THE CULTURAL EBOOK

270 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

INDEPENDENT NATION-STATES
IN FORMER SOVIET REPUBLICS

Learning Outcome 8.2.2

Describe differences among states formerly in the
Soviet Union.

For decades, the many ethnicities within the Soviet Union A FIGURE 8-18 BORDER CROSSING BETWEENESTONIA AND LA'
were unable to realize their nationalist aspirations and
form independent nation-states. The Soviet Union con- Thisistheborderbetweenthe townsofValgaE, stoniaa,ndValkaL, atvia.
sisted of 15 republics, based on its 15 largest ethnicities
(Figure 8-17). The 15 republics that once constituted the BALTIC STATES. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are kr
Soviet Union are now independent states. These 15 states as the Baltic states for their location on the Baltic Sea.
consist of five groups:
were independent countries between the end of v
• Three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
War I in 1918 and 1940, when the former Soviet U
• Three European states: Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine annexed them under an agreement with Nazi Gern
These three small neighboring Baltic countries have
• Five Central Asian states: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, cultural differences and distinct historical traditions:
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan
• Lithuania. Of the three Baltic states, Lithuania
• Three Caucasus states: Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia closely fits the definition of a nation-state because e
Lithuanians comprise 85 percent of its population.
• Russia Lithuanians are Roman Catholic and speak a lan1
of the Baltic group within the Balto-Slavic branch <
Reasonably good examples of nation-states have been Indo-European language family (Figure 8-18).
carved out of the Baltic, European, and some Central Asian
states. On the other hand, peaceful nation-states have • Estonians. In Estonia, ethnic Estonians comprise
not been created in any of the small Caucasus states, and 69 percent of the population. Most Estonians are
Russia is an especially prominent example of a state with estant (Lutheran) and speak a Uralic language n
major difficulties in keeping all its ethnicities contented. to Finnish.
With the breakup of the Soviet Union into 15 independent
countries, a number of these less-numerous ethnicities are • Latvians. In Latvia, only 59 percent are ethnic Lat
now divided among these states. Latvians are predominantly Lutheran, with a sul
tial Roman Catholic minority, and they speak ;
guage of the Baltic group.

RUSSIA EUROPEAN STATES. To some extent, the former ,
republics of Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine now q
~ as nation-states. Belarusians comprise 81 percent c
"-+ population of Belarus,Moldovans comprise 78 percent
population of Moldova, and Ukrainians comprise 78 p
'\ of the population of Ukraine. The ethnic distinctions a
Belarusians, Ukrainians, and Russians are somewhat bl
GEORGIA i KAZAKHSTAN The three groups speak similar East Slavic language
all are predominantly Orthodox Christians (some w
(;j l.akeBal/(J);J$1i Ukrainians are Roman Catholics):

·~ • Belarus and Ukraine. Belarusians and Ukrainia.
came distinct ethnicities because they were is
J from the main body of Eastern Slavs-the Russ
during the thirteenth and fourteenth centurie~
300 &ODNiol A
was the consequence of Mongolian invasions an
'<'\ N quests by Poles and Lithuanians. Russians con<

J. FIGURE 8-17 STATESIN THE FORMERU.S.S.R. TheUnionofSoviet the Belarusian and Ukrainian homelands in tt
SocialisRt epublicisncluded15republicsn,amedforthecountry'slargest
ethnicitiesW. iththebreakupofthe SovietUniont,he 15republicbs ecame l 700s, but after five centuries of exposure to non
independensttates. influences, the thiee Eastern Slavic groups dis

Chapter 8: Political Geography 271

~ ~Mlliel speak an Altaic language; they were conquered by Russia
in the nineteenth century. Turkmen and Uzbeks are ex-
Jo1 amples of ethnicities split into more than one country-
Turkrnen between Turkmenistan and Russia,and Uzbeks
25 KJiomeltrs. among Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
• Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan is 69 percent Kyrgyz, 15 percent
N Uzbek, and 9 percent Russian. The Kyrgyz-also Mus-
lims who speak an Altaic language-resent the Russians
ROM.O.NIA for seizing the best farmland when they colonized this
mountainous country early in the twentieth century.
I. FIGURE8-19 ETHNICITIESIN MOLDOVA Ethnicitiesotherthan • Kazakhstan. In principle, Kazakhstan, twice as large as
Moldovanpredominatein the easternportionof the country. the other four Central Asian countries combined, is a
recipe for ethnic conflict. The country is divided be-
sufficient cultural diversity to consider themselves tween Kazakhs, who comprise 67 percent of the popula-
three distinct ethnicities. tion, and Russians, at 18 percent. Kazakhs are Muslims
• Moldova. Moldovans are ethnically indistinguishable who speak an Altaic language similar to Turkish,
from Romanians, and Moldova (then called Moldavia) whereas the Russians are Orthodox Christians who
was part of Romania until the Soviet Union seized it speak an Indo-European language. Tensions exist be-
in 1940. When Moldova changed from a Soviet re- tween the two groups, but Kazakhstan has been peace-
public back to an independent country in 1992, many ful, in part because it has a somewhat less depressed
Moldovans pushed for reunification with Romania, economy than its neighbors.
both to reunify the ethnic group and to improve the re- • Tajikistan. In contrast to Kazakhstan, Tajikistan-
gion's prospects for economic development. But it was 80 percent Tajik, 15 percent Uzbek, and 1 percent
not to be that simple. When Moldova became a Soviet Russian-would appear to be a stable country, but it suf-
republic in 1940, its eastern boundary was the Dniester fers from a civil war among the Tajik people, Muslims
River. The Soviet government increased the size of who speak a language in the Indic group of the Indo-
Moldova by about 10 percent, transferring from Ukraine Iranian branch of lndo-European language. The civil war
a 3,000-square-kilometer (1,200-square-mile) sliver of has been between Tajiks, who are former Communists,
land on the east bank of the Dniester. The majority of and an unusual alliance of Muslim fundamentalists and
the inhabitants of this area, known as Trans-Dniestria, Western-oriented intellectuals. Fifteen percent of the
are Ukrainian and Russian. They, of course, oppose population has been made homeless by the fighting.
Moldova's reunification with Romania (Figure 8-19).
RUSSIA

(

KAZAKHSTAN

Pause and Reflect 8.2.2

To what branches of Inda-European do the principal
languages of Moldova belong? How might these
linguistic differences affect politics in Moldova?

CENTRAL ASIAN STATES. The five states in Central 150 JOOMiu
Asia carved out of the former Soviet Union display varying
degrees of conformance to the principles of a nation-state ·,soD :)00 Kilom~lo?r,
(Figure 8-20). Together the five provide an important
reminder that multinational states can be more peaceful Slavic Inda-European Turkic
than nation-states:
Russian - •German • Karakalpa•k Turkmen Mixed
• Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. In Turkmenistan and •Ukrainian -Tajik Kazakh Uighur
Uzbekistan, the leading ethnic group has an overwhelm- Kirghiz Others
ing majority-85 percent Turkmen and 80 percent - Uzbek
Uzbek, respectively. Both ethnic groups are Muslims who Sparsely
populated

I. FIGURE8-20 ETHNICITIESIN CENTRALASIA Themapshowsthe
distributioonfethnicitieisn CentraAl sia.

272 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

THE LARGEST MULTINATIONAL STATE: Muslims who speak a Caucasian language and practice dis-
RUSSIA tinctive social customs.

Learning Outcome 8.2.3 Chechnya was brought under Russian control in the
nineteenth century only after a 50-year fight. When the
Describe patterns of distribution of ethnicities in Soviet Union broke up into 15 independent states in 1991,
Russia and the Caucasus. the Chechens declared their independence and refused
to join the newly created country of Russia. Russian lead-
Multinational states face complex challenges in maintaining ers ignored the declaration of independence for 3 years
unity and avoiding fragmentation as discontented ethnici- but then sent in the Russian army in an attempt to re-
ties seek to break away and form new nation-states. Russia gain control of the territory. Russia fought hard to preven~
officially recognizes the existence of 39 ethnic groups as Chechnya from gaining independence because it feare~
nationalities, many of which are eager for independence. that other ethnicities would follow suit. Chechnya wai
Russia's ethnicities are clustered in two principal locations also important to Russia because the region contained de-
(Figure 8-21). Some are located along borders with neighbor- posits of petroleum. Russia viewed political stability in tht
ing states, including Buryats and Tuvinian near Mongolia, area as essential for promoting economic developmen·
and Chech ens, Dagestani, Kabardins, and Ossetians near the and investment by foreign petroleum companies.
two former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Georgia. Over-
all, 20 percent of the country's population is non-Russian. TURMOIL IN THE CAUCASUS

Other ethnicities are clustered in the center of Russia, The Caucasus region, an area abol;lt the size of Coloradc
especially between the Volga River basin and the Ural is situated between the Black and Caspian seas and ge1
Mountains. Among the most numerous in this region are its name from the mountains that separate Russia fror
Bashkirs, Chuvash, and Tatars, who speak Altaic languages Azerbaijan and Georgia. The region is home to several ett
similar to 1\irkish, and Mordvins and Udmurts, who speak nicities, with Azeris, Armenians, and Georgians the mo
Uralic languages similar to Finnish. Most of these groups numerous (Figure 8-22). Other important ethnicities i1
were conquered by the Russians in the sixteenth century, elude Abkhazians, Chechens, lngush, and Ossetians. Kun
under the leadership of Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible). and Russians-two ethnicities that are more numerous
other regions-are also represented in the Caucasus.
Independence movements are flourishing because
Russia is less willing to suppress these movements forcibly When the entire Caucasus region was part of the Sovi
than the Soviet Union once was. Particularly trouble- Union, the Soviet government promoted allegiance
some for the Russians are the Chechens, a group of Sunni communism and the Soviet state and quelled dispu1
among ethnicities, by force if necessary. With the break

► FIGURE8-21 ETHNICITIESIN RUSSIA Russians
areclusteredin thewesternportionof Russiaa, ndthe
percentagedeclinesto thesouthandeast.Thelargest
numbersof non-Russianasrefoundin thecenterof the
countrybetweentheVolgaRiverandthe UralMountains
and nearthesouthernborders.

Kllabarov0sk

I .Yl,diYDSI

Turldcpeoples Slavicpeoples Otherlndo-European OtheUr rallcand Paleo-Siberian
peoples
• TatarsB, ashkirs Russians peoples Altaicpeoples
Azeibaldzhanl - ChukchKi,or)
Othe!Turldc Ukrainians Lithuanians, • KarellanMs,ari,Koml, Nivkhi
peoples Atmenians, M()fdvlnsU,dmurts,
A Eskimos
Caucasiapneoples Osselians MansiK, hantyN, entsy,
Uninhabite1 d
• GeorgianCs,tieehens, X Germans 8uryatsK, almyksE, venki, sparselsyett
lngushp, eopleosf EvenyN, ganasany
A Jews
Dageslan

Chapter B: Political Geography 273

'lP A Chechen ARMENIA. More than 3,000 years ago Armenians
Georgian controlled an independent kingdom in the Caucasus.
\N Converted to Christianity in 303, they lived for many
\ Caspian centuries as an isolated Christian enclave under the rule of
Sea Turkish Muslims.

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centu-
ries, hundreds of thousands of Armenians were killed in

Tl:JRKEY • rngush a series of massacres organized by the Turks. Others were
forced to migrate to Russia, which had gained possession
>-saku Kabardo• of eastern Armenia in 1828.
• Chefl<ess1an
Karachav•Balkar After World War I the Allies created an independent

Kurdish

• Lezghian state of Armenia, but it was soon swallowed by its neigh-

• ossetic bors. In 1921, Turkey and the Soviet Union agreed to di-

.J OtheCr aucasian vide Armenia between them. The Soviet portion became

\ Other the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic and then an inde-
pendent country in 1991. Armenians comprise 98 percent

IR A Q IRAN of the population in Armenia, making it the most ethni-
cally homogeneous country in the region.

100 200Mlltt Armenians and Azeris both have achieved long-held as-

pirations of forming nation-states, but after their indepen-

A FIGURE 8-22 ETHNICITIES IN THE CAUCASUS ArmeniansA, zeris, dence from the Soviet Union the two went to war over the
andGeorgiansareexamplesof ethnicitiesthat wereableto dominatenew boundaries between them. The war concerned possession of
statesduringthe 1990s,followingthebreakupof the SovietUnion.Butthe Nagorno-Karabakh, aS,000-square-kilometer (2,000-square-
boundariesof the statesof Armenia,Azerbaijana, ndGeorgiado not match mile) enclave within Azerbaijan that is inhabited primarily
theterritoriesoccupiedby theArmenianA, zeri,andGeorgianethnicitiesT. he by Armenians but placed under Azerbaijan's control by the
AbkhaziansC, hechensK,urdsa, nd Ossetiansareexamplesof ethnicitiesin this Soviet Union during the 1920s. A1994 cease-fire has left Na-
regionthat havenot beenableto organizenation-states. gomo-Karabakh technically part of Azerbaijan, but in reality

it acts as an independent republic called Artsakh. Numerous

clashes have occurred since then between Armenia and
of the region into several independent countries, long- Azerbaijan.

simmering conflicts among ethnicities have erupted into

armed conflicts. Each ethnicity has a long-standing and GEORGIA. The population of Georgia is more diverse
complex set of grievances against others in the region. But than that in Armenia and Azerbaijan. Ethnic Georgians
from a political geography perspective, every ethnicity in comprise 71 percent of the population. The country
the Caucasus has the same aspiration: to carve out a sover- also includes about 8 percent Armenian, 6 percent each
eign nation-state. The region's ethnicities have had vary- Azeri and Russian, 3 percent Ossetian, and 2 percent each
ing degrees of success in achieving this objective, but none Abkhazian, Greek, and other ethnicities.
have fully achieved it. · Georgia's cultural diversity has been a source of unrest,

AZERBAIJAN. Azeris (or Azerbaijanis) trace their roots especially among the Ossetians and Abkhazians. During the
to Turkish invaders who migrated from Central Asia in the 1990s, the Abkhazians fought for control of the northwest-
eighth and ninth centuries and merged with the existing ern portion of Georgia and have declared Abkhazia to be
Persian population. An 1828 treaty allocated northern Azeri an independent state. In 2008, the Ossetians fought a war
territory to Russiaand southern Azeriterritory to Persia (now with the Georgians that resulted in the Ossetians declaring
lran). In 1923, the Russian portion became the Azerbaijan the South Ossetia portion of Georgia to be independent.
Soviet Socialist Republic within the Soviet Union.
Russia has recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as
With the Soviet Union's breakup in 1991, Azerbaijan independent countries and has sent troops there. Only a
again became an independent country. The western part handful of other countries recognize the independence of
of the country, Nakhichevan (named for the area's larg- Abkhazia and South Ossetia, although the two operate as
if they were independent of Georgia.

est city), is separated from the rest of Azerbaijan by a

40-kilometer (25-mile) corridor that belongs to Armenia.

More than 7 million Azeris now live in Azerbaijan,

91 percent of the country's total population. Another Pause and Reflect 8.2.~
16 million Azeris are clustered in northwestern Iran, where
If Abkhazia, Artsakh, and South Ossetia were widely
they constitute 24 percent of that country's population. recognized independent states, how would they
Azeris hold positions of responsibility in Iran's govern- compare in size to microstates described earlier in
ment and economy, but Iran restricts teaching of the Azeri this chapter?
language.

.,. ' ' . I I•

274 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Colonies These three motives could be summarized as God, gold,
and glory.
Learning Outcome 8.2.4
Explain the concept of colonies and describe their The colonial era began in the 1400s, when European
current distribution. explorers sailed westward for Asia but encountered and
settled In the Western Hemisphere instead. Eventually, the
Although we live in an era when state creation has been a European states lost most of their Western Hemisphere
frequent phenomenon, some territories remain that have colonies: Independence was declared by the United States
not achieved self-determination and statehood. A colony in 1776 and by most Latin American states between 1800
is a territory that is legally tied to a sovereign state rather and 1824.
than being completely independent. In some cases, a sov-
ereign state runs only the colony's military and foreign pol- European states then turned their attention to Africa
icy. In others, it also controls the colony's internal affairs. and Asia

COLONIALISM • United Kingdom. The United Kingdom planted colo-
nies on every continent, including much of eastern
European states came to control much of the world and southern Africa, South Asia, the Middle East, Aus-
through colonialism, which is an effort by one country tralia, and Canada. With by far the largest colonial
to establish settlements in a territory and to impose its po- empire, the British proclaimed that the "Sun never
litical, economic, and cultural principles on that territory set" on their empire.
(Figure 8-23). European states established colonies else-
where in the world for three basic reasons: • France.France had the second-largest overseas territory,
• To promote Christianity. primarily in West Africa and Southeast Asia. France at-
• To extract useful resources and to serve as captive mar- tempted to assimilate its colonies into French culture
and educate an elite group to provide local adminis-
kets for their products. trative leadership. After independence, most of these
• To establish relative power through the number of their leaders retained close ties with France.

colonies. Most African and Asian colonies became independent
after World War U. Only 15 African and Asian states were
members of the United Nations when it was established in
1945, compared to 106 in 2012. The boundaries of the ne\\
states frequently coincide with former colonial provinces
although not always.

IW" !!Ml' &,- ~ ~ ~ V ~ • ~~- - - ~~
~~,;:-:--....--
PACIFIC ;:-
OCEAN 1 ROTIC" ,.,..

CEAN w •

J _;_ - Ci, ~ ~ =-eo•
. ------4r--·
,I _·,,.r~ ~f-H;i.,._,..; I"-._ ...... t-
f
' -...,-7' '::) \
__r_ 't'.~

ATLANTIC ~

( OCEAN ..,

·- ~ PACIFIC

,_ I ,

-~I OCEAN

Equa~,-- --

I

•Austria 12\1' ATf-ANTIC \
- Netherlands
i OCEAN

•8elgium • OttomanEmpire I Tropeof ~pnc0tn

-Denmillk Portugal . '\-~-II-,7-I

France Russia

Germany•Spain t- ---0-IAOO Z~M••

Italy • UniteKding~om f 0 1,000 2,000IUlomtU:r.J I

•Japan UnitedStates \ .\ 40'
60'
!!11' ,no 'XI O' 'lfl' I BO' ,dIu- 120'
60'

A FIGURE8-23 COLONIAL POSSESSIONS,1914 At theoutbreakof WorldWarI in 1914E, uropeasntatesheld
coloniesin muchof theworld,especialliynAfricaandAsia.Mostof thecountriesin theWesternHemispherweere
at onetimecolonizedbyEuropeanbsutgainedtheirindependencinetheeighteenthor nineteentchenturies.

Chapter 8: Political Geography 275

16Cf1"80'

180' ,ro I --C/'~

,.~• ,,Dependenctye,rritori, I Of-----l-,-----'-4000~.------'•.~~r
I orareaofspeciasl overeignty
2,000 C,000WIOIN.. t'I
f iu.s.JSoeereignty

100' Ill)' 120' IIIO' 1110'

• FIGURE 8-24 COLONIAL POSSESSIONS, 2012 Mostremainingcoloniesaretinyspecksinthe PacificOcean
andtheCaribbeanSea,toosmallto appearon themap.

THE REMAINING COLONIES • Hong Kong and Macao, attached to the mainland of
China, were colonies of the United Kingdom and
At one time, colonies were widespread over Earth's surface, Portugal, respectively. The British returned Hong Kong
but only a handful remain today. The U.S. Department of to China in 1997, and the Portuguese returned Macao
State lists 68 places in the world that it calls dependen- to China in 1999. These two areas are classified as
cies and areas of special sovereignty (Figure 8-24). The list special administrative regions with autonomy from the
includes 43 with indigenous populations and 25 with no rest of China in economic matters but not in foreign
permanent population. Most current colonies are islands and military affairs.
in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea.
Pause and Reflect 8.2.4
The most populous is Puerto Rico, a commonwealth of What would need to change for Puerto Rico to no
the United States, with 4 million residents on an island of longer be classified as a colony of the United States?
8,870 square kilometers (3,500 square miles). Puerto Ricans
are citizens of the United States, but they do not participate CHECK-IN: KEY ISSUE2
in U.S. elections or have a voting member of Congress.
Why Are Nation-States Difficult
One of the world's least-populated colonies is Pitcairn to Create?
Island, a 47-square-kilometer (18-square-mile) possession
of the United Kingdom. The island in the South Pacific was- ✓ Good examples of nation-states can be
settled in 1790 by British mutineers from the ship Bounty, identified, though none are perfect.
commanded by Captain William Bligh. Its 48 islanders sur-
vive by selling fish as well as postage stamps to collectors. ✓ The Soviet Union was once the world's largest
multinational state; with its breakup, Russia is
The U.S. State Department list does not include sev- now the largest.
eral inhabited islands considered by other sources to be
colonies, including Australia's Lord Howe Island, Britain's ✓ Much of Earth's land area once comprised
Ascension Island, and Chile's Easter [stand. On the other colonies, but only a few colonies remain.
hand, the State Department list includes several entities
that others do not classify as colonies:

• Greenland has a high degree of autonomy and self-rule

and makes even foreign policy decisions independ-
ently of Denmark, as discussed earlier in the chapter.
Greenland regards the Queen of Denmark as its head

of state.

276 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

KEY ISSUE3

Why Do Boundaries

Cause Problems?

■ Types of Boundaries A FIGURE 8-25 DESERT BOUNDARY TheunmarkedborderbetweenMali
■ Shapes of States andMauritaniarunsthroughthe SaharaDesert.
■ Governing States
■ Electoral Geography and on the ground. Three types of physical elements serve
as boundaries between states: deserts, mountains, and water.

Learning Outcome 8.3.1 DESERT BOUNDARIES. A boundary drawn in a desert can
effectively divide two states because deserts are hard to cros!
Describe the types of physical boundaries between and sparsely inhabited. Desert boundaries are common in
states. Africa and Asia. In North Africa, the Sahara has generall)
proved to be a stable boundary separating Algeria, Libya
A state is separated from its neighbors by a boundary, an and Egypt on the north from Mauritania, Mali, Niger
invisible line that marks the extent of a state's territory. Chad, and the Sudan on the south (Figure 8-25). Ar
Boundaries completely surround an individual stale to exception is the boundary between Chad and Libya (refe
mark the outer limits of its territorial control and to give it a ahead to Figure 8-30).
distinctive shape. Boundaries interest geographers because
the process of selecting their location is frequently difficult. MOUNTAIN BOUNDARIES. Mountains can be effectiv
boundaries if they are difficult to cross (Figure 8-26). Contac
Historically, frontiers rather than boundaries separated between nationalities living on opposite sides may be limite
states. A frontier is a zone where no state exercises complete or completely impossible if passes are closed by wlnt,
political control. It is a tangible geographic area, whereas a storms. Mountains are also useful boundaries because the
boundary is an infinitely thin line. Frontier areas were either are rather permanent and are usually sparsely inhabited.
uninhabited or sparsely settled. Frontiers between states
have been replaced by boundaries. Modern communications Mountains do not always provide for the amicable se1
systems permit countries to monitor and guard boundaries aration of neighbors. Argentina and Chile agreed to be d
effectively, even in previously inaccessible locations. vided by the crest of the Andes Mountains but could m
decide on the precise location of the crest. Was the crest
Types of Boundaries jagged line, connecting mountain peak to mountain peal
Or was it a curving line following the continental divic
Boundaries are of two types: (the continuous ridge that divides rainfall and snowm,
between flow toward the Atlantic or Pacific)? The tv
• Physical boundaries coincide with significant features of
the natural landscape. T FIGURE 8-26 MOUNTAIN BOUNDARY TheAndesserveasthe bound,
betweenArgentina(foregrounda) nd Chile.
• Cultural boundaries follow the distribution of cultural
characteristics.

Neither type of boundary is better or more "natural"
than the other, and many boundaries are a combination
of both types.

Boundary locations can generate conflict, both within
a country and with Its neighbors. A boundary line, which
must be shared by more than one state, is the only location
where direct physical contact must take place between two
neighboring states. Therefore, the boundary has the poten-
tial to become the focal point of conflict between them.
The best boundaries are those to which all affected states
agree, regardless of the rationale used to draw the line.

PHYSICAL BOUNDARIES

Important physical features on Earth's surface can make
good boundaries because they are easily seen, both on a map

countries almost fought a war over the boundary line. But
with the help of U.S. mediators, they finally decided on
tbe line connecting adjacent mountain peaks.

WATER BOUNDARIES. Rivers, lakes, and oceans are the .._FIGURE8-27 WATERBOUNDARYTheboundarybetweenMalawi
physical features most commonly used as boundaries. Water (foregrounda)ndMozambiqu(ebackgroundru} nsthroughLakeNyasa(LakeMalawi).
boundaries are readily visible on maps and aerial imagery.
Historically, water boundaries offered good protection Water boundaries may seem to be set permanently, but
against attack from another state because an invading the precise position of water may change over time. Riv-
state had to transport its troops by air or ship and secure a ers, in particular, can slowly change their course. The Rio
}anding spot in the country being attacked. The state being Grande, the river separating the United States and Mexico,
mvaded could concentrate its defense at the landing point. has frequently meandered from its previous course since
it became part of the boundary in 1848. Land that had
Water boundaries are especially common in East Africa: once been on the U.S. side of the boundary came to be
on the Mexican side and vice versa. The United States and
• The boundary between the Democratic Republic of Mexico have concluded treaties that restore land affected
Congo and Uganda runs through Lake Albert. by the shifting course of the river to the country in con-
trol at the time of the original nineteenth-century delinea-
• The boundary separating Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda tion. The International Boundary and Water Commission,
runs through Lake Victoria. jointly staffed by the United States and Mexico, oversees
the border treaties and settles differences.
• The boundary separating Burundi, the Democratic Re-
public of Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia runs through
Lake Tanganyika.

• The boundary between the Democratic Republic of
Congo and Zambia runs through Lake Mwera.

• The boundary between Malawi and Mozambique runs
through Lake Nyasa, which is also known as Lake
Malawi (Figure 8-27).

Pause and Reflect 8.3.1

Where outside Africa is an example of a physical
boundary?

SUSTAINABILITAYND INEQUALITYIN OURGLOBALVILLAGE

The Law of the Sea

Some states have ocean boundaries, nautical miles (about 5.5 kilometers, territorial limits for most countries at
and some do LlOtT. he ones that do are or 3.5 land miles) from the shore 12 nautical miles (abo1:.12t2 kilome-
able to claim vast areas of the ocean into the ocean. Some states claimed ters, or 14 land miles). Under the Law
for defense and for control of valu- more extensive territorial limits, and of the Sea, states also have exclusive
able fishing areas (see Chapter 10). others identified a contiguous zone rights to the fish and other marine
of influence that ex.tended beyond life within 200 miles (320 kllometers).
Beginning in the late eigh- the territorial limits. (Figure8-28). Disputes can be taken to
teenth century, some states recog- a tribunal for the Law of the Sea or to
nized a boundary, known as the The Law 0f the Sea, signed by the International Court of Justice.
territorial limit, wllich extended 3 158 countries, has standardized the

Internalwaters-------, / Exclusiveeconomiczone International waters ◄ FIGURE 8-28 THE
No state-control. LAW OF THE SEA
All wateron the landwardsideof the ' Statehassoleright to expJoit
baseline.Foreignvesselshave / naturalresourCles,11eahs flslilng.
norightol passage. .~

=11:••1TSetarrtietosrmiaalywsaettelarswsi 12
I ~
~ nmauileticsal

regulatingpassage.

Contiguouszone ....;...,._..__ 2'""oo-n-aumt_..i._.,ci,a..-l,es--------+

Statesmay enforcelaws /

concerningpollutlor;it,axation, 1
customs,andimmigration. "---fi<~~~-

Basellne --------1
Normallythe low waterline.

I "I , 1I 1I
.. ' .

278 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE 0 100

CULTURAL BOUNDARIES LIBYA

Leaming Outcome 8.3.2

Describe types of cultural boundaries between
states.

Two types of cultural boundaries are common: geometric A
and ethnic. Geometric boundaries are simply straight lines
drawn on a map. Other boundaries between states coin- N
cide with differences in ethnicity, especially language and
religion. £ FIGURE 8-30 GEOMETRIC BOUNDARY BETWEEN CHAD AND L

GEOMETRIC BOUNDARIES. Part of the northern U.S. TheboundarybetweenChadand Libyais a straightline,drawnby Eur
boundary with Canada is a 2,100-kilometer (1,300-mile) countrieesarlyinthetwentiethcenturyw, hentheareacompriseda series
straight line (more precisely,an arc)along 49°north latitude, onies.Libyah,oweverc,laimsthattheboundaryshouldbe located100kilo
running from Lake of the Woods between Minnesota and (60milest)o thesouthandthatit shouldhavesovereigntyovertheAozo
Manitoba to the Strait of Georgia between Washington
State and British Columbia (Figure8-29).This boundary was expelled the Libyan army with the help of French f
established in 1846 by a treaty between the United States and regained control of the strip.
and Great Britain, which still controlled Canada. The two
countries share an additional 1,100-kilometer (700-mile) ETHNIC BOUNDARIES. Boundaries between coui
geometric boundary between Alaska and the Yukon Terri- have been placed where possible to separate speak1
tory along the north-south arc of 141° westlongitude. different languages or followers of different religions
gious differences often coincide with boundaries bet
Pause and Reflect 8.3.2 states, but in only a few cases has religion been ui
Where does the boundary between Canada and the select the actual boundary line.
United States follow physical features rather than
geometry? The most notable example was in South Asia, whc
British partitioned India into two states on the basis
The 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) boundary between ligion. The predominantly Muslim portions were allc
Chad and Libya is a straight line drawn across the desert in to Pakistan, whereas the predominantly Hindu pc
1899 by the French and British to set the northern limit of became the independent state -0f lndia (see Figure
French colonies in Africa (Figure 8-30). Libya claimed that
the straight line should be 100 kilometers (60 miles) to Religion was also used to some extent to draw the t
the south. Citing an agreement between France and Italy
in 1935, Libya seized the territory in 1973. In 1987, Chad ary between two states on the island of Eire (In
Most of the island became an independent country, l
T FIGURE 8-29 GEOMETRIC BOUNDARY BETWEENCANADA ANO northeast-now known as Northern Ireland-rer
part of the United Kingdom. Roman CathoHcs co
THE UNITED STATES Waterton-GlacIinetrernationPaleaceParkIslocated approximately 95 percent of the population ,
inbothCanadaandtheUnitedStatesT. heinternationbaloundarbyetweenthe 26 counties that joined the Republic of Ireland, ,..
UnitedStates0eft)andCanada(right)ismarkedbythelineofcuttrees. Protestants constitute the majority in the six cour
Northern Ireland (see Figure 6-4 7).

Language is an important cultural characteri:
drawing boundaries, especially in Europe. England,
Portugal, and Spain are examples of European sta·
coalesced around distinctive languages before th
teenth century. Germany and Italy emerged in tr
teenth century as states unified by language.

CYPRUS'S "GREEN LINE" BOUNDARY. Cyp1
third-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, cont,
nationalities: Greek and Turkish (Figure 8-32). Althc
island is physically closer to Turkey, Turks comp,
18 percent of the country's population, wherea:
account for 78 percent. When Cyprus gained indep
from Britain in 1960, its constitution guarani
Turkish minority a substantial share of elected oft

CONTEMPORARGY EOGRAPHICTOOLS

DemarcatingBoundarieswith GPS

GPS was defined in Chapter 1 as a sys- Commission in 2010 to de-
tem that determines the precise posi-
tion of something on Earth. lt is most marcate the boundary more
commonly used for navigation, al-
though GPS in a celJ phone is used to precisely and mark it with
identify the location of an individual.
Surveyors are using the ability of GPS stakes and stones. Surveyors
to pinpoint location to determine
the precise boundary between North found that nearly 100 proper-
Carolina and South Carolina.
ties thought to be in one state
The original boundary between
the two Carolina colonies, as decreed were actually in the other.
by the King of England in 1735, was
drawn by eighteenth-century survey- Shifting the boundary is
ors using the best technology then
available-poles, chains, and com- not difficult on a map or on
passes. The boundary was recorded
with hatchet marks on lTees, most the ground, but the problems
of which have disappeared. The two
states established a Joint Boundary are considerable for the peo-

ple and businesses suddenly

shifted to the other state. In .t. FIGURE 8·31 BOUNDARY BETWEEN NORTH

the U.S.system of federal gov- CAROLINA AND SOUTH CAROLINA Southofthe
ernment, taxes, services, and
regulations vary considerably Bordeirsa largeentertainmenctomplexlocatedonthe
SouthCarolinsaideoftheborderwithNorthCarolinaA. fter
among states. The two state surveyingth, ecomplexremainsontheSouthCarolinsaide.

governments are trying to

minimize the impact on the affected new precisely demarcated boundary

properties, essentially by ignoring the (Figure 8-31 ).

Mediterranean II JOM..ln 34 E control over its own education, religion, and culture. But
Sea Cyprus has never peacefully integrated the Greek and
15 •----rs Turkish nationalities.

TURKISH AREA Several Greek Cypriot military officers who favored uni-
fication of Cyprus with Greece seized control of the gov-
~-~'Q.,/4~:f'T'vr ,~' ernment in 1974. Shortly after the coup, Turkey invaded
Cyprus to protect the Turkish Cypriot minority. The Greek
U.N. Buffer Zone ' coup leaders were removed within a few months, and an
elected government was restored, but the Turkish army re-
.i FIGURE8-32 ETHNICBOUNDARY BETWEENGREEKAND TURKISH mained on Cyprus. The northern 36 percent of the island
controlled by Turkey declared itself the independent Turk-
CYPRUS Since1974, CyprushasbeendividedintoGreekandTurkisahreas, ish Republic of Northern Cyprus in 1983, but only Turkey
separatedbya UnitedNationsbufferzoneT. hephotoshowsa crossing recognizes it as a separate state.
betweentheGreekside(foregrounda)ndTurkisshide(backgroundt)h,rough
the UNbufferzone(middle). A wall was constructed between the two areas, and a
buffer zone patrolled by the United Nations was delin-
eated across the entire island. Traditionally, the Greek and
Turkish Cypriots had mingled, but after the wall and buf-
fer zone were established, the two nationalities became
geographically isolated. The northern part of the island is
now overwhelmingly Turkish, whereas the southern part
is overwhelmingly Greek. Approximately one-third of the
island's Greeks were forced to move from the region con-
trolled by the Turkish army, whereas nearly one-fourth
of the Turks moved from the region now regarded as the
Greek side.

The two sides have been brought closer in recent years.
A portion of the wall was demolished, and after three de-

cades the two nationalities could again cross to the other
side. The European Union accepted the entire island of
Cyprus as a member in 2004. A UN Peace Plan for reuni-
fication was accepted by the Turkish side but rejected by
the Greek side.

279

280 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

COMPACT STATES: EFFICIENT

Shapes of States In a compact state, the distance from the center to anY,
boundary does not v·ary significantly. The ideal theoretical
Learning Outcome 8.3.3 compact state would be shaped like a circle, with the capi-
tal at the center and with the shortest possible boundaries
Describe five shapes of states. to defend.

The shape of a state controls the length of its boundaries Compactness can be a beneficial characteristic fot
with other states. The shape therefore affects the potential smaller states because good communications can be more
for communication and conflict with neighbors. The shape easily established with all regions, especially if the capi-
also, as in the outline of the United States or Canada, is part tal is located near the center. However, compactness doe1
of its unique identity. Beyond its value as a centripetal force, not necessarily mean peacefulness, as compact st~s ar
the shape of a,state can influence the ease or difficulty of in• just as likely as others to experience civil wars and ethni,
temal administration and can affect social unity. rivalries.

Countries have one of five basic shapes-compact, pro- ELONGATED STATES: POTENTIAL

mpted, elongated, fragmented, or perforated-and examples ISOLATION
of each can be seen in southern Africa (Figure 8-33). Each
shape displays distinctive characteristics and challenges. A handful of elongated states have a long and narrm
shape. Examples in sub-Saharan Africa include:
1$0Miu • Malawi, which measures about 850 kilometers (53

. ~~---' miles) north-south but only 100 kilometers (60 mile:
east-west.
NYA • Gambia, which extends along the banks of the Gamb:
River about 500 kilometers (300 miles) east-west but
; only about 25 kilometers (15 miles) north-south.

r Chile, a prominent example in South America, stretch
north-south for more than 4,000 kilometers (2,500 mile
but rarely exceeds an east-west distance of 150 kilomete
(90 miles). Chile is wedged between the Pacific Coast
South America and the rugged Andes Mountains, whi<
rise more than 6,700 meters (20,000 feet).

Elongated states may suffer from poor internal comm
nications. A region located at an extreme end of the elo
gation might be isolated from the capital, which is usua
placed near the center.

PRORUPTED STATES: ACCESS

OR DISRUPTION

A FIGURE 8-33 SHAPESOF STATESIN SOUTHERNAFRICA Burundi, An otherwise compact state with a large projecting ext«
KenyaR, wandaa,ndUgandaareexampleosfcompacsttates.Malawaind sion is a prorupted state. Proruptions are created for t
Mozambiquaereelongatedstates.Namibiandthe DemocratRicepubliocf
Congoare proruptedstates.Angola ndTanzaniare fragmentesdtates.South principal reasons:
Africaisa perforatedstate.ThecountriesincolorarelandlockeAdfricanstates • To provide a state with access to a resource, such
whichmustimporat ndexportgoodsbyland-basedtransportationp,rimarily'
raillinest,o reachoceanportsincooperatinngeighbosrtates. water. For example, in southern Africa, the Democr.
Republic of Congo has a 500-kilometer (300-mile) ~
ruption to the west along the Zaire (Congo) River. 1
Belgians created the proruption to give their colony
cess to the Atlantic.

• To separate two states that otherwise would shar
boundary.For example, in southern Africa, Nam
has a 500-kilometer (300-mile) proruption to the ,
called the Caprivi Strip. When Namibia was a col,
of Germany, the proruption disrupted communicati
among the British colonies of southern Africa. It
provided the Germans with access to the Zambezi,
of Africa's most important rivers.

Chapter 8: Political Geography 281

Elsewhere .in the world, the otherwise compact state of 2. FRAGMENTED STATESSEPARATED BY AN INTERVENING
Afghanistan has a proruption approximately 300 kilometers
(200 miles) long and as narrow as 20 kilometers (12 miles) STATE. An example in sub-Saharan Africa is Angola,
wide. The British created the proruption to prevent Russia which is divided into two fragments by the Congo
from _sharing a border with Pakistan. proruption described above. An independence movement
is trying to detach Cabinda as a separate state from Angola,
PERFORATED STATES: SOUTH AFRICA with the justification that its population belongs to distinct
ethnic groups.
A state that completely surrounds another one is a perfo-
rated state. In this situation, the state that is surrounded Elsewhere in the world, Russia has a fragment called
may face problems of dependence on, or interference Kaliningrad (Konigsberg), a 16,000-square-kilometer (6,000-
from, the surrounding state. For example, South Africa square-tn.ile) entity 400 kilometers (250 miles) west of the
completely surrounds the state of Lesotho. Lesotho must remainder of Russia, separated by the states of Lithuania
depend almost entirely on South Africa for the import and and Belarus. The area was part of Germany until the end
export of goods. Dependency on South Africa was espe- of World War II, when the Soviet Union seize.ctit after the
cially difficult for Lesotho when South Africa had a gov- German defeat. The German population fled westward
ernment controlled by whites who discriminated against after the war, and virtually all of the area's 430,000 resi-
the black majority population. Elsewhere in the world, dents are Russians. Russia wants Kaliningrad because it has
Italy surrounds the Holy See (the Vatican) and San Marino. the country's largest naval base on the Baltic Sea.

FRAGMENTED STATES:PROBLEMATIC Panama was a fragmented state for most of the twentieth
century, divided in two parts by the canal built in 1914 by
A fragmented state includes several discontinuous pieces the United States. After the United States withdrew from
of territory. Technically, all states that have offshore the Canal Zone in 1999, Panama became an elongated
islands as part of their territory are fragmented. However, state, 700 kilometers (450 tn.iles) long and 80 kilometers
fragmentation is particularly significant for some states. (SO miles) wide.
There are two kinds of fragmented states, and both may
face problems and costs associated with communications LANDLOCKED STATES
and maintaining national unity:
A landlocked state lacks a direct outlet to a sea because
1. FRAGMENTED STATES SEPARATED BY WATER. An it is completely surrounded by several other countries (or
example in sub-Saharan Africa is Tanzania, which was only one country, in the case of Lesotho). Landlocked
created in 1964 as a union of the island of Zanzibar with states are most common in Africa, where 15 of the con-
the mainland territory of Tanganyika. Although home to tinent's 55 states have no direct ocean access (refer to
different ethnic groups, the two entities agreed to join the countries in colors on Figure 8-33). The prevalence of
together because they shared common development goals landlocked states in Africa is a remnant of the colonial era,
and political priorities. when Britain and France controlled extensive regions. The
European powers built railroads, mostly in the early twen-
Elsewhere in the world, Indonesia comprises tieth century, to connect the interior of Africa with the
13,677 islands that extend more than 5,000 kilometers sea. Railroads moved minerals from interior mines to sea-
(3,000 miles) between the Indian and Pacific oceans. ports, and in the opposite direction, rail lines carried min-
Although more than 80 percent of the country's popula- ing equipment and supplies from seaports to the interior.
tion live on two of the islands-Java and Sumatra-the
fragmentation hinders communications. and makes inte- Now that the British and French empires are gone, and
gration of people living on remote islands nearly impos- former colonies have become independent states, some
sible. To foster national integration, the Indonesian gov- important colonial railroad lines pass through several in-
ernment has encouraged migration from the more densely dependent countries. This has created new landlocked
populated islands to some of the sparsely inhabited ones. states, which must cooperate with neighboring states
that have seaports. Direct access to an ocean is critical
Not all of the fragments joined Indonesia voluntarily. to states because it facilitates international trade. Bulky
A few days after Timor-Leste (East Timor) gained its inde- goods, such as petroleum, grain, ore, and vehicles, are nor-
pendence from Portugal in 1975, Indonesia invaded. A mally transported long distances by ship. This means that
long struggle against Indonesia culminated in indepen- a country needs a seaport where goods can be transferred
dence in 2002. West Papua, another fragment of Indonesia between land and sea. To send and receive goods by sea,
(the western portion of the island shared with Papua New a landlocked state must arrange to use another country's
Guinea), also claims that it should be an independent seaport.
country. However, West Papua's attempt to break away
from Indonesia gained less support from the international Pauseand Reflect8.3.3
community.
~---Where outsideof Africa isan example of a

landlocked state?

~~~

282 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Governing States Citizen Participation:

Learning Outcome 8.3.4 • A democracy has institutionalized constraints on tb'ie
Describe differences among the three regime types. exercise of power by the executive.

A state has two types of government: a national govern- • An autocracy has citizens' participation sharply re-
ment and local governments. At the national scale, a gov- stricted or suppressed.
ernment can be more or less democratic. At the local scale,
the national government can determine how much power Checks and Balances:
to allocate to local governments.
• Ademocracy has guarantees of civil liberties to all citizens
in their daily lives and in acts of political participation.

• An autocracy has leaders who exercise power with no
meaningful checks from legislative, judicial, or civil so-
ciety institutions.

NATIONAL SCALE: REGIME TYPES TREND TOWARD DEMOCRACY. In general, the world
has become more democratic (Figure 8-35). The Center fot
National governments can be classified as democratic, Systemic Peace cites three reasons for this:
autocratic, or anocratic (Figure 8-34). A democracy is a
country in which citizens elect leaders and can run for • The replacement of increasingly irrelevant and out-of.
office. An autocracy is a country that is run according touch monarchies with elected governments that are
to the interests of the ruler rather than the people. An able to regulate, tax, and mobilize citizens in exchange
anocracy is a country that is not fully democratic or fully for broadening individual rights and liberties.
autocratic, but rather displays a mix of the two types.
According to the Center for Systemic Peace, democracies • The widening of participation in policy making to all
and autocracies differ in three essential elements: citizens through universal rights to vote and to serve in

Selection of Leaders: government.
• The diffusion of democratic government structures cre-

ated in Europe and North America to other regions o!

the world.

Pause and Reflect 8.3.4
What region of the world appears to have the
greatest concentration of autocratic regimes?

80'

_,.. I

Autocratic

Anocratic Ill' '\ oI
Somewhadtemocratic
I• Fullydemocratic
I
\ \ IFailed 2,000
\ b
INodata •. I
\I
1~ '1 20' 40" 60' 80' 160' l&ll'
\ 20' O'
100' BO' 60' 40'

• FIGURE 8-34 REGIMETYPE Moststatesareeitherdemocratica,utocratico,rano,ratic.Ina few"failed"
states,suchas SomaliandHaitig, overnmenitnstitutionhsavebrokendownbecauseofciviwl ar,extremepoverty,

or naturaldisasters-or somecombinatioonfthe three.

Chapter 8: Political Geography 283

• Governmeonvt erthrown • Protestsandgovernmentcahl anges
• Sustainecdivildisorder
-Autocracies Majorprotests
-Anocracles and9overnmentcah1anges
- Democracies Minorprotests '; ;1.("-
'---~--,..-,.--,-,---,-, ~~
A FIGURE 8-35 TREND TOWARD DEMOCRACY ~;------=,...,_..
AnA/1/TIC ,...,.....
Thenumberof autocracieshas declinedsharplysincethe late 1990s. OCEAN
!
30'N MORpc.,c..o, ·
l)
l'/ESTERN
IAljARA ~AN >-i K:'..~N

,. I ,f~.P./1..".;,,

~AURITANIA ''

-~---OfAA~

'\l -
~~ IND/AN

.,u.,.'- • OCEAN

400

ARAB SPRING. The most dramatic shift in governments A FIGURE 8-36 ARAB SPRING Cellphonesand otherhandhelddevices
in recent years has been Arab Spring, which began in wereinstrumentalinrapidlydiffusing,jnformationabout uprisingsdespite
late 2010 and reached its peak during spring 2011. Arab governmenteffortsto suppressthe information.
Spring consisted of major protests in a dozen countries
in Southwest Asia and North Africa. The protests resulted Their basic local government unit is 96 departements(de-
in forcing from power autocratic rulers in Egypt, Libya, partments). A second tier of local government in France is
Tunisia, and Yemen (Pigure 8-36). the 36,686 communes.The French government has granted
additional legal powers to the departments and communes
The protests included demonstrations, rallies, strikes, and in recent years. In addition, 22 regional councils that pre-
other forms of civil disobedience, many led by college-age viously held minimal authority have been converted into
people. Especially noteworthy was the use of social media full-fledged local government units, with elected councils
and portable electronic devices to organize protests, commu- and the power to levy taxes.
nicate information, and distribute real-time images of events.
Long-standing practices by autocratic regimes to suppress TV FEDERAL STATES. In a federal state, such as the United
and newspaper coverage of opponents proved ineffective in States, local governments possess considerable authority
the face of Facebook and Twitter, iPhones and iPads. to adopt their own laws. Multinational states may adopt
a federal system of government to empower different
LOCAL SCALE: UNITARY nationalities, especially if they live in separate regions of
AND FEDERAL STATES the country. Under a federal system, local government
boundaries can be drawn to correspond with regions
The governments of states are organized according to one inhabited by different ethnicities.
of two approaches:
The federal system is more suitable for very large states
• A unitary state places most power in the hands of cen- because the national capital may be too remote to provide
tral government officials. effective control over isolated regions. Most of the world's
largest states are federal, including Russia, Canada, the
• A federal state allocates strong power to units of local United States, Brazil, and India. However, the size of the
government within the country. state is not always an accurate predictor of the form of
government: Tiny Belgium is a federal state (to accommo-
UNITARY STATES. In principle, the unitary government date the two main cultural groups, the Flemish and the
system works best in nation-states characterized by few Waloons, as discussed in Chapter 5), whereas China is a
internal cultural differences and a strong sense of national unitary state (to promote Communist values).
unity. Because the unitary system requires effective
communications with all regions of the country, smaller In recent years there has been a strong global trend
states are more likely to adopt it. Unitary states are toward federal government. Unitary systems have been
especially common in Europe. sharply curtailed in a number of countries and scrapped
altogether in others. In the face of increasing demands
Some multinational states have adopted unitary sys- by ethnicities for more self-determination, states have re-
tems, so that the values of one nationality can be imposed structured their governments to transfer some authority
on others. In Kenya and Rwanda, for instance, the mecha- from the national government to local government unHs.
nisms of a unitary state have enabled one ethnic group to An ethnicity that is not sufficiently numerous to gain con-
extend dominance over weaker groups. trol of the national government may be content with con-
trol of a regional or local unit of government.
A good example of a nation-state, France has a long tra-
dition of unitary government in which a very strong na-
tional government dominates local government decisions.

~IIIHllll-ftlllHIII

284 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Electoral Geography The job of redrawing boundaries in most European coun.
tries is entrusted to independent commissions. Commis-
Learning Outcome 8.3.5 sions typically try to create compact homogeneous districts
without regard for voting preferences or incumbents. Acou.
Explain the concept of gerrymandering and three pie U.S. states, including Iowa and Washington, also use in-
ways that it is done. dependent or bipartisan commissions (Figure 8-40), but in
most U.S. states the job of redrawing boundaries is entrusted
In democracies, politics must follow legally prescribed to the state legislature. The political party in control of the
rules. But all parties to the political process often find ways state legislature naturally attempts to redraw boundaries to
of bending those rules to their advantage. A case in point is improve the chances of its supporters to win seats. Political
the drawing of legislative district boundaries. The boundar- parties frequently offer competing plans designed to favor
ies separating legislative districts within the United States their candidates (Figure 8-41).
and other countries are redrawn periodically to ensure
that each district has approximately the same population. Stacked vote gerrymandering has been especially attrac-
Boundaries must be redrawn because migration inevitably tive for creating districts inclined to elect ethnic minori-
results in some districts gaining population and others los- ties. Because the two largest ethnic groups in the United
ing population. The 435 districts of the U.S. House of Rep- States (African Americans and most Hispanics other than
resentatives are redrawn every 10 years, following the Cen- Cubans) tend to vote Democratic-in some elections more
sus Bureau's release of official population figures. than 90 percent of African Americans vote Democratic-
creating a majority African American district virtually
The process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the guarantees election of a Democrat. Republicans support a
purpose of benefiting the party in power is called ger- "stacked" Democratic district because they are better able
rymandering. The term gerrymanderingwas named for to draw boundaries that are favorable to their candidates
Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814), governor of Massachusetts in the rest of the state.
(1810-1812) and vice president of the United States
(1813-1814). As governor, Gerry signed a bill that redis- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled gerrymandering illegal
tricted the state to benefit his party. An opponent observed in 1985 but did not require dismantling of existing oddly
that an oddly shaped new district looked like a "salaman- shaped districts, and a 2001 ruling allowed North Carolina
der," whereupon another opponent responded that it was to add another oddly shaped district that ensured the elec-
a "gerrymander." A newspaper subsequently printed a tion of an African American Democrat. Through gerry-
cartoon of a monster named "gerrymander" with a body mandering, only about one-tenth of congressional seati
shaped like the district. Gerrymandering takes three forms: are competitive, making a shift of more than a few seat:
• Wasted vote spreads opposition supporters across many unlikely from one election to another in the United States
except in unusual circumstances.
districts but in the minority (Figure 8-37).
Pause and Reflect 8.3_5
• Excess vote concentrates opposition supporters into a
few districts (Figure 8-38). How was the city of Las Vegas treated in the two
maps drawn by the political parties compared with
• Stacked vote links distant areas of like-minded voters the final map drawn by the court?
through oddly shaped boundaries (Figure 8-39).

tt It t t t t It tt tt ttt tt t t t t t tt tt tt

t 1t tt t L!..t t tt tt ttt t t t tt tt ttt1
tt t 1t tt t t t1
tt tt ttt t tt t t 1t t t tt t tt1
tttt tt 2
tt 2 t .t tt t tt 5
tt
tt tt t t t 4t t 5t tt t tt tt tt
tt tt t tt t t t
tt tt t t tt t t tt t 4t
tt 1t
tt t3t t tt ttt 1t tt tt tt ttt
tt tt 2 t tt
tt tt tt tt t t tt t
tt tt

t ttt tt tt t t t 't t t tt
tt ttt t1t
t t t t tl t tttt tttt

& FIGURE8·37 WASTED VOTE & FIGURE8-38 EXCESSVOTE .A FIGURE 8-39 STACKED VOTE
GERRYMANDERING Wastedvote GERRYMANDERINGExcesvsote GERRYMANDERINGA stackedvote
gerrymanderinsgpreadosppositionsupporters gerrymanderincgoncentrateospposition gerrymandelirnksdistantareasof like-mind
acrossmanydistrictsasa minorityI.f theBlue supporterisntoa fewdistrictsI.f theRedParty votersthroughoddlyshapedboundariesIn.
Partycontrolstheredistrictingprocessit, could controlsthe redistrictingprocessit, could examplet,heRedPartycontrolsredistricting
createa wastedvotegerrymandebrycreating createanexcessvotegerrymandebrycreating createsfiveoddlyshapeddistrictsf,ourwith
fourdistrictswith a slendemr ajorityof Blue fourdistrictswith a slendemr ajorityof Red slendermajorityof RedPartyvotersandoni
Partyvotersandonedistrict(#1)with a strong Partyvotersandonedistrict(#3)withan (#3)with anoverwhelminmg ajorityof Blue
majorityof RedPartyvoters. overwhelminmg ajorityof BluePartyvoters. Partyvoters.

l Chapter 8: PoliticalGeography 285

3rI ◄ FIGURE8-40 NO GERRYMANDERING: IOWA Iowadoesnot have
gerrymanderecdongressionadlistrictsE. achdistrictis relativelycompacta, nd
I L .............._...__,..........-, boundariescoincidewithcountyboundariesA. nonpartisancommissiocnreates
Iowa'sdistrictseachdecade,withoutregardforpastboundariesor impacton
incumbents.

Democraticproposal

CHECK-IN: KEY ISSUE 3 Registerevdoters: NEVADA
MajoritDy emocratic NEVADA
Why Do Boundaries Cause Problems? MajontyRepublican

✓ Two types of boundaries are physical and cultural. Republicanproposal

✓ Deserts, mountains, and water can serve as District 3
physical boundaries between states.

✓ Geometry and ethnicity can create cultural
boundaries between states.

✓ Five shapes of states are compact, elongated,
prorupted, perforated, and fragmented.

✓ The governance of states can be classified
as democratic, anocratic, or autocratic;
democracies have been increasing.

✓ Boundaries dividing electoral districts within
countries can be gerrymandered in several ways
to favor one political party.

► FIGURE8-41 GERRYMANDERING: NEVADA Court-imposeddistricts

Competingplans by Democratsand Republicansto draw boundariesfor

Nevada'sfourcongressionadlistrictsillustrateallthreeformsofgerrymandering.

(top)Wastedvote gerrymanderT: heDemocratipclan.AlthoughNevadaas a
wholehas slightlymore registeredDemocratsthan Republican(s43 percent
to 37 percent),the Democraticplan made Democratsmore numerousthan
Republicanisnthreeof the fourdistricts.

(middle)Excessvote gerrymanderT: heRepublicanplan.Byclusteringa large
shareof thestate's registeredDemocratisn Distric4t, theRepublicanplangave
Republicantshe majorityof registeredvotersin twoof thefourdistricts.

(bothtopandmiddleStackedv) otegerrymanderI.ntheRepublicapnlan,District

4 hasa majorityHispanicpopulationandissurroundedbya C-shapedDistric1t .
TheDemocratipclancreateda long,narrowDistric3t.

(bottom)NonpartisanplanwithoutgerrymanderinTg:heNevadaCourtrejected NEVADA
bothparties'maps and createdregularlyshapeddistrictsthat minimizedger-
rymanderingT.hreeof the fourdistrictshappento havemoreDemocrattshan
Republicanbs,ut Distric3t is nearlyeven.

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I I III I i ., ,

I II

286 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

KEY ISSUE4 from becoming too independent. The Soviet Union sent it
armies into Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 196t
Why Do States to install more sympathetic governments. Because thes,
states were clearly within the orbit of the Soviet Union, th,
Cooperate and Compete United States chose not to intervene militarily. Similarly
with Each Other? the United States sent troops to the Dominican Republil
in 1965, Grenada in 1983, and Panama in 1989 to ensue,
■ Cold War Competition and Alliances that they would remain allies.

■ Terrorism by Individuals and Before the Cold War, the world typically contained moi:
Organizations than two superpowers. Por example, before the outbreak c
World War I in the early twentieth century, there were eigt
■ State Support for Terrorism great powers: Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russi:
the United Kingdom, and the United States. When a larg
Leaming Outcome 8.4.1 number of states ranked as great powers of approximate]
Describe the principal alliances in Europe during the equal strength, no single state could dominate. lnstea,
Cold War era. major powers joined together to form temporary alliances

States compete for many reasons, including control of terri- A condition of roughly equal strength between oppo
tory, access to trade and resources1 and influence over other ing alliances ls known as a balance of power. In contras
states. To further their competitive goals, states may form al- the post-World War 11balance of power was bipolar b
liances with other states. During the Cold War,after World tween the United States and the Soviet Union. Because tr
War □, many states joined regional military alliances. The di- power of these two states was so much greater than tl
vision of the world into military alliances resulted from the power of all other states, the world comprised two cam~
emergence of two states as superpowers-the United States each under the influence of one of the superpowers. 0th
and the Soviet Union. With the end of the Cold War, the states lost the ability to tip the scales significantly in fav
most important alliances are economic rather than military. of one or the other superpower. They were relegated to
With the lessening of the Cold War-era military confronta- new role of either ally or satellite.
tion, violence and wars are increasingly instigated by terrorist
organizations not affiliated with particular states or alliances. CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS. A major confrontation duri:
the Cold War between the United States and Soviet Uni,
Cold War Competition came in 1962, when the Soviet Union secretly beg
and Alliances to construct missile-launching sites in Cuba, less th
150 kilometers (90 miles) from U.S.territory. President Jo:
During the Cold War era (the late 1940s until the early 1990s), F. Kennedy went on national television to demand ti
global and regional organizations were established primar- the missiles be removed, and he ordered a naval blocka
ily to prevent a third world war in the twentieth century to prevent additional Soviet material from reaching Cul
and to protect countries from a foreign attack. With the end
of the Cold War, some of these organizations have flour- At the United Nations, immediately after Soviet Amb
ished and found new roles, whereas others have withered. sador Valerian Zorin denied that his country had pla<
missiles in Cuba, U.S. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson d
ERA OF TWO SUPERPOWERS matically revealed aerial photographs taken by the l
Department of Defense, clearly showing preparations
During the Cold War era, the United States and the Soviet them (see examples in Figure 8-42). Faced with irrefuta
Union were the world's two superpowers. As very large evidence that the missiles existed, the Soviet Union enc
states, both superpowers could quickly deploy armed forces the crisis by dismantling them.
in different regions of the world. To maintain strength in
regions that were not contiguous to their own territory, MILITARY COOPERATION IN EUROPE. After World 1
the United States and the Soviet Union established mil- U, most European states joined one of two military alliar
itary bases in other countries. From these bases, ground dominated by the superpowers-NATO (North Atla1
and air support were in proximity to local areas of conflict. Treaty Organization) or the Warsaw Pact (Figure 8-43, I•
Naval fleets patrolled the major bodies of water. NATO was a military alliance among 16 democratic st,
including the United States and Canada plus 14 Europ
Both superpowers repeatedly demonstrated that they states. The Warsaw Pact was a military agreement am
would use military force if necessary to prevent an ally Communist Eastern European countries to defend f
other in case of attack. Eight members joined the Wai
Pact when it was founded in 1955. Some of Hung;

leaders in 1956 asked for the help of Warsaw Pact tr<
to crush an uprising that threatened Communist cor

of the government. Warsaw Pact troops also inv,
Czechoslovakia in 1968 to depose a government comm
to reforms.

Chapter 8: Political Geography 287

◄ FIGURE 8-42 THE COLD WAR: 1962 CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS
TheU.S.Departmenot f Defensetook aerialphotographsto showthe Soviet
buildupin Cuba.(top)ThreeSovietshipswith missileequipmenat rebeingun-
loadedat Marielnavalport in Cuba.(bottom)Withintheoutlinebox(enlarged
belowandrotated90° clockwisea) reSovietmissiletransportersfu. el trailers.
andoxidizertrailers(usedto supporthecombustionof missilefuel).

NATO and the Warsaw Pact were designed to maintain
a bipolar balance of power in Europe. For NATO allies, the
principal objective was to prevent the Soviet Union from
overrunning West Germany and other smaller countries. The
Warsaw Pact provided the Soviet Union with a buffer of allied
states between it and Germany to discourage a third German
invasion of the Soviet Union in the twentieth century.

In a Europe no longer dominated by military confron-
tation between two blocs, the Warsaw Pact was disbanded,
and the number of troops under NATO command was
sharply reduced. NATOexpanded its membership to include
most of the former Warsaw Pact countries. Membership in
NATO offered Eastern European countries an important
sense of security against any future Russian threat, no
matter how remote that might appear, as well as partic-
ipation in a common united Europe (figure 8-43, right).

Pause and Reflect 8.4.1

How does the map of military alliances in Europe
during the Cold War compare to the map of regime
types (Figure 8-34)7

20' ur 1980 10· II" 2013
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, FIGURE 8-43 EUROPE MILITARY AND ECONOMIC ALLIANCES (left)DuringtheColdWarW. estern
uropeancountriesjoinedtheEuropeaUn nionandtheNorthAtlanticTreatyOrganizatio(nNATO)w, hereasEastern

uropeancountriesjoinedCOMECONandtheWarsawPact(.right)Post-ColdWar.COMECONandtheWarsawPact
avebeendisbandedw, hereasthe EuropeaUn nionandNATOhaveacceptedandplanto acceptnewmembers.

290 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Terrorism by Individuals TERRORISM AGAINST AMERICANS

and Organizations The United States suffered several terrorist attacks durin
the late twentieth century:
Learning Outcome 8.4.3
• December 21, 1988: A terrorist bomb destroyed Pa
Explain the concept of terrorism. Arn Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 25
aboard, plus 11 on the ground.
Terrorism is the systematic use of violence by a group in
order to intimidate a population or coerce a government • February 26, 1993: A car bomb parked in the unde
into granting its demands. Distinctive characteristics of ground garage damaged New York's World Trade Ce
terrorists include: ter, killing 6 and injuring about 1,000.

• Trying to achieve their objectives through organized • April 19, 1995: A car bomb killed 168 people in ti
acts that spread fear and anxiety among the popula- Alfred P.Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
tion, such as bombing, kidnapping, hijacking, taking of
hostages, and assassination. • June 25, 1996: Atruck bomb blew up an apartment cor
plex in Ohahran, Saudi Arabia, killing 19 U.S. soldiE
• Viewing violence as a means of bringing widespread who lived there and injuring more than 100 people.
publicity to goals and grievances that are not being
addressed through peaceful means. • August 7, 1998: U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzar
were bombed, killing 190 and wounding nearly 5,001
• Believing in a cause so strongly that they do not hesi-
tate to attack despite knowing they will probably die in • October 12, 2000:The USSCole was bombed while int
the act. port of Aden, Yemen, killing 17 U.S. service personrn

The term terror (from the Latin "to frighten") was first Some of the terrorists during the 1990s were Americ
applied to the period of the French Revolution between citizens operating alone or with a handful of others:
March 1793 and July 1794, known as the Reign of Terror.
In the name of protecting the principles of the revolution, • Theodore J. Kaczynski, known as the Unabomber, v
the Committee of Public Safety, headed by Maximilien
Robespierre, guillotined several thousand of its political convicted of killing 3 people and injuring 23 oth
opponents. In modern times, the term terrorism has been by sending bombs through the mail during a 17-y,
applied to actions by groups operating outside government period. His targets were mainly academics in techr
rather than to groups of official government agencies, logical disciplines and executives in businesses wh1
although some governments provide military and financial actions he considered to be adversely affecting I
support for terrorists. environment.

Many political leaders have been assassinated, though • Timothy J. McVeigh was convicted and executed
this is not considered terrorism. For example: the Oklahoma City bombing. For assisting McVei
Terry I. Nichols was convicted of conspiracy ,
• Four U.S. presidents-Lincoln (1865), Garfield {1881), involuntary manslaughter but not executed. McVe
McKinley (1901), and Kennedy (1963). claimed that his terrorist act was provoked by r
against the U.S.government for such actions as the I
• Roman Emperor Julius Caesar (44 s.c.), vividly re-created eral Bureau of Investigation's 51-day siege of the Bra1
for future generations through Shakespeare's play. Davidian religious compound near Waco, Texas, cul
nating with an attack on April 19, 1993, that resu.
• Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria- in 80 deaths.
Hungary, by a Serb in Sarajevo (capital of present-day
Bosnia and Herzegovina),. June 28, 1914, which led SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 ATTACKS
directly to the outbreak of World War I.
The most dramatic terrorist attacks against the Un
Terrorism differs from assassination and other acts of States came on September 11, 2001 (Figure 8-47). The
political violence in that attacks are aimed at ordinary est buildings in the United States, the 110-story twin to'
people rather than at military targets or political lead- of the World Trade Center in New YorkCity, were destrc
ers. Other types of military action can result in civilian (Figure 8-48), and the Pentagon, near Washington, I
deaths-bombs can go astray, targets can be misidenti- was damaged. The attacks resulted in nearly 3,000 fataE
fied, or an enemy's military equipment can be hidden
in civilian buildings-but average individuals are unin- • 93 (77 passengers, 11 crew members, and 5 terro1
tended victims rather than principal targets in most con- on American Airlines Flight 11, which crashed
flicts. A terrorist considers all citizens responsible for the World Trade Center Tower 1 (North Tower).
actions he or she opposes, so they are therefore equally
legitimate as victims. • 65 (51 passengers, 9 crew members, and 5 terrorist
United Airlines Flight 175, which crashed into \ii
Trade Center Tower 2 (South Tower).

• 2,605 on the ground at the World Trade Center.

1IlfllHIHI1I1111I1,1I0 : : ·11Rl1

◄ FIGURE 8-47 TERRORIST

ATTACK ON THE WORLD

TRADE CENTER

On Septembe1r1,2001,at 9:03
A.M., Unitedflight 175approaches
WorldTradeCenteTr ower2 (left)
andcrasheisntoit (right)T. owe1r
is alreadyburningfromthecrash
ofAmericaFnlight11at 8:45A.M.

attacks, was the al-Qaeda

network, founded by

Osama bin Laden. His

father, Mohammed

bin Laden, a native

of Yemen, established

a construction com-

pany in Saudi Arabia

and became a billion-

aire through close con-

nections to the royal

family. Osama bin

Laden, one of about

50 children fathered

• 64 (53 passengers, 6 crew members, and 5 terrorists) by Mohammed with several wives, used his several-hun-

on American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the dred-million-dollar inheritance to fund al-Qaeda (an Ara-

Pentagon. bic word meaning "the foundation," or "the base") around

• 125 on the ground at the Pentagon. 1990 to unite oppositionfighters in Afghanistan, as well as

• 44 (33 passengers, 7 crew members, and 4 terrorists) on supporters of bin Laden elsewhere in the Middle East.
United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed near Shanks- Bin Laden moved to Afghanistan during the mid-
ville, Pennsylvania, after passengers fought with terror-
ists on board, preventing an attack on another Wash- 1980s to support the fight against the Soviet army and the
ington, D.C., target. country's Soviet-installed government. Calling the anti-
Soviet fight a holy war, or jihad, bin Laden recruited mili-
Responsible or implicated in most of the anti-U.S. ter- tant Muslims from Arab countries to join the cause. After
rorism during the 1990s, as well as the September 11, 2001, the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, bin
Laden returned to Saudi Arabia, but he was expelled in

1991 for opposing the Saudi government's decision per-

mitting the United States to station troops there during

the 1991 war against Iraq. Bin Laden moved to Sudan but

was expelled in 1994 for instigating attacks against U.S.

troops in Yemen and Somalia, so he returned to Afghani-

stan, where he .lived as a "guest" of the Taliban-controlled

government.

Bin Laden issued a declaration of war against the United

States in 1996 because of U.S. support for Saudi Arabia

and l.srael. In a 1998 fatwa ("religious decree"), bin Laden

argued that Muslims have a duty to wage a holy war against

U.S. citizens because the United States was responsible for

maintaining the Saud royal family as rulers of Saudi Arabia

._ and a state of Israel dominated by Jews. Destruction of the

A FIGURE 8-48 AFTERMATH OF WORLD TRADE CENTER ATTACK Saudi monarchy and the Jewish state of Israel would liber-

Lasertechnologywas usedto createa topographicmapof the WorldTrade ate from their control Islam's three holiest sites of Makkah
Centesr iteonSeptembe1r9,2001,eightdaysaftertheattack.Colorsrepresent (Mecca), Madinah, and Jerusalem.

elevationabovesealevel(in green)or belowsealevel(in red)of thedestroyed

buildingsR. ubblewaspiledmorethan60feethighwherethetwintowersonce

stood.Thetop of the imagefacesnortheasWt. estStreetrunsacrossthe fore- Pause and Reflect 8.4.3

grounda, ndLibertyStreetrunsbetweenthebottomcenterandtheupperright. How has travel in the United States been affected by
Tower1 rubbleis thesquare-shapepdilein themiddleof theblockfacingWest the 9/11 attacks?
StreetT. heremainsofTower2 faceLibertyStreet.

291

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I I i I I :' II I 'II 11: : 1111,11 1I 1 I I I i, , II I I' 'I'
I )'
I I Ii. II II l 11 ' I
I
.. I! . li

292 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

AL-QAEDA • September 9, 2004: Car bombs killed 3 at the Aust1
embassy, also in Jakarta.
Learning Outcome 8.4.4
Describe ways that states have sponsored terrorism. • October 1, 2005: Attacks on a downtown squz
Kuta as well as a food court in Jimbaran, also or
Al-Qaeda has been implicated in several attacks since 9/11: killed 26.

• May 8, 2002: 13 died in a car bomb detonated outside • July 17, 2009: Bombs killed 9 at the Marriott anc
the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi, Pakistan. Carlton hotels in Jakarta.

• May 12, 2003: 35 died (including 9 terrorists) in car Other terrorist groups have been loosely asso
bomb detonations at two apartment complexes in with al-Qaeda. For example:
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
• November 28, 2002: A Somali terrorist group
• November 15, 2003: Truck bombs killed 29 (including 10 Kenyan dancers and 3 Israeli tourists at a rei
2 terrorists) at two synagogues in Istanbul, Turkey. Mombasa, Kenya, and fired two missiles at an
airplane taking off from the Mombasa airport.
• November 20, 2003: 32 (including 2 terrorists) were
killed at the British consulate and British-owned HSBC • March 11, 2004: A local terrorist group blew up :
Bank in fstanbul. commuter trains in Madrid, Spain, killing 192.

• May 29, 2004: 22 died in attacks on oil company offices Al-Qaeda's use of religion to justify attacks has
in Khobar, Saudi Arabia. challenges to Muslims and non-Muslims alike. For
Muslims, the challenge has been to express disagrE
• July 7, 2005: 56 died (including 4 terrorists) when sev- with the policies of governments in the United
eral subway trains and buses were bombed in London, and Europe yet disavow the use of terrorism. For
England .. Americans and Europeans, the challenge has been
tinguish between the peaceful but unfamiliar pri
• July 23, 2005: 88 died in bombings of resort hotels in and practices of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims a
Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt. misuse and abuse of Islam by a handful of terrorist:

• November 9, 2005: 63 died in the bombing of three State Support for Terrorism
American-owned hotels in Amman, Jordan.
Several states in the Middle East have provided :
• September 28, 2008: 54 died in a truck bombing of a for terrorism in recent years, at three increasing I
hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan. involvement:

• December 25, 2009: Al-Qaeda member Umar Farouk • Providing sanctuary for terrorists wanted b:
Abdulmatallab, a passenger on a flight from Amster- countries.
dam to Detroit, tried to detonate explosives sewn into
his underwear. Passengers put out the flames from the • Supplying weapons, money, and intelligence to ti
failed detonation and restrained the operative until the
plane landed. Abdulmatallab was sentenced to four • Planning attacks using terrorists.
consecutive life terms plus 50 years.
SANCTUARY FOR TERRORISTS
Al-Qaeda is not a single unified organization, and the
number involved in al-Qaeda is unknown. Bin Laden was Afghanistan and probably Pakistan have provided
advised by a small leadership council, which has sev- ary for al-Qaeda terrorists.
eral committees that specialize in areas such as finance,
military, media, and religious policy. In addition to the AFGHANISTAN. The United States attacked Afg
original organization founded by Osama bin Laden re- in 2001, when its leaders, known as the Taliban, :
sponsible for the World Trade Center attack, al-Qaeda also bin Laden and other al-Qaeda terrorists. During the
encompasses local franchises concerned with country- Tora Bora in December 2001, the United States ove,
specific issues, as well as imitators and emulators ideologi- tions held by al-Qaeda, but bin Laden escaped (Fig,
cally aligned with al-Qaeda but not financially tied to it.
The Taliban had gained power in Afghanistan
Jemaah fslamiyah is an example of an al-Qaeda franchise and had imposed strict Islamic fundamentalist la
with local concerns, specifically with establishing funda- population. Afghanistan's Taliban leadership treatc
mentalist Islamic governments in Southeast Asia. Jemaah especially harshly. Women were prohibited from ,
Islamiyah terrorist activities have been concentrated in the school, working outside the home, seeking healtl
world's most populous Muslim country, Indonesia: driving a car. They were permitted to leave horr
fully covered by clothing and escorted by a male r
• October 12, 2002: A nightclub in the resort town of
Kuta on the island of Bali was bombed, killing 202. The six years of Taliban rule temporarily sup
civil war that has raged in Afghanistan on and
• August 5, 2003: Car bombs killed 12 at a Marriott hotel the 1970s. The civil war began in 1973, when thE
in the capital Jakarta.

f flGURE8-49 AFGHANISTAN A mujahadeefnighterkneelsbythe Chapter 8: Political Geography 293
entranceto a caveusedbyal-Qaedafightersin theToraBoramountainsof
easternAfghanistanD, ecembe1r8,2001. Pause and Reflect 8.4.4
Suspected terrorists captured primarily in
Afghanistan have been detained at a detention camp
run by the United States at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Do you think that suspected terrorists should be tried
in a U.S. military court, brought to the United States
for civilian trials, or sent back to the country from
which they were captured?

PAKISTAN. The war on terrorism spilled over horn

Pakistan's western neighbor Afghanistan. Western Pakistan,

along the border with Afghanistan, is a rugged, mountainous

region inhabited by several ethnic minorities where the

Taliban have been largely in control. U.S. intelligence and

other experts thought that bin Laden was hiding out in the

Taliban-controlled mountains of western Pakistan, but they

were wrong. Navy SEALSkilled bin Laden in a compound

in the city of Abbottabad, only 120 kilometers (75 miles)

from the capital.

The United States believed that Pakistan security had

to be aware that bin Laden had been living in the com-

pound for at least five years. The compound was heav-

overthrown in a bloodless coup led by Mohammed Daoud ily fortified, surrounded by high walls and barbed wire

Khan. Daoud was murdered five years later and replaced (Figure 8-50). Furthermore, the compound was located

by a government led by military officers sympathetic to only 6 kilometers (4 miles) from the Pakistan Military

the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union sent 115,000 troops Academy, the country's principal institution for training

to Afghanistan beginning in 1979, after fundamentalist military officers, equivalent to the U.S. Military Academy

Muslims, known as mujahedeen,or "holy warriors," started in West Point. For their part, Pakistani officials were upset

a rebellion against the pro-Soviet government. that the United States attacked the compound without their

Although heavily outnumbered by Soviet troops and knowledge.

possessing much less sophisticated equipment, the muja-

hedeen offset the Soviet advantage by wag-

ing a guerrilla war in the country's rugged

mountains, where they were more comfort-

able than the Soviet troops and where Soviet

air superiority was ineffective. Unable to sub-

due the mujahedeen, the Soviet Union with-

drew its troops in 1989; the Soviet-installed

government in Afghanistan collapsed in

1992. After several years of infighting among

the factions that had defeated the Soviet

Union, the Taliban gained control over most

of the country.

Six years of Taliban rule came to an end in

2001, following the U.S. invasion. Destroy-

ing the Taliban was necessary in order for

the United States to go after al-Qaeda lead-

ers, including bin Laden, who were living

in Afghanistan as guests of the Taliban. Re-

moval of the Taliban unleashed a new strug-

gle for control of Afghanistan among the

country's many ethnic groups. When U.S. at-

tention shifted to Iraq and Iran, the Taliban

were able to regroup and resume an insur-

gency against the U.S.-backed Afghanistan .A.FIGURE 8-50 OSAMA BIN LADEN'SCOMPOUND, PAKISTAN Whilein thiscompound,

government. OsamabinLadenwaskilledbyU.SN. avySEALS.

294 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE record of brutality justified replacing him with a demc
cratically elected government, according to U.S. official
-~:--------------------------
Having invaded Iraq and removed Hussein from powe
SUPPLYING TERRORISTS the United States expected an enthusiastic welcome fro1
the Iraqi people. Instead, the United States became en
learning Outcome 8.4.5 broiled in a complex and violent struggle among the1
Describe alleged sponsorship of terrorism in Iraq various religious sects and tribes.
and Iran.

lraq and Iran have both been accused of providing mate- IRAN. Hostility between the United States and Iran dat
rial and financial support for terrorists. The extent of their from 1979, when a revolution forced abdication of Irar
involvement in terrorism is controversial, especially in the pro-U.S. Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Iran's majori
case of Iraq. Shiite population had demanded more democra1
rule and opposed the Shah's economic modernizatic
IRAQ. U.S.claims of state-sponsored terrorism proved more program that generated social unrest. Supporters of exil,
fundamentalist Shiite Muslim leader Ayatollah Ruholii
controversial with regard to Iraq than to Afghanistan. The Khomeini then proclaimed Iran an Islamic republic a1
United States led an attack against lraq in 2003 in order to rewrote the constitution to place final authority with tl

depose Saddam Hussein, the country 1s longtime president. ayatollah. Militant supporters of the ayatollah seized t:
U.S. officials' justification for removing Hussein was that
he had created biological and chemical weapons of mass U.S. embassy on November 4, 1979, and held 62 America
destruction. These weapons could fall into the hands of hostage until January ZO, 1981.
terrorists, the U.S. government charged, because close links
were said to exist between Iraq's government and al-Qaeda. Iran and Iraq fought a war between 1980 and 1988 o\
The United Kingdom and a few other countries joined in control of the Shatt al-Arab waterway, formed by the co
the 2003 attack, but most countries did not offer support. fluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flowing into t
Persian Gulf. Forced to cede control of the waterway
U.S. confrontation with Iraq predated the war on ter- Iran in 1975, Iraq took advantage of Iran's revolution
ror. From the time he became president of Iraq in 1979, seize the waterway in 1980, but Iran was not defeated 01
Hussein's behavior had raised concern around the world. right, so an eight-year war began that neither side was al
War with neighbor Iran, begun in 1980, ended 8 years to win. An estimated 1.5 million died in the war, whi
later in stalemate. A nuclear reactor near Baghdad, where
nuclear weapons to attack Israel were allegedly being de- ended when the two countries accepted a UN peace pla
veloped, was destroyed in 1981 by Israeli planes. Hussein
ordered the use of poison gas in 1988 against Iraqi Kurds, When the United States launched its war on terrori:
killing 5,000. Iraq's 1990 invasion of neighboring Kuwait, after 9/11, Afghanistan was the immediate target, follov.
which Hussein claimed was part of Iraq, was opposed by by Iraq. But after the election of Mahmoud /\hmadinej
the international community. as president in 2005, relations between the United Sta
and Iran deteriorated. The United States accused Iran
The 1991 U.S.-Jed Gulf War, known as Operation Des- harboring al-Qaeda members and of trying to gain inf
ert Storm, drove Iraq out of Kuwait, but it failed to remove ence in Iraq, where, as in Iran, the majority of the peo
Hussein from power. Desert Storm was supported by nearly were Shiites. More troubling to the international comn
every country in the United Nations because the purpose nity was Iran's aggressive development of a nuclear p
was to end one country's unjustified invasion and at- gram. Iran claimed that its nuclear program was for civil
tempted annexation of another. ln contrast, few countries purposes, but other countries believed that it was intenc
supported the U.S.-Ied attack in 2003; most did not agree to develop weapons. Prolonged negotiations were unc
with the U.S. assessment that Iraq still possessed weapons taken to dismantle lran's nuclear capabilities without
of mass destruction or intended to use them. sorting to yet another war in the Middle East.

The U.S. assertion that Hussein had close links with al- Pause and Reflect 8.4.5
Qaeda was also challenged by most other countries, as well
as ultimately by U.S. intelligence agencies. What events have occurred in Iran since this book
was published?
As the United States moved toward war with Iraq in
2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell scheduled a speech STATETERRORIST ATTACKS: LIBYA
at the UN to present evidence to the world justifying mili-
tary action against Iraq. Recalling the Cuban Missile Crisis The government of Libya was accused of sponsorin
(refer to Figure 8-42), Powell displayed a series of air pho- 1986 bombing of a nightclub in Berlin, Germany, that
tos designed to prove that Iraq possessed weapons of mass popular with U.S. military personnel then stationed th
destruction. However, the photos did not provide clear ev- killing three (including one U.S. soldier). U.S. relati
idence (Figure 8-51). with Libya had been poor since 1981, when U.S. air<
shot down attacking Libyan warplanes while conduc
Lacking evidence of weapons of mass destruction and
ties to al-Qaeda, the United States argued instead that
Iraq needed a "regime change." Hussein's quarter-century

Chapter 8: Political Geography 295

• FIGURE 8-51 AIR PHOTOS ALLEGING IRAQ'S PREPARATIONS FOR CHEMICAL WARFARE (left) U.S.
satelliteimagepurportingto show15munitionsbunkersinTaji,Iraq.(center)Close-upof allegedmunitionsbunker
outlinedin rednearthebottomof the left imageT. hetrucklabeled"decontaminationvehicle"turnedout to bea
watertruck.(right)Close-upof thetwo bunkerso,utlinedin redin the middleof the left image,allegedlysanitized.

exercises over waters in the Mediterranean Sea that the 772 over Niger in 1989. Following 8 years of UN economic
United States considered international but that Libya con- sanctions, Qaddafi turned over suspects in the Lockerbie
,sidered inside its territory. In response to the Berlin bomb- bombing for a trial that was held in the Netherlands under
ing, U.S. bombers attacked the Libyan cities of Tripoli and Scottish law. One of the two was acquitted; the other, Abdel
Benghazi in a failed attempt to kill Colonel Muammar Basset Ali al-Megrahi, was convicted and sentenced to life
el-Qaddafi. imprisonment, but he was released in 2009 after he was di-
agnosed with terminal cancer. Libya renounced terrorism
Libyan agents were found to have planted bombs on Pan in 2003 and has provided compensation for victims of Pan
Am Flight 103 that killed 270 people in Lockerbie, Scotland, Am 103. UN sanctions have been lifted, and Libya is no
in 1988 (Figure 8-52), as well as 170 people on UTAFlight longer considered a state sponsor of terrorism.

~ FIGURE 8-52 STATE-SPONSORED TERRORISM During Arab Spring, Qaddafi tried to crush protests
with extreme violence, resulting in thousands of deaths
Libyaauthorizedthe bombingof PanAm Flight 103, which blew up over and violations of human rights. To protect the protestors,
the UN authorized member states to attack pro-Qaddafi
·~LockerbieS,cotlandi,n 1988,killingall 259aboardp, lus11on theground. forces. A coalition of 30 member states launched air and
naval attacks that enabled the anti-Qaddafi forces to take
the offensive and ultimately succeed. Qaddafi was cap-
tured and killed.

CHECK-IN:KEY ISSUE4

Why Do States Cooperate and Compete
With Each Other?

✓ During the Cold War, the world was divided
into two alliances led by superpowers.

✓ With the end of the Cold War, economic
alliances have become more important.

✓ Terrorism by individuals and organizations has
included the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

✓ Some states have provided support for
terrorism.

296 THE CULTUR~L L.AN0SCARE

Summary and Review 2KEY ISSUE

1KEY ISSUE Why Are Nation-States Difficult to Create?

Where Are States Distributed? 1'.na:tien-state is a state whos.e terntoFy matches tl~at 0cculi'ied
an ethniei~. l't'is impossible to fiI'ld a pe,rfe1ttmatch between t
Earth's land ar-ea is divi<!iedint0 neatly 2QO states. A state is a l:!ounda.ciesof a state and tl:le area inh.abited by a sJ.ngleethnic!
politic;al unit, witlli an organize<ilg0~emment and sovereigncy,.
LEARNINGOUTCOME8.2.1: Understand the difference between
LEARNINGOUTCOME8.1.1: ~plain the three eras of rapi<ilgwwth 11ati0n-state an<!ia n;iultinatiopal state.
jn lJN memlDershlp.
• N0 perfe1::tna\ii.0n-state1, exists, bt1t s0me states come close.
• All but a handful 0J state~ are .member,s 0f the UN. • A mul,tinati0nal s~a,te e!mtains multiple ebhniicities rc1th
• UN memb,ership grew:t:apiclly in 1956, 1-960, <1ndthe 1990s.
than a single ethni1::it:y,
LEARNINGOUTCOME8. L2: Explain why it is difficult to deter-
mine whether some ternitor4es are states. LEARNINGOUT<::OM8E.2.2: .Describe differences among s·tates fo
merly, in the Soviet Union.
• Several places are not universally recognized as so¥erel'gn.
• TlileU.S.S.R. was once the worlC!l'slargest multinational stat
• P0lar regions have not ti.een organized into st-ates, although
neighboring states have rnmpeting dajms on them. • The country's largest ethnicLties weioeorganized into 15 n

LEARNINGOUTCOME8.1.3: Explain the cone~pt of nation-state ipub!Ics that are now in.dependent states.
and how it differs 'from earlier ways· to govern.
LEARNINGOUTCOME8.2-.3:Describe patterns of distribution
• Dividing the worl<!iinto states is a modern concept. ethnicities in Russia an<ilthe Caucasus.

• Historically, mo~t of Earth's surface was organized in other • Russia is now the world's largest multinational state, with ni
ways, such as empires, or els.e unorganized. merous ethnic groups.

THINKING GEOGRAPHICALLY8.1: A century ago the British geog- • The Caucasus Mountain region contains a complex array
ethnicities divided among several small states.
rapher Halford J. Mackinder identified a heartland in the interior
LEARNINGOUTCOME8.2.4: Explain the concept of colonies an
of Eurasia (Europe and Asia) that was isolated by mountain ranges describe their current distribution.
and the Ar{:ticOcean. Mackinder argued that whoever controlled
the heartland would control Eurasia and hence the enthe world. • Acolony is territory legally tied to a state. Into the twentieth ce1
To what extent has Mackinder's theory been validated during the tury, much of the world consisted of colonies, but few remain.
twentieth century by the creation and then the dismantling of
the Soviet Union? THINKING GEOGRAPHICALLY8.2: To what extent should a coul
try's ability to provide its citizens with food, jobs, econom
GOOGLEEARTH8.1: The smallest state Is the Holy See (Vatican). security, and material wealth, rather than the principle of sel
What is housed in the gove,rnment building immediately to the determination, become the basis for dividing the world into i1
west of St Peter's (identified in Google Earth 6.1)? dependent countries?

GOOGLE EARTH8.2; The boundary between what states ru
through the Caucasus Mountains?

Key Terms Colonialism (p.274) An allemplbyonecountry Fragmented state (p. 281) Astate that includ
to establish settlements and to severa.ldiscoulinuous pieceso( teultory.
Anocracy (p. 282) A country that is not fully impose ils politi.cal,economic, and cultural
democratic or fully autocratic, but rather dis- principles in another territory. Frontier (p. 276) Azone separating two states
plays a mix of lhe two types. which neither state exercisespolitical contrc
Autocracy (p. 282) A country that is run Colony (p. 274) A territory that is legally tied Gerrymandering(p. 284) Theproccssofrcdra
according to the interests of the ruler rather to a sovereign state rather than comrletely ing legislative boundaries for the purpose of
than the people. independent. benefiting the party in power.
Landlocked state (p. 281) Astate that does n
Balance of power (p. 286) A condition of Compact state (p. 280) A state in which U1e have a direct outlet to the sea.
roughly equal strength between opposing distance from the cente.rto any boundary
countries or alliances of countries. does not vary significantly. Microstate (p. 261) Astate that encompass
very small land area.
Boundary (p. 276) An invisible line that marks Democracy (p. 282) A country in which
the extent of a state's territory. citizens elect leaders and can run for office. Multiethn.ic stale (p. 268) Astate that con-
tains more than one ethnicity.
City-state (p. 266) Asovereign state compris- Elongated state (p. 280) Astate with a long,
ing a city and its immediately surrounding narrow shape. Multinational state (p. 268) Astate that coi
countryside. tains two or more ethnic groups with tradi-
Federal state (p. 283) An internal organization tions of self-determination that agree to
of a slale that allocates most powers to units
of local government.

Chapter 8: Po.lltica·lGeognaphy 297

KEY ISSUE 3 KEY ISSUE4

Why Do Boundaries Cause Problems? Why Do States Cooperate and Compete
with Each Other?
States .u:e $ep.ai;ated by boundar-iesi which are e1t'l'letphysi<>a-©1I
cultural. Bound311iesaMect the shape of a <;:ountryaad aHect"the Competition among states ha5 0een replaced in some regions
ability 0£ a c0untry te liv:e peaaefuUy with its meighbors. by ea0n.omic allian:ce,.;,especlallf in Europe. At the same time,
'Violence has inereaseCilin the world bec;:au.seo.f terrorist attac;:k,s.
LEARNINGOUTCOME8.3.1: !Describethe eypes bf plil.ysicalboun<il~
aries betweeNstates. LEARNING OUTCOME 8.4.1: J.illescri'bethe prmcipal alHamces in
Europe dming the Cold War era,
• Physical features used t0 delineate bmmdaries include deserts,
• States Were allied with tliletwo supetpowers, the So:vietUnion
mountains, amab0dies of water. and the l:Jnited States,

LEARNINGOUTCOME8.3.2: Descoibe the types of cultural b0und- LEARNINGOUTCOME8.4.2: Desoribe the prin.cipal economic alli-
aries between sfates. aac-es in Europe in tne P,erio.dsince World War II.

• Oe0metry and ethnidties can be used to delineate rnlturaJ • With the end of the Cold War, economic a,llian.cesTuavere-
boundar,ies between st-ates. plaeed militar:y alliances in imp0itan11:e, especial'ly in Europe.

LEARNINGOUTCOME8.3.3: Descdbe five shapes 0f states. LEARNINGOUiJ"COME8.4.3: Explain the concept of terrorism.
Stares take five forms: com,pact, elomgated, pD@rupte<dp,erfo-
rated, and fragmented. • Terror,ism is the systematic use of vfolence to intimidate a

LEARNINGOUTCOME8.3.4: Describe tliffer-ences among the three populatiol'l o.rooerce a goviernment.
regime types.
LEARNING OUTCOME8.4.4: Descr-ibe ways that states have spon-
• Regimes c-an be democratic, anocratic, or autocra"tic; the trend sored terrorism.
has 1;,eent0waid more demoora'tic regimes.
• States have Sllpported terrorism by providing sanctuary toter-
• Local governments can be organized acc0rding t0 unitary or rorists, supplying them with weapons and intelligence, and
federal state principles; the trend has been t0ward more fed- planning state-s,ppnsored attacks.
eral states.
THINKING GEOGRAPHICALLY8.4: In his book 1984, Geor,geOrwell
LEARNINGOUTCOME8.3.5: Explain the concept of gerrymander- divided the world into three states, controlling people through
ing and three ways that it is done. technology. To what extent has Orwell's Vision of a global '{>Oliti-
cal order been realized in an age of terrorism?
• Gerrymandering is the redrawing 0f elect~xal districts to ben-
efit the party in power. GOOGLE EARTH8.4: If you zoom into the center of Abbotabad,
Pakistan, where Osama bin Laden's hideout was located, turn on
• Three forms of gerrymandering are wasted vote, excess vote, 30, switch to ground-level view, and pan around, what is the
and stacked vote. only 3D building? Given the distributi0n of religions discussed in
Chapter 6, why does this building seem out of place here?
THINKING GEOGRAPHICALLY 8.3: Given the movement to-
ward increased local government autonomy on the one hand
and increased authority for international organizations on the
other, what is the future of the nation-state? Have political and
economic trends since the 1990s strengthenect the concept of
nation-state or weakened it?

GOOGLEEARTH8.3: Portions of what four states can be seen near
the Libyan Desert?

MasteringGeographyTM

coexist peacefully by recognizing each other Looking for additional review and test
as distinct nationalities.
Sovereignty (p. 261) Ability of a state to govern prep materials? Visit the Study Area in
Nation-state (p. 267) A stale whose territory its territory free from control of ils internal af•
corresponds to that occupied by a particular MasteringGeography™ to enhance your
ethnicity that has been transfotmed into a fairs by other states.
nationality.
State (p. 261) Anarea organlzed Into a political geographic literacy, spatial reasoning
Perforated state (p. 281) .As. tate that completely
surrounds another one. unit and mled by an established government skills, and understanding of this chapter's

Prorupted state (p. 280) An otherwise compact that has control over its internal and foreign content by accessinga variety of resources,
state with a large projecting extension. affairs.

Self-determination (p. 267) The concept Terrorism (p.290)Thesystematicuseofviolcnce including MapMaster'"interactive maps,
that ethnicities have the right to govern
themselves. by a group in order to intimidate a population videos, RSS feeds, flashcards, web links,
or coerce a government into

granting its demands. self-study quizzes, and an eText version of

Unitary state (p. 283) An internal organization The Cultural Landscape.

of a state that places most power in the hands www.masteringgeography.com
of central government officials.

IMIRftffflHlfltllflffHf IIH

'

Development

Why doe'SIndiaha11eso manyburieaucrats7Page328 Whyis this coffeespecial?Page336

1KEY ISSUE ---Dlv~CWl'ltrtt 2KEY ISSUE -~
----'
-Ot-,fk,ped~t'I Why Does
Why Does jlafl~ll'«A\OI Development
Development Vary by Gender?
Vary among
Countries? GenderInequalityp. 310

Developedand Developing TheUNsaysthat menare treated better than women
Countriesp. 301 everywhere.

Everycountryis at some levelof development.

KEY ISSUE3 .AThistr.uckis trQveUngTr-ans-Africal!nligh·
way 8, whicliis the principaleast-west ~oad
Why Are Energy acr.ossAfr-lea6, ,259 ldlometeT:(S3,,890miles,
Resources betweenMombasa,Kenyaa, nd La.9osN; igeria.
Important for Aidf~omthe United~at.ionsand other inter-
Development? national organiiations has fonded construc-
tion of the road. The eastern and western
sedrons of the route ar;epaved,but the cen-
tral portion, thr,ot1ghthe Democr.atkRepub-
licof Congo,is unpaved.Theabsenceof good
roads is one of many obstacles to de.velop-
meJ;litn s.ub-SaharanAfrica.

KEY ISSUE4

Why Do Countries
FaceObstacles to
Development?

It Takesa Lotof Energyp. 314 Tradeor StandAlone?p. 328

Development needs abundant energy, but some sources are Countrieschoose paths to developmentand lookfor moneyto
being depleted. finance it.

299

: 'I I I11i ·' I I 'II I' I
I!I I I 1'1 I1
I II
I' I I 'I. I
I Ii I I II I I
I
I

Introducing country, has progressed further along the develo
ment conlinuum.

Development • A developing country, also frequently called a less d
veloped country (LDC), has made some progress t
Previous chapters examined global demo-
graphic and cultural patterns. Birth, death, ward development, though less than the develope

countries. Recognizing that progress has varied wide!
among developing countries, the UN divides them int
high, medium, and low development.

and natural increase rates vary among re- The first geographic task is to identify where countrie
gions of the world, and people in different are located, based on their level of development. Geo .
regions also have different social customs, raphers observe that developed countries cluster in so
languages, religions, and ethnic identities. spaces and developing countries in other spaces, based 01
Political problems arise when the distribu- their level of development.
tion of cultural characteristicsdoes not match
Geographers divide the world into nine regio11sp, lus se
era! other areas, according to their level of development, a

well as olher physical and cultmal features (Figure 9-1). Eac

the boundaries between states. Chapter 8 place has distinctive demographic and cultural characterll
pointed out that in the contemporary world, tics that have been discussed in earlier chapters. Substantl
global military confrontation and alliances variations in development also occur within regions an
have been replaced by global economiccom-
petition and cooperation. within individual countries, especially larger ones.

Nexl, geographers are concerned with why some deve
opment varies among and within regions. A number ~
economic, social, and demographic indicators distlnguis,

The remainder of this book concentrates on economic el- regions according to their level of development. The seal
ements of human geography. This chapter examines the of the severe economic downturn that began in 2008 ha
most fundamental global economic pattern: the division illustrated the globalization of the economy in the twent
of the world into relatively wealthy regions and relatively
poor ones. Subsequent chapters look at the three basic ifirst century. In the recent recession, individual countri
ways that humans earn a living: growing food, manufac-
have had their economies severely buffeted by close co,
turing products, and providing services. ln a global econ- nectio11s to the global economy. A return to econom·
growth has necessitated taking advantage of local diversit
omy, geographers are increasingly concerned with both in skills and resources.

the similarities and the differences in the economic pat- 1• KEY ISSUE describes key economic and cultural fa
terns of the various regions.
tors that distinguish level of development in the r.
Earth's nearly 200 countries can be classified according gions of the world, as well as where the distribution
to their level of development, which is the process of im- regions is according to level of developmenl.
proving the material conditions of people through diffu-
sion of knowledge and technology: • 2KEY ISSUE explains wh}' development varies b

• A developed country, also known as a more de- gender. The extent of inequality between men a1

vcloped country (MDC) or relatively developed women is an important element of a country's level

..=.,-,_..,,...,,""-_,,,_ , ---...~- ~ development.
.160' iso-yoJ-OOa'O' 6-0'.<O' 20' O' 20' •Q' eo-·so:'1o!i"1iuc 140'100-._;:180',
/7--.·_.,.__"_""""r'-'"-•_..,~'-.,.,._ L- ' -~80' • 3KEY ISSUE looks at the impo
,.: /h •
• ~ARCTIC'ffl!:: v • -· '-,." tance of energy for developrnen
OCEAN Geographers observe localdiversi
._ in the supply of energy resource
Some regions have abundant su1
60' L- __,__..,_,D' plies, whereas others have few e
ergy resources, and the distrib1
Developedregions: lf.Ol~c~\-- tion of the supply does not mato
NorthAmerica
~§,i=:,..\;---\--,\---'---20'
• Europe
• Japan Cl~~ I
• SouthPacific
,..,awO'
Developingregions:

the distribution of the consume

of energy.

40''--1----',--I' .J''---4--__J'---'--.:__-l--o ...--i.000--1- 4• KEY ISSUE looks at altemati

Sub-SaharaAnfrica \ '/ o/ 1.rn/ <,oop'K,"ilom strategies for promoting develoJ
Russia ment. With globalization of ti·
100' 80' 6-0" 40' O' 'lfJ' •ll' 60' 80' 100" IW' 140' 160' 180' world's economy, most count(
pursue development through
.._FIGURE9·1 DEVELOPMENRTEGIONSGeographedrsividetheworldintotwodevelopeadndseven teraction with other places.
developinrgegionsR. ussiat,heworld'slargestcountryis, classifiebdyitselfJ.apanisclassifiesdeparately,
becauseItslevelofdevelopmenistmuchhigherthanthatofitsneighborTs.heSouthPacifiicsa muchless
populouasreathantheninedevelopmenretgions.

Chapter 9: Development 301

KEY ISSUE 1 Developed
Developing

Why Does SouthPacific
NorthAmerica
Development Vary
Japan
Europe

among Countries? Russia
LatinAmerica

■ A Decent Standard of Living EastAsia
SouthwesAt sia
■ A Long and Healthy Life andNorthAfrica
SoutheasAt sia
■ Accessto Knowledge
CentraAl sia
Every place lies at some point along a continuum of devel-
opment. The development process is continuous, involv- e:::===:~~=:;~-------~SouthAsia
ing never-ending actions to constantly improve the health
and prosperity of the people. Because many countries clus- SubSaharanAfrica
ter at the high or low end of the continuum of develop-
ment, they can be divided into two groups. 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
HDI
To measure the level of development of every country,
the UN created the Human Development Index (HDI). A FIGURE9-3 HDI BY REGIONRegionsandotherareasareshownin order
The UN has computed HDis for countries every year since of levelof developmentD. evelopedregionsarein red,anddevelopingregions
1980, although it has occasionally modified the method of in green.Similarpatternswill be usedfor a numberof chartsin thischapter.
computation. The highest HDIpossible is 1.0, or 100 percent
(Figure 9-2). The HDf considers development to be a func- • North America. Both the United States and Canada are
tion of three factors: in the very high developed category.

• Europe. All but a handful of countries in Eastern Europe
are in the very high developed category.

• Latin America. Most HDls are in the high developing
category.

• A decent standard of living. • East Asia. Most HDis are in the medium developing
• A long and healthy life. category.

• Access to knowledge. • Central Asia. On average, the level of development
is medium, but development varies widely among
Each country gets an overall HDI score based on these countries, from high (such as Iran) to low (such as
three factors, and countries are grouped into four classes Afghanistan).
according to HDI: very high, developed, and high, me-
dium, and low. developing (Figure 9-3). The nine regions • Southeast Asia. Most HD!s are in the medium develop-
shown in Figure 9-1, in order of their HDI, are: ing category.

• Southwest Asia & North Africa. On average, the level of

_ ----► _. _ , _ _ ___ -~- development is medium, but development varies widely
.~!~r ,; .•tw-
6i.~-10
1161•D',J10)' 000..~~·
0'_
,,/,. «· d-~---R~rcr,c ~~~.:...I '"°1 OCeAN
, 80' }!! ~1•0' 1~ · 180' , 80' among countries, from high
(such as Saudi Arabia) to low

er-/ 1 lll\ •' (such as Yemen).

~~:.i~t,J GO' • South Asia.Most HDisare in the

• PACIFIC ,r,;./l'-1i---\---+-··!ll' medium developing category.

I OCEAN--.J.- ).,can,~\_. • Sub-Saharan Africa.Most HDls
_J;_--f- are in the low developing
;Gl''F-1.----'---,--~ll' category.
HumanDevelopment 'f------'-,--l----+----l---+--+---1----.---'---+;:;~i--Jr-,r,
Index CJFIC \ Japan and the South Pacific
\ 20' 40' are grouped with the devel-
• Veryhighdeveloped I oped regions. The UN has tra-
(above0.79) I ditionally classified Russia as a
y-.~ 2(f developed country, but because
• Highdeveloping 20' of its limited progress in devel-
180' opment both under and since
(0.70-0.79) communism, the UN now clas-

Mediumdeveloping
(0.52-0.69)

Lowdeveloping
(below0.52)

nodata

A FIGURE9-2 HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX (HDI) Developedcountriesarethosewith veryhigh sifies Russia as a developing
developedscoresin 2011.Theotherclassesarefor developingcountries. country.

. ,I

II r , I

302 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

. ,,,.--------------------------- Per capita GNI-or, for that matter, any other sing!
indicator-cannot measure perfectly the level of a cou
A Decent Standard of Living try's development. Few people may be starving in a develop
ing country with per capita GNI of a few thousand dollari
Learning Outcome 9.1.1 And not everyone is wealthy in a developed country Wit]
Identify the HDI standard of living factor. per capita GNI of $40,000. Per capita GNI measures averai
(mean) wealth, not the distribution of wealth. If only a fe
Having enough wealth for a decent standard of Living is people receive much of the GNI, then the standard oflivin
key to development. The average individual in a devel- for the majority may be lower than the average figure irr
oped country earns a much higher income than the aver- plies. The higher the per capita GNI, the greater the poter.
age individual in a developing one. Geographers observe tial for ensuring that all citizens can enjoy a comfortable,
that people generate and spend their wealth in different
ways in developed countries than in developing countries. ECONOMIC STRUCTURE

INCOME Average per capita income is higher in developed countri1
because people typically earn their living by different mear
The UN measures the standard of living in countries through than in developing countries. Jobs fall into three categorie
a complex index called annual gross national income per
capita at purchasing power parity: • The primary sector includes activities that direct]
• Gross national income (GNI) is the value of the output extract materials from Earth through agriculture an
sometimes by mining, fishing, and forestry.
of goods and services produced in a country in a year,
including money that leaves and enters the country. • The secondary sector includes manufacturers that pr,
cess, transform, and assemble raw materials into usef
• Purchasing power parity (PPP) is an adjustment made products, as well as industries that fabricate manufa
to the GNI to account for differences among countries tured goods into finished consumer goods.
in the cost of goods. For example, if a resident of coun-
try A has the same income as a resident of country B • The tertiary sector involves the provision of goods ar
but must pay more for a Big Mac or a Starbucks latte, services to people in exchange for payment, such as r
the resident of country B is better off. tailing, banking, law, education, and government.

By dividing GNI by total population, it is possible to The contribution to GNI among primary, seconda1
measure the contribution made by the average individ- and tertiary sectors varies between developed and dev(
ual toward generating a country's wealth in a year. For oping countries (Figure 9-5):
example, GNI in the United States was approximately • The share of GNI accounted for by the primary sect
$15 trillion in 2011, and its population was approximately
312 million, so GNI per capita was approximately $47,000. has decreased in developing countries, but it remai
In 2011, per capita GNI was approximately $34,000 in de- higher than in developed countries.
veloped countries compared to approximately $7,000 in
developing countries (Figure 9-4). • The share of GNI accounted for by the secondary st
tor has decreased sharply in developed countries and
Some studies refer to gross domestic product (GDP), now less than in developing countries.
which is also the value of the output of goods and services
produced in a country in a year, but it does not account for • The share of GNI accounted for by the tertiary secto1
money that leaves and enters the country. relatively large in developed countries, and it contint
to grow.

► FIGURE 9-4 INCOME 160' ,,oi',20'-f'"OO'"so?w~ll2"11" O' 10' •o- 60''ao'"""loof1'~·::~100 160:
GNIper capitaPPPis highestin developedcoun- 60'
tries.Thelowestfiguresare in sub-SaharaAn frica
and SouthAsia.

""I PACIFIC

iirl=O~;,AN • r -

GNPI PPpercapita O' 211' 40' 60' 60' 100' 120' HO' Hill' 160'

• $20,000andabove
- $10,000-$19,999

- $5,000-$9,999
BelowS5,000
nodata

Chapter 9: Development 303

80 :::-: Developed :::-: Developing around $5,900 in the United States and $6,700 in Japan,
•••••••• countries ........ countries compared to around $800 in China and $100 in India.

70 Workers in developed countries produce more with less
effort because they have access to more machines, tools,
60 and equipment to perform much of the work. On the other
hand, production in developing countries relies more on
,g_ human and animal power. The larger per capita GNI in
~ SD developed countries in part pays for the manufacture and
purchase of machinery, which in turn makes workers more
E productive and generates more wealth.
.!!.
0 --,<..::-.-..:._:.•..-._,,,.......Secondary:
: -- --------·-.1.-.--~.--..---------~Q. 3040 "- 1

----!?- •• • ...,__ Second

20 ••••••••••••• INEQUALITY-ADJUSTED HDI

....................•·······•··········•·•····•· ......,..P..r.imary
10
The UN believes that every person should have ac-
...............l.'.•.•..·.·.·.·.·.•.•..1..1...·..·..·..·..·.·.f·.!·..i.~...!.!.! ....•.•.... cess to decent standards of living, knowledge, and

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 health. The inequality-adjusted HDI (IHDI) is an in-
dicator of development that modifies the HD! to
Year

Ji,. FIGURE9-5 ECONOMICSTRUCTUREThepercentageof GNI account for inequality within a country. Under perfect
contributed,by typeof job. equality, the HDI and the IHDI are the same. If the IHDI is

lower than the HD!, the country has some inequality; the

greater the difference in the two measures, the greater the

The relatively low percentage of primary-sector workers inequality. A country where only a few people have high

in developed countries indicates that a handful of farm- incomes, college degrees, and good health care would

ers produce enough food for the rest of society. Freed from have a lower IHDI than a country where differences in

the task of growing their own food, most people in a de- income, level of education, and access to health care are

veloped country can contribute to increasing the national minimal.

wealth by working in the secondary and tertiary sectors. The lowest scores (highest inequality) are in sub-

Saharan Africa and South Asia. The score may be low in

PRODUCTIVITY Southwest Asia & North Africa, but the UN lacks data from

a number of the region's countries (Figure 9-6).
Workers in developed countries are more productive than

those in developing countries. Productivity is the value

of a particular product compared to the amount of labor

needed to make it. Productivity can be measured by the Pause and Reflect 9.1.1
value added per capita. The value added in manufacturing
is the gross value of a product minus the costs of raw ma- The IHDIis 0.77 in the United States and 0.83 in
terials and energy. The value added per capita in 2010 was Canada. Which country has greater inequality?

► FIGURE9-6 INEQUALITY- 160- 1401 , "ao-w· u, 2cr ~0I"_"'_\tr_"-_"'a.t.,).·1.o,o•-~'1ij, ,4b'".i.G_0..·1~.80(01"'
ADJUSTED HDI Thelower the
score,the greaterthe inequality. a C \

,,,-. ••..-,..-.._ _,_

.4-~~r~ ~-

-~ 6(7'

"1 -·

. ~ 40'

_LJIOOl!.~t"-"'•"•

PACIFIC IO'

OCEAN \
E:qllnTo0r -

InequalitaydjusledHDI /"" ·1 Tr~c ofCJpncom

• 0.79andabove // I
.0.68-0.78 •1~01
, _/2,000, Mies / ii
0.49-0.67 -ZOOO ,,ooK:iolometer,:
Below0.49 II I,I I I /
nodata
,w20' 20' 40' 60' 80" 1011' 120' 100' 181)'

304 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

CONSUMER GOODS • Computers facilitate the sharing of information wit
other buyers and suppliers (Figure 9-9 and refer
Learning Outcome 9.1.2 Figures 4-32, 4-34, 4-35, and 4-36). The number of I~
Identify the HDI health factor. ternet users per 1,000 persons is approximately 300 ,
the world as a whole, 700 in developed countries, an
Part of the wealth generated in developed countries is used to
purchase goods and services. Especially important are goods 200 in developing countries.
and services related to transportation and communications,
including motor vehicles, telephones, and computers: Products that promote better transportation an
communications are accessible to virtually all residen
• Motor vehicles provide individuals with access to jobs in developed countries and are vital to the economy
and services and permit businesses to distribute their functioning and growth. In contrast, in developir
products (Figure 9-7). The number of motor vehicles countries, these products do not play a central role J
per 1,000 persons is approximately 170 in the world as daily life for many people. Motor vehicles, compute1
a whole, 630 in developed countries, and 80 in devel- and telephones are not essential to people who live .
oping countries. the same village as their friends and relatives and wo
all day growing food in nearby fields. But most people
• Telephones enhance interaction with providers of developing countries are familiar with these goods, ev1
raw materials and customers for goods and services if they cannot afford them, and may desire them as syr
(Figure 9-8). The number of cell phones per 1,000 per-
sons is approximately 800 in the world as a whole, bols of development.
1,100 in developed countries, and 700 in developing Because possession of consumer goods is not univ1
countries.
sal in developing countries, a gap can emerge between ti
"haves" and the "have-nots." The minority of people wl
have these goods may include government officials, bu
ness owners, and other elites, whereas their lack amo:

► FIGURE 9-7

CONSUMER GOODS:

MOTOR VEHICLES

Thehighestlevelof motor

vehicle ownership is in

North America, and the •fl'-j---

lowestis in SouthAsia. PACIFIC

OCEAN

• 300andabove 100' 80'
-100-299

Below100
nodata

► FIGURE 9-8
CONSUMER GOODS:
CELL PHONES

The highest level of cell
phoneownershipis in Eu·
rope,and the lowestis in
sub-SaharaAnfrica.

Chapter 9: Development 305

Developed Technological change is helping to reduce the gap be-
Developing tween developed and developing countries in access to
communications. Cell phone ownership, for example, is
SouthPacific expanding rapidly in developing countries because these
NorthAmerica phones do not require the costly investment of corrnecfrry.g
wires to each individual building, and many individuals
Japan can obtain service from a single tower or satellite.
Europe

Russia Pause and Reflect 9.1.2

LatinAmerica In addition to cell phones, what other electronic
devices might diffuse rapidly to developing countries
EastAsia because of low cost of equipment and lack of need
SouthwesAt sia for expensive infrastructure?
andNorthAfrica
SoutheasAt sia

CentraAl sia

SouthAsia

SubSaharanAfrica
~;__:_;---,,-----,----,----,-----,----,

A Long and Healthy LifeD 100 200 300 400
500 600 700 800

Internet users per 1,000 people The UN considers good health to be an important measure

J,. FIGURE9-9 CONSUMERGOODS: INTERNETUSERSThehighest level of development. A goal of development is to provide the
of Internet usersis in NorthAmerica,and the lowest is in SouthAsia. nutrition and medical services needed for people to lead

long and healthy lives.

The health indicator contributing to the HD! is life ex-

Developed r -I pectancy at birth. On average, a baby born today is expected
' ~--• to live to age 70. The Lifeexpectancy is 80 in developed re-
Developing~ gions and 68 to in developing regions (Figure 9-10 and refer
.' I to Figure 2-40). Variation among developing regions is es-
SouthPacific pecially wide; life expectancy is 75 in Latin America, 65 in
NorthAmerica South Asia, and 55 in sub-Saharan Africa.

Japan People are healthier in developed countries than in de-
Europe veloping ones. When people in developed countries get
sick, these countries possess the resources to care for them.
Russia .,. I II Developed countries use part of their wealth to protect
people who, for various reasons, are unable to work. In
..LatinAmerica . -~, " . _, these countries, some public assistance is offered to those
who are sick, elderly, poor, disabled, orphaned, veterans of
EastAsia ,_... ' r wars, widows, unemployed, or single parents. Better health
and welfare in developed countries permit people to live
SouthwesAt sia I longer. (Refer to Key Issue 4 and Figures 2-42 through 2-46
andNorthAfrica
'.
SoutheasAt sia ''° M
I'
CentraAl sia -
SouthAsia I>

SubSaharanAfrica .'r·•~• _I~") .

0 20 40 60 80 100 in Chapter 2.)

Life Expectancy at birth (years) With longer life expectancies, developed countries have

A FIGURE9-10 LIFEEXPECTANCYAT BIRTH Thehighestlife expectancy a higher percentage of older people who have retired and

is in Europe,and the lowest is in sub-SaharanAfrica. receive public support and a lower percentage of children

under age 15 who are too young to work and must also be

supported by employed adults and government programs.

the majority who are denied access may provoke politi- The number of young people is six times higher than the

cal unrest. In many developing countries, those who have number of older people in developing countries, whereas

these products are concentrated in urban areas; those who the two are nearly the same in developed countries.

do not live in the countryside. Technological innovations Better health and welfare also permit more babies to sur-

tend to diffuse from urban to rural areas. Access to these vive infancy in developed countries. About 94 percent of

goods is more important in urban areas because of the dis- infants survive and 6 percent die in developing countries,

persion of homes, factories, offices, and shops. whereas in developed countries more than 99.5 percent sur-

Developed countries also use some of their wealth to vive and feyVerthan one-half of 1 percent perish (see Fig-

provide infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, airports, elec- ure 2-40). The infant mortality rate is greater in developing

tricity, and water. The image of the trans-African Highway countries for several reasons. Babies may die from malnutri-

on page 299 illustrates the challenges that regions with tion or lack of medicine needed to survive illness, such as

low levels of development face in providing infrastructure dehydration from diarrhea. They may also die from poor

that can help promote development. medical practices that arise from lack of educatio11.

306 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Accessto Knowledge Thus, the UN expects children around the world to re-
ceive an average of 5 years more education in the future,
Learning Outcome 9.1.3 but the gap in education between developed and deve1.
Identify the HDI accessto knowledge factor. oping regions will remain high. Otherwise stated, the
UN expects that roughly half of today's 5-year-olds will
Development is about more than possession of wealth. graduate from college in developed countries, whereas
The UN believes that access to knowledge is essential for less than half will graduate from high school in develop.
people to have the possibility of leading Jives of value. In ing ones.
general, the higher the level of development, the greater
are both the quantity and the quality of a country's educa- QUALITY OF SCHOOLING
tion. For young people in both developed and developing
countries, education is the ticket to better jobs and higher The UN uses two measures of quality of education:
social status. • Pupil/teacher ratio. The fewer pupils a teacher has,

QUANTITY OF SCHOOLING the more likely that each student will receive effective
instruction. The pupil/teacher ratio in primary school
is approximately 24 in the world as a whole, 14 in

The UN considers years of 1EO' 14D' 120' 100' ~60' <ll' 20' ll' 20' !ll' bO''"i:ll'-lo.j"'12V' 140' lbO' 1!0' -60'
schooling to be the most critical
measure of the ability of an in- ARCTIC I
dividual to gain access to knowl-
edge needed for development. • OCEAN
The assumption is that no matter
how poor the school, the longer ·I
the pupils attend, the more likely
they are to learn something. To •ll' --+-"--411'
form the access to knowledge
component of HOI, the UN com- PACIFIC /
bines two measures of quantity
of schooling: - 1---O-+CE-A-N

• Years of schooling. This is 10' ... --
the number of years that the
average person aged 25 or 0'- !O'
older in a country has spent in
school. The average pupil has 1Jo.
attended school for approxi-
mately 7 years in the world as Meanyearsof schooling 2
a whole, 11 years in developed
countries, and 6 years in devel- • 10.0andabove
oping countries (Figure 9-11 ). • 7.0-9.9

• Expected years of school- Below7 o
ing. This is the number of nodata
years that an average 5-year-
old child is expected to spend A FIGURE 9·11 MEAN YEARSOF SCHOOLING ThehighestnumberofyearsofschoolingisinNorthAmerica,
in school. The UN expects andthelowestnumbersareinSouthAsiaandsub-SaharaAn frica.
that today's 5-year-old will at-
tend an average of 16 years in I 1r ~-- 40' 20' fY y"'" -- --4;---...
school in developed countries
and 11 years in developing ~ARCj I -.._-_-.....,-,.~-~~~-:;..~;.,.__
ones, as well as in the world
as a whole (Figure 9-12). In _, 60'

other words, the average child ◄II'· - , I·, 2(
is expected to attend college ~\:."~~,..,_
in developed countries but PACIF'IC
not finish high school in de- OCEAN
veloping countries.
ii,-=..-.f--,

-/.. • PACIF'IC

ll'- -r- ;' OCEAN I

160' 140' --- ~~~
':11::i
Expectedyeors ..-.~ .I
of schooling ,;, '
t.., __ ~!
• 14.0andabove I-"'-::-:- -- . --
12.0-13.9
Below12.0 Tropeoftap11ccrn
nodata
• ,~ _L_ I I~ +------o - ~~coollios ~ ~

liO' 40' 20' O' 'IO" 40' 01 •2·1 '1m'"';"" 1W 180'

liO' 80' 100' 1211' 140'

• FIGURE 9-12 EXPECTED YEARSOF SCHOOLING Thehighestnumbersofexpectedyearsofschooling,
inNorthAmericandEuropea,ndthe lowestnumbersare insub-SaharaAn fricandSouthAsia.

Chapter 9: Development 307

~.--½--'',---''r--411'

J\Ol>i'_ll~'!£'\

,'Ql~-'o;--+ PAb/FIC \ IO'

Oc'EAN \
EQuator O"

Pupil/teacherratio \, I

•Beklw15 ◄II' 20' II' 20' ◄II'
15-24
25andabove
nodata

100'

.AFIGURE9-13 PUPIL/TEACHER RATIO, PRIMARY SCHOOL Thelowestpupil/teacheratio is in North
America,andthe highestis in sub-SaharaAnfrica.

,..,,..,~.L.~~~-6-('/~'-=-,;,.:--.-2;f.P.I(,1..2.(.P.°' ~"":':"--.=.:~.:...""<7.;<-:.. eO'

.....

40'---f--f--1 Jrpp!£\~~"£\" 20'

I PAC PACIFIC
OCEA Oc'FEAN

20--J_;.---f-- I Eq1101I oOr '

Percentliterate -~t~

-99-100 dO"
-90-98
,°f'4,K, l!"""/" /
70-89
Below70 80' 1110' 120' 140' l!C' 1811'
nodata

100' BO"

A FIGURE9-14 LITERACYRATE Literacyis nearly100percentin developedcountriesT. helowestratesare in
sub-SaharaAnfrica and SouthAsia.

developed countries, and 26 in developing countries textbook is an example.) Students in developing coun-
(Figure 9-13). Thus, class size is nearly twice as large in tries must learn technical information from books that
developing countries as in developed ones. usually are not in their native language but are printed in
English, German, Russian, or French.
• Uteracy rate. A higher percentage of people in devel-
oped countries are able to attend school and as a result Improved education is a major goal of many develop-
learn to read and write. The literacy rate is the percent- ing countries, but funds are scarce. Education may receive
age of a country's people who can read and write. It ex- a higher percentage of GNI in developing countries, but
ceeds 99 percent in developed countries (Figure 9-14). those countries' GNI is far lower to begin with, so they
Among developing regions, the literacy rate exceeds spend far less per pupil than do developed countries.
90 percent in East Asia and Latin America but is less
than 70 percent in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Pauseand Reflect9.1.3

Most books, newspapers, and magazines are published The HDI measures the quality of schools in a country
in developed countries, in part because more of their as c1whole. What are ways in which differences
citizens read and write. Developed countries dominate among schools or colleges within a country might
scientific and nonfiction publishing worldwide. (This be measured?

308 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE At a local scale, wealth in these intermediate-development
countries is concentrated in large urban areas, such as Rio
VARIATIONS WITHIN COUNTRIES de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in Brazil, Beijing and Shanghai in
AND REGIONS China, and Mexico City. These cities contain a large share

Learning Outcome 9.1.4 100 ICO~la
Describe variations in level of development within
countries and regions. JOO' ,&,...,.,.,;,.

Indicators of development vary widely among countries BRAZIL ,.F£QEAALDISTRICT
within the nine world regions, as well as within individual ~
countries.
GOIAS
VARIATIONS WITHIN REGIONS. Variations in level of
development are especially high in Southwest Asia & North I ICHINA OINGHAI
Africa and in Central Asia. Much of Southwest Asia & North
Africa is desert that can sustain only sparse concentrations SICHUAN ~
of plant and animal life. This region possesses one major
economic asset: a large percentage of the world's petroleum ,...C!l,ONO~I
reserves. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and other
oil-rich states in the region, most of them concentrated in 200 ◄ OOMiles
states that border the Persian (Arabian) Gulf, have used
the billions of dollars generated from petroleum sales GOPpercapita
to finance development. But not every country in the percenot f
region has abundant petroleum reserves .. Development nationaal verage
possibilities are limited in countries that lack significant
reserves-Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and others. The large gap in • 150andabove
per capita income between the petroleum-rich countries l0(H49
and those that lack resources causes tension in the region.
75-99
VARIATIONS WITHIN COUNTRIES. Brazil, China, and Below75
Mexico are among the world's largest and most populous
countries. At the national scale, the three countries fall SIHAl'OA ..--- T UUPAS
somewhere in the middle of the pack in GDP per capita and OUAHAJUAT0
most other HOT indicators-well above sub-Saharan Africa
and South Asia but well behind Europe and North America. ZACATECAS-- SANLUlf 0\JEAETARO
~ ½_':».~°v.AGUASCAIJENTE:~
Hidden in nationwide statistics are substantial variations PO~S ,YUCATAN
within all three countries (Figure 9-15). All three countries I I ~i1-//MEXlco
have GDP per capita greater than 150 percent of the national JAUSCO / /".PUEBLA CAM R
average in some provinces or states and less than 7S percent r -~--~
of the national average in other regions. Developed coun- COUMA- YERAC13J!Z ' TABASC
tries MDCs also have regional internal varialions in GDP per MICHO"-CAN OAXACA CHl~AS
capita, but they are less extreme. In the United States, for ex- •
ample, the GDP per capita is 122 percent of the national av- MEXICO
erage in the wealthiest region (New England) and 90 percent OISTAITOFEDERAL
of the national average in the poorest region (Southeast).
MORELOSClUEFlllERO
Regional internal variations can be traced to distinctive
features of each country: .& FIGURE9-15 GDP PERCAPITAAS PERCENTOF NATIONALAVER.A
IN THREELARGECOUNTRIES:(center)statesof Brazil,(top)provinceos
• Brazil: Wealth is highest along the Atlantic coast and China,(bottom)statesof Mexirn.
lowest in the interior Amazon tropical rain forest.

• China: As in Brazil, wealth is highest along the east
coast and lowest in the remote and inhospitable moun-
tain and desert environments of the interior.

• Mexico: Wealth is relatively high in the region border-
ing its even wealthier neighbor to the north and in the
principal tourist region on the Yucatan Peninsula.

of the national services and manufacturing sectors and Chapter 9: Development 309
are where many leaders of the public and private sectors
Jive. They also contain extensive areas of poverty and slum CHECK-IN: KEY ISSUE 1
conditions, as discussed in Chapter 13.
Why Does Development Vary among
Pause and Reflect 9.1.4: Countries?
Russia and Canada are the world's two largest
countries in land area. Which of these two countries ✓ The Human Development Index (HDI) measures
would you expect to have regional internal
the level of development of each country.
variations similar to those in the United States, ✓ HDl is based on three factors: a decent standard
and which would have regional internal variations
similar to those in Brazil, China, and Mexico? of living, a long and healthy life, and accessto
knowledge.

CONTEMPORARGYEOGRAPHICTOOLS

Collectingand DepictingDevelopmentData

This chapter includes two dozen the larger the cirde. The y-axis shows that are way off to the bottom have
world maps that show a wide variety life expectancy, and the x-axis shows life expectancies that are less than
of development indicators. The wn- HD! level. The very high developed expected by !'heir HD!. Most of the
cept nf development involves many countries are in red, and the high, countries with lower-than-expected
economic, social, and demographic medium, and low developing coun- life expectancy are in sub-Saharan
dimensions. tries are in yellow, green, and blue, re- Africa. What might explain the low
spectively. The arc of the circles from figures in sub-Saharan Africa? Refer
Obtaining timely anti accmate lower left to upper right shows that to Figure 2-37, the world map of
data related to development for countries wilh high HD ls have longer AIDS; most of the countries with
nearly 200 countries is challenging. life expectancies. the highest rates of AIDS are in sub-
The data for most of the maps of Saharan Africa.
world development in this chapter l'igure 9-16 helps to illustrate
come from two sources: exceptions to the pattern. Circles

• The United Nations Develop- 90 JtaJ\Japoo
ment Programme prepares the Spain~. Australia
annual Human Development 85 .e - UK.•.•.China~N-0/way
Report and provides much of the cuiiL/9Ger canada
data contained in the report at 80
hdr.undp.org. Vielnam. Mexico many Uoited
-,:C 75
• The World Bank pulls together 1i Ethiopia. States
hundreds of measure~ of devel-
opment from a variety of sourc- ;; 70 • • Nigeria Russia
es and makes them available at Congo(Oemooralic
data.worldbank.org. ~ Republiocfthe) --Developincgoun1nes
OevelOpceoduntries
These data can be used to depict s" 65 SittJ of circlelndicattJ
patterns of similarities anc.ldifferences ;&" . 60 relallwp!opu/ilkx,
among countries. For example, Figure
9-10 shows that in general, life expec- ~ 55
tancy is higher in developed countries
than in developing countries. Figure 50
9-16 shows the same data on a graph.
Each country is represented by a cir- 45
de. The more populous the country,
40
02 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9

Human Development Index (HDI)

A FIGUR9E-16 LIFEEXPECTANCGYRAPHThehighertheHDIt,helongetrhelifeexpectancy.

'IIfft~, ''ttlllfflllll■I

310 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

KEY ISSUE 2 As with the other indices, the GU combines multiple m(
sures, including empowerment, labor, and reproductj
Why Does healtb. The GIi replaces other gender-related developme
measures formerly used by the UN, including the Gendl
Development Vary related Development Index and the Gender Empowi
ment Measure.
by Gender?
The higher the GIi, the greater the inequality betwe,
■ Gender Inequality Measures men and women (Figure 9-17). A score of 0 would me
■ Gender Inequality Trends that men and women fare equally, and a score of 1.0 wot:

Learning Outcome 9.2.1 mean that women fare as poorly as possible in allmeasun
Describe the UN's measures of gender inequality.
The GII is higher in developing countries than in dev
A country's overall level of development can mask in- oped ones. Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Central As
equalities in the status of men and women. The quest and Southwest Asia are the developing regions with t
for an improved standard of living, access to knowledge, highest levels of gender inequality. Reproductive heal
health, and a sustainable future are aspirations of people is the largest contributor to gender inequality in thi
in all countries. Yet long-standing cultural and legal ob- regions. South and Southwest Asia also have relativi
stacles can limit women's participation in development poor female empowerment scores. At the other extren
and access to its benefits. 10 countries in Europe have Glls less than 0.1, meani
that men and women are nearly equal. In general, c01;
The UN has not found a single country in the world where tries with high HDis have low GIIs and vice versa.
the women are treated as well as the men. At best, women
have achieved near-equality with men in some countries, but EMPOWERMENT
in other countries, the level of development for women lags
far behind tbe level for men. The UN argues that inequal- In the context of gender inequality, empowerment ref
ity between men and women is a major factor that keeps a to the ability of women to achieve improvements in th
country from achieving a higher level of development. own status-that is, to achieve economic and politi
power. The empowerment dimension of GII is measu1
Gender Inequality Measures by two indicators:

To measure the extent of each country's gender inequality, • The percentage of seats held by women in the t
the UN has created the Gender lnequality Index (GIi). tional legislature. No particular gender-specific sk
are required to be elected as a representative and
serve effectively. But in every country of the wo1
both developed and developing, fewer women th
men hold positions of political power (Figure 9-1
Although more women than men vote in most plac
no country has a national parliament or congress w
a majority of women. The highest percentages are
Europe, where women co
prise approximately one-fou
of the members of natio
parliaments. In the Uni
States, one-sixth of the me
bers of the U.S. Senate il
House of Representatives
women, a figure that is be!
the numbers in many de1
oping regions. The lov-
rates are in Southwest /l
and North Africa.

• The percentage of won
who have completed h
.& FIGURE9-17 GENDERINEQUALITYINDEX (GIi) ThelowestGIi numbersandthereforetheleastinequality school. In North America, ~
arein Europea,ndthehighestnumbersarein sub-SaharaAnfrica. are more likely than boys
complete high school, and b
are slightly ahead in Europe
developing countries, boys
much more likely than girl:

,_ ~---~--720o'--rtf. ~ ◄o- w-~~1~i2m60', 1aw Chapter 9: Development 311

&1l' I • __._. '- ,........:"-..o.....~-BO' be high school graduates. For
ARCTIC every 10 boys who graduate
()'-...C--.----< ,•: ~ -.. from high school in developing
countries, only 8 girls graduate.
I PACIFIC ~ In South Asia, for every 10 male
OCEAN high school graduates, there are
6()' only 5 females (Figure 9-19).

\
40'

Percensteatsin 1°00' .,,, 1a6' Pause and Reflect 9.2.1
legislaturheeld
bywomen icrtill' 20' O' 2ll' 4ll' 60" Can you name a major political
leader in your community or
20andabove in another country who is a
woman?
10-19
Below10 LABOR FORCE

nodata The female labor force participa-
tion rate is the percentage of women
.t..FIGURE 9-18 EMPOWERMENT: WOMEN IN THE NATIONAL LEGISLATURE Thehighestnumbersof holding full-time jobs outside the
womenin nationallegislaturearein Europea,ndthe lowestnumbersarein SouthwesAt sia& NorthAfrica. home. In general, women in devel-
oped countries are more likely than
ldO' 120' 100' (1' ·¥- \ \ 40' women in developing countries to
hold full-time jobs outside the home
------, --- L -r·,oo-lr0c-1c-.-m,,2>0' (Figure 9-20). For every 100 men in
atlooffemaleto the Laborforce, there are 75 women
1aleratesof PAylFIC I in the labor force in developed coun-
tries and 65 in developing coun-
econdareyducation 20' I OCEAN tries. The lowest rates of female par-
ticipation are in Southwest Asia &
1.00andabove North Africa, where there are only
35 women for every 100 men in the
0.80-0.99 labor force. However, in sub-Saharan
Below0.80 Africa-the region with the lowest
HDI-the ratio is the world's highest,
nodata with 77 women for every 100 men
in the labor force. Women hold jobs
t FIGURE 9-19 EMPOWERMENT: WOMEN GRADUDATING FROM HIGH SCHOOL A figureabove1 in agriculture or servicesin sub-Saha-
neansthat moregirlsthan boysgraduatefromhighschool. ran Africa,even while they have the
world's highest fertility rates.

80'

1·~-_,__, _,

PACIFIC

--t:-_--i-·OCErAN

I

II ◄ FIGURE 9-20 FEMALELABORFORCE
PARTICIPATION A lowernumbermeans
160' 180' that relativelyfewwomenparticipateinthe
laborforce.

312 THECULTURALLANDSCAPE

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH countries and 60 in developing countries. The 101
est teenage pregnancy rate is in Europe (8 per 1,00(
Learning Outcome 9.2.2 where most couples use some form of contraceptio
Describe changes sincethe 1990s in gender inequality. In sub-Saharan Africa, where gender inequality is hig
contraceptive use is below 10 percent, and the teena
Poor reproductive health is a major contributor to gender pregnancy rate exceeds 100.
inequality around the world. The reproductive health di- The UN includes reproductive health as a contribut
mension is based on two indicators: to GII because in countries where effective control of 1
• The maternal mortality ratio is the number of women production is universal, women have fewer children, a1
maternal and child health are improved. Women in dev1
who die giving birth per 100,000 births. The ratio is oping regions are more likely than women in develop
15 deaths of mothers per 100,000 live births in de- regions to die in childbirth and to give birth as teenage
veloped countries and 140 in developing countries Every country that offers women a full range of reprodi;
(Figure 9-21). The highest rates (most deaths per births) tive health options has a very low total fertility rate.
are in sub-Saharan Africa. The UN estimates that
150,000 women and 1.6 million children die each year Pause and Reflect 9.2.2
between the onset of labor and 48 hours after birth.
The GIi is 0.299 in the United States and 0.140
• The adolescent fertility rate is the number of births in Canada. Which country has greater gender
per 1,000 women ages 15 to 19 (Figure 9-22). The rate is inequality?
20 births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 19 in developed

Gender lnequalitl
Trends

The UN has found that in nea;

every country, gender inequal'

has declLned since the 1990s (F

ure 9-24). The greatest imprm

ments have been in Southwest A:

O' . 120" 100' & North Africa.The United Statei
160' one of the few countries where t
Gil has increased. Furthermore, t
Deathsof women United States has a GU rank of or
per 100,000liveblr111s 47, although it ranks fourth on t
HD!. The UN points to two fact<
- 150andabove 40' 0 12,000 (...,.....'',J I 40- accounting for the relatively l<
30-149
Below30 ~I ----+- ,._\.,.
nodata C4,000~iles v

O ~.000 4,G9()~1o-meters /

60' 60' 100' 120' 140' 160" I80'

A FIGURE9-21 MATERNAL MORTALITY RATIO Thematernalmortalityratio is the numberof deathsof U.S. GIi ranking:
mothersin childbirthcomparedto thenumberof livebirths. • Reproductive rights are mu

< ,,- .1A-~~1~-.fio-,N ,r;;-~6(J,a'.....-20" c, 2cr •O" W~i~~&o- 180' lower in the United States th
8 _?"k..,,..~-,., f ~--+-.:.*~· .... in other very high HDI cot
tries. For example, the maten
I '\ _r, ,. mortality rate is 24 in the Unit
States, compared to 12 in Cana
,j 1I J '• 60"

_-,; N' and less than 10 throughc
.I -'--'--40' Europe.

PACIFIC ·_ \ Trap)o1ea,,:~\__ • The percentage of women
OCEAN
20" ~.... .. - ' - ~~-ia:-- ---.- '20" the national legislature is mu

' I PACIFIC '

O' I I IOCEAN Lowerin the United States th
in other high HDf countries.
160' 140' 120' If. Equator O' the United States, 17 of 100 s<

Below20 ~''ftA.. 1, ators and 74 of 435 represen
nodata
-c;J. '+-1,-...,.-'---'L-.--,---.-'· ·,, l I ' ) tives were women in 2012.
-~r-r«ir,colta~oom? (/-;.~--~~ Canada, for example, 36 of 1
senators and 76 of 307 memb
I • .l, of parliament in the House
/ r✓ • 40'
2,000 4.0)IOM~s
4,?0
h A' •t(iqo ~lomet,rs /
I ~ BO' 100' 110' 140' 160" 180'
40' 20" O' 20" 40'

.& FIGURE9-22 ADOLESCENT FERTILITY RATE Theadolescenftertility rateis thenumberof birthsper Commons were women in 20

womenper1,000womenages15to 19.

Chapter 9: Development 313

SUSTAINABILITAYND INEQUALITYIN OURGLOBALVILLAGE

GenderInequalityand the Environment

According to the UN, gender in- in possession of reproductive rights, A FIGURE 9-23 WOMEN ANO
equality adversely affects the envi- they are more likely to support aml ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS A womanin
ronment. Countries with less gender carry out environmental protection
inequality (that is, relatively high initiatives (Figure 9-23). the UnitedKingdomrecyclebsottles.
GITs)are more likely to:
The attitudes of men and women
• Ratify international environ- toward the environment differ little
mental treaties. in the world as a whole, according to
a Gallup Poll. However, responses of
• Take steps to reduce carbon diox- men and women vary somewhat be-
ide emissions. tween the richest and poorest coun-
tries. fn countries with the highest
• Set aside protected land areas HDls (and lowest GT!s), women are
and reduce deforestation. more likely than men to express con-
cern for environmental issues, such
• Undertake recycling and water as climate change and water and air
conservation. quality, whereas men are more likely
to express environmental concerns
The reasons for variations in envi- in countries with the lowest HDis
ron mental policies extend beyond (and highest GJis).
gender inequalily, but the UN con-
cludes that if women are more likely
to be elected, highly educated, and

CHECK-IN:KEY ISSUE 2

Why Does Development Vary by Gender?

✓ The Gender Inequality Index (GIi) measures the
extent of inequality between men and women
in a country.

✓ GIi is based on three factors: empowerment,
labor force participation, and reproductive
health.

◄ FIGURE 9-24 TRENDS IN

GENDER INEQUALITY
Themapshowsthe changein GIi
from the late 1990sto approxi-
mately2010.

GendeIrnequality I\
IndexImprovement 20''+---+--t
\I
0olandabove
\,
0.05~.09
BO' 60" 40' 20'
Below0.05
or increase

nodata

I I II
•
.- I
1 'l '' "I

314 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

KEY ISSUE3 Petroleum
33.2%
Why Are Energy
Resources Important
for Development?

Learning Outcome 9.3.1
Explain the principal sourcesof demand for fossil fuels.

■ Energy Supply and Demand .4 FIGURE 9-25 WORLD ENERGY DEMAND Petroleumc.oal.andnatural
■ Alternative Energy Sources gasaccountformostoftheworld'senergyconsumption.

Development is based on availability of abundant low-cost and chemical reactions slowly converted them into the
energy. Developed countries use large quantities of energy fossil fuels that are currently used. When these sub-
to produce food, run factories, keep homes comfortable, and stances are burned, energy that was stored in plants and
transport people and goods. Developing countries expect to animals millions of years ago is released.
use more energy to improve the lives of their citizens.
Geographers observe two important inequalities in the
In Chapter 1, we distinguished between renewable re- global distribution of fossil fuels:
sources (those produced in nature more rapidly than con-
sumed by humans) and nonrenewable resources (those • Demand. The heaviest consumers of fossil fuel are in
produced in nature more slowly than consumed by hu- developed countries, whereas most of the reserves are
mans). Most of the energy resources used by humans are in developing countries.
nonrenewable. In the long run, sustainable development
will necessitate increased reliance on renewable energy. • Supply. Some developing regions have abundant re-
serves, whereas others have .little.
Energy Demand and Supply
Given the centrality of fossil fuels in contemporary econ-
Supply is the quantity of something that producers have omy and culture, unequal consumption and reserves of
available for sale. Demand is the quantity that consumers fossil fuels have been major sources of instability between
are willing and able to buy. Five-sixths of the world's energy developed and developing countries.
needs are supplied by three of Earth's substances (Figure9-25):
Pause and Reflect 9.3.1
• Coal. Coal supplanted wood as the leading energy Which energy source increased most rapidly in the
United States during the twentieth century?

source in North America and Europe in the late 1800s,

as these regions developed rapidly. 110

• Petroleum. Petroleum was first pumped 100 • Hydropowerg,eothermala, ndother
in 1859 but did not become an important Nucleaprower
source of energy until the diffusion of 90
motor vehicles in the twentieth century. • Petroleum
80 Naturagl as
• Natural gas. Natural gas was originally
burned off as a waste product of petro- 70 • coal
leum drilling, but it is now used to heat Wood
homes and to produce electricity. ~ 60

'0

~ 50

C,

40

In a developed country like the United 30
States, dependency on these three sources of 20
energy increased rapidly during the twenti-

eth century (Figure 9-26).

Petroleum, natural gas, and coal are 1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000
known as fossil fuels. A fossil fuel is an
Year

energy source formed from the residue of .& FIGURE 9-26 CHANGING U.S. ENERGY DEMAND Coalwasthe

plants and animals buried millions of years ago. As sedi- principaelnergysourceinthe nineteenthcenturyP. etroleumandnaturalgas

ment accumulated over these remains, intense pressure becameimportanitnthe twentiethcentury.

Chapter 9: Development 315

DEMAND FOR ENERGY

Africa Canada Around one-half of the world's energy is consumed in de-
MiddleEast veloped countries and one-half in developing countries
Europe (Figure 9-27). The United States had long been the 1eading
consumer of energy, but China now consumes 20 percent
Japan of the world's energy, followed by the United States, at
SouthPacific 18 percent. The highest per capita consumption of energy
is in North America; the region contains one-twentieth of
Moredevelopecdountries the world's people but consumes one-fourth of the world's
energy (Figure 9-28). Developed countries contain only
Ill· Lessdevelopedcountries around one-third of the population of developing coun-
tries, so per capita consumption of energy is thus around
A FIGURE 9-27 SHARE OF WORLD ENERGY DEMAND Developedand three times higher in developed countries than in develop-
developingcountrieseachconsumearoundone-halfof the world'senergy.
ing countries.

Demand for energy comes from three principal types of
consumption in the United States:

• Businesses.The main energy demand is for coal, fol-
lowed by natural gas and petroleum. Some busi-
nesses directly burn coal in their own furnaces. Oth-
ers rely on electricity, mostly generated at coal-burning
power plants.

16()t 140'120' l()()t- SO-.,..4.0.".-.-2;0,' 0- 2(Jf ~ so-'ei,,~100-~~lt:O" 1f>Ot • Homes. Energy is demanded
primarily for the heating of
80' . ---

living spaces and water. Nat-

ural gas is the most com-

mon source, followed by pe-

40' troleum (heating oil and
kerosene).
PACfFIC
• Transportation. Almost all
OCEAN - ~j.;_~--- - ~-

'~11)'

transportation systems de-

1l' ~~-+-~ mand petroleum products,
160' 140' 120' including cars, trucks, buses,
airplanes, and most rail-
MIiiionBTUsenergy 100' ' ~-,' lA OTlC.AENATNIC roads. Only subways, street-
lO' cars, and some trains run on
---- ---- 40' coal-generated electricity.
consumptionper capita 40' lll' O' 10'

100andabove '

10-99 40'~ 40' ao- 100' 120- 140' 160' 180' In 2007, demand for fossil
Below10 fuel consumption in develop-
\l-
nodala
80' 60'

A FIGURE 9-28 ENERGY DEMAND PERCAPITA Thehighestpercapitaconsumptionis in NorthAmerica, ing countries surpassed that

andthelowestis insub-SaharanAfrica. of developed countries for the

first time (Figure 9-29). The

gap in demand between developing and developed

500 countries is expected to widen considerably in the

- Developecdountries years ahead because consumption of fossil fuels
- Developincgountries has been increasing at a much faster rate in devel-
oping countries-around 3 percent per year, com-

pared to 1 percent per year in developed countries.

Increasing reliance on fossil fuels also undermines

the goals of sustainable development.

200L...L--'-_,__._.._.............................................._..._.._..........................._......................._..,.

2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035

Year

A FIGURE 9-29 FUTURE ENERGYDEMANDDevelopincgountriesare expectedto
consume62 percentofthe world'senergyin 2035.

II' , : '.\ u I' 'I r. ,,•If i
1, \ \ •11I·r' ~ I j I I I 'I I ' ': I I[~I I • I ·1]'I:i'I1, ' !7
I
II I II II I' :
' t I I! ~I '
II I 'I
I I lI r

316 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

ENERGY SUPPLY well as the same classes. "Quad" is short for quadrillion

Learning Outcome 9.3.2 (1 quadrillion = l,000,000,000,000,000), and BTU is short

Describe the distribution of production of the three for British thermal unit. One quad BTU equals approxi-
fossil fuels. mately 8 million U.S. gallons of gasoline, which would fill
the tanks of one-half million cars.
Energy is required for development, but Earth's energy re-
sources are not distributed evenly. Why do some regions Pause and Reflect 9.3.2
have an abundant supply of reserves of one or more fossil Which country produces at least 20 quad BTUs of all
fuels, but other regions have little? This partly reflects how three of the fossil fuels?
fossil fuels form:
Developed countries supply a large share of the world's
• Coal. Coal formed in tropical locations, in lush, swampy fossil fuels, but they demand more energy than they pro-
areas rich in plants. Thanks to the slow movement of duce, so they must import fossil fuels, especially petroleum,
Earth's drifting continents, the tropical swamps of 250 from developing countries. The United States and Europe
million years ago have relocated to the mid-latitudes. import more than half their petroleum, and Japan imports
As a result, today's main reserves of coal are in mid-lat- more than 90 percent. With demand increasing rapidly in
itude countries rather than in the tropics. China is re- developing countries, the developed countries face greater
sponsible for supplying nearly one-half of the world's competition in obtaining the world's remaining supplies
coal, other developing coun- of fossil fuels. Many of the developing countries with low
tries one-fourth, and devel-
oped countries (primarily the
United States) the remaining
one-fourth (Figure 9-30).

• Petroleum. Petroleum formed

millions of years ago from resi- 40"·
due deposited on the seafloor.
Some still lies beneath such PACIFIC
OCEAN

n'

seas as the Persian Gulf and

the North Sea, but other re- O' IGO' t-:r,, rnr

serves are located beneath land

that was under water millions Coalproduction 10
of years ago. Russia and Saudi (quadBTIJs)
Arabia together supply one- 4(]'
fourth of the world's petroleum, • 20 andabove

-1-19
0.01-0 99

other developing countries Below0.01 100' BU" EO' 40' 20' O' 20' 10'
(primarily in Southwest and
Central Asia) one-half, and de- A FIGURE 9-30 COAL PRODUCTION Chinaisthe world'sleadingproduceor f coal,followedby theUnited
veloped countries (primarily states.

the United States) the remain- ,..;,,;-Ti;;160' 40' 60' •JO 2 O' le ~ 60' 4(/' 100' tlll' 141)'160" 111(1
ing one-fourth (Figure 9-31).
-j' - -
• Natural gas. Natural gas, like
petroleum, formed millions of .,-rARC
years ago from sediment de-
-c·~ oc

,•

posited on the seafloor. One- lJ' __,__
third of natural gas produc-

tion is supplied by Russia and ;1 '!!c.nc~
Southwest Asia, one-third by
other developing regions, and ~'1" _j~, PACIFIC

oc~UJI

one-third by developed coun- '2il" 100' IND/AN !~,• ..-
tries (primarily the United
States) (Figure 9-32). Within Petroleumproductktn OCEAN
the United States, the principal {quadBTIJs)
natural gas fields are in Texas, ----~-l~(olC.1pcitom,
Oklahoma, and the Appala- • 20andabove
chian Mountains (Figure 9-33). t-19 -?!V ,,
0.01-0.99 0 2000- - .. ~. ~ /,
BelowO.Dl
b •2,000 4,000Kllomelt1s

O' '10' 40' ~ IIIO"

Figures 9-30, 9-31, and 9-32 A FIGURE 9-31 PETROLEUM PRODUCTION RussiaS, audAi rabia,andtheUnitedStatesaretheleading
use the same units (quad BTU), as producerosf petroleum.

Chapter 9: Development 317

HDls also lack energy resources, -. -20' •o- w w 100' 120' ,. .. 160' ,ecr
and they lack the funds to pay for
importing them. ..__,,....;;.:w;_.c«I'20'
.80'
- --- ----.:;., ---

Compounding future energy

challenges, Earth's energy re-

sources are divided between those «I'

that are renewable and those that 211' ··- ' Ttofl<ofClncf#
are not: • l..2(1'
lII' PACIFIC
• Renewable energy has an es- 160' 14D' 120' 100' O'
sentially unlimited supply and OCEAN
is not depleted when used by Naturalgasproduction ,_.,,
people. Examples include hy- (quadBTUs)
droelectric, geothermal, fu- OC/i:AN ("r
sion, wind, biomass, and solar • 10andabove --·-'~20',._
energy. 1-19 -
0.01-0.99
• Nonrenewable energy forms Below0.01 ~~

BO' r ~ '""..__.....,._i.oo_o_.._•_~,.C<IOll:it<

0 "'2.«lQ C,0001Cifo:mt_,

20' II' 20' 40' 60' 80' 100' 120' 140' 160' 180'

so slowly that for practical pur- J,,,FIGURE9-32 NATURALGAS PRODUCTIONTheUnitedStatesand Russiaarethe leadingproducersof
naturalgas.
poses, it cannot be renewed. Ex-

amples are the three fossil fuels

that currently supply most of to be made from other materials. Other resources can be
the world's energy needs. used for heat, fuel, and manufacturing, but they are likely

Because of dwindling supplies of fossil fuels, most of the to be more expensive and less convenient to use than fos-

buildings in which people Jive, work, and study will have sil fuels. And converting from fossil fuels will likely dis-

to be heated another way. Cars, trucks, and buses will have rupt daily lives and cause hardship. On the other hand, the

to operate on some other energy source. Because plastic is search for alternatives to fossil fuels may also create devel-

made from petroleum, objects made of plastic will have opment opportunities.

,'

PACIFIC ATLANTIC
OCEAN OCEAN

U.S.nalllralgas llelds (
• Currenptroduction

andprovenresen,es
Potenfiarel serves

Gulfof Mexico

A FIGURE9.33 NATURALGASFIELDSIN THE UNITEDSTATESTheprincipanlaturalgasfieldsare In
OklahomaT,exasa,ndtheAppalachians.

318 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

ENERGY RESERVES Less than 10 percent of natural gas reserves a1e in devet.
oped countries, primarily the United States. The dark
learning Outcome 9.3.3 red areas in Figure 9-33 show proven reserve fields in
Analyze the distribution of reserves of fossil fuels the United States, as well as areas of current production.
and differentiate between proven and potential Russia, Tran, and Qatar together have nearly 60 percent
of the world's proven natural gas reserves, and five
reserves. other developing countries have most of the remainder.

The world faces an energy challenge because of rapid deple- • Petroleum. World reserves are approximately 1.3 tril-
tion of the remaining supply of the three fossil fuels that lion barrels (5,000 quad BTUs). At current demand,
current meet most of the world's energy needs. How much proven petroleum reserves would last 4.J_..y.ear-DSe. vel-
fossil fuel remains? Despite the critical importance of this oping countries possess 85 percent of the proven petro-
question for the future, no one can answer it precisely. Be- leum reserves, most of which is in Southwest Asia and
cause petroleum, natural gas, and coal are deposited beneath North Africa and Central Asia. Saudi Arabia, Canada
Earth's surface, considerable technology and skill are re- and Iran together have more than 40 percent of th~
quired to locate these substances and estimate their volume. world's proven petroleum reserves.

PROVEN RESERVES. The supply of energy remaining in Developed countries have historically possessed a dispro-
deposits that have been discovered is called a proven reserve. portionately high supply of the world's proven fossil-fuel re-
Proven reserves can be measured with reasonable accuracy: serves. Europe's nineteenth-century industrial development
• Coal. World reserves are approximately 1 quadrillion depended on its abundant coal fields, and extensive coal
and petroleum supplies helped the United States become
metric tons (23 million quad BTUs). At current de- the leading industrial power of the twentieth century.
mand, proven coal reserves would last 131 years.
Developed and developing regions each have about But this dominance is ending in the twenty-first cen-
one-half of the supply of proven reserves. The United tury. Many of Europe's coal mines have closed because
States has approximately one-fourth of the proven either the coal has been exhausted or extracting the re-
reserves, and other developed countries have one- maining supply would be too expensive, and the region's
fourth. Most of the developing regions' coal reserves
are in Russia and China (Figure 9-34). UrnledStates27.5%
• Natural gas. World reserves are approximately 175 tril-
lion cubic meters (6,000 quad BTUs). At current de- l' I German4y.7%
mand, proven natural gas reserves would last ~- Ullraine3.9%
Australi8a.9%
T FIGURE 9.34 PROVEN RESERVESOF FOSSIL FUELS Developing
countriespossessapproximateloyne-halfofcoalreservest,wo-thirdsof LahnAmerica1.5%
naturalgas reservesa, nd five-sixthosf petroleumreserves. SouthAJnca3.5%

OtherAs>a3.8%
Kazakhsta3n.9%

Moredevelopecdountries China13.3%
Lessdevelopeodomtnes
Coal

Venezuel2a.7°/4 Rus$ia Canad1a3.3%
OmerSob-Sahatan 26.7¾
Venezue7la.4%
Africa5.0% Nigeria2.7% SaudAi rabia
Nlge112a.9% 19.9%
Kazakllsta2n.2%
OtherAsia
9.8%

Iran
15.8%

OtheSr outwesAtsia5.8% SaudAi rabia4_1¾ OtheSr outweASs1ia2.0%

Algeria2.5% UmteoArab Libya3.3% United Kuwar7t.8%
Arab
Emirate3s.4¾
Emirate7s.3%
Natural Gas
Petroleum

- Chapter 9: Development 319

100 few percent require more time and patience and special
90 technology.

80 • Unconventional sources. Some sources are called un-

70 conventional because methods currently used to ex-

:-eoas6o0 tract resources won't work. Also, we do not currently
have economically feasible, environmentally sound
technology with which to extract these sources.

40 An important example of an unconventional source is oil

30 sands, which are saturated with a thick petroleum commonly

20 called tar because of its dark color and strong odor. Native

10 Americans used the tar to caulk canoes in the eighteenth

0 century. The olLmust be extractecUrgrn th~cJ.ncts through
1990 1995
2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 mining, which can be environmentally damaging, and cur-

Year rent technology makes processing expensive. Abundant .oiL

A FIGURE 9-35 PETROLEUM PRODUCTION OUTLOOK TheInternational sangs___arfeound in Alberta, Canada, as well as in.,Yen_ez_yel!!_

EnergAy gencyforecaststhatpotentialreserveswillbe convertedto proven and Russia. As demand has increased for petroleum, and as

reservesthroughdiscoveryanddevelopmenotf newfieldsat aboutthesame prices have risen, the mining of Alberta oil sands has become
rateas alreadyprovenreservesaredepleted. profitable, and extensive deposits of oil in Alberta oil sands

have been reclassified from potential to proven reserves in

petroleum and natural gas (in the North Sea) account for recent years (Figure 9-36). Asa result, Canada is now thought
only small percentages of worldwide supplies. Japan has to have 13 percent of world's petroleum proven reserves, sec-
never had significant fossil fuel reserves. The United States ond behind Saudi Arabia, although overall oil sands are still
still has extensive coal reserves, but its petroleum and nat- classified as unconventional sources.
ural gas reserves are being depleted rapidly.
Another important unconventional source that has been
increasingly exploited in recent years is extraction of natural

gas through hydraulic fracturing, com manly called fracking.

Pause and Reflect 9.3.3 Rocks break apart naturally, and gas can fill the space between

No country ranks among the leaders in proven the rocks. Fracking involves pumping water at high pressure

reserves in all three fossil fuels. Which two countries to further break apart rocks and thereby release more gas that

possessat least 10 percent of the proven reserves of can be extracted. Opponents of tracking fear environmental

two of the three fossil fuels? damage from pumping high-pressure water beneath Earth's

surface. Safety precautions can minimize the environmental

threat, but tracking does require the use of a large supply of

POTENTIAL RESERVES. Some fossil fuel deposits water, and water is in high demand for other important uses,

have not yet been discovered. The supply in deposits such as human consumption and agriculture.

that are undiscovered but thought to exist is a potential

reserve. When a potential reserve is actually discovered,

it is reclassified as a proven reserve (Figure 9-35). Potential

reserves can be converted to proven reserves in several ways:

• Undiscovered fields. The largest, most accessible de-
posits of petroleum, natural gas, and coal have already
been exploited. Newly discovered reserves are gener-
ally smaller and more remote, such as beneath the sea-
floor, and extraction is costly. Exploration costs have
increased because methods are more elaborate and the
probability of finding new reserves is less. But as en-
ergy prices climb, exploration costs may be justified.

• Enhanced recovery from already discovered fields. A FIGURE9-36 CANADA'SOILSANDS Canadahastheworld'ssecond-
When it was first exploited, petroleum "gushed" from
wells drilled into rock layers saturated with it. Coal was largestprovenreservesofpetroleumw, hichmustbe extractedfromoilsands
quarried in open pits. But now extraction is more dif- inAlberta.
ficult. SometLmes pumping is not sufficient to remove
petroleum, but water or carbon dioxide may be forced
into wells to push out the remaining resource. The prob-
lem of removing the last supplies from a proven field is
comparable to wringing out a soaked towel. It is easy to
quickly remove the main volume of water, but the last

320 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

the first half of the twentieth century. Beginning in the

CONTROLLING PETROLEUM RESERVES 1950s, the handful of large transnational companies then 1

Learning Outcome 9.3.4 control of international petroleum distribution determine~

Describe the role of OPECand changes in the price that extra tin domestic etroleum was more expensiv
and availability of petroleum.
than im.p.o.r.ting· uthwest an entral Asia. u.s~
Developed countries import most of their petroleum from
Southwest Asia & North Africa and Central Asia, where petroleum imports increased from 14 percent of total
most of the world's proven reserves are concentrated.
These regions are the center of ethnic and political con- consumption in 1954 to 58 percent in 2009 (Figure 9-38).
flicts, as discussed in Chapters 7 and 8.
European countries and Japan have always depended on
OPEC. Severaldeveloping countries possessing substan-
tial petroleum reserves created the Organization of the for~ign petroleum because of limited domestic supplies.
Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 1960. Arab
OPEC members in Southwest Asia & North Africa include China changed from a net exporter to an importer of
Algeria, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the
United Arab Emirates. OPEC members in other regions in- petroleum during the 1990s.
clude Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Nigeria, and Venezuela.
The United States reduced its dependency on imported
OPEC was originally formed to enable oil-rich develop-
ing countries to gain more control over their resource. U.S. oil in the immediate wake of the 1970s shocks, and the
and European transnational companies, which had origi-
nally explored and exploited the oil fields, were selling the share of imports from OPEC countries declined from two.
petroleum at low prices to consumers in developed coun-
tries and keeping most of the profits. Countries possess- thirds during the 1970s to one-third during the 1980s
ing the oil reserves nationalized or more tightly controlled
the fields, and prices were set by governments rather than (Figure 9-39). Conservation measures also dampened de-
by petroleum companies. Under OPEC control, world oil
prices have increased sharply on several occasions, espe- mand for petr?leum in most developed countries during
cially during the 1970s and 1980s and in the early twenty-
first century (Figure 9-37). the late twentieth century. The average vehicle driven in

CHANGING U.S. PETROLEUM SOURCES. The United the United States, for example, got 14 miles per gallon in
States produced more petroleum than it consumed during
1975, compared to 22 miles per gallon in 1985.

The price of petroleum plummeted during the 1980s and

settled during the 1990s at the lowest level in modem his-

tory, adjusting for inflation (Figure 9-40). With petroleum

prices remaining low into the twenty-first century, con-

sumption increased. Americans bought more gas-guzzling

trucks and sport-utility vehicles and drove longer distances.

Developed countries entered the twenty-first century opti-

mistic that oil prices would remain low for some time. But

in 2008, prices hit a record high, in both real terms and ac-

counting for inflation. The 2008 oil shock contributed to

the severe global recession that began then.

The world will not li!._e_rall"yru-n out" of pett..o._leum

during the twenty-first ce-ntury However, at some point,

extracfingfhe remaining petroleum reserves will prove

so expensive and environmentally damaging that use of

120 I
Organizatioonf the PetroleumExportingCountries(OPECre) fusesto selloil to countries(includingthe
UnitedStates)thatsupportedIsraelInits 1973Warwith its Arabneighbors.

100

80 OPEClifts boycott ~--------
but ral~esprices.
~
Revolutionin Iranand Endo1Iran-Iraqwarbringsincreased Pricesriseasdemand
.".l).'. Iran-IraqWartriggers suppliesandlowerprices. for oll Indeveloping
oil shortagesandhigher countriesincreases.
Cal.> 60 prices. !

~

.!ll
0
Q 40

20

OilCompanieisn developedcountriescontrolsupplyof oil in SouthwesAt siaandkeeppriceslow.

f

0 ,.___,_-:-::':::-'--'--'-.....L......J.-1......1.-1-....1...-1.....1..-1-...1.......J~...J......1.......J._J__L_...1.......J-..1.....J......L....r.-..1.....J.......i-.!......1......1.....J.....1....l......1.....L.-J......L......LW
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Year

& FIGURE9-37 Oil PRICEHISTORY Oilpriceshaveincreasedsharplyonseveraol ccasions.

25 Production Chapter 9: Development 321
Netimports
20 Consumption ◄ FIGURE 9-38 U.S. PETROLEUM
~ CONSUMPTION, PRODUCTION,
AND IMPORTS U.Sp. roductionhasremained
,.:,.. relativelyconstantsincethe 1960s.Increasing
consumptionhasbeenservedby increasing
~ 15 imports.

(I)

~

(0

.c

j 10

~

5

0 ~i::::::'.r::::.J..J...L.u.....J.......L...L..1..L...,...J....L..iL...u......u..'-'-".-.J......i....J....u...u...1.....L...L..1....i...L'-'-'-!....L,_J..J...1-i
1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Vear

U.S. petroleum sources ◄ FIGURE 9-39 U.S. PETROLEUM SOURCES
(Percentage of barrels a day)
TheUnitedStatesimportsa higherpercentageof
SaudAi rabia2%
SaudAi rabia6% petroleumnow than in the 1970s.The increase
LOthorPersiaGn ull2% OtherPersianGulr2% hascomeprimarilyfromelsewherein theWestern
Nlgeria2%
Venezue6la% Venezue4la% Hemisphere.
OtherOPEC3%
Nigeria2%
.rCaoada7%
OtherOPEC3%

Domesti6c9% }- Othernon-OPEC4% Domes1515c% -Canada 13%

1973 - NetherlandAsnlilles3% "'-Mexico 5%
--...O. therCaribbea2n% \ "-corumbia2%

Domestic Olhernon-OPE8C%
DPECimports
Non-OPEimCports 2012

3.50 alternative energy sources will accelerate, and dependency
on petroleum will diminish. The issues for the world are
3.00 - Adjustefdorinflalion whether dwindling petroleum reserves are handled wisely
- Noladjustefcorinflaloo and other energy sources are substituted peacefully. Given
the massive growth in petroleum consumption expected in
~ 2.50 developing countries such as China and India, the United
States and other developed countries may have little in-
C: fluence over when prices rise and supplies decline. In this
challenging environment, all countries will need to pursue
.!2 2.00 sustainable development strategies based on increased reli-
1ii ance on renewable energy sources.
',_"
QI

0. 1.50
~

0"0

1.00

0.50

0.00 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Pause and Reflect 9.3.4
1950 Vear
What country exports the most petroleum to the
A FIGURE9-40 U.S. GASOLINEPRICESThelineadjustedfor inflationis in United States?
2005dollars.

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