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North America

North America. Regional Geography. Two broad categories in geography: Physical and human Overarching subfields Integrate physical and human geography skills Focus on specific parts of the World Voil á : Regional Geography:

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North America

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  1. North America

  2. Regional Geography • Two broad categories in geography: • Physical and human • Overarching subfields • Integrate physical and human geography skills • Focus on specific parts of the World • Voilá: Regional Geography: • Selected parts of Earth defined and identified by similar spatiality

  3. North America • A Continent • Four nation-states: • Canada, Greenland, Mexico, United States • Nation-states divided further: • E.g., Pacific Northwest, Great Plains, etc. • Regions may have distinct characteristics • E.g., Sun Belt, Bay Area, etc. • Physical features: e.g., watersheds, ecoregions, etc.

  4. Region • Types of Regions • Formal • Institutional or political identity and distinct boundaries (e.g., “New England”) • Functional • Interconnections or usefulness (Salt Lake City Metro Area) • Vernacular • Defined by insiders who clearly know “their” regional boundaries (e.g., “Dixie”)

  5. Regional Classification • Homogeneous • Similar • E.g., religion, language, climate, etc. • Heterogeneous • Different • E.g., Quebec • Nodal • Core more important • E.g., San Francisco

  6. Bypassed Atlantic Periphery Megalopolis Quebec North America’s Heartland Inland South Coastal South Great Plains Rocky Mountains Intermontane West US-Mexico Borderlands California Pacific Northwest Far North Hawai’i Regions of North America

  7. Basic Themes • Urbanization • Industrialization • High Mobility • Resource Abundance & Dependence • High Income and Consumption • Political Complexity • Variety of Cultural Origins • Environmental Impacts

  8. Urbanization • Why Do Cities Exist? • General Functions • Specialized Roles • United States • 75% Urbanized • 1/4 in Megalopolis • Canada • 79% Urbanized • 1/3 of Total Population along ecumene

  9. Industrialization • General Pattern • Sectors of The Economy • Primary • Secondary • Tertiary • Quaternary • Basic vs. Non-basic Economic Activities

  10. High Mobility • 20% of The US Population Moves Yearly • Migration • Classifications • Internal vs. External • Voluntary vs. Forced • Explanations • Pull Factors vs. Push Factors

  11. Resources • More than ½ world’s food exports originate in the US or Canada • Tremendous Agricultural Productivity • Suitable Climate • Arable Land • Technology • Investment Capital • Diversity of fossil fuels, ores, metallic minerals, timber

  12. General Agricultural Scheme

  13. High Income and Consumption • Annual per capita incomes rank among the highest in the world • Disposable incomes generate demands, ensure massive consumption, and propel the economies • Retail establishments are ubiquitous • US & Canada consume 28% of the world’s oil • Implications of high consumption in a finite environment? • Presence of poverty

  14. Political Complexity

  15. Variety of Cultural Origins • United states • Native Americans • European • African • East Asian • Latin American • Canada • European: split along British & French traditions • Native American

  16. Environmental Impacts • Most themes have negative environmental impact: • Urbanization • Industrialization • High mobility • Resource abundance & dependence • High income and consumption • Middle ground?

  17. Regional Organization Garreau’s Nine Nations

  18. Our Scheme

  19. Other Schema

  20. Readings and Discussion Question • Readings: • Robert Bailey, American Ecoregions, 2005 • John Garreau, quick bio • Agnew, John A. 1999. “Regions of the Mind Does Not Equal Regions of the Mind,” Progress in Human Geography 23: 91–96. • A captivating insight of regions, perception, and mental maps. The regional organization of this course is pretty standard. Are there other ways the Region could be organized? If so, how and why?

  21. Related Books • Allen, James, Doreen Massey, and Allan Cochrane. 1998. Rethinking the Region. London: Routledge. • British geographers really think outside the box. This is no exception! • Ayers, Edward L. and Peter S. Onuf. 1996. Introduction to All Over the Map: Rethinking American Regions, Edward L. Ayers, Patricia Nelson Limerick, Stephen Nissbaum, and Peter S. Onuf, eds. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1–10 • While the whole book is fun, this is a historical look at US regions, and why thinking regionally helps us better understand people and places. • Haggett, Peter. 1995. The Geographer’s Art. London: Blackwell. • A superb study on geography’s ontology. • Martin, Geoffrey J. and Preston E. James. 1993. All Possible Worlds: A History of Geographical Ideas. New York: John Wiley and Sons. • Often required reading in graduate geography programs because of its large scope. A solid overview of the history of geographic thought.

  22. WebSources • CIA World Factbook http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ • NAFTA Information http://www.fas.usda.gov/itp/Policy/NAFTA/nafta.html • U.S. Employees by Economic Sector http://www.census.gov/econ/census02/ • The American Geographical Society http://www.amergeog.org/ • Association of American Geographers http://www.aag.org • The National Council for Geographic Education http://www.ncge.org • The National Geographic Society http://www.nationalgeographic.com • The Royal Canadian Geographical Society (Société géographique royale du Canada) http://www.rcgs.org/rcgs/

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