) South Florida Water Management District.

Accessibility, therefore, suggests the idea of connectivity,

Interrelations between Places a broader concept implying all the tangible and intangible ways
The concepts of relative location and distance that we earlier intro- in which places are connected: by physical telephone lines, street
duced lead directly to a fundamental spatial reality: Places inter- and road systems, pipelines and sewers; by unrestrained walking
act with other places in structured and comprehensible ways. In across open countryside; by radio and TV broadcasts beamed out-
describing the processes and patterns of that spatial interaction, ward uniformly from a central source. Where routes are fixed and
geographers add accessibility and connectivity to the ideas of loca- flow is channelized, networks—the patterns of routes connecting
tion and distance. sets of places—determine the efficiency of movement and the con-
Tobler’s First Law of Geography tells us that in a spatial nectedness of points. Demand for universal instantaneous acces-
sense everything is related to everything else but that relation- sibility and connectivity is common and unquestioned in today’s
ships are stronger when items are near one another. Our observa- advanced societies. Technologies and devices to achieve it prolif-
tion, therefore, is that interaction between places diminishes in erate, as our own lifestyles show. Cell phones, e-mail, broadband
intensity and frequency as distance between them increases—a wireless Internet access, instant messaging, and more have erased
statement of the idea of distance decay, which we explore in time and distance barriers formerly separating and isolating indi-
Chapter 3. Think about it—are you more likely to go to a fast- viduals and groups and have reduced our dependence on physical
food outlet next door or to a nearly identical restaurant across movement and on networks fixed in the landscape. The realities
town? Human decision making is unpredictable in many ways of accessibility and connectivity, that is, clearly change over time
and decisions are frequently made for obscure reasons, but in this (Figure 1.13).
case you can see how you will probably frequent the nearer place There is, inevitably, interchange between connected places.
more often. Spatial diffusion is the process of dispersion of an idea or an
Consideration of distance implies assessment of accessibility. item from a center of origin to more distant points with which
How easy or difficult is it to overcome the “friction of distance”? it is directly or indirectly connected. The rate and extent of that
That is, how easy or difficult is it to surmount the barrier of the diffusion are affected by the distance separating the originating
time and space separation of places? Distance isolated North center of, say, a new idea or technology and other places where it
America from Europe until the development of ships (and aircraft) is eventually adopted. Diffusion rates are also affected by popula-
that reduced the effective distance between the continents. All tion densities, means of communication, obvious advantages of
parts of the ancient and medieval city were accessible by walking; the innovation, and importance or prestige of the originating node.
they were “pedestrian cities,” a status lost as cities expanded in These ideas of diffusion are further explored in Chapter 2.
area and population with industrialization. Accessibility between Geographers study the dynamics of spatial relationships.
city districts could be maintained only by the development of pub- Movement, connection, and interaction are part of the social and
lic transit systems whose fixed lines of travel increased ease of economic processes that give character to places and regions.
movement between connected points and reduced it between areas Geography’s study of those relationships recognizes that spatial
not on the transit lines themselves. interaction is not just an awkward necessity but a fundamental

Chapter 1 Introduction: Some Background Basics 13

 SILICON VALLEY
Total Number of Trips by
Place of Residence
SONOMA 10–50
51–100
SOLANO 101–200
201–500
501–1000
MARIN
1001–2000

CONTRA COSTA

SAN FRANCISCO

ALAMEDA

SAN MATEO

SANTA CLARA

5 miles
5 km

Figure 1.13 An indication of one form of spatial interaction and connectivity is suggested by this “desire line” map recording the volume of daily
work trips within the San Francisco Bay area to the Silicon Valley employment node. The ends of the desire lines define the outer reaches of a physical
interaction region defined by the network of connecting roads and routes. The region changed in size and shape over time as the network was enlarged
and improved, the Valley employment base expanded, and the commuting range of workers increased. The map, of course, gives no indication of the
global reach of the Valley’s accessibility and interaction through other means of communication and interchange.
Source: Redrawn with permission from Robert Cervero, Suburban Gridlock. © 1986 Center for Urban Policy Research, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.

organizing principle of human life on earth. That recognition location related to other items? How did the location we observe
has become universal, repeatedly expressed in the term global- come to exist? Such questions carry the conviction that the con-
ization. Globalization implies the increasing interconnection of tents of an area are comprehensibly arranged or structured. The
peoples and societies in all parts of the world as the full range of arrangement of items on the earth’s surface is called spatial dis-
social, cultural, political, economic, and environmental processes tribution and may be analyzed by the elements common to all
becomes international in scale and effect. Promoted by continuing spatial distributions: density, dispersion, and pattern.
advances in worldwide accessibility and connectivity, globaliza-
tion encompasses other core geographic concepts of spatial inter- Density
action, accessibility, connectivity, and diffusion. More detailed
implications of globalization will be touched on in later chapters The measure of the number or quantity of anything within a defined
of this text. unit of area is its density. It is therefore not simply a count of items
but of items in relation to the space in which they are found. When
the relationship is absolute, as in population per square kilometer,
The Structured Content of Place for example, or dwelling units per acre, we are defining arithmetic
A starting point for geographic inquiry is how objects are distrib- density (see Figure 1.9). Sometimes it is more meaningful to relate
uted in area—for example, the placement of churches or super- item numbers to a specific kind of area. Physiological density, for
markets within a town. That interest distinguishes geography example, is a measure of the number of persons per unit area of
from other sciences, physical or social, and underlies many of the arable land. Density defined in population terms is discussed in
questions geographers ask: Where is a thing located? How is that Chapter 4.

14 Chapter 1 Introduction
 A density figure is a statement of fact but not necessarily one as linear. A centralized pattern may involve items concentrated
useful in itself. Densities are normally employed comparatively, around a single node. A random pattern may be the best descrip-
relative to one another. High or low density implies a compari- tion of an unstructured irregular distribution.
son with a known standard, with an average, or with a different The rectangular system of land survey adopted in much of the
area. Ohio, with 107 persons per square kilometer (277 per sq mi) United States under the Ordinance of 1785 creates a checkerboard
in 2000, might be thought to have a high density compared with rural pattern of “sections” and “quarter-sections” of farmland (see
neighboring Michigan at 68 per square kilometer (175 per sq mi), Figure 6.26). As a result, in most American cities, streets display
and a low one in relation to New Jersey at 438 (1134 per sq mi). a grid or rectilinear pattern. The same is true of cities in Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, which adopted similar
geometric survey systems. The hexagonal pattern of service areas
Dispersion of farm towns is a mainstay of central place theory discussed in
Dispersion (or its opposite, concentration) is a statement of the Chapter 11. These references to the geometry of distribution pat-
amount of spread of a phenomenon over an area. It tells us not terns help us visualize and describe the structured arrangement of
how many or how much but how far things are spread out. If items in space. They help us make informed comparisons between
they are close together spatially, they are considered clustered or areas and use the patterns we discern to ask further questions about
agglomerated. If they are spread out, they are dispersed or scat- the interrelationship of things.
tered (Figure 1.14).
If the entire population of a metropolitan county were all
located within a confined central city, we might say the popula-
Place Similarity and Regions
tion was clustered. If, however, that same population redistributed The distinctive characteristics of places in content and structure
itself, with many city residents moving to the suburbs and occu- immediately suggest two geographically important ideas. The first
pying a larger portion of the county’s territory, it would become is that no two places on the surface of the earth can be exactly the
more dispersed. In both cases, the density of population (numbers same. Not only do they have different absolute locations, but—as
in relation to area of the county) would be the same, but the dis- in the features of the human face—the precise mix of physical and
tribution would have changed. Since dispersion deals with sep- cultural characteristics of a place is never exactly duplicated.
aration of things one from another, a distribution that might be Because geography is a spatial science, the inevitable unique-
described as clustered (closely spaced) at one scale of reference ness of place would seem to impose impossible problems of gen-
might equally well be considered dispersed (widely spread) at eralizing spatial information. That this is not the case results from
another scale. the second important idea: The physical and cultural content of an
area and the dynamic interconnections of people and places show
patterns of spatial similarity. For example, a geographer doing
Pattern fieldwork in France might find that all farmers in one area use a
The geometric arrangement of objects in space is called pattern. similar specialized technique to build fences around their fields.
Like dispersion, pattern refers to distribution, but that reference Often, such similarities are striking enough for us to conclude that
emphasizes design rather than spacing (Figure 1.15). The distribu- spatial regularities exist. They permit us to recognize and define
tion of towns along a railroad or houses along a street may be seen regions—earth areas that display significant elements of internal
uniformity and external difference from surrounding territories.
Places are, therefore, both unlike and like other places, creating
patterns of areal differences and of coherent spatial similarity.
The problem of the historian and the geographer is similar. Each
must generalize about items of study that are essentially unique.
The historian creates arbitrary but meaningful and useful historical

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 1.14 Density and dispersion each tell us something different
about how items are distributed in an area. Density is simply the number
of items or observations within a defined area; it remains the same Figure 1.15 Pattern describes spatial arrangement and design.
no matter how the items are distributed. The density of houses per The linear pattern of towns in (a) perhaps traces the route of a road or
square mile, for example, is the same in both (a) and (b). Dispersion is railroad or the course of a river. The central city in (b) with its nearby
a statement about nearness or separation. The houses in (a) are more suburbs represents a centralized pattern, while the dots in (c) are
dispersed than those shown clustered in (b). randomly distributed.

Chapter 1 Introduction: Some Background Basics 15

periods for reference and study. The “Roaring Twenties” and the unit. A functional region has unity not in the sense of static content
“Victorian Era” are shorthand summary names for specific time but in the manner of its operational connectivity. It has a core area
spans, internally quite complex and varied but significantly distinct in which its characterizing features are most clearly defined; they
from what went before or followed after. The region is the geogra- lessen in prominence toward the region’s margins or periphery.
pher’s equivalent of the historian’s era. It is a device of areal gener- As the degree and extent of areal control and interaction change,
alization that segregates into component parts the complex reality of the boundaries of the functional region change in response. Trade
the earth’s surface. In both the time and the space needed for gener- areas of towns, national “spheres of influence,” and the territo-
alization, attention is focused on key unifying elements or similari- ries subordinate to the financial, administrative, wholesaling, or
ties of the era or area selected for study. In both the historical and retailing centrality exercised by such regional capitals as Chicago,
geographical cases, the names assigned to those times and places Atlanta, or Minneapolis are cases in point (Figure 1.16b).
serve to identify the time span or region and to convey between Perceptual regions are less rigorously structured than the
speaker and listener a complex set of interrelated attributes. formal and functional regions geographers devise. They reflect
All of us have a general idea of the meaning of region, and feelings and images rather than objective data and because of that
all of us refer to regions in everyday speech and action. We visit may be more meaningful in the lives and actions of those who rec-
“the old neighborhood” or “go downtown”; we plan to vacation or ognize them than are the more abstract regions of geographers.
retire in the “Sunbelt”; or we speculate about the effects of weather Ordinary people have a clear idea of spatial variation and
conditions in the “Corn Belt” on next year’s food prices. In each employ the regional concept to distinguish between territorial
instance, we have mental images of the areas mentioned, and in entities. People individually and collectively agree on where they
each, we have engaged in an informal place classification to pass live. The vernacular regions they recognize have reality in their
along quite complex spatial, organizational, or content ideas. We minds and are reflected in regionally based names employed in
have applied the regional concept to bring order to the immense businesses, by sports teams, or in advertising slogans. The fre-
diversity of the earth’s surface. quency of references to “Dixie” in the southeastern United States
Regions are not “given” in nature any more than “eras” are represents that kind of regional consensus and awareness. Such
given in the course of human events. Regions are devised; they are vernacular regions reflect the way people view space, assign their
spatial summaries designed to bring order to the infinite diversity loyalties, and interpret their world. Geographer Wilbur Zelinsky
of the earth’s surface. At their root, they are based on the recogni- created his map of the perceptual regions of North America by
tion and mapping of spatial distributions—the territorial occur- counting the frequency that regional terms were used in the names
rence of environmental, human, or organizational features selected of businesses (Figure 1.17). At a different scale, such urban eth-
for study. For example, the location of Welsh speakers in Britain nic enclaves (see Chapter 6) as “Little Italy” or “Chinatown” have
is a distribution that can be identified and mapped. As many spa- comparable regional identity in the minds of their inhabitants. Less
tial distributions exist as there are imaginable physical, cultural, clearly perceived by outsiders but unmistakable to their inhabit-
or connectivity elements of area to examine. Since regions are ants are the “turfs” of urban clubs or gangs. Their boundaries are
mental constructs, different observers employing different crite- sharp, and the perceived distinctions between them are paramount
ria may bestow the same regional identity on differently bounded in the daily lives and activities of their occupants. What perceptual
areal units. In each case, however, the key characteristics that are regions do you have clearly in mind?
selected for study are those that contribute to the understanding of
a specific topic or problem.
Maps
Types of Regions Maps are tools to identify regions and to analyze their content. The
Regions may be formal, functional, or perceptual. A formal or spatial distributions, patterns, and relations of interest to geogra-
uniform region is one of essential uniformity in one or a limited phers usually cannot easily be observed or interpreted in the land-
combination of physical or cultural features. Your home state is a scape itself. Many, such as landform or agricultural regions or
precisely bounded formal political region within which uniformity major cities, are so extensive spatially that they cannot be seen or
of law and administration is found; the “Bible Belt” suggests a studied in their totality from one or a few vantage points. Others,
region based on religious characteristics. Later in this book we such as regions of language usage or religious belief, are spatial
will encounter formal (homogeneous) cultural regions in which phenomena, but are not tangible or visible. Various interactions,
standardized characteristics of language, religion, ethnicity, or flows, and exchanges imparting the dynamic quality to spatial
economy exist. Figure 1.16a and the frontpaper foldout maps of interaction may not be directly observable at all. And even if all
landform regions and country units show other formal regional matters of geographic interest could be seen and measured through
patterns. Whatever the basis of its definition, the formal region is field examination, the infinite variety of tangible and intangible
the largest area over which a valid generalization of attribute uni- content of area would make it nearly impossible to isolate for
formity may be made. Whatever is stated about one part of it holds study and interpretation the few items of regional interest selected
true for its remainder. for special investigation.
The functional or nodal region, in contrast, may be visualized Therefore, the map has become the essential and distinctive
as a spatial system. Its parts are interdependent, and throughout its tool of geographers. Only through the map can spatial distributions
extent the functional region operates as a dynamic, organizational and interactions of whatever nature be reduced to an observable

16 Chapter 1 Introduction
 500 miles Darwin
500 km

Brisbane

Figure 1.16 (a) This generalized land use map of

Perth Australia is composed of formal regions whose internal
Adelaide economic characteristics show essential uniformities,
Sydney setting them off from adjacent territories of different
conditions of use. (b) The functional (or nodal) regions
Sugarcane Extensive cattle Melb
shown on this map were based on linkages between large
Intensive livestock grazing ourn banks of major central cities and the “correspondent”
e
farming and dairying Crop and livestock banks they served in smaller towns in the 1970s, before
Forest, grazing farming
the advent of electronic banking and bank consolidation.
Extensive sheep No significant use
grazing Source: (b) Redrawn by permission from Annals of the Association of
American Geographers, John R. Borchert, vol. 62, p. 358, Association of
American Geographers, 1972.
(a)

Seattle

Portland

Minneapolis
Boston
Buff.
Milwaukee Det.
ork
Cleve. New Y ia
elph
Chi. Philad
Pitt. Balt. .
San Francisco Ind. ton, D.C
Denver Cin. Washing
Kansas City

St.
Louis

Los Angeles

San Diego Atlanta

0 miles 200 400

Dallas
0 km 400

New
Houston Orleans
Tampa

Miami

(b)

Chapter 1 Introduction: Some Background Basics 17

 East
Pacific
Northwest Atlantic
North

Northeast
West New England

Midwest East
Middle Atlantic
acific No Regional
Affiliation

Southwest

South

Gulf Acadia
South

Figure 1.17 Perceptual Regions of North America.

Redrawn by permission from Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Wilbur Zelinsky, “North America’s Vernacular Regions, Vol. 70, No. 1, p. 14, 1980.

scale, isolated for individual study, and combined or recombined is impossible, all projections inevitably distort. Specific projections
to reveal relationships not directly measurable in the landscape may be selected, however, to minimize the distortion of at least one of
itself. But maps can serve their purpose only if their users have a the four main map properties—area, shape, distance, or direction.2
clear idea of their strengths, limitations, and diversity and of the
conventions observed in their preparation and interpretation.
The Globe Grid
Maps are geographers’ primary tools of spatial analysis. All spa-
Map Scale tial analysis starts with locations, and all locations are related to
We have already seen that scale (page 10) is a vital element of the global grid of latitude and longitude. Since these lines of refer-
every map. Because it is a much reduced version of the reality ence are drawn on the spherical earth, their projection onto a map
it summarizes, a map generalizes the data it displays. Scale—the distorts their grid relationships. The extent of variance between
relationship between size or length of a feature on the map and the globe grid and a map grid helps tell us the kind and degree of
the same item on the earth’s surface—determines the amount of distortion the map will contain.
that generalization. The smaller the scale of the map, the larger The key reference points in the grid system are the North and
is the area it covers and the more generalized are the data it South poles and the equator, which are given in nature, and the
portrays. The larger the scale, the smaller is the depicted area and prime meridian, which is agreed on by cartographers. Because a
the more accurately can its content be represented (Figure 1.18). It circle contains 360 , the distance between the poles is 180 and
may seem backward, but large-scale maps show small areas, and between the equator and each pole, 90 (Figure 1.19). Latitude
small-scale maps show large areas. measures distance north and south of the equator (0 ), and paral-
Map scale is selected according to the amount of generaliza- lels of latitude run due east-west. Longitude is the angular distance
tion of data that is acceptable and the size of area that must be east or west of the prime meridian and is depicted by north-south
depicted. The user must consider map scale in evaluating the reli- lines called meridians, which converge at the poles. The proper-
ability of the spatial data that are presented. Regional boundary ties of the globe grid that the mapmaker tries to retain and that the
lines drawn on the world maps in this and other books or atlases map user should look for are as follows:
would cover many kilometers or miles on the earth’s surface. 1. All meridians are semicircles of equal length; each is one-half
They obviously distort the reality they are meant to define, and on the length of the equator.
small-scale maps major distortion is inevitable. In fact, a general 2. All meridians converge at the poles and are true north–south
rule of thumb is that the larger the earth area depicted on a map, semicircles.
the greater is the distortion built into the map.
3. All circles of latitude (parallels) are parallel to the equator and
This is so because a map has to depict the curved surface of
to each other.
three-dimensional Earth on a two-dimensional sheet of paper. The
term projection designates the method chosen to represent the earth’s 2
A more detailed discussion of map projections, including examples of their different types
curved surface as a flat map. Since absolutely accurate representation and purposes, may be found in Appendix A, beginning on page 453.

18 Chapter 1 Introduction
Figure 1.18 The effect of scale on area and detail. The larger the scale, the greater the number and kinds of features that can be included. Notice
how individual buildings are visible in the large scale map (upper left) while the city of Boston is a mere point symbol in the smallest scale map (lower
left). Scale may be reported to the map user in one (or more) of three ways. A verbal scale is given in words (“1 centimeter to 1 kilometer” or “1 inch
to 1 mile”). A representative fraction (such as that placed at the left, below each of the four maps shown here) is a statement of how many linear units
on the earth’s surface are represented by one unit on the map. In the upper left map, for example, one map inch represents 25,000 inches on the ground.
A graphic scale (such as that placed at the right and below each of these maps) is a line or bar marked off in map units but labeled in ground units.

4. Parallels decrease in circumference as one nears the poles. decide on how best to display them for study or demonstration. In
5. Meridians and parallels intersect at right angles. that effort, geographers can choose among different types of maps
6. The scale on the surface of the globe is the same in every and different systems of symbolization.
direction. General-purpose, reference, or location maps make up
one major class of maps familiar to everyone. Their purpose is
Only the globe grid itself retains all of these characteristics. simply to show without analysis or interpretation a variety of natu-
To project it onto a surface that can be laid flat is to distort some ral or human-made features of an area or of the world as a whole.
or all of these properties and consequently to distort the reality the Familiar examples are highway maps, city street maps, topographic
map attempts to portray. maps (Figure 1.20), atlas maps, and the like. Until about the mid-
dle of the 18th century, the general-purpose or reference map was
the dominant map form, for the primary function of the mapmaker
How Maps Show Data (and the explorer who supplied the new data) was to “fill in” the
The properties of the globe grid and of various projections are the world’s unknown areas with reliable locational information. With
concern of the cartographer. Geographers are more interested in the passage of time, scholars saw the possibilities to use the accu-
the depiction of spatial data and in the analysis of the patterns and mulating locational information to display and study the spatial pat-
interrelationships those data present. Out of the myriad items com- terns of social and physical data. The maps they made of climate,
prising the content of an area, the geographer must, first, select vegetation, soil, population, and other distributions introduced the
those that are of concern to the problem at hand and, second, thematic map, the second major class of maps.

Chapter 1 Introduction: Some Background Basics 19

Figure 1.19 The grid system of parallels of latitude and meridians
of longitude. Since the meridians converge at the poles, parallels become
increasingly shorter away from the equator. On the globe, the 60th
parallel is only one-half as long as the equator, and a degree of longitude
along it measures only about 55 1/2 kilometers (about 34 1/2 miles)
compared with about 111 kilometers (about 69 miles) at the equator (0 ).
Figure 1.20 A portion of the Santa Barbara, California,
topographic quadrangle of the U.S. Geological Survey 1:24,000 series.
Topographic maps portray the natural landscape features of relatively
Thematic map is the general term applied to a map of any scale
small areas. Elevations and shapes of landforms, streams and other water
that presents a specific spatial distribution or a single category of bodies, vegetation, and coastal features are recorded, often with great
data—that is, presents a graphic theme. The way the information accuracy. Because cultural items that people have added to the physical
is shown on such a map may vary according to the type of infor- landscape, such as roads, railroads, buildings, political boundaries,
mation to be conveyed, the level of generalization that is desired, and the like, are also frequently depicted on them, topographic maps
and the symbolization selected. Thematic maps may be either are classed as general purpose or reference maps by the International
qualitative or quantitative. The principal purpose of the qualitative Cartographic Association. The scale of the original map no longer
applies to this photographic reduction.
map is to show the distribution of a particular class of information.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey.
The world location of producing oil fields, the distribution of U.S.
national parks, or the pattern of areas of agricultural specialization
within a state or country are examples. The interest is in where An isometric map features lines (isolines) that connect points
things are, and nothing is reported about—in the examples cited— registering equal values of the item mapped (iso means “equal”).
barrels of oil extracted or in reserve, number of park visitors, or The isotherms shown on the daily weather map connect points
value or volume of crops or livestock produced. recording the same temperature at the same moment of time or
In contrast, quantitative thematic maps show the spatial the same average temperature during the day. Identical elevations
characteristic of numerical data. Usually, a single variable such above sea level may be shown by a form of isoline called a contour
as population, median income, annual wheat production, or aver- line. On isopleth maps, the calculation refers not to a point but to
age land value is chosen, and the map displays the variation from an areal statistic—for example, persons per square kilometer or
place to place in that feature. Important types of quantitative the- average percentage of cropland in corn—and the isoline connects
matic maps include graduated circle, dot, isometric and isopleth, average values for unit areas. For emphasis, the area enclosed by
and choropleth maps (Figure 1.21). isolines may be shaded to indicate approximately uniform occur-
Graduated circle maps use circles of different size to show rences of the thing mapped, and the isoline itself may be treated as
the frequency of occurrence of a topic in different places; the the boundary of a uniform region.
larger the circle, the more frequent the incidence. On dot maps, A choropleth map presents average value of the data studied
a single or specified number of occurrences of the item stud- per preexisting areal unit—dwelling unit rents or assessed values
ied is recorded by a single dot. The dot map serves not only to by city block, for example, or (in the United States) population
record data but to suggest their spatial pattern, distribution, and densities by individual townships within counties. Each unit area
dispersion. on the map is then shaded or colored to suggest the magnitude

20 Chapter 1 Introduction
 Population by county Population by county
10,000,000
10,000

4,000,000 100,000
1,000,000
1,000,000 10,000,000
100,000

(a) Graduated circle map (b) Dot-distribution map

Population Population by county;

per square mile data in thousands
0–24 0–99
25–64 100–999
65–129 1000–1999
130–250 2000–16000
More than 250

(c) Isopleth map (d) Choropleth map

Figure 1.21 Types of thematic maps. Although population is the theme of each, these different California maps present their information in strikingly
different ways. (a) In the graduated circle map, the area of the circle is approximately proportional to the absolute number of people within each county.
(b) In a dot-distribution map where large numbers of items are involved, the value of each dot is identical and stated in the map legend. The placement of
dots on this map does not indicate precise locations of people within the county, but simply their total number. (c) Population density is recorded by the
isopleth map, while the choropleth map (d) may show absolute values as here or, more usually, ratio values such as population per square kilometer.

Chapter 1 Introduction: Some Background Basics 21

 Change 1990 to 2000
Increase
More than 30% VT
20%–30%
ME
10%–20%
NH
0%–10%
WA Decrease WI MA
MI
MN NY
OR
CT RI
Nevada grew
the most: IA
PA
66.3% IL IN OH
WY ND NJ
CA MT SD MD
ID WV
NE
MO
NV UT CO KY VA DE
KS
TN NC Washington, D.C.,
OK AR lost residents,
AZ
shrinking 5.7%
NM MS AL GA SC
LA
TX
ALASKA
HAWAII
FL

2000 Pop. 281,421,906

Figure 1.22 A cartogram in which each state is sized according to its number of residents in the year 2000 as reported by the U.S. Bureau of the
Census. The cartogram also shows the percent change in population between 1990 and 2000.
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census.

of the event or item found within its borders. Where the choro-
pleth map is based on the absolute number of items within the unit
Contemporary Geospatial
area, as it is in Figure 1.21d, rather than on areal averaging (total Technologies
numbers, for example, instead of numbers per square kilometer), a
misleading statement about density may be conveyed. The growth and advancement of three interrelated geospatial
A statistical map records the actual numbers or occurrences of technologies—global positioning systems, remote sensing, and
the mapped item per established unit area or location. The actual geographic information systems—has revolutionized geography
count of each state’s colleges and universities shown on an outline and increased the geographer’s ability to collect, analyze, and visu-
map of the United States or the number of traffic accidents at each ally represent geographic data. Global positioning systems (GPS)
street intersection within a city are examples of statistical maps. rely upon a system of 24 orbiting satellites, earth-bound track-
A cartogram uses such statistical data to transform territorial ing stations that control the satellites, and portable receivers that
space so that the largest areal unit on the map is the one showing determine exact geographic locations based on the signals from the
the greatest statistical value (Figure 1.22). satellites. Remote sensing allows the collection of vast amounts
Maps communicate information but, as in all forms of com- of geographic data, while geographic information systems (GIS)
munication, the message conveyed by a map reflects the intent and, can integrate GPS, remote sensing, and other forms of spatial data.
perhaps, the biases of its author. Maps are persuasive because of the Google Earth and interactive mapping and navigation websites
implied precision of their lines, scales, color and symbol placement, such as MapQuest are simple, everyday uses of contemporary geo-
and information content. But maps, as communication devices, can graphic research technologies.
subtly or blatantly manipulate the message they impart or contain
intentionally false information (Figure 1.23). Maps, then, can dis-
tort and lie as readily as they can convey verifiable spatial data
Remote Sensing
or scientifically valid analyses. The more map users are aware of Remote sensing is a relatively new term, but the process it
those possibilities and the more understanding of map projections, describes—detecting the nature of an object and the content of an
symbolization, and common forms of thematic and reference map- area from a distance—is more than 150 years old. Soon after the
ping standards they possess, the more likely are they to reasonably development of the camera, photographs were being taken from
question and clearly understand the messages maps communicate. balloons and kites. In the early 20th century, fixed-wing aircraft

22 Chapter 1 Introduction
 Bol'shoy Sovetskiy Atlas Atlas Mira, 1954
Mira, 1939

Ala
Logashkino

ze
ya
R.
Karta SSSR, 1958 Atlas SSSR, 1962

Logashkino Logashkino

Atlas Mira, 1967 Atlas SSSR, 1969

Logashkino
Logashkino

Figure 1.23 The wandering town of Logashkino, as traced in various Soviet atlases by Mark Monmonier. Deliberate, extensive cartographic
“disinformation” and locational falsification, he reports, became a Cold War tactic of the Soviet Union. We usually use—and trust—maps to tell us
exactly where things are located. On the maps shown, however, Logashkino migrates from west of the river away from the coast to east of the river
on the coast, while the river itself gains and loses a distributary and, in 1954, the town itself disappears. The changing misinformation, Monmonier
suggests, was intended to obscure from potential enemies the precise location of possible military targets.
Source: Mark Monmonier, How to Lie with Maps, 2nd Ed. © 1996. Reprinted by permission of the University of Chicago Press.

provided a platform for the camera and photographer, and by classification, identification of geologic structures and mineral
the 1930s aerial photography from planned positions and routes deposits, and more. The different sensors of the American Landsat
permitted reliable data gathering for large and small area mapping satellites, first launched in 1972 (Landsat 7 was put aloft in 1999),
purposes. Even today, high and low altitude aerial photography are capable of resolving objects between 15 and 60 meters (50
with returned film remains a widely used remote sensing tech- and 200 ft) in size. Even sharper images are yielded by the French
nique. Standard photographic film detects reflected energy within SPOT satellite (launched in 1986); its sensors can show objects
the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. It can be sup- that are larger than 10 meters (33 ft). Satellite imagery is relayed
plemented by special sensitized infrared film that has proved par- by electronic signals to receiving stations, where computers con-
ticularly useful for the recording of vegetation and hydrographic vert them into photo-like images for use in long-term scientific
features and by nonphotographic imaging techniques including research and in current-condition mapping programs.
thermal scanning (widely used for studying various aspects of water
features such as ocean currents and water pollution and, because it
can be employed during nighttime hours, for military surveillance
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
and energy budget observations) and radar mapping (also operative Increasingly, digital computers, mapping software, and computer-
night and day and useful for penetrating clouds and haze). based display units and printers are employed in the design and
For more than 30 years, both manned and unmanned space- production of maps and in the development of databases used in
craft have supplemented the airplane as the vehicle for imaging map production. In computer-assisted cartography, the content of
earth features. Among the advantages of satellites are the speed of standard maps—locational and thematic—is digitized and stored
coverage and the fact that views of large regions can be obtained. in computers. The use of computers and printers in map production
In addition, they are equipped to record and report back to earth permits increases in the speed, flexibility, and accuracy of many
digitized information from multiple parts of the electromagnetic steps in the mapmaking process but in no way reduces the obliga-
spectrum including some that are outside the range of human eye- tion of the mapmaker to employ sound judgment in the design of
sight. Satellites enable us to map the invisible, including atmo- the map or the communication of its content.
spheric and weather conditions, in addition to providing images Geographic information systems (GIS) extend the use
with applications in agriculture and forest inventory, land use of digitized data and computer manipulation to investigate and

Chapter 1 Introduction: Some Background Basics 23

display spatial information. A GIS is both an integrated software A GIS database, then, can be envisioned as a set of discrete
package for handling, processing, and analyzing geographical data informational overlays linked by reference to a basic locational
and a computer database in which every item of information is tied grid of latitude and longitude (Figure 1.24). The system then
to a precise geographic location. In the raster approach, that tie permits the separate display of the spatial information contained
involves dividing the study area into a set of rectangular cells and in the database. It allows the user to overlay maps of differ-
describing the content of each cell. In the vector approach, the pre- ent themes, analyze the relations revealed, and compute spatial
cise location of each object—point, line, or area—in a distribution relationships. It shows aspects of spatial associations other-
is described. In either approach, a vast amount of different spatial wise difficult to display on conventional maps, such as flows,
information can be stored, accessed, compared, processed, ana- interactions, and three-dimensional characteristics. In short,
lyzed, and displayed. a GIS database, as a structured set of spatial information, has

Terrain Models

Network
• Street center lines
• Drainage network

Utilities
• Sanitary sewer lines
• Water lines
• Telephone
• Gas/electric

Lots/Ownership
• Lot lines
• Property lines

Zones/Districts
• Comprehensive plan
• Municipal zoning
• Voting precincts
• School districts
• Census tracts/blocks

Base Mapping
• Road pavement
• Buildings/structures
• Fences/parking lots
• Drainage
• Wooded areas
• Spot elevation
• Contour lines
• Recreational facilities

Figure 1.24 A model of a geographic information system. A GIS incorporates three primary components: data storage capability, computer
graphics programs, and statistical packages. In this example, the different layers of information are to be used in different combinations for city planning
purposes. Different data sets, all selected for applicability to the questions asked, may be developed and used in human geography, economic geography,
transportation planning, industrial location work, and similar applications.
Source: Reprinted by permission of Shaoli Huang.

24 Chapter 1 Introduction
become a powerful tool for automating geographical analysis and may be enlarged or restricted for different social groups within
and synthesis. the city (Figure 1.25).
A GIS data set may contain the great amount of place-specific
information collected and published by the U.S. Census Bureau,
including population distribution, race, ethnicity, income, hous- Systems, Maps, and Models
ing, employment, industry, farming, and so on. It may also hold
environmental information downloaded from satellite imagery or The content of area is interrelated and constitutes a spatial system
taken from Geological Survey maps and other governmental and that, in common with all systems, functions as a unit because its
private sources. In human geography, the vast and growing array component parts are interdependent. Only rarely do individual ele-
of spatial data has encouraged the use of GIS to explore models ments of area operate in isolation, and to treat them as if they do is
of regional economic and social structure; to examine transpor- to lose touch with spatial reality. The systems of geographic con-
tation systems and urban growth patterns; and to study patterns cern are those in which the functionally important variables are
of voting behavior, disease incidence, accessibility of public spatial: location, distance, direction, density, and the other basic
services, and a vast array of other topics. For physical geogra- concepts we have reviewed. The systems that they define are not
phers, the analytic and modeling capabilities of GIS are funda- the same as regions, though spatial systems may be the basis for
mental to the understanding of processes and interrelations in the regional identification.
natural environment. Systems have components, and the analysis of the role of
Because of the growing importance of GIS in all manner components helps reveal the operation of the system as a whole.
of public and private spatial inquiries, demand in the job mar- To conduct that analysis, individual system elements must be iso-
ket is growing for those skilled in its techniques. Most univer- lated for separate identification and, perhaps, manipulated to see
sity courses in GIS are taught in Geography departments, and their function within the structure of the system or subsystem.
“GIS/remote sensing” is a primary occupational specialty for Maps and models are the devices geographers use to achieve that
which many geography undergraduate and graduate majors seek isolation and separate study.
preparation. Maps, as we have seen, are effective to the degree that they
can segregate at an appropriate level of generalization those sys-
tem elements selected for examination. By compressing, simplify-
Mental Maps ing, and abstracting reality, maps record in manageable dimension
Maps that shape our understanding of distributions and loca- the real-world conditions of interest. A model is a simplified
tions or influence our perception of the world around us are not abstraction of reality, designed to clarify relationships between its
always drawn on paper. We carry with us mental maps that in elements. Maps are a type of model, representing reality in an ide-
some ways are more accurate in reflecting our view of spatial alized form to make certain aspects more clear.
reality than the formal maps created by geographers or cartogra- The complexities of spatial systems analysis—and the oppor-
phers. Mental maps are images about an area or an environment tunities for quantitative analysis of systems made possible by
developed by an individual on the basis of information or impres- computers and sophisticated statistical techniques—have led
sions received, interpreted, and stored. What are believed to be geographers to use other kinds of models in their work. Model
unnecessary details are left out, and only the important elements building is the technique social scientists use to simplify complex
are incorporated. We use this information—this mental map—in situations, to eliminate (as does the map) unimportant details, and
organizing our daily activities: selecting our destinations and the to isolate for special study and analysis the role of one or more
sequence in which they will be visited, deciding on our routes of interacting elements in a total system.
travel, recognizing where we are in relation to where we wish An interaction model discussed in Chapter 3, for instance,
to be. A mental route map may also include reference points to suggests that the amount of exchange expected between two
be encountered on the chosen path of connection or on alternate places depends on the distance separating them and on their popu-
lines of travel. lation size. The model indicates that the larger the places and the
Such mental maps are every bit as real to their creators (and closer their distance, the greater is the amount of interaction. Such
we all have them) as are the street maps or highway maps com- a model helps us to isolate the important components of the spatial
mercially available, and they are a great deal more immediate in system, to manipulate them separately, and to reach conclusions
their impact on our spatial decisions. We may choose routes or concerning their relative importance. When a model satisfactorily
avoid neighborhoods not on objective grounds but on emotional predicts the volume of intercity interaction in the majority of cases,
or perceptual ones. In those choices, gender plays an important the lack of agreement in a particular case leads to an examination
role. The mental maps of women may well contain danger zones of the circumstances contributing to the disparity. The quality of
where fear of, for example, sexual assault, harassment, or encoun- connecting roads, political barriers, or other variables may affect
ter with persons or conditions felt to be threatening is a determi- the specific places examined, and these causative elements may be
nant in routes chosen or times of journey. Whole sections of a isolated for further study.
community may be voids on our mental maps, as unknown as the Indeed, the steady pursuit of more refined and definitive
interiors of Africa and South America were to Western Europeans analysis of human geographic questions—the “further study” that
two centuries ago. Our areas of awareness generally increase with continues to add to our understanding of how people occupy and
the increasing mobility that comes with age, affluence, and education utilize the earth, interact with each other, and organize and alter

Chapter 1 Introduction: Some Background Basics 25

Figure 1.25 Four mental maps of Los Angeles. The upper-middle-income residents of the Northridge and Westwood communities have expansive
views of the metropolis, reflecting their mobility and area of travel. Black inner city residents of the Avalon community display a more restricted view of
the city because of their lower incomes, social isolation, and reliance on public transportation. Even more limited is the mental map of Hispanic residents
of the Boyle Heights community, which reflects their spatial and linguistic isolation within the metropolitan area.
Source: From Department of City Planning, City of Los Angeles, The Visual Environment of Los Angeles, 1971. Reprinted by permission.

26 Chapter 1 Introduction
earth space—has led to the remarkably diversified yet coherent points of contrast: language and religion (Chapter 5), and
field of modern human geography. With the content of this intro- ethnicity (Chapter 6). Further, we examine the diversity of folk
ductory chapter as background to the nature, traditions, and tools cultures—the material and nonmaterial aspects of daily life among
of geography, we are ready to begin its exploration. groups insulated from outside influences through spatial isola-
tion or cultural barriers (Chapter 7). Patterns of cultural diversity
are in constant tension with unifying forces as the world experi-
ences greater spatial interaction. Thus, we also examine ways in
The Structure of This Book which folk cultures are undergoing erosion under the influence of
globalized popular cultures.
By way of getting started, it is useful for you to know how the Our focus shifts in Part Three (Chapters 8–10) to the
organization and topics of this text have been structured to help dynamic patterns of the space economy, examining spatial pat-
you reach the kinds of understandings we seek. terns of food and raw material production (Chapter 8), manu-
We begin in Part One (Chapters 2–4) with introductory facturing and services (Chapter 9), and finally measures, spatial
material on cultural processes and spatial interactions among an patterns, and models of economic development (Chapter 10).
unevenly distributed and expanding world population. Chapter 2 Economic development is generally accompanied by more for-
introduces the components and structure of culture, culture mal systems of organizing society, resources, and territory. Thus,
change, diffusion, and divergence. Chapter 3 presents character- in Part Four (Chapters 11–12), we examine systems of functional
istics of spatial interaction and spatial behavior that are common organization within systems of cities and inside of individual cit-
to all peoples and cultures. Chapter 4 examines population geog- ies (Chapter 11) as well as systems of political control of geo-
raphy and the factors driving patterns of population movement, graphic space that range from the local to the international scale
growth, and distribution. (Chapter 12). Human impact on the environment is an integral
While the book’s first four chapters focus on geographic part of each chapter and is the topic of Part Five, the conclud-
themes common to all peoples and cultures, Part Two (Chapters 5–7) ing section of the book (Chapter 13). In concluding with human
turns to the features that distinguish societies and culture realms impacts, we return to the underlying concern of all geographic
and create patterns of unity and diversity in the cultural land- study: the relationship between human geographic patterns and
scape. While there are innumerable ways in which human processes and both the present conditions and future prospects of
populations differ, we focus on spatial patterns of three major the physical and cultural landscapes we inhabit.

Summary
Geography is the study of the earth’s surface and its physical In their study of the earth’s surface as the occupied and
and cultural content. Throughout its long history, geography has altered space within which humans operate, some geographers
remained consistent in its focus on human—environmental inter- concentrate on the integration of physical and cultural phenom-
actions, the interrelatedness of places, and the likenesses and dif- ena in a specific earth area (regional geography). Other geog-
ferences in physical and cultural content of area that exist from raphers may, instead, emphasize systematic geography through
place to place. The collective interests of geographers are summa- study of the earth’s physical systems of spatial and human con-
rized by the spatial and systems analytical questions they ask. The cern or, as here, devote primary attention to people. This is a
responses to those questions are interpreted through basic concepts text in human geography. Its focus is on human interactions both
of space and place, location, distance, direction, content evolution, with the physical environments people occupy and alter and with
spatial interaction, and regional organization. the cultural environments they have created. We are concerned
Geographers employ maps and models to abstract the complex with the ways people perceive the landscapes and regions they
reality of space and to isolate its components for separate study. occupy, act within and between them, make choices about them,
Maps are imperfect renderings of the three-dimensional earth and and organize them according to the varying cultural, political,
its parts on a two-dimensional surface. In that rendering, some or and economic interests of human societies. This is a text clearly
all of the characteristics of the globe grid are distorted, but con- within the social sciences, but like all geography, its background
venience and data manageability are gained. Spatial information is the physical earth as the home of humans. As human geogra-
may be depicted visually in a number of ways, each designed to phers, our concern is with how that home has been altered by
simplify and to clarify the infinite complexity of spatial content. societies and cultures. Culture is the starting point, and in the
Geographers also use verbal and mathematical models for the next chapter we begin with an inquiry about the roots and nature
same purpose, to abstract and analyze. of culture.

Chapter 1 Introduction: Some Background Basics 27