CHAPTER 3
POPULATION AND
CULTURE
SECTION 1:
THE STUDY OF
HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
THE STUDY OF HUMAN
GEOGRAPHY
Human geography includes many topics
Language
Religion
Customs
Economics
Political Systems
One particular focus is that of demography
or the study of populations
CULTURE - The beliefs and actions that
define a group of people’s way of life.
THE STUDY OF HUMAN
GEOGRAPHY
❏ WHERE PEOPLE LIVE
❏ people live in varied conditions
❏ POPULATION DENSITY - the average
number of people in a square mile or
kilometer
❏ Approximately how much of the earth’s surface
is utilized for living by humans?
❏ more than ⅔ is water
❏ about ½ land mass is unlivable
❏ People adaptable to environment
❏ have altered the earth’s surface to fit us
❏ Population Density ❏ divide total pop. of a region’s land area
THE STUDY OF HUMAN
GEOGRAPHY
❏ POPULATION GROWTH
❏ population has grown largely in part
because of technology
❏ food preservation, medical care
❏ Topic of debate is the effects of growth
❏ Why? What can the disadvantages be?
❏ increases in famine, disease, and natural resource depletion.
❏ Comparing growth rates
❏ uneven between countries
❏ BIRTHRATE- the number of live births each
year per 1000 people
❏ IMMIGRATION - people who move into a
country.
❏ EMIGRANTS - number who leave a country
THE STUDY OF HUMAN
GEOGRAPHY
❏ Settlement Patterns
❏ many living in clusters live in metropolitan areas
❏ Most Europeans and North Americans live in cities
❏ URBANIZATION - the growth of city populations
❏ RURAL - countryside
THE STUDY OF HUMAN
GEOGRAPHY
❏ THE NATURE OF CULTURE
❏
❏
❏
❏
Is developed over time
passed on from generation to generation
2 ways of doing this
Material
❏ food, clothing, architecture, arts, crafts
❏ Nonmaterial
❏
❏
❏
❏
religion, language, spiritual beliefs and behavior
government systems
education systems
attitudes towards roles of women and men
❏ Vary from country to country
THE STUDY OF HUMAN
GEOGRAPHY
❏ CULTURE HEARTH - refers to a place
where important ideas begin and
from which they spread to
surrounding cultures
❏ Can be seen in language, arts, technology
❏ influences on neighboring countries
❏ Language is the cornerstone of culture
❏ allows for communication
❏ enables people to pass down information
❏ reflects a culture’s identity
❏ see pages 92 - 93
THE STUDY OF HUMAN
GEOGRAPHY
❏ Religion is important as well.
❏ supports values that groups find
important
❏ they vary around the world
❏ Cultural landscapes - are those that
are directly altered by human
interaction with earth’s surface
❏ Social Organization - is the organizing
of a social structure into small groups
❏ Women & Minorities - many cultures
limit the ability of social mobility
❏ must remain in a certain social status.
THE STUDY OF HUMAN
GEOGRAPHY
❏ CULTURAL CHANGE
❏ changed by internal and external forces
❏ technology
❏ inventions can greatly create change in culture
❏ CULTURAL CONVERGENCE - occurs when
the skill, arts, ideas, habits, and
institutions of one culture come in
contact with those of another culture.
❏ what are some examples?
❏ DIFFUSION - is the process by which a
cultural element is transmitted across
some distance from one group or
individual to another.
THE STUDY OF HUMAN
GEOGRAPHY
❏ DIFFUSION (continued)
❏ migration of people who take their cultural
traits with them to new locations
❏ introduction of new religions
❏ adapting cultures from other cultures is called
acculturation
❏ What does all this mean?
❏ CULTURAL DIVERGENCE - is the
restriction of a culture from outside
cultural influences
❏ where has this taken place?
CHAPTER 3
POPULATION AND
CULTURE
SECTION 2:
POLITICAL AND
ECONOMIC SYSTEMS
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
SYSTEMS
● THE WORLD’S COUNTRIES
○ Countries are defined by 4 characteristics
■
■
■
■
clearly defined territory
population
sovereignty
government
○ TERRITORY - includes
■ land, water, natural resources (within boundaries)
■ range in size
■ natural resources can play a bigger role than the
size of the country
● Persian Gulf
■ Territory boundaries
● rivers, mountains, / can change over time (war/treaties)
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
SYSTEMS
○ POPULATION - does not determine the
existence of a country
■ Canada and Australia
● Large land areas
● sparsely populated
■ Japan and Netherlands
● Small land areas
● densely populated
■ United States and India
● wide diversity of people and cultures
■ Greece and Sweden
● share backgrounds, language, and culture
○ SOVEREIGNTY - a nation’s freedom from
outside control
■ can rule itself / act independently
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
SYSTEMS
● TYPES OF GOVERNMENT
○ government is the institution through which a
society makes and enforces its public policies
and provides for its common needs.
■ responsible for protecting a community
■ provide services for its people
■ a few types of governments
● UNITARY SYSTEM - central government runs the nation
● FEDERATION - some powers are given to the national
government while other powers are reserved for local
governments
● CONFEDERATION - smaller political units keep their
sovereignty and give the central government only
very limited powers
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
SYSTEMS
○ Government Authority - 5 types
A
U
T
H
O
R
I
T
A
R
I
A
N
■ AUTHORITARIAN - the leaders held all, or nearly
all political power
■ DICTATORSHIP - power is concentrated in a
small group or even a single person
■ TOTALITARIANISM - the government tries to
control every part of society, politics, economy
and people’s personal lives
■ MONARCHY - the inheritance of position by
being born into the ruling family.
● Kings, Queens, Pharaohs, Shahs, Sultans
■ DEMOCRACY - is when any country the people
choose their government leaders and have the
power to set government.
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
SYSTEMS
● TYPES OF ECONOMIC SYSTEMS
○ TRADITIONAL ECONOMIES - known as
subsistence economies. People grow and
use their products with little to no left over
for trade.
○ MARKET ECONOMIES - a system that gives
great freedom to individuals and groups
(free enterprise)
■ Capitalist market economy - private individuals
and groups decide what will be produced.
■ Pure capitalist market economy the government
would take absolutely no role.
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC
SYSTEMS
○ COMMAND ECONOMY - is when the economy
is controlled by a single, central
government
■ nearly all economic decisions are made by
government for social or political goals
■ what to produce
■ how much to produce
■ how much to sell it for
○ MIXED ECONOMY - this is the combination of
the three previous economies.
■ Which are?
■ Type of mixed economy is Socialism
● A state should own and run some basic industries
○ transportation - communications - banking - coal