THE CULTURAL EBOOK

18 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

REGIONS OF CULTURE TIIANAINI TON

Learning Outcome 1.2.3
Describe two geographic definitions of culture.

In thinking about why each region on Earth is distinctive, .l FIGURE 1-20 CULTURE: WHAT PEOPLECAREABOUT Languageand
geographers refer to culture, which is the body of cmtom- religionareimportantelementsof culturethatpeoplecareabout.Thesetiles
ary beliefs, material traits, and social forms that together in FrenchandVietnamesearein theBasilicaof OurLadyof theImmaculate
constitute the distinct tradition of a group of people. Ge- Conception(Notre-DamBeasilica)in HoChiMinhCity,VietnamW. henthe
ographers distinguish groups of people according to im- basilicawasconstructedin the latenineteenthcenturyF, rancewasthecolonial
portant cultural characteristics, describe where particular rulerof Vietnam".Ta6nThanhAnton" isVietnamesfeor "Thanksto Saint
cultural groups are clistributed, and offer reasons to ex- Anthony"(thepatronsaintof lostandstolenitems).
plain the observed distribution.
group possesses these cultural and physical characteristics
In everyday language, we think of culture as the collec- as a product of its common traditions and heredity. As ad-
tion of novels, paintings, symphonies, and other works dressed in Chapter 7, geographers find that problems of
produced by talented individuals. A person with a taste for conflict and inequality tend to occur in places where more
these intellectual outputs is said to be "cultured." Intellec- than one ethnic group inhabits and seeks to organize the
tually challenging culture is often distinguished from pop- same territory.
ular culture, such as TV. Culture also refers to small living
organisms, such as those found under a microscope or in CULTURE:WHAT PEOPLE TAKE CARE OF. The second
yogurt. Agrirnltureis a term for the growing of living mate- element of culture of interest to geographers is production
rial at a much larger scale than in a test tube. of material wealth-the food, clothing, and shelter that
humans need in order to survive and thrive. All people
The origin of the word cultureis the Latin wlt11s,which consume food, wear clothing, build shelter, and create
means "to care for." Culture is a complex concept because art, but different cultural groups obtain their wealth in
"to care for" something has two very different meanings: different ways.

• To care about-to adore or worship something, as in the Geographers divide the world into regions of developed
modem word cult countries and regions of developing countries. Various
shared characteristics-such as per capita income, liter-
• To take care of-to nurse or look after something, as in acy rates, TVs per capita, and hospital beds per capita-
the modern word wltivate distinguish developed regions and developing regions.
These differences are reviewed in Chapter 9.
Geography looks at both of these facets of the concept of
culture to see why each region in the world is unique. Possession of wealth and material goods is higher in de-
veloped countries than in developing countries because of
CULTURE: WHAT PEOPLE CARE ABOUT. Geographers the different types of economic activities carried out in the
study why the customary ideas, beliefs, and values of a two types of countries. Most people in developing coun-
people produce a distinctive culture in a particular place. tries are engaged in agriculture, whereas most people in de-
Especially important cultural values derive from a group's veloped countries earn their living through performing ser-
language, religion, and ethnicity. These three cultural traits vices in exchange for wages. This fundamental economic
are both an excellent way of identifying the location of a difference between developed and developing regions is
cult u.re and the principal means by which cultural values discussed in more detail in Chapters 10 through 13.
become distributed around the world.
SPATIAL ASSOCIATION
Language is a system of signs, sounds, gestures, and
marks that have meanings understood within a cultural A region can be constructed to encompass an area of
group. People communicate the cultural values they care widely varying scale, from a very small portion of Earth to
about through language, and the words themselves tell a very large portion. Different conclusions may be reached
something about where different cultural groups are located
(Figure 1-20). The distribution of speakers of different lan-
guages and reasons for the distinctive distribution are dis-
cussed in Chapter 5.

Religion is an important cultural value because it is the
principal system of attitudes, beliefs, and practices through
which people worship in a formal, organized way. As dis-
cussed in Chapter 6, geographers look at the distribution of
religious groups around the world and the different ways
that the various groups interact with their environment.

Ethnicity encompasses a group's language, religion,
and other cultural values, as well as its physical traits. A

Chapter 1: BasicConcepts 19

concerning a region's characteristics, depending on its the rural Eastern Shore region may be exposed to run-
scale. Consider the percentage of Americans who die each off of chemicals from farms into the nearby Chesapeake
year from cancer. Death rate.s vary widely among scales Bay, as well as discharges carried by prevailing winds
within the United States (Figure 1-21): from factories further west.
• At the urban scale, neighborhoods on the north side of
• At the scale of the United States, the Great Lakes and Baltimore City contain a higher percentage of people
South regions have higher levels of cancer than the West. with high incomes and are further from the city's facto-
ries and port facilities.
• At the scale of the state of Maryland, the eastern region
has a higher level of cancer than the western region. Pause and Reflect 1.2.3
For each map in Figure 1-21, write a question that
• At the scale of the city of Baltimore, Maryland, lower you could ask about the data on the map at that
levels of cancer are found in the northern region. scale. How do your questions change as the map's
scale changes?
To explain why regions possess distinctive features, such
as a high cancer rate, geographers try to identify cultural, CHECK-IN:KEY ISSUE2
economic, and environmental factors that display similar
spatial distributions. By integrating other spatial informa- Why Is Each Point On Earth Unique?
tion about people, activities, and environments, we can
begin to see factors that may be associated with regional ✓ Location is identified through name, site, and
differences in cancer: situation.

• At the national scale, the Great Lakes region may have ✓ Regions can be formal, functional, or vernacular.
higher cancer rates in part because the distribution of can-
cer isspatially associated with the distribution of factories. ✓ Culture encompasses what people care about
and what people take care of.
• At the state scale, Baltimore City may have higher can-
cer rates because of a concentration of people with
lower levels of income and education. People living in

- Washington-Baltimore Deathslrom cancerper100,000people
metropolitaanrea • 200andabove

l 190-199
180-189
- -1ni· Below180

A FIGURE1-21 SPATIALASSOCIATION Onthe national
scale,the GreatLakesandSouthregionshavehighercancer
ratesthantheWest.Onthescaleof thestate of Marylandt,he
easternregionhasa highercancerratethan thewesternregion.
Onthe urbanscale,southernandwesternneighborhoodosf
BaltimoreCityhavehighercancerratesthannorthwesternones.
Geographertsryto understandthe reasonforsuchvariations.

~UIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHHIII

20 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

KEY ISSUE3 followed by a sharp decline in their value. Housing prices
had risen very rapidly for a number of years, primarily be-
Why Are Different cause very low interest rates made it possible for more peo-
PlacesSimilar? ple to borrow more money to buy more houses:

■ Scale: From Local to Global • Poorer people bought houses for the first ti.me because
financial institutions were willing to lend them money
■ Space: Distribution of Features even though they were at a high risk of not being able
to repay the debt.
■ Connections between Places
• Wealthy people bought second and third homes as in-
Learning Outcome 1.3.1 vestments, taking advantage of the low rates for borrow-
Give examples of changes in economy and culture ing money. They were betting that prices would continue
occurring at global and local scales. to escalate, enabling them to resell the houses at a profit.
The wealthy also invested money in funds that directly
Although accepting that each place or region on Earth or indirectly provided the loans to high-risk people.
may be unique, geographers recognize that human activi-
ties are rarely confined to one location. Three basic con- • The government encouraged low-income families to
cepts-scale, space, and connections-help geographers buy houses even though they were at risk of not re-
explain why similarities among places and regions do not paying the loans. Less government regulation and over-
result from coincidence. sight of the financial industry made it easier for abusive
practices to occur.
Scale: From Local to Global
Declining demand for housing led to falling prices. Many
Scale is the relationship between the portion of Earth people owed more on their houses than the houses were
being studied and Earth as a whole. Geographers think now worth if they tried to sell them. Ultimately, many de-
about scale at many levels, from local to global. Although faulted on their loans and walked away from the houses,
geographers study every scale from the individual to the leaving them vacant and derelict.
entire Earth, increasingly they are concerned with global-
scale patterns and processes. Geographers explain human The crisis spread from housing through the economy.
actions at all scales, from local to global. Financial institutions that made the risky loans were fail-
ing because of the loss of revenue from the defaulted loans.
Scale is an increasingly important concept in geography Businesses such as furniture and electronics that depended
because of globalization, which is a force or process that on housing started to fail. Manufacturers that depended
involves the entire world and results in making something on borrowing money from financial institutions to buy
worldwide in scope. Globalization means that the scale of raw materials could no longer get loans.
the world is shrinking-not literally in size, of course, but
in the ability of a person, an object, or an idea to interact Globalization of the economy has been led primarily
with a person, an object, or an idea in another place. by transnational corporations, sometimes called multi-
national corporations (Figure 1-22). A transnational cor-
GLOBALIZATION OF ECONOMY poration conducts research, operates factories, and sells
products in many countries, not just where its headquar-
The severe recession that began in 2008 has been called ters and principal shareholders are located.
the first global recession. Past recessions were typically
confined to one country or region. In contrast, the global Every place in the world is part of the global economy,
economy declined in 2009 for the first time in more than a but globallzation has led to more specialization at the local
half-century. The fate of a home buyer in the United States level. Each place plays a distinctive role, based on its local
was tied to the fate of a banker in the United Kingdom, a assets, as assessed by transnational corporations. A locality
sales clerk in Japan, a clothing maker in China, and a con- may be especially suitable for a transnational corporation
struction worker in Nigeria. All were caught in a global- to conduct research, to develop new engineering systems,
scale web of falling demand and lack of credit. to extract raw materials, to produce parts, to store finished
products, to sell them, or to manage operations. In a global
The global financial crisis began in the United States economy, transnational corporations remain competitive
and Europe with the bursting of the housing bubble. A by correctly identifying the optimal location for each of
housing bubble is a rapid increase in the value of houses these activities. Factories are closed in some locations and
opened in others.

Changes in production have led to a spatial division of
labor, in which a region's workers specialize in particular
tasks. Transnationals decide where to produce things in re-
sponse to characteristics of the local labor force, such as
level of skills, prevailing wage rates, and attitudes toward
unions. Transnationals may close factories in locations
with high wage rates and strong labor unions.

Chapter 1: Basic Concepts 21

ces
be-

JSe

1ey
ble

in-

,w-

lUe 160'

fit.

tly The NorthFacefacil~ies

* Hea<fGuarters
to • Olslribulloncenters
re- • Man"laclurlng

er- \

ive \- \
60" !0' 'lff' 0' 20' 40" 60' 160'

ny .l FIGURE1-22 GLOBALIZATIONOF ECONOMY MostNorthFaceclothingis manufacturedin LatinAmerica
~re andAsia.Thecompany'sheadquarteriss in SanLeandroC, aliforniat,he headquarterosf its parentVFCorporationis

je- In GreensboroN.orthCarolinaa, ndmanufacturingis managedfrom its HongKongoffice.

es,

,y. GLOBALIZATION OF CULTURE a local culture's distinctive beliefs, forms, and traits may

lil- Geographers observe that increasingly uniform cultural be threatened by interaction with such social customs as
:is. preferences produce uniform "global" landscapes of ma- wearing jeans and Nike shoes, consuming Coca-Cola and
ed terial artifacts and of cultural values. Fast-food restau- McDonald's hamburgers, and communicating using cell
ed rants, service stations, and retail chains deliberately cre- phones and computers.
uy ate a visual appearance that varies among locations as
little as possible (Figure 1-23). That way, customers know Yet despite globalization, cultural differences among
ily what to expect, regardless of where in the world they places not only persist but actually flourish in many places.
.ti- happen to be. Global standardization of products does not mean that ev-
eryone wants the same cultural products. The communica-

)f- Underlying the uniform cultural landscape is globaliza- tions revolution that promotes globalization of culture also
tion of cultural beliefs and forms, especially religion and permits preservation of cultural diversity. TV, for example,
·lls language. Africans, in particular, have moved away from was once limited to a handful of channels displaying one
ar- traditional religions and have adopted Christianity or set of cultural values. With the distribution of program-
Islam, religions shared with hundreds of millions of peo- ming through cable, satellite, and Internet, people now can
1y, ple throughout the world. Globalization requires a form of choose from hundreds of programs in many languages.
:al common communication, and the English language is in-
:al creasingly playing that role. With the globalization of communications, people in
ity two distant places can watch the same TV program. At the

Jn Asmore people become aware of elements of global cul- same time, with the fragmentation of the broadcasting mar-
ture and aspire to possess them, local cultural beliefs, forms, ket, two people in the same house can watch different pro-
1S, and traits are threatened with extinction. The survival of grams. Groups of people on every continent may aspire to
wear jeans, but they might live with someone who prefers
ed
>al

ve skirts. In a global culture, companies can target groups of

of consumers with similar tastes in different parts of the world.

:id

of DUBAI Pause and Reflect 1.3.1
lar Give examples from your own community of
re- (a) a cultural element that is local and (b) a cultural,
as element that reflects the globalization of culture.
rd
ns ◄ FIGURE1-23 GLOBALIZATIONOF CULTUREMcDonald'shasmore
than32,000restaurantsin 117countriesT. opromoteglobaluniformityof
CHINA its restaurantst,he companyerectssignsaroundtheworld that includetwo
goldenarches.

- - ~HIIIUIIIHHIIIUIH

22 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Space: Distribution of Features DISTRIBUTIONPROPERTIES:
CONCENTRATION
Learning Outcome 1.3.2
The exteqt of a feature's spread over space is its concen-
Identify the three properties of distribution across tration. If the objects in an area are close together, they
space. are clustered;if relatively far apart, they are dispersed.To
compare the level of concentration most clearly, two areas
Space refers to the physical gap or interval between two need to have the same number of objects and the same size
objects. Geographers observe that many objects are distrib- area (Figure 1-24).
uted across space in a regular manner, for discernible rea-
sons. Spatial thinking is the most fundamental skill that Geographers use concentration to describe changes
geographers possess to understand the arrangement of ob- in distribution. For example, the distribution of people
jects across Earth. Geographers think about the arrange- across the United States is increasingly dispersed. The total
ment of people and activities found in space and try to number of people living in the United States is growing
understand why those people and activities are distributed
across space as they are.

Look around the space you currently occupy-perhaps
a classroom or a bedroom. Tables and chairs are arranged
regularly, perhaps in a row in a classroom or against a wall
at home. The room is located in a building that occupies
an organized space-along a street or a side of a quadran-
gle. Similarly, the community containing the campus or
house is part of a system of communities arranged across
the country and around the world.

Geographers explain how features such as buildings
and communities are arranged across Earth. On Earth as a
whole, or within an area of Earth, features may be numer-
ous or scarce, close together or far apart. The arrangement
of a feature in space is known as its distribution. Geogra-
phers identify three main properties of distribution across
Earth-density, concentration, and pattern.

DISTRIBUTION PROPERTIES:DENSITY .t. FIGURE1-24 DISTRIBUTIOONFHOUSESThetop planfora residentiai
areahasa lowerdensitythanthe middleplan(24housescomparedto 32houses
Density is the frequency with which something occurs in onthe same82-acrepieceofland),butbothhavedispersedconcentrations.
space. The feature being measured could be people, houses, Themiddleandlowerplanshavethesamedensity(32houseson82acres),but
cars, trees, or anything else. The area could be measured the distributioonf housesis moreclusteredinthe lowerplan.Thelowerplan
in square kilometers, square miles, hectares, acres, or any hassharedopenspace,whereasthe middleplanprovidesa largerp, rivateyard
other unit of area. surroundingeachhouse.

Remember that a large number of a feature does not
necessarily lead to a high density. Density involves two
measures-the number of a feature and the land area.
China is the country with the largest number of peo-
ple-approximately 1.4 billion-but it does not have the
world's highest density. The Netherlands, for example, has
only 17 million people, but its density of 400 persons per
square kilometer is much higher than China's 140 persons
per square kilometer. The reason is that the land area of
China is 9.6 million square kilometers, compared to only
37,000 square kilometers for the Netherlands.

High population density is also unrelated to poverty.
The Netherlands is one of the world's wealthiest countries,
and Mali one of the world's poorest. Yet the Netherlands'
density of 400 persons per square kilometer is much larger
than Mali's density of 12 persons per square kilometer (see
Chapter 2 for more about density).

Chapter 1: Basic Concepts 23

• American League Concentration is not the same as density. Two neigh-

, National League borhoods could have the same density of housing but

different concentrations. In a dispersed neighborhood,
n- each house has a large private yard, whereas in a clustered

ey neighborhood, the houses are close together and the open

To space is shared as a community park.

:as The distribution of major-league baseball teams illus-

ze trates the difference between density and concentration

(Figure 1-25). After remaining unchanged during the first

;es half of the twentieth century, the distribution of major-

ile league baseball teams changed during the second half of
tal the twentieth century. The major leagues expanded from

ng 16 to 30 teams in North America between 1960 and 1998,

thus increasing the density. At the same time, 6 of the 16

i~~Sotl'wlns _., -;: original teams moved to other locations. In 1952, every
ri.,:.\JI e'!.wtJrsil!gefs team was clustered in the Northeast United States, but the
moves dispersed several teams to the West Coast and South-
).11 Cllljs- J...-- • east. These moves, as well as the spaces occupied by the ex-
.L Mets pansion teams, resulted in a more dispersed distribution.

·., 1

-~- - -Rot:k1e-s,
...Athletfcs '_White Sox 1_Indians .• ~,., i-h1ll1es DISTRIBUTION PROPERTIES:PATTERN
-,--- C I Reds• / ;;· °'}'lrloles
Giants'
Royals•\ • / ,·- 'T _., Jl~tlonals
Dodgers
C~ar,dinals __ -
IDlamondbac~s
The third property of distribution is pattern, which is the
Ange1~ /_ • '"'
I Rangers.
- i-8ao s ' geometric arrangement of objects in space. Some featuxes

Rays, are organized in a geometric pattern, whereas others are
,Marlins distributed irregularly. Geographers observe that many ob-
jects form a linear distribution, such as the arrangement of

A FIGURE1-25 DISTRIBUTION OF BASEBALL TEAMS Thechanging houses along a street or stations along a subway line.
distributionof NorthAmericanbasebaltleamsillustratesthedifference Objects are frequently arranged in a square or rectangu-

betweendensityandconcentration. lar pattern. Many American cities contain a regular pattern

of streets, known as a grid pattern, which intersect at right

slowly-less than 1 percent per year-and the land area angles at uniform intervals to form square or rectangular

is essentially unchanged. But the population distribution blocks. The system of townships, ranges, and sections es-

is changing from relatively clustered in the Northeast to tablished by the Land Ordinance of 1785 is another exam-

more evenly dispersed across the country. ple of a square or grid pattern (Figure 1-26).

A T24N R1W T24N R1E

N

T23N R1W 65432 1
7 8 9 1D 11 12
-Baseline 18 17 16 15 14 13
- Principlme eridian 19 20 21 22 23 24
30 29 28 27 26 25
,es 31 32 33 34 35 36
4 FIGURE1-26 PATTERNT:OWNSHIPAND RANGE (left)Tofacilitate
thenumberingof townshipst,heU.SL. andOrdinanceof 1785designated T22N R1W T22N R1E
severanl orth-southlinesasprincipalmeridiansandseverael ast-westlines
asbaselines.(right)Asterritoryfartherwestwassettled,additionalineswere ~llllllUf IUIIIHIIIHHl1l II UIHJ
delineatedT.ownshipasretypically6 milesby6 miles. 1

. :.-

24 THECULTURALLANDSCAPE

MOVEMENT ACROSS SPACE. Traditional roles and

CULTURAL IDENTITY IN SPACE relationships influence bow people move across space.
For example, consider the spatial patterns typical of a

household that consists of a husband and wife:

Learning Outcome 1.3.3 • Movement by gender: Husband. He gets in his car in
the morning and drives from home to work, where he
Describe different ways in which geographers parks the car and spends the day. In the late afternoon,
approach aspects of cultural identity such as gender,

ethnicity, and sexuality. he collects the car and drives home. The location of the

Patterns in space vary accordjng to gender, ethnicity, and home was selected primarily to ease his daily commute
sexuality. Geographers study these cultural traits because
they are important in explaining why people sort them- to work.
selves out in space and move across the landscape in dis- • Movement by gender: Wife. She drives the children
tinctive ways. Critical geographers are especially con-
cerned with the way in which the movement across space to school in the morning, walks the dog, drives to the
and the resulting distribution of activities perpetuate tradi- supermarket, and visits her mother. In the afternoon,
she drives the children from school to Little League
tional roles of gender, ethnicity, and sexuality. or ballet lessons. Most American women are now em•
ployed at work outside the home, adding a substantial
complication to an already complex pattern of mov-

ing across urban space. Where is her job located? ThE

DISTRIBUJION ACROSS SPACE. The importance of family house was already selected largely for access tc

space is learned as a child. Which child-the boy or girl- her husband's place of employment, so she may neec

went to Little League and which went to ballet lessons? to travel across town. Who leaves work early to drivt

To which activity is substantially more land allocated in a a child to a doctor's office? Who takes a day off worl

city-ballfields or dance studios? (See Figure 1-27.) Space when a child is home sick?
may be designed to appeal to a particular cultural group-
or repel that group. A bar that appeals to whites may be • Movement by ethnicity. Movement across space varie:
uncomfortable for persons of color. A park that attracts by ethnicity because in many neighborhoods the resi
African Americans may be uncomfortable for whites. One dents are virtually all white people or virtually all per
person's haven may generate fear for safety in others. sons of color. For example, most African Americans i1
Behavioral geography is a branch of human geography Dayton, Ohio, live on the west side, whereas the eas
that emphasizes the importance of understanding the side is home to a virtually all-white population. As
result, when office workers are heading home fron
psychological basis for individual human actions. downtown Dayton, persons of color are driving or wail
Openly homosexual men and lesbian women may be ing for buses on the westbound streets, whereas white
are moving on the eastbound streets.
attracted to some locations to reinforce spatial interaction
with other gays. Some communities have relatively high

concentrations of same-sex couples (Figure 1-28). Simi-

larly, within communities that attract a concentration of Pause and Reflect 1.3.3

gays, businesses that appeal primarily to gays may not be Using your own campus as the example, describe

distributed uniformly (Figure 1-29). These communities how movement across space varies during the day

and neighborhoods may be seen as offering a sympathetic for students and faculty.
haven for homosexuals and lesbians through inclusive poli-

cies and business practices. Humanisitic geographyis a branch

of human geography that emphasizes the different ways T FIGURE1-27 GENDERDIVERSITYIN SPACEBallfieldsw, hichare
that individuals perceive their surrounding environment. morelikelyto beusedbyboys,takeup morespacein a communitythan

balletstudiosw, hicharemorelikelyto be usedby girls.

Chapter 1: Basic Concepts 25

.d

e.

-~/4'a
n

,e

1, CA

le ~ W•stffollj\\'oad

0 ~P•)!nSprings
te RandloMirage

n~ JFL\

le "/ ' "l__:iOaldaM Par\<

,---------,"'-'Wilton

Citieswith highestrate Manors

of samesexcouples,2010

(per1,000households)

• 100 and above
0 50-99

I. FIGURE1-28 CONCENTRATIONOF GAYS These10 citieshavethe
highestpercentageosf same-sexcoupleslivingtogether.

CULTURAL IDENTITY IN CONTEMPORARY I. FIGURE 1-29 GAY-ORIENTEDBUSINESSESIN PARIS In Paris1, 40
GEOGRAPHY THOUGHT businesseasppealingprimarilyto gayswereidentifiedthroughfour 2004
guidebooksfor gaytravelersandresidentsG. ay-orientedbusinessewsere

~s Poststructuralistgeography emphasizes the need to under- foundto behighlyclusteredin theMaraisdistrictof centralParis.

i- stand multiple perspectives regarding space. The expe-

r- riences of women differ from those of men, blacks from illegal to discriminate against people of color, spatial seg-
n whites, and gays from straights. It is important to listen to regation persists. In many places in the world, it is legal to
;t and to record what different groups have to say about their discriminate against gays (Figure 1-30).
a I , environment.
All academic disciplines and workplaces have proclaiined
n Cultural groups compete to organize space. Poststruc- sensitivity to issues of cultural diversity. For geographers,
t- turalist geographers are especially concerned with cultural concern for cultural diversity is not merely a politically cor-
'S groups that are dominated in space, especially women, rect expediency; it lies at the heart of geography's spatial
ethnic minorities, and gays, as well as confrontations that tradition. Nor is geographers' deep respect for the dignity of
result from the domination. Distinctive spatial patterns by all cultural groups merely a matter of political correctness;
gender, race, and sexual orientation are constructed by the it lies at the heart of geography's understanding of space.
attitudes and actions of others.

Critical geographers use their studies to focus on the

needs and interests of the underprivileged. Although it is ◄ FIGURE1-30 SEXUAL
DIVERSITYIN SPACEThe
160' 140'120' 100'-aO'-_sO' •O' 211" ,,. -20' <D' ·w s1r 100- 1ro' Punishment Internationallesbian,Gay,
..,t.;C-~.r,. BisexuaTl, ransandlntersex
•oealh Associationmapsthe
• Imprisonment distributionof lawsthat

Fines0< otherpunishment
Other

discriminateonthe basis

of genderT. heharshest

-41)' lawsagainstmale-maleor

i T~JccfC;;Q_ _ female-femalerelationships
arefoundin sub-Saharan
PACIFIC C-~K._'li'v'----:.--+--~- -20' AfricaandSouthwesAt siaand
NorthAfrica.Lawssupporting
IOCEAN PAC/AC male-maleor female-female
marriageor equivalent
1 120' OCEAN substitutearefoundprimarily
in EuropeandLatinAmerica.
0'_1~ ..,• qo,io,

r. J ll'

Marriage -~---r-c----'1--'lll'

• Recognizendationallbyylaw \ -~• ✓ -,-•11'
or equivalenstubstitute
II II
• Recogntt1ionnsomeplaces
0< cMIunioo 80' 60' <O' 20' D' 20' olO'
Other

II
W 100' 120' 1'0' 1111' 18'1'

26 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Connections between Places another is termed relocation diffusion. We shall see ir
Chapter 3 that people migrate for a variety of political
Learning Outcome 1.3.4 economic, and environmental reasons. When they move
they carry with them their culture, including language, re
Describe how characteristics can spread across space ligion, and ethnicity.
over time through diffusion.
The most commonly spoken languages in North anc
Connection refers to relationships among people and South America are Spanish, English, French, and Portu
objects across the barrier of space. Geographers are con- guese, primarily because several hundred years ago Euro
cerned with the various means by which connections peans who spoke those languages comprised the larges
occur. More rapid connections have reduced the distance number of migrants. Thus these languages spread througl
across space between places, not literally in miles, of relocation diffusion. We will examine the diffusion of lan
course, but in time. guages, religions, and ethnicity in Chapters 5 through 7.

RELOCATION DIFFUSION Introduction of a common currency, the euro, in 1:
European countries in 2002 gave scientists an unusua
Somethiµg originates at a hearth and diffi:i_sefsrom there opportunity to measure relocation diffusion from hearth
to other places. A hearth is a place from wh~ an innova- (Figure 1-31). Although a single set of paper money was is
tion originates. Diffusion is the process by which a char- sued, each of the 12 countries minted its own coins in pro
acteristic spreat1s across space from one place to another portion to its share of the region's economy. A country'
over time. Geographers document the location of nodes coins were initially distributed only inside its borders, al
and the processes by which diffusion carries things else- though the coins could also be used in the other 11 coun
where over time. tries. Scientists in France took month-to-month sample
to monitor the proportion of coins from each of the othe
How does a hearth emerge? A cultural group must be 11 countries. The percentage of coins from a particula
willing to try something new and must be able to allocate country is a measure of the level of relocation diffusion t,
resources to nurture the innovation. To develop a hearth, and from France.
a group of people must also have the technical ability to
achieve the desired idea and the economic structures, such EXPANSION DIFFUSION
as financial institutions, Lo facilitate implementation of
the innovation. The spread of a feature from one place to another in an ac
ditive process is expansion diffusion. This expansion ma
As discussed in subsequent chapters, geographers can result from one of three processes:
trace the dominant cultural, political, and economic fea-
_tures of the contemporary United States and Canada pri- • Hierarchical diffusion is the spread of an idea fror
..,marily to hearths in Europe and the Middle East. Other persons or nodes of authority or power to other pe1
regions of the world also contain important hearths. In sons or places (Figure 1-32). Hierarchical diffusion ma
some cases an idea, such as an agricultural practice, may result from the spread of ideas from political leaders, sc
originate independently in more than one hearth. In dally elite people, or other important persons to othe1
other cases, hearths may emerge in two regions because in the community. Innovations may also originate in
two cultural groups modify a shared concept in two dif- particular node or core region of power, such as a Iarg
ferent ways. urban center, and diffuse later to isolated rural areas o
the periphery. Hip-hop or rap music is an example c
For a person, an object, or an idea to have interaction an innovation that originated in urban areas, thoug
with persons, objects, or ideas in other regions, diffusion it diffused from low-income African Americans ratht
must occur. Geographers observe two basic types of dif- than from socially elite people.
fusion-relocation and expansion. The spread of an idea
through physical movement of people from one place to • Contagious diffusion is the rapid, widespread diffl
sion of a characteristic throughout the population. /l

► FIGURE 1-31 RELOCATION DIFFUSION: Feb. 2002
o,P11ris
EURO COINS Dffon.

Introductionof a commoncurrencyt,he euro,in •N.antn
12 Europeancountrieson Januaiy1, 2002,gave
scientistsan unusuaol pportunityto measurere- ·eordeaux
locationdiffusion.Thepercentageof eurocoins
circulatingin Francebutmintedin othercountries % of purses containing a euro coin
is a measureof the levelof relocationdiffusion
into France.

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

;ee in RegionaHl ierarchoyfFordMotorCompany
itical, ExecutivCe hairman
nove,
;e, re- lHonnAmericaVP~anufactuting Europe China Australia

t and NorthAmericaVPMarketingS, ales& Service ~ lChairman& CEOF, ordMotorChina ~
'ortu-
Euro- lVPU.SMarketingS, ales& Service GroupVP,PresidenAt siaPacific&Africa
1rgest ExecutiveVP& Presidenll,he Americas
ough Controllert,heAmericas
: lan-
Presiden&t CEOF. ordMotorCo.of Canada GroupVP,Chairman& CEOF, ordof Europe Presiden&t CEOF, ordof Allstralia
7. VPManufactu~ngF,ordof Europe

n 12 VPMarl\£jlno,Sales& Service,Fordof Europe

JSual A FIGURE 1-32 HIERARCHICAL OIFfUSION: FORD LEADERSHIP
uths
3S is- FordMotorCompany'stop executivesare organizedbyworldregions,accordingto wherethe companysellsmost
pro- ofitsvehicles.
try's
;, al-
)un-

1ples
ther
:ular
n to

ad-
nay

·om

Jer-

nay

SO·

1ers

na

rge

on

· of

1gh A FIGURE 1-33 CONTAGIOUS DIFFUSION: TEXT MESSAGING

her Citiesare hearthsof diffusionformanyfeaturesA. T&Tw,ith the helpof MassachusettIsnstituteofTechnologaynd
IBMm, appedthe originanddestinationofallSMSmessagesfora month.Eachregiononthe mapshowsa clustering

ofsendersandrecipientsofmessagesA. reasingrayhadtoo fewsendersor recipientsto map.
fu-

As
the term implies, this form of diffusion is analogous to • Stimulus diffusion is the spread of an underlying

the spread of a contagious disease, such as influenza. principle even though a characteristic itself appar-

Contagious diffusion spreads like a wave among fans ently fails to diffuse. For example, innovative fea-

r in a stadium, without regard for hierarchy and with- tures of Apple's iPhone and iPad have been adopted by
out requiring permanent relocation of people. The competitors.

rapid adoption throughout the United States of AIDS F.xpansion diffusion occurs much more rapidly in the con-
prevention methods and new medicines is an ex- temporary world than it did in the past. Hierarchical dif-
ample of contagious diffusion. An idea placed on the fusion is encouraged by modern methods of communica-
World Wide Web spreads through contagious diffusion tion, such as computers, texting, blogging, Twittering, and
("goes viral") because web surfers throughout the world e-mail. Contagious diffusion is encouraged by use of the
have access to the same material simultaneously-and Internet, especially the World Wide Web. Stimulus diffu.
quickly (Figure 1-33). sion is encouraged by all of the new technologies.

27

28 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

SPATIAL INTERACTION Interaction takes place through a network, which is a
chain of communication that connects places. Some air-
Learning Outcome 1.3.5 lines, for example, have networks known as "hub-and-
Explain how places are connected through networks spokes". With a hub-and-spokes network, an airline flies
and how inequality can hinder connections. planes from a large number of places into one hub air-
port within a short period of time and then a short time
In the past, most connections among cultural groups re- later sends the planes to another set of places. In principle,
quired the physical movement of settlers, explorers, and travelers originating in relatively small towns can reach a
plunderers from one location to another. As recently as A.D. wide variety of destinations by changing planes at the hub
1800, people traveled in the same ways and at about the airport.
same speeds as in 1800 B.c.-they were carried by an ani-
mal, took a sailboat, or walked. To be connected with another place in the modern
world, we do not need to travel at all. Ideas that origlnate
The farther away someone is from another, the less likely in a hearth are now able to diffuse rapidly to other areas
the two are to interact. Contact diminishes with increas- through communications networks. One example is the TV
ing distance and eventually disappears. This trailing-off network (for example, BBCin the United Kingdom, CBC in
phenomenon is called distance decay. ln the contempo- Canada, NBC in the United States), which comprises a chain
rary world, distance decay is much less severe because con- of stations simultaneously broadcasting to distant places the
nection between places takes much less time. Geographers same program, such as a football game. Through a commu-
apply the term space-time compression to describe the re- nications network, diffusion from one place to another ii
duction in the time it takes for something to reach another instantaneous in time, even if the physical distance betweer
place (figure 1-34). places-as measured in kilometers or miles-is large.

Computers, tablets, and smart phones make it possibl<
for individuals to set up their own connections througt
individually constructed networks such as Facebook anc
Twitter. At the touch of a button, we can transmit image
and messages from one part of the world to our own per

sonalized network around the world.
Modem networks make it possible for us to knm
more about what is happening elsewhere in th
world, and space-tjme compression makes it poi
sible for us to know it sooner. Distant places seer
less remote and more accessible to us. With be
ter connections between places, we are e,
posed to a constant barrage of cultural trai'
and economic initiatives from people in oth1
regions, and perhaps we may adopt some <
these cultural and economic elements.

UNEQUAL ACCESS

Electronic communications have played ,

especially important role in removing barrie

to interaction between people who are phy:

cally far from each other. Physical barriers, sue

as oceans and deserts, can still retard interacti<

among people. In the modem world, barriers to i

teraction are more likely to derive from unequal ,

cess to electronics.

Instantaneous expansion diffusion, made possible

electronic communications, was once viewed as the "deat

£ FIGURE1-34 SPACE-TIMECOMPRESSIONTransportatioinmprovementhsaveshrunkthe of geography because the ease of communi,
world.In1492,ChristopheCr olumbutsook37 days(nearly900hours)to sailacrosstheAtlantic tions between distant places removed barri
Oceanfromthe CanaryIslandsto SanSalvadorIsland.In 1912,the Titanicwasscheduledto sail to interaction. In reality, because of unequal
fromQueenstown(nowCobh),Ireland,to NewYorkinabout5 days,althoughtwo-thirdsof the cess, geography matters even more than befc
wayacross,after80 hoursat sea,it hitan icebergand sank.In1927,CharlesLindbergwh as the
firstpersonto flynonstopacrosstheAtlantict,aking33.5hoursto go fromNewYorkto Paris.In People have unequal access to interacti
in part because the quality of electronic.serv

1962,JohnGlenn,the firstAmericanto orbitinspace,crossedabovetheAtlanticinabouta varies among places. Internet access depe1

half-hourand circledthe globethree timesin 5 hours. on availability of electricity to power

Chapter 1: BasicConcepts 29

is a computer and a service provider. Seconds count. Broad- 300
band service requires proximity to a digital subscriber line l
(DSL), a cable line, or other services. Most importantly, a
person must be able to afford to pay for the communica- ~e 250
air- - Top1%
nd- "' 200 Middleclass

..lies - Poores2t 0%

air- tions equipment and service. E

0
Global culture and economy are increasingly centered ".5 150
me on the three core, or hearth, regions of North America, "J! 100
Jle,
'..ha ,Europe, and Japan. These three regions have a large per- l
....lUb "> 50
centage of the world's advanced technology, capital to in- :i 0
vest in new activities, and wealth to purchase goods and E

em services. From "command centers" in the three major ~

0

Late world cities of New York, London, and Tokyo, key deci- -50 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005
1980

·eas sion makers employ modern telecommunications to send Year

TV orders to factories, shops, and research centers around .6.FIGURE1-36 INCOME GROWTHOF THEWEALTHIEST
: in tbe wor,id-an example of hierarchical diffusion. Mean- 1 PERCENTBetween1979and2007,the incomeof the wealthiest1
while, ''nonessential" employees of the companies can be percentin the UnitedStatesgrew by278 percent,comparedto an increaseof
ain relocated to lower-cost offices outside the major financial approximately34percentfor everyoneelse.
the
centers. For example, Fila maintains headquarters in Italy
nu- but has moved 90 percent of its production of sportswear Economic inequality has also increased within coun-
r is to Asian countries. Mitsubishi's corporate offices are in tries. In the United States, the share of the national in-
een Japan, but its electronics products are made in other Asian come held by the wealthiest l percent increased from

Lble countries. 7 percent to 17 percent between 1979 and 2007, accord-
Jgh Countries in Africa, Asia, and )Latin America contain ing to the Congressional Budget Office. The income of the
md wealthiest 1 percent increased by 278 percent, whereas the
.ges three-fourths of the world's population and nearly all income of the poorest 20 percent increased by 18 percent,
Jer- of its population growth. However, the5e countries find and the income of those in the middle increased by
themselves on a periphery, or outer edge, with respect to 38 percent (Figure 1-36).
the wealthier core regions of North America, Europe, and
In a global culture and economy, every area of the
IOW Japan. Global investment arrives from the core through hi- world plays some role intertwined with the roles played by
erarchical diffusion of decisions made by transnational cor- other regions. Workers and cultural groups that in the past
the porations. People in peripheral regions, who once toiled in were largely unaffected by events elsewhere in the world
isolated farm fields to produce food for their families, now now share a single economic and cultural world with other
lOS- produce crops for sale in core regions or have given up workers and cultural groups. The fate of an autoworker in
farm life altogether and migrated to cities in search of jobs Detroit is tied to investment decisions made in Mexico
iem in factories and offices. As a result, the global economy has City, Seoul, Stuttgart, and Tokyo.
Jet- produced greater disparities than in the past between the
ex-

aits

her
~ of levels of wealth and well-being enjoyed by people in the
core and in the periphery. The increasing gap in economic Pause and Reflect 1.3.5

conditions be~en regions in the core and periphery that What are the main differences between countries in
results from the globalization of the economy is known as the core regions and those in the periphery?
uneven development (Figure 1-35).

an CHECK-IN:KEY ISSUE3

iers 35,000 Why Are Different Places Similar?
ysi-
✓ Geographers examine at all scales, though they
uch 30,000 - Developecdountries are increasingly concerned with the global scale.

ion ~ -world

25,000in- ~ - Developincgountries

·iac- 20,000 ✓ Distribution has three propertie~ensity,
3 concentration, and pattern-and different cultural
..! by groups display different distributions in space.
8_ 15,000
✓ Places are connected through networks, and
1th" ~ 10,000 phenomena spread through relocation and

ica- ~

L-----------:::.·iers5.000

ac- ~9·~ao~~;1~9a~s===,990:;:::::::::199:esxp=a=ns=ion2d:oiffu:s0io0n.===2=oos=-J
ore.
·ion Year ✓ In spite of space-time compression, peripheral

vice A FIGURE1-35 INCOMEGAP BETWEENRICHANO POORCOUNTRIES regions in the global economy often have

nds Incomehasincreasedmuchmorerapidlyin developedcountriesthan in develop- unequal accessto the goods and services

the ing ones. available in core regions.

. ~, !,,,,.Jnu" ~HIUIHIHUIIH

30 THE CULTURALLANDSCAPE

KEY ISSUE4 THREE PILLARS OF SUSTAINABILITY

Why Are Some According to the United Nations, sustainability rests o
Human Actions Not three pillars: environment, economy, and society. The U:
Sustainable? report Our Common Fut11reis a landmark work in recogni
ing sustainability as a combination of natural and huma
■ Sustainability and Resources elements. The report, released in 1987, is frequently call€
the Brundtland Report, named for the chair of the Wor:
■ Sustainability and Human- Commission on Environment and Development, Gi
Environment Relationships Harlem Brundtland, former prime minister of Norway.

Learning Outcome 1.4.1 Sustainability requires curtailing the use of nonrene1
Describe the three pillars of sustainability. able resources and limiting the use of renewable resourc
to the level at which the environment can continue
Geography is distinctive because it encompasses both so- supply them indefinitely. To be sustainable, the amount
cial science (human geography) and natural science (phys- timber cut down in a forest, for example, or the number
ical geography). This book focuses on human geogra- fish removed from a body of water must remain at a le\,
phy but doesn't forget that humans are interrelated with that does not reduce future supplies.
Earth's atmosphere, land, water, and vegetation, as well as
with its other living creatures. The Brundtland Report argues that sustainability c;
be achieved only by bringing together environmental p1
From the perspective of human geography, nature of- tection, economic growth, and social equity (Figure 1-3·
fers a large menu of resources available for people to use. The report is optimistic about the possibility of promoti
A resource is a substance in the environment that is use- environmental protection at the same time as econorr
ful to people, economically and technologically feasible growth and social equity.
to access, and socially acceptable to use. A substance is
merely part of nature until a society has a use for it. Food, THE ENVIRONMENT PILLAR. The sustainable use a
water, minerals, soil, plants, and animals are examples of management of Earth's natural resources to meet hum
resources. needs such as food, medicine, and recreation isconservatic
Renewable resources such as trees and wildlife are consen
Sustainability and Resources if they are consumed at a less rapid rate than they can
replaced. Nonrenewable resources such as petroleum a
Earth's resources are divided between those that are renew- coal are conserved if we use less today in order to maint;
able and those that are not: more for future generations (Figure 1-38, left).

• A renewable resource is produced in nature more rap- Conservation differs from preservation, which is f
idly than it Is consumed by humans. maintenance of resources in their present condition, w
as little human impact as possible. Preservation takes ·
• A nonrenewable resource is produced in nature more view that the value of nature does not derive from hurr
slowly than It ls consumed by humans. needs and interests but from the fact that every plant,
animal living on Earth has a right to exist and should
Geographers observe two major misuses of resources: preserved, regardless of the cost. Preservation does .
regard nature as a resource for human use. In contr
• Humans deplete nonrenewable resources, such as pe- conservation is compatible with development but o
troleum, natural gas, and coal.
Economic
• Humans destroy otherwise renewable resources through
pollution of air, water, and soil. 4 FIGURE1-37 THREE PILLARS Of SUSTAINABILITY TheUN's

The use of Earth's renewable and nonrenewable natural BrundtlandReportconsidersustainabilityto be a combinationof
resources in ways that ensure resource availability in the environmentaplrotectione, conomicdevelopmenta,nd socialequity.
future is sustainability. Efforts to recycle metals, paper,
and plastic, develop less polluting industrial processes,
and protect farmland from suburban sprawl are all ex-
amples of practices that contribute to a more sustainable
future.

Chapter 1: Basic Concepts 31

on
JN
iz-
an
ed
rld

iro

W·

:es
to

of
of
;el

A FIGURE1-38 THREEPILLARSOF SUSTAINABILITYIN THE TROOOOSMOUNTAINS OF CYPRUS

an Conservatioonf wildlifein theTroodosMountainsC. yprus(.left)Theenvironmenptillar.Theareais knownfor its
ro- outstandingrockformationsM. uchof theareais protectedasnationalforestsandUNWorldHeritagesites.(center)
7). Theeconomypillar:Tourismis a majoreconomicactivlty.(right)Thesocialequitypillar.Localresidentws atchthe
ng touristspassby.Someof themoneygeneratedbyrelativelywealthytouristshelpsmakelife morebearablefor
1ic residentlsivingin a ruggedenvironment.

if natural resources are utilized in a careful rather than a SUSTAINABILITY'S CRITICS

nd wasteful manner. Some environmentally oriented critics have argued that
it is too late to discuss sustainability. The World Wildlife
an THE ECONOMY PILLAR. Natural resources acquire a Fund (WWF), for example, claims that the world surpassed
,n. monetary value through exchange in a marketplace its sustainable level around 1980. The WWF Living Planet
(figure 1-38 (center)). In a market economy, supply and Report reaches its pessimistic conclusion by comparing the
ed demand are the principal factors determining affordability. amount of land that humans are currently using with the
be The greater the supply, the lower the price; the greater amount of "biologically productive" land on Earth. "Bio-

nd
,in

he the demand, the higher the price. Consumers will pay logically productive land" is defined as the amount of land
th more for a commodity If they strongly desire it than if they required to produce the resources currently consumed and
he have only a moderate desire. However, geographers observe handle the wastes currently generated by the world's 7 bil-
that some goods do not reflect their actual environmental lion people at current levels of technology.

3n costs. For example, motorists sitting in a traffic jam do not The WWF calculates that humans are currently using
have to pay a fee for the relatively high level of pollution about 13 billion hectares of Earth's land area, including
1d their vehicles are emitting into the atmosphere. 3 billion hectares for cropland, 2 billion for forest, 7 billion
for energy, and l bilJion for fishing, grazing, and built-
be The price of a resource depends on a society's techno- up areas. However, according to the WWF, Earth has only
ot logical ability to obtain it and to adapt it to that society's 11.4 billion hectares of biologically productive land, so hu-
st, purposes. Earth has many substances that we do not use
,ly

today because we lack the means to extract them or the man~ are already using all of the productive land and none
knowledge of how to use them. Things that might become is left for future growth.
resources in the near future are potential resources.
Others criticize sustainability from the opposite per-

spective: Human activities have not exceeded Earth's ca-

THE SOCIETY PILLAR. Humans need shelter, food, and pacity, they argue, because resource availability has no

clothing to survive, so they make use of resources to meet maximum, and Earth's !$Sources have no absolute limit

these needs. Homes can be built of grass, wood, mud, stone, because the definition of resources changes drastically and

or brick. Food can be consumed by harvestirlg grains, fruit, unpredictably over time. Environmental Improvements

and vegetables or by eating the flesh of fish, cattle, and pigs. can be achieved through careful assessment of the outer

Clothing can be made from harvesting cotton, removing limits of Earth's capacity.

skins from animals, or turning petroleum into polyester. Critics and defenders of sustainable development agree

Consumer choices can support sustainability when that one important recommendation of the UN report has

people embrace it as a value. For example, a consumer not been implemented-increased international coopera-

might prefer clothing made of natural or recycled materi- tion to reduce the gap between more developed and less

als to clothing made directly from petroleum products. So- developed countries. Only if resources are distributed In

ciety's values are the basis for choosing which resources to a more equitable manner can poorer countries reduce the

use (Figure 1-38 (right)). gap with richer countries.

·- -1nntt1,, IUIHfUIIHU

32 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

EARTH'S PHYSICAL SYSTEMS producing such weather features as wind blowing, storm
brewing, and rain falling.
Learning Outcome 1.4.2
Describe the three abiotic physical systems. The long-term average weather condition at a particu
Jar location is climate. Geographers frequently classify di
Geographers dassify natural resources as part of four inter- mates according to a system developed by German clima
related systems. These four physical systems are classified as tologist Vladimir Koppen. The modified Koppen systen
either biotic or abiotic. A biotic system is composed of liv- divides the world into five main climate regions that ar
ing organisms. An abiotic system is composed of nonliving identified by the letters A through E, as well as by names:
or inorganic matter. Three of Earth's four systems are abiotic:
• The atmosphere: a thin layer of gases surrounding Earth. • A: Tropical Climates
• The hydrosphere: all of the water on and near Earth's
• B: Dry Climates
surface.
• The lithosphere: Earth's crust and a portion of upper • C: Warm Mid-Latitude Climates

mantle directly below the crust. • D: Cold Mid-Latitude Climates

One of the four systems is biotic: • E: Polar Climates
• The biosphere: all living organisms on Earth, including
The modified Koppen system divides the five main climat
plants and animals, as well as microorganisms. regions into several subtypes (Figure 1-39). For all but the
The names of the four spheres are derived from the Greek climate, the basis for the subdivision is the amount of precip
words for "stone" (litho), "air" (atmo), "water" (hydro), and tation and the season in which it falls. For the B climate, sut
"life" (bio). division is made on the basisof temperature and precipitatior

ATMOSPHEREA. thin layer of gases surrounds Earth at Humans have a limited tolerance for extreme terr
an altitude up to 480 kilometers (300 miles). Pure dry perature and precipitation levels and thus avoid living i
air in the lower atmosphere contains approximately places that are too hot, too cold, too wet, or too dry. Corr
78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, 0.9 percent argon, pare the map of global climate to the distribution of popt
0.036 percent carbon dioxide, and 0.064 percent other lation (see Figure 2-3). Relatively few people live in the Dr
gases (measured by volume). As atmospheric gases are held (B) and Polar (E) climate regions.
to Earth by gravity, pressure is created. Variations in air
pressure from one location to another are responsible for HYDROSPHEREW. ater exists in liquid form in the ocean
lakes, and rivers, as well as groundwater in soil and rock.
can also exist as water vapor in the atmosphere, and as ic
in glaciers. Over 97 percent of the world's water is in th
oceans. The oceans supply the atmosphere with water vapo
which returns to Earth's surface as precipitation, the mo:

~- ~ ~w ww ·r,-,,~.R~enwe_~w,_· _w ... ◄ FIGURE 1-39 CLIMATE
~ REGIONS Geographers

....OCEAN • • .,. frequentlyclassifyglobalclimate
accordingto a systemdeveloped
-

byVladimiKr oppenT.hemodifie1

.,. ... Koppensystemdividesthe world
,,. intofivemainclimateregions,

'!'<'!.<!.'?";!___ representedbythe lettersA,B,C
:.- D.andE.

t:llm1t1 Regions /NDIAN
OCEAN
..,~A:Tropic:alclirnatcs
_______ _;___;_____·_•~------~=-~-~.~
••r~ica9ralnr
- Trw-cMwtt attdC!ry
8: Dr,rclimate$
-S.m1and

C:WarmMid-La1mtdccilmates
O;ysummusuMJo,pical

• HulTll'sJub!J-qiic.at

- Miilirt,ewestot.a!1 '" A TI..A.NTIC ~ •.~~ ..I- ,-
0: ColdMld-l.ati'ludeCilmllH ec,o OC~

Hum:.dtotlttne"'at ,,.
warms-.immtr
1-Mncldonllnentat
t40lsummtr

•S<Jl>a<<te
E:Potv climate::i
-Nelie

let cap

-HigNand

Chapter 1: Basic Concepts 33

ng, storms J,,.FIGURE1-40 MONSOON IN INDIA Peoplearewortcingin a ricefield
duringlhe rainyseason.
a particu-
classify cli- important source of freshwater. Consumption of water is
man clima- essential for the survival of plants and animals, and a large
en system quantity and variety of plants and animals live in it. Because
ns that are water gains and loses heat relatively slowly, it also moderates
by names: seasonal temperature extremes over much of Earth's surface.

in climate The climate of a particular location influences human
but the B activities, especially production of the food needed to
of precipi- survive. People in parts of the A climate region, espe-
nate, sub- cially southwestern India, Bangladesh, and the Myanmar
:ipitation. (Burma) coast, anxiously await the annual monsoon rain,
me tern- which is essential for successful agriculture and provides
living in nearly 90 percent of India's water supply (Figure 1-40). For
ry. Com- most of the year, the region receives dry, somewhat cool air
of popu- from the northeast. In June, the wind direction suddenly
shifts, bringing moist, warm, southwesterly air, known as
the Dry the monsoon, from the Indian Ocean. The monsoon rain
lasts until September. In years when the monsoon rain is
oceans, delayed or fails to arrive-in recent decades, at least one-
rock. It fourth of the time-agricultural output falls and famine
d as ice threatens Ln the countries of South Asia, where nearly
in the 20 percent of the world's people live. The monsoon rain
·vapor, is so important in India that the words for "yeax," "rain,"
e most and "rainy season" are identical in many local languages.

E LlTHOSPHERE. Earth is composed of concentric spheres. J,,.FIGURE 1-41 TOPOGRAPHIC MAP A portionof a topographic
The core is a dense, metallic sphere about 3,500 kilometers mappublishedbythe U.SG. eologicaSl urveyshowsph~sicafleaturesin
imates (2,200 miles) in radius. Surrounding the core is a mantle northwesternMississippTi.hebrownlinesarecontourlines!hatshowthe
loped about 2,900 kilometers (1,800 miles) thick. The crust is a elevationofanylocationT. heportionofthe topomapshownhere is partof
dified thin, brittle outer shell 8 to 40 kilometers (5 to 25 miles) sections29and32on the townshipand rangemap(Figure1-30).
NOrld thick. The lithosphere encompasses the crust, a portion
of the mantle extending down to about 70 kilometers features, such as bodies of water, forests, mountains, val-
1S. (45 miles). Powerful forces deep within Earth bend and leys, and wetlands. They also show cultural features, such as
break the crust to fonn mountain chains and shape the buildings, roads, parks, farms, and dams. "Topos" are used
B.C, crust to form continents and ocean basins. by engineers, hikers, hunters, people seeking home sites,
and anyone who really wants to see the Jay of the land
Earth's surface features, or landfonns, vary from rela- (Figure 1-41). The brown lines on the map are contour lines
tively flat to mountainous. Geographers find that the study that show the elevation of any location. Lines are further
of Earth's landforms-a science known as geomorphology- apart in flatter areas and closer together in hilly areas.
helps to explain the distribution of people and the choice of
economic activities at clifferentlocations. People prefer living Pause and Reflect 1.4.2
on flatter land, which generally is better suited for agricul-
ture. Great concentrations of people and activities in hilly Why would maps of Earth's hydrosphere, lithosphere,
areas may require extensive effort to modify the landscape.
and biosphere be important in the quest for
Topographic maps, published for the United States by
the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS),show details of physical sustainability?

34 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Sustainability and Human- Atmosphere
Environment Relationships

Learning Outcome 1.4.3
Explain how the biosphere interacts with Earth's
abiotic systems.

Modem technology has altered the historic relationship be- -'- FIGURE 1-42 ECOSYSTEMSGeographerasre especiallyinterestedin the
tween people and the environment. People are now the most ecosystemofa city,becauseapproximatelhyalfof Earth'shumanslivein urban
important agents of change on Earth, and they can modify areas.Thelithosphereprovidesthe groundand thematerialsto erecthomes
the environment to a greater extent than in the past. Ge- and businessesT. hehydrospherperovidesthe waterforurbandwellersto
ographers are concerned that people sometimes use modern consumeT. heatmosphereiswhereurbandwellersemitpollutantsS. omeplants
technology to modify the environment insensitively. Human andotheranimalsofthe biospherethrivealongwithhumansin thecities,
actions can deplete scarce environmental resources, destroy whereasothersstruggle,
irreplaceable resources, and use resources inefficiently.
the thin interface between the air and the rocks. Two basic
INTERACTIONS IN THE BIOSPHERE problems contribute to the destruction of soil:

The fourth natural resource system, the biosphere, en- • Erosion. Erosion occurs when the soil washes away in
compasses all of Earth's living organisms. Because living the rain or blows away in the wind. Farmers contrib-
organisms cannot exist except through interaction with ute to erosion through inappropriate choices. To reduce
the surrounding physical environment, the biosphere erosion, farmers can avoid steep slopes, plow less, and
also includes portions of the three abiotic systems near plant crops whose roots help bind the soil.
Earth's surface. Living organisms in the biosphere inter-
act with each of the three abiotic systems. For example, a • Depletion of nutrients. Soilcontains the nutrients neces-
piece of soil may comprise mineral material from the lith- sary for successful growth of plants, including those use-
osphere, moisture from the hydrosphere, pockets of air ful to humans. Nutrients are depleted when plants with-
from the atmosphere, and plant and insect matter from draw more nutrients than natural processes can replace.
the biosphere. Each type of plant withdraws certain nutrients from the
soil and restores others. To minimize depletion, farmers
Most of the living organisms interact within the top can plant different crops from one year to the next so
3 meters (10 feet) of the lithosphere, the top 200 meters that the land remains productive over the long term.
(650 feet) of the hydrosphere, and the lowest 30 meters
(100 feet) of the atmosphere: CULTURALECOLOGY:INTEGRATINGCULTURE
AND ENVIRONMENT
• The lithosphere is where most plants and animals live
and where they obtain food and shelter. Human geographers are especially interested in the fac1
that different cultural groups modify the natural environ-
• The hydrosphere provides water to drink and physical ment in distinctive ways. The geographic study of human-
support for aquatic life. environment relationships is known as cultural ecology.
The roots of cultural ecology reach back more than 200
• The atmosphere provides the air for animals to breathe years, to an era when early scientists traveled the globe,
and protects them from the Sun's rays. observing how people lived in different environments.

A group of living organisms and the abiotic spheres with ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINISM. Pioneeringnineteenth-
which they interact is an ecosystem {Figure 1-42). The sci- century German geographers Alexander von Humboldt
entific study of ecosystems is ecology. Ecologists study in- (1769-1859) and Carl Ritter (1779-1859) believed that
terrelationships between living organisms and the three the physical environment caused social development, an
abiotic environments, as well as interrelationships among approach called envi.ronmental determinism.
the various living organisms in the biosphere.

Human geographers are especially interested in ecosys-
tems involving the interaction of humans with the rest of
the biosphere and the three abiotic spheres (Figure 1-43): If
the atmosphere contains pollutants, or its oxygen level is
reduced, humans have trouble breathing. Without water,
humans waste away and die. A stable lithosphere provides
humans with materials for buildings and fuel for energy.
The rest of the biosphere provides humans with food.

For example, human actions contribute to the destruc-
tion of soil, the material that forms on Earth's surface at

A FIGURE 1-43 POSSIBILISM: ALTERNATIVE BEHAVIORS (left)Somehumanspreferto mowtheirlawn.
(right)Otherspreferto letwildOowergsrow.

1le According to Humboldt and Ritter, human geogra- soJe human impacts on the environment are based

ian phers should apply laws from the natural sciences to on deep-seated cultural values. Why do we plant our front
understanding relationships between the physical envi- yard with grass, water it to make it grow, mow it to keep

ronment and human actions. They argued that the scien- it from growing tall, and impose fines on those who fail

tnts tific study of social and natural processes is fundamentally to mow often enough? Why not let dandelions or wild-

the same. Natural scientists have made more progress in flowers grow instead (Figure 1-43)? Why does one group of

formulating general laws than have social scientists, so an people consume the fruit from deciduous trees and chop

important goal of human geographers is to discover gen- down the conifers for building materials, whereas another

sic eral laws. Humboldt and Ritter urged human geographers group chops down the deciduous trees for furniture while
to adopt the methods of scientific inquiry used by natural preserving the conifers as religious symbols? Are some of

in scientists. these actions more sustainable than others?
ib- Other influential geographers adopted environmental A people's level of wealth can also influence its attitude
.ce
nd determinism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth toward modifying the environment. A farmer who pos-
centuries. Friedrich Ratzel (1844-1904) and his American sesses a tractor may regard a hilly piece of land as an obsta-
student Ellen Churchill Semple (1863-1932) claimed that cle to avoid, but a poor farmer with a hoe may regard hilly

geography was the study of the influences of the natural land as the only opportunity to produce food for survival
~s- environment on people.
;e- Another early American geographer, Ellsworth Hun- through hand cultivation.

h- tington (1876-1947), argued that climate was a major POSSlBILISM AND SUSTAINABILITY. Human geographers
:e. determinant of civilization. For instance. according to use the cultural ecology, or human-environment, approach
he Huntington, the temperate climate of maritime north- to understand whether particular patterns and processes
!rs western Europe produced greater human efficiency as are sustainable. For example, world population growth is a
so measured by better health conditions, lower death rates, problem if the number of people exceeds the capacity of the

and higher standards of living. physical environment to produce food. However, people
can adjust to the capacity of the physical environment

POSSIBILISM. To explain relationships between human by controlling their numbers, adopting new technology,
activities and the physical environment, modern geographers consuming different foods, migrating to new locations,

reject environmental determinism in favor of possibillsm. and taking other actions.

ct According to possibilism, the physical environment may The physical environment is not always the most signif-

n- limit some human actions, but people have the ability to icant factor in human decisions. People can fashion a land-

1- adjust to their environment. People can choose a course of scape by superimposing new forms on the physical envi-

y. action from many alternatives in the physical environment. ronment. For example, the critical factor in selecting a site

10 For example, the climate of any location Influences for a cotton textile factory is not proximity to a place where

e, human activities, especially food production. From one gen- cotton is grown. A more important factor in selecting a

eration to the next, people learn that different crops thrive suitable location is access to a supply of low-cost labor. Eco-

in different climates-rice requires plentiful water, whereas nomic systems, political structures, living arrangements,
1- wheat survives on limited moisture and actually grows religious practices, and human activities can produce dis-

lt poorly in very wet environments. On the other hand, wheat tinctive landscapes that do not stem primarily from dis-

3t is more likely than rice to be grown successfully in colder cli- tinctive physical features. The geographer's job is to sort

n mates. Thus, under possibilism, people can choose the crops out the associations among various social characteristics,

they grow and yet be compatible with their environment. each of which is uniquely distributed across Earth's suzface.

35

36 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

MODIFYING THE ENVIRONMENT Ocean, from flooding much of the country. The Dute
have built dikes in two major locations-the Zuider 21
Learning Outcome 1.4.4 project in the north and the Delta Plan project in tt
Compare ecosystems in the Netherlands and southwest.

southern Florida. The Zuider Zee, an arm of the North Sea, once threa

Few ecosystems have been as thoroughly modified by hu- ened the heart of the Netherlands with flooding. A ctn
mans as the Netherlands and Florida's Everglades. Because
more than half of the Netherlands lies below sea level, completed in 1932 caused the Zuider Zee to be cor
most of the country today would be under water if it were verted from a saltwater sea to a freshwater lake calle
not for massive projects to modify the environment by Lake Ijssel. Some of the lake has been drained to creat
holding back the sea. Meanwhile, the fragile landscape of several polders.
south Florida has been altered in insensitive ways.
A second ambitious project in the Netherlands is th
THE NETHERLANDS:SUSTAINABLEECOSYSTEM.The Delta Plan. Several rivers that flow through the Nett:
Dutch have a saying that "God made Earth, but the Dutch erlands to the North Sea split into many branches an,
made the Netherlands." The Dutch have modified their form a low-lying delta that is vulnerable to floodin~
environment with two distinctive types of construction After a devastating flood in January 1953 killed near!·
projects-polders and dikes. 2,000 people, the Delta Plan called for the constructioi
of several dams to close off most of the waterways.
A polder is a piece of land that is created by draining
water from an area. Polders, first created in the thirteenth Once these two massive projects were finished, atti
century, were constructed primarily by private developers tudes toward modifying the environment changed in th,
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and by the gov- Netherlands. The Dutch scrapped plans to build additiona
ernment during the past 200 years. All together, the Neth- polders in the [Jsselmeer in order to preserve the lake'
erlands has 6,500 square kilometers (2,600 square miles) of value for recreation.
poldcrs, comprising 16 percent of the country's land area
(Figure 1-44). The Dutch government has reserved most of The Dutch are deliberately breaking some of the dike:
the polders for agriculture to reduce the country's depen- to flood fields. A plan adopted in 1990 called for return
dence on imported food. Some of the polders are used for ing 263,000 hectares (650,000 acres) of farms to wetland!
housing, and one contains Schiphol, one of Europe's busi- or forests. Widespread use of insecticides and fertilizers or
est airports. Dutch farms has contributed to contaminated drinklnf
water, acid rain, and other environmental problems.
The second distinctive modification of the land-
scape in the Netherlands is the construction of massive Global warming could threaten the Netherlands b}
dikes to prevent the North Sea, an arm of the Atlantic raising the level of the sea around the country by between
20 and 58 centimeters (8 and 23 inches) within the next
100 years. Rather than build new dikes and polders, the
Dutch have become world leaders in reducing the causes
of global warming by acting to reduce industrial pollu-
tion and increase solar and wind power use, among other
actions.

Londreclalmeo,
120(1-1600

• landredalmeo,
1600--1900

• Lanarec1a1med,
19011-1985

AOar-lanc

rtelamabon pro.eel
-01kes

• Lano«>becomelake
orrrarshland

Tho .,. ■.Uttechl
North S
..dam·!. NET
11.w

~

BELGIUM 2' 50Ki1Dmittn
I 1•

A FIGURE 1-44 SUSTAINABLE ECOSYSTEM: THE NETHERLANDS (left)TheDutchpeoplehaveconsiderably
alteredthe siteof the Netherlandsthroughcreationof poldersanddikes.(right)ApolderinNorthHollandhasbeen
createdbypumpingthe waterfromthe siteintothe canal.

The Dutch -~-- -~ ' ATLANTIC Chapter 1: Basic Concepts 37
e Zuider Ze<.' !I"At7llf'OlfSltJ7."L ,
oject In the Kissimmee River into canals during the 1950s, and con-
OeH • ~: c-l'flW. OCEAN structed dikes and levees near Miami and Fort Lauderdale
once threat- during the 1960s. The southern portion of the Everglades
ding. A dike .. i( NAmw.L became a National Park. These modifications opened up
to be con- hundreds of thousands of hectares of land for growing sug-
lake called " EASHOIIE arcane and protected farmland as well as the land occupied
ed to create by the growing South Florida population from flooding.
Cllllvual But they had unintended consequences for South Florida's
lands is the environment.
1 the Neth- l'llfW
anches and Polluted water, mainly from cattle grazing along the
o flooding. st.Lucio banks of the canals, flowed into Lake Okeechobee, which
Jled nearly is the source of freshwater for half of Florida's population.
instruction N Fish in the lake began to die from the high levels of mer-
ways. cury, phosphorous, and other contaminants. The polluted
ished, atti- Gulf water then continued to flow south into the National Park,
1ged in the of threatening native vegetation such as sawgrass and endan-
gering rare birds and other animals.
additional MOJ(ico
the lake's A 2000 plan called for restoring the historic flow of
Offl' (CRnJGAS water through South Florida while improving flood con-
'the dikes • NAfL PAPK trol and water quality. A 2008 plan called for the state to
·or return- acquire hundreds of thousands of acres of land from sugar-
wetlands A FIGURE1-45 UNSUSTAINABLEECOSYSTEM:SOUTH FLORIDA cane growers. But to date, few elements of the plans to re-
tilizers on TocontrolfloodingincentralFloridat,he U.SA. rmyCorpsof Engineers store the Everglades have been implemented. One-half of
straightenedthe courseofthe KissimmeRe iverw, hichhad meanderedfor160 the Everglades has been lost to development. In an ironic
drinking reminder of the Dutch saying quoted earlier, Floridians
ms. kilometer(s98miles)fromnearOrlandoto LakeOkeechobeeT.hewaterwas say, "God made the world in six days, and the Army Corps
lands by rechanneledintoa canal90 meterswide(300feet)and 9 metersdeep(30 of Engineers has been tinkering with it ever since."
between feet),runningina straighttinefor84 kilometer(s52miles).
the next A generation ago, people concerned with environ-
jers, the SOUTH FLORIDA: UNSUSTAINABLE ECOSYSTEM. Sensi- mental quality proclaimed, "Think global, act local." The
e causes tive environmental areas in South Florida include barrier phrase meant that the environment was being harmed by
11pollu- islands along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, the wetlands
1gother between Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades National processes such as global warming that were global in scale,
Park, and the Kissimmee River between Lake Kissimmee and
Lake Okeechobee (Figure 1-45). These lowlands have been but it could be improved by actions, such as consuming
modified less sensitively than those in the Netherlands. less gasoline, that were local in scale. Contemporary geog-
raphers offer a different version of the phrase: "Think and
The Everglades was once a very wide and shallow fresh- act both global and local." All scales from local to global
water river 80 kilometers (SO miles) wide and 15 centi- are important in geography-the appropriate scale de-
meters (6 inches) deep, slowly flowing south from Lake pends on the specific subject.
Okeechobee to the Gulf of Mexico. A sensitive ecosystem
of plants and animals once thrived in this distinctive land- Pause and Reflect 1.4.4
scape, but much of it has been destroyed by human actions. Both the Netherlands and the Florida Everglades face
threats to their sustainability. Which is better positioned
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built a levee around to face future challenges? Explain your answer.
Lake Okeechobee during the 1930s, drained the northern
one-third of the Everglades during the 1940s, diverted the CHECK-IN:KEY ISSUE4

Why Are Some Human Actions Not
Sustainable?

✓ Sustainability combines environment, economy,
and society.

✓ The interaction of humans and other living
organisms with other physical systems results in
ecosystems that may or may not be sustainable.

38 THECULTURAt LANDSCAPE

Summary and Review l KEY ISSUE2

1KEY ISSUE

How Do Geographers Describe Where Things Are? Why Is Each Point on Earth Unique?

Geography is most fundamentally a spaUal science. Geographer8 use Every place on Earth is in some respects unique. Geographe~
maps lo display the location of ob~ects and to extract information also identify unique regions as areas dist1ngui8hed by distincti'vJ
combinations of cultural as well as ecom>mie and environmenta
about places. Early geographers drew maps oi Earth's surface based features. The disttibution of features helps to explain why eveq
place and evety region i,sunique.
on exploration and observation. Today contemporary tools, 8uch as
remote sensing, GPS,and GIS, assist geographers in understanding LEARNINGOUTCOME1.2.1: Identify geographic characteristics Q,
reasons for Qbserved regularities across Earth. places, including toponym, site; and situation.

LEARNINGOUTCOME1.1.1: Explain differences between early • Location is the position s·0mething occupies on Earth. Ge
maps and contemporary maps. ographers identify a place's location using place names, 8ite
and situation.
• Someof the earliest maps were used for navi-gation. Maps have
LEARNINGOUTCOME1.2.2: Identify the three types of regions.
had rnany other uses as tools of reference and communication. • A formal region is an area within which everyone share

LEA_RNINOGUTCOME1.1.2: Describe the role of map scale and distinctive char·acteristics. A .functional region is an area m
pro1,ecuons in making maps.
ganized around a node. A vernacular region i's an area tha
• Contemporary maps indicate scale in three ways. Four types people believe exists.
of distortion can occur in the transfer of Earth's round surface
lo a flat map. LEARNINGOUTCOME1.2.3: Describe two geographic definition
of culture.
LEARNINGOUTCOME1. 1.3: Explain how latitude and longitude
are used to locate points qn Earth's surface. • Culture can refer to cultural values such as language and reli
gion, or to material culture such as food, clothing, and shelte:
• Latitude indicates position north 01 south of the equator, and
IOngitude indicates position east or west of toe prime meridian. '

LEARNINGOUTCOME1.1.4: Identify contemporary analytic tools, THINKINGGEOGRAPHICALL1Y.2: Describe the site and situatioi
rncluding remote sensing, GPS, and GJS. of your hometown.

• Geographers today use the tools of Geographic Information GOOGLEEARTH1.2: What character.istics of site and situation ar
Science (GJScience). Data gathered by remote sensing and visible in an aerial view of New Orleans?
GPS to measure changes over time and the characteristics of
places can be combined and analyzed using geographic infor•
nlation systems (GlS).

THl~KINGGEOGRAPHICALL1Y.1: Mapping is partially a science,
but it also involves a lot of human judgment. Provide examples
of hurnan judgment in mapping, such as in the creation of the
geographic grid and in contemporary tools:

GOOGLEEARTH1.1: What are the precise latitude and longitude
of the U.S. Capitol building?

Key Terms Comcrvation (p. 30) The sustainable management of a natural
resource.
Abiottc (p. 32) Composed of nonliving or inorganic matter. Contagious diffusion (p. 26) The rapid, widespread diffusion of a
Atmosphere (p. 32) The thin layer of gases surrounding Earth. feature or trend throughout a population.
Biosphere (p. 32) All Livingorganisms on Earth, including plants and
animals, as well as microorganisms. Cultural cc:ology (p. 34) A geographic approach that emphasizes
Biotic (p. 32) Composed of living organisms. human-environment relationships.
Cartography (p. S)The science of making maps. Cultural landscape (p. J6) The fashioning of a natural landscape by
Cli~ate (p. 32) The long-term average weather condition at a cultural group.
particular location. Culture (p. 18) The body of customary beliefs, ,ocial forms, and
material traits that together constitute a group's distinct tradition.
Concentration (p. 22) The spread of something over a given area. Density (p. 2Z) The frequency with which something exists within a
Con_necuon (p. 26) Relationships among people and objects across the given unit of area.
barrier of space.

Chapter 1: Basic €onGepts 39

KEY ISSUE3 ....-...---------------

--
Why Are Different Places Similar?
LEARNING OUTCOME 1.3.4: Descritie how charac;teristlcs ean

,hers Geographers wo.rkat all seales, from tocal to g1obal. The global spread across space over time through diffusion.
<itive
scale is increasingly important oeC'ause few places in th.e • Sometbin~ originates at a hearth and diffuses tfirough e1ther
ental contemporary world are totally isolated. Because places are
iVery relocation diffusion (physical movement) or expansion diffu-
connected to each othe.r, they display similarLties. Geographers sim;1(additive processes).
cs of
study the interactions c:Jgiroups of people and human activities LEARNING OUTCOME 1.3.5: Explaln how places are connected
Ge- through netwoiks and how inequality can hinder conneetions.
site, across space, and they identify processes by, which people and
ideas diffuse fr0m one location t0 another over time.
lS,
LEARNING OUTCOME 1.3.1: Give examples of changes in econ- • Electronic communications have removed many phfsical
iares omy aod culture occurring at global and local scales. bar.riersto interaction for those with accessto· them,

a or- • Globallzation means that the scale of the world is shrihklng THINKING GEOGRAPHY 1.3: Imagine that a transportation device
that ,in terms of economy and culture. (perhaps like .f111nPyotter'sflo·opowder) would enable all humans
to tr11veilnstantaneously to any location on Earth. What might be
ions LEARNINGOUTCOME 1.3.2: Identify the three propertfes of distri- the impact on the distribution of people ana actiVitie,5acrossEarth?
bution across space.
reli-
!lter. • Density is fhe trequency with which something occurs, con- GOOGLE EARTH 1.3: How have the properties of distribution of
tion centi:ation is the extent of spread, and pattern is the geomet- Spring Valley,Nevada, changed over time?
ric arrangement.
1 are
LEARNING OUTCOME 1.3.3:

Describe different ways in
which geographers approach as-
pects of cultural identity such as
gender, ethnicity, and sexuality.

• Males and females, whites
and minorities, heterosexu-
als and homosexuals occupy
different places and move
across space differently.

• Critical geographers have
developed different ap-
proaches to studying how
different cultural groups per-
ceive, experience, organize,
and move through space.

Oiffusion (p. 26) The process of spread of a feature or trend from one that the general laws sought by human geographers could be found 111
place to another over time. the physical sciences. Geography was therefore the study of how the
physical environment caused human a<.1ivities.
Distance decay (p. 28) The diminishing in importance and eventual
disappearanc;e of a phenomenon with increasing distance from its Expansion diffusion (p. 26) The spread of a feature or trend among
origin. people from one area to another in an additive process.

Distribution (p. 22) The arrangement of something aero,, Earth's Formal region (or 1rniform or homogeneous region) (p. 16) An
surface. area in which everyone shares In common one or more distinctive
characteristics.
Ecology (p. 34) The scientific study of ecosystems.
Functional region (or nodal reg.ion) (p. 17) An area organized around a
Ecosystem (p. 34) A group of living organisms and the abiotlc spheres node or foca I point.
wiU, whid1 they interact.
Geographic information science (GlScience) (p. IZ) The
Environmental determinism (p. 34) A nineteenth- and early development and analysis of data about Ea.rth acqt1ired through
twentieth-century approach to the study of geography which argued satellite and other electronic information technologies.

40 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

KEY ISSUE4

Why Are Some Human Actions Not Sustainable? THINKING GEOGRAPHICALLY1.4: What acti~itles in your commJ
nity appear to be promoting sustainability?
LEARNING ()UTCOME 1.4,1: Describe the three pillars of
susrainability, GOOGLEEARTH1.4: How many dams do you see along ttre sou
western c.oast of the Netherlands, in th.evicinity of the town (
• Sustainability is the use of Earth's natural resources In ways Stellendam?-
that ensure availability in the future. This is ace0mp1ished
through a combination of envlmnmental, economic, and so-
cial action.

LEARNINGOUTCOME1.4.2: Describe Ule three abiotic phy6ical
systems.

• Earth comprises four physical systems: th:e atmosphere, hy-

drosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere.

LEARNINGOUTCOME1.4.3: nl(plaln how the biosphere interacts
with Earth's abiotic.systems.

• An ecosystem comprises a group of living organisms in the
biosphere and their interaction with the atmosphere, litho-
sphere, and biosphere.

LEARNING OUTCOME1.4.4: Compare ecosystems in the Nether-
lands and southern Louisiana.

• The Dutch have modified the etosY,stemof their land in a
more sustainable mi!nner than has been the case In southern
Louisiana.

Geographic i11forrnation system (GJSJ (p. 12) A computer system that Map (p. 5) A two-dimensional, or nat, r~presentation of F.arth'~surfao
store~, organizes, analyzes, and display1 geographic data. or a rortion of it

Global Positioning System (GPS) (p. 12) A system that determines th~ Map scale (p. 8) The relationship between the si.e of an object on a
precise position of something on Eanh through a series of map and the siz.eof the actual feature on Earth's surface.
satellites, tracking stations, and receivers.
Mental map (p. 17) A representation of a portion of Earth's surface
Globalization (p. 20) Actions or processes that invol\'e the entire world based on what an individual knows about a place, containing persona
and result in mak111gsomething worldwide in scope. impressions of wl1at i, in the place and where the place is located.

Greenwich Mean Time (GlvrrJ (p. I 1) The time in the zone Meridian (p. 10) An arc drawn on a map between lhe North and Soutl
poles.
o•encompassing the prime meridian, or longitude.
Network (p. 28) A chain of communication lhal connects pl.Iles.
Hearth (p. 26) The region from which innovative ideas originate.
Nonrenewable resource (p. 30) Something produced in nature more
Hierarchical diffusion (p. 26) 1be spread of a feature or trend from one slowly than it is consumed by humans.
key person or node of authority or power to other per,ons or places.
Parallel (p. LO)A circle drawn around the globe parallel to the equato,
Housing bubble (p. 20) A rapid increase in the value of houses followed and at right angles tl>the meridians.
b}' a sharp decline in their value.
Pattern (p. 23) The geometric or regular arrangement of something in,
Hyclrosphere (p. 32) All of the water on and near Earth's surface. study area.

International Date line (p. 1 l) An arc that for the most part follows Place (p. 14) A specitic point on Earth distinguished by a particular
l80" longitude, although it deviates in sev~ral places to avoid dividing characteristic.
land areas. When you cro,1 the lntemational Date line heading east
(toward America), the clock moves back 24 hours, or one ~nLireclay. Polder (p. 36) Land created by the Durch by draining water from an arc<\
When you go west (toward Asia), the calendar moves ahead one day.
Possibilism (p. 35) The theory that the physical environment may
Latitude (p. 10) The numbering system used to Indicate the location of set limits on human actions, but people have the abllity to adjust to
parallels drawn on a globe and measuring distance north and south of the physical environment and choose a course of action from many
tht: equator (0'). alternative,.

Lithosphere (p. 32) Earth's crust and a portion of upper mantle Preservation (p. 30) The rnruntcnance of resources in their present co111
directly below U1ecrust.
dition. with as little human impact as possible. ·
Location (p. l4) The position of anything on Earth's surface.
Prime meridian (p. 10) The meridian, designated as o•longitude, that
Longitude (p. 10) The numbering system used to indicate the location
of meridians drawn on a globe and measuring distance east and west passes through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England.
of the prime meridian (0').
Projection (p. 9) A system used to transfer locations from Earth's
surface to a flat map.

Ctro\pter 1: BasicConcepts 41

,I

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OCEAN t
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ADAi~sc;,u~• •

HlWlW.AN:!>

,.. .. ,.. .,. .,. ,,,.

1J Region (p. 16) An area distinguished by a unique combination of trends MasteringGeograph1yM
or feature:;.
onal Looking for additional review and test prep materials?
Oulh Regional (or cultural laJ1dscape) studies (p. 16) An approach to Visit the Study Area in MasteringGeography™ to
geogr,1phy that emphasizes the relationships among social and enhance your geographic literacy, spatial reasoning
)re physical phenomena in a particular study area.
ta tor skills, and understanding of this chapter's content by
Relocation diffusion (p. 26) l'he spread of a feature or trend through
~ in a bodily mo-rement ot people from one place to anolhe1. accessing a variety of resources, including MapMaster'"
interactive maps. videos, RSS feeds, flashcards, web
area. Remote sensing (p. 12) rhe acquisition of data .ibout Earth's links, self-study quizzes. and an eText version of
lo surface from a satellite orbiting the planet or from other long-distance The Cultural Landscape.
method,. www.masteringgeography.com
1y
Renewahle resource (p. 30) Something produced in nature more lransnational corporation (p. 20) A company that conducts rese.irch,
COil· rapidly than il b co11,umed by humans. operates factories, and sells products in many countries, not just

that Resource((). 30) A substance in the envirnnmenl that is useful to pco- where its headquarters or shareholders are located.
rle, is economically and technologically leasible to access, and is 10-
cial\y acceptable to use. Uneven development (p. 29) The increasrng gap in economic
conditions between core and peripheral regions as a result of the
Scale (p. 20) Generally, the relationship between U1e portion ot Earth globalization of the economy.
being studied ,111cEtarth as a whole. Vernacular region (or perceptual region) (p. t7) An area that people
Site (p. 14) The physical character of a place. believe exists as part of their cultural identity.

Situation (p. 15) The Jocarion of a place relative to another place.

Space (p. 22) The physical gap or inl~rval between two objects.

Space-time comp.resslon (p. 28) The reduction In the time it takes to
diffuse something to a distant place as a result of improved
communications and transportation systems.

Stimulus diffusion (p. 27) The spread of an underlying principle even
though a specific characteristic Is rejected.

Sustainability (p. 30) The use of Earlh's renewable and nonrenewable
natural resources In ways that do not constrain resource use in the
future.

Toponym (p. 14) The name given to a portion of Earth's surface.

MALTHUS'S THEORY

16

- Population

-Resources

2 ,__ ___ ...._ ___ ...._ __ __,
Q'-- ___

2000 2025 2050 2075 2Hl0
Years

Why did Thomas Malthus think that this chart doomed How did this water pump In Londonlead to the birth of
GIS?Page 65.
humanity?Whydo some people still think so? Page 60.

KEY ISSU~E-1-- ------ KEY ISSUE2

Where Is Why Is Global =
The World's Population
Population Increasing?
Distributed?
--=,..=._. -~--.
A Crowded Planet-In Placesp. 45
-·
Manhattan's teemingthrongsand Montana'swide open spaces-
why aren't people spread out moreevenlyacross Earth? More and More of Us p. 50

Allhumans are born, and all must pass away-but their ye,

on Earthvary,depending on where they live.

42

.AT. hisfamilylivesin Jaipur,India.Wh.enthese
girls are older, how many children will they
have? The answer matters for the future s1,1s-
tainability of the world be,muse India adds
more people to its populatioheveryyeartlian
any other country. Will thes,e peopie hav.e
enoughfood? Willthey havejobs?

KEY ISSUE 3 KEY ISSUE4

Why Does Why Do Some
Population Regions Face
Health Threats?
Growth Vary

Among Regions?

For Richerand for Poorer p. 56 srrrcacr..._..._......___,

It's probably not a surprise that poorer countries have higher In Sicknessand in Health p. 64
birth rates. But why are the death rates higher in richer
countries? Humansare safer today from many once-frighteningdiseases,
yet they are more vulnerablethan ever before to new diseases.

43

I., HHHIIIIIHIIUII:UJ I

Introducing • The world's population increased at a faster rate during
the second half of the twentieth century than ever be-
Population and Health
fore in history.
• Virtually all global population growth is concentrated

in developing countries.

The scientific study of population characterutics is de- These facts lend urgency to the task of understanding the
mography. Demographers look statistically at how people diversity of population problems in the world today.
are distributed spatially by age, gender, occupation, fertil-
ity, health, and so on. The study of population is critically As introduced in Chapter 1, geographers ask "where"
important for three reasons: and "why" questions. As we begin our study of the major
• More people are alive at this time-more than topics in human geography, note the wording of the four
key issues that organize the material in this chapter. The
7 billion-than at any other point in Earth's long history first issue asks a "where" question and the other three as]
(Figure 2-1). "why" questions. These four issues rely on the five bast

A FIGURE2-1 OVERPOPULATIOIN MALI TheSaherlegionof Africa, concepts presented in Chapter 1.
includingmuchof thecountryof Mali,Isthreatenedbyoverpopulation. Geographers study population problems by first cte1
Thenumberof peoplelivinghereIsnot veryhigh,but thecapacityof the
environmentto supportlife isextremelylow. scribing where people are found across Earth's space. The
location of Earth's 7 billion people forms a highly clustered
distribution. The second key issue looks at why populatioJ
is growing. The chapter then turns to explaining why pop·
ulation is growing at different rates in different places. Th
final key issue discusses why improved connections hav
put people at varying health risks.

Overpopulation occurs when the number of peopl
exceeds the capacity of the environment to support lif
at a decent standard of living. From the perspective o

fwii]jglobalization, some demographers argue that the wort!

is already overburdened wilh too many people, or it
soon be in the future. At a local scale, geographers
that overpopulation is a threat in some regions of t
world but not in others. The capacity of Earth as a whole t

support human life may be high, but some regions have

favorable balance between people and available resource
whereas others do not. Further, the regions with the mo

people are not necessarily the same as the regions with a

Iunfavorable balance between population and resources.
1• KEY ISSUE describes wliere people live around t~

world. Humans are not distributed uniformly aero

Earth.

• 2KEY ISSUE examines local diversity in key chara

teristics of population. The population of a particul
place increases with births and decreases with deaths.
also changes as a result of migration, which is discuss

in Chapter 3.

3• KEY ISSUE looks at the reason wl1ypopulation groj

at different rates in different regions. Every place is
some stage in a process known as the demograp

transition.

4• KEY ISSUE explai_ns reasons why patterns of heal
and medical care vary among places. With globali◄
tio11,health issues are more likely than in the past
diffuse rapidly around the world.

44

Chapter 2: Population and Health 45

KEY ISSUE1 population is clustered and regions where it is sparse. Several
density measures help geographers explain the relationship
between the number of people and available resources. The

Where Is the World's number of people is usually determined by a census of popu-
lation, discussed in Contemporary Geographic Tools.

The concentration of the world's population can be

Population Distributed? displayed on a cartogram, which depicts the sizes of
countries according to population rather than land area,
e"
as is the case with most maps (Figure 2-2).
or ■ Population Concentrations When compared to a more typical equal-area map,

ur ■ Population Density such as the one shown in Figure 2-3, the population carto-
e gram displays major population clusters as much larger. As

k you look at maps of population growth and other topics

ic Human beings are not distributed uniformly across Earth. in this and subsequent chapters, pay special attention to

We can understand how population is distributed by ex- Asia and Europe because global patterns are heavily influ-

amining two basic properties-concentration and den- enced by conditions in these regions, where two-thirds of

sity. Geographers identify regions of Earth's surface where the world's people live.

L;r

le
fe
of
'ld
.II

d

e

to Population

a 100milllOIaIndabo,e 20Milllon
UstS, ONE. A ~'11)._
50--99million I Million
Tnesi~ ot~C11Mt.i:lisn CC·-~
Below50million
prQPO.r'.ivlnoiilts~1km. d)_,B

n

4 FIGURE2-2 POPULATION CARTOGRAM Ina cartogram,countriesare displayedbysizeofpopulationratherthan landarea.
e
ss

CONTEMPORARGYEOGRAPHICTOOLS

e- SpatialAnalysisandthe Census
r

lt

~d Geography relies on statistical data to of other countries who do nol have weU as of the 50 state legislatures,

conduct spatial analysis. The single proper immigration documents must be redrawn every decade so

most important data somce for human may be less Likelyto complete the that each has the same number of

geographers is the census. Many of the census form. These individuals people. "The U.S. Supreme Court

maps in this book rely on census data. may fear that the census could turn has ruled that Article 1, Section 2

ic In the United States, a census of over the forms to another govern- of the U.S. Constitution prevents

population and a census of housing ment agency, such as the fBI or the using sampling to redraw district

take place once a decade, in years Department of Homeland Security boundaries. Politicians sympa-

h ending in zero, i.nclllding 2010. Cen- in the Urtited States. thetic to the needs of the home-

a- suses of various types of buslnesses • Sampling. Statistical sampling less and immigrants have been
to are undertaken once every five years. especially vocal in support of sam-
techniques can be utilized to get a
Despite its importance, the cen-
more accurate count, as well as to pling, whereas those from small

SllS is controversial in many coun- identify detailed characteristics of towns and rural areas, where the

tries, for two reasons: people, housing, and businesses. census count is more accurate, are

• NonparticipationH. omeless peo- The district boundaries of the more inclined to oppose it.

ple, ethnic minorities, and citizens U.S. House of Representatives, as

46 THE CULTURALLANDSCAPE

Population Concentrations fourths of all Japanese and Koreans are clustered in urb,
areas and work at industrial or service jobs.
Learning Outcome 2.1.1
Describe regions where population is clustered and SOUTH ASIA. Nearly one-fourth of the world's people li
where it is sparse. in South Asia, which includes India, Pakistan, Bangladei
and the island of Sri Lanka. The largest concentration
Two-thirds of the world's inhabitants are clustered in four people within South Asia lives along a 1,S00-kilomel
regions (Figure 2-3). The four population clusters occupy (900-mile) corridor from Lahore, Pakistan, through Inc
generally low-lying areas, with fertile soil and temperate and Bangladesh to the Bay of Bengal. Much of this are
climate. Most live near the ocean or near a river with easy population is concentrated along the plains of the Ind
access to an ocean, rather than in the interior of major and Ganges rivers. Population is also heavily concentrat
landmasses. near India's two long coastlines-the Arabian Sea to t
west and the Bay of Bengal to the east. Like the Chine
most people in South Asia are farmers living in rural are

CLUSTERS EUROPE. Europe includes four dozen countries, rangi
from Monaco, with 1 square kilometer (0.7 square mil,
The four major population clusters-East Asia, South Asia, and a population of 33,000, to Russia, the world's larg,
Europe, and Southeast Asia-display differences in the pat- country in land area when its Asian part is included.
tern of occupancy of the land. contrast to the three Asian concentrations, three-fourt
of Europe's inhabitants live in cities, and fewer than
EAST ASIA. Nearly one-fourth of the world's people live in percent are farmers. The highest population concentratio
East Asia. The region, bordering the Pacific Ocean, includes in Europe are near the major rivers and coalfields
eastern China, the islands of Japan, the Korean peninsula, Germany and Belgium, as well as historic capital cit
and the island of Taiwan. The People's Republic of China is such as London and Paris.
the world's most populous country and the fourth-largest
country in land area. The Chinese population is clustered SOUTHEAST ASIA. Around 600 million people live
near the Pacific Coast and in several fertile river valleys Southeast Asia, mostly on a series of islands that lie betwe
that extend inland, though much of China's interior is the Indian and Pacific oceans. Indonesia, which consi
sparsely inhabited mountains and deserts. More than of 13,677 islands, is the world's fourth-most-populc
one-half of the people live in rural areas where they work country. The largest population concentration is on I
as farmers. In sharp contrast to China, more than three- is.land of Java, inhabited by more than 100 million pe0f

__-:.-- ,ro•_.- .,- / rI '- "- -..._ ....___,~~~
,_,,.,, ,- I

,.80' 4()' 20' O' 20' •Ill' 60' 80' 100' 120'>, 14(1' 160'~811'
I ,k ' .:). ::::-,, ::::--,,
~--- ... '=)I_,
..~ ARCh
----~' ...."..-
I
--~'-
. .\
~~-~" -~-~. '

160' 140' 120' 100-

Personpsersquar&
kilometer

• 1,000andabove

- 250-999
25-249

-1-4-5-24
BelOWl

80' 60' Cl)' 20' (J' 20' 40' 60' 60' 100' 1211' 140" 160' 100'

A FIGURE2-3 POPULATION DISTRIBUTION Peoplearenot distributeduniformlyacrossEarth'ssurface.

Chapter 2: Population and Health 47

n Several islands that belong to the Philippines con- jsooeo.c.I
tain high population concentrations, and population is
e also clustered along several river valleys and deltas at the
southeastern tip of the Asian mainland, known as Indo-
1, china. Like China and South Asia, the Southeast Asia con-
centration is characterized by a high percentage of people
>f working as farmers in rural areas.
:r
OTHER CLUSTERS. The largest popul.ation concentration
a in the Western Hemisphere is in the northeastern United
's States and southeastern Canada. This cluster extends along
the Atlantic Coast from Boston to Newport News, Virginia,
.s and westward along the Great Lakesto Chicago. The largest
d cluster in Africa is along the Atlantic coast, especially the
e portion facing south. Nigeria is the most populous country
in Africa. As in the three Asian concentrations, most West
g Africans work in agriculture.

;) Pause and Reflect 2.1.1

;t Why isn't North America one of the four major

n population clusters?
.s
0 SPARSELYPOPULATED REGIONS IjA.O. 1500
.s
>f Human beings avoid clustering in certain physical envi-
:s ronments. Relatively few people live in regions that are
too dry, too wet, too cold, or too mountainous for activi-
n ties such as agriculture. The areas of Earth that humans
n consider too harsh for occupancy have diminished over
:s time, whereas the portion of Earth's surface occupied by
.s permanent human settlement-called the ecumene-has
e increased (Figure 2-4).

\·/ DRY LANDS. Areastoo dry for farming cover approximately
20 percent of Earth's land surface. Deserts generally lack
sufficient water to grow crops that could feed a large
population, although some people survive there by raising
animals, such as camels, that are adapted to the climate.
Dry lands contain natural resources useful to people-
notably, much of the world's oil reserves.

WET LANDS. Lands that receive very high levels of IjA.0.1900 3,DODMRo!
precipitation, located primarily near the equator, may also J.00QKno.-ne1ers
be inhospitable for human occupation. The combination
of rain and heat rapidly depletes nutrients from the soil Ecumeoe El Huntingandgathering
and thus hinders agriculture. D Uninhabite(dmainlyIce)
- Intensivesenlemenl
COLD LANDS. Much of the land near the North and - Small-scaleagriculture
South poles is perpetually covered with ice or the ground
is permanently frozen (permafrost). The polar regions are ,,1.FIGURE 2-4 ECUMENE Seventhousandyearsagohumansoccupied
unsuitable for planting crops, few animals can survive the onlya smallpercentageof Earth'slandarea,primarilyinSouthwesAt sia,
extreme cold, and few humans live there. EasternEuropea,nd EastAsia.Even500yearsago muchof NorthAmerica
andAsialayoutsidethe ecumeneS. till,approximateltyhree-fourthosf the
HIGH LANDS. The highest mountains in the world are steep, world'spopulationliveon only5 percentofEarth'ssurfaceT. hebalanceof
snow covered, and sparsely settled. However, some high- Earth'ssurfaceconsistsof oceans(about71 percent)and lessintensively
altitude plateaus and mountain regions are more densely inhabitedland.
populated, especially at low latitudes (near the equator)
where agriculture is possible at high elevations.

lIffllf.llHIHUlth, ~IIAHII

48 THE CULTURAL LANOSCAPE

Population Density Arithmetic density enables geographers to compare the
number of people trying to live on a given piece of land
Learning Outcome 2.1.2 in different regions of the world. Thus, arithmetic density
Define three types of density used in population answers the "where" question. However, to explain why
geography. people are not uniformly distributed across Earth's surface,
other density measures are more useful.
Density, defined in Chapter 1 as the number of people oc-
cupying an area of land, can be computed in several ways, PHYSIOLOGICAL DENSITY
including arithmetic density, physiological density, and
agricultural density. These measures of density help geog- Looking at the number of people per area of a certain typE
raphers describe the distribution of people in comparison of land in a region provides a more meaningful populatior.
to available resources. measure than arithmetic density. Land suited for agricul
ture is called arable land. In a region, the number of peoplt
ARITHMETIC DENSITY supported by a unit area of arable land is called the physi
ological density (Figure 2-6).
Geographers most frequently use arithmetic density, which
is the total number of objects in an area (Figure 2-5). In Comparing physiological and arithmetic densitie
population geography, arithmetic density refers to the total helps geographers understand the capacity of the land t,
number of people divided by total land area. To compute yield enough food for the needs of the people. In Egypl
the arithmetic density, divide the population by the land for example, the large difference between the physiologi
area. Table 2-1 shows several examples. cal density and arithmetic density indicates that most c
the country's land is unsuitable for intensive agricultun
In fact, all but S percent of Egyptians live in the Nile RivE
valley and delta because it is the only area in the cour
try that receives enough moisture (by irrigation from th
river) to allow intensive cultivation of crops.

TABLE 2-1 ARITHMETIC DENSITIES, PHYSIOLOGICAL DENSITIES, AND AGRICULTURAL DENSITIES
OF FOUR COUNTRIES

Col.Intry IArith111et'Cj Physiological Agriwltural I Percentage Percent
Dens,1t Densi:y De•1tsy Farme·s ArableLand
Canada
United States .3 65 1 2 0.5
The Netherlands
Egypt 32 175 2 2 1.7

400 1,748 23 3 0.01

80 2,296 251 31 0.03

- --~

,). PACIFIC
OCEAN

~' E,;- ..

• 200anoabove J :, IND/AN -:~\.,,'>
OCEAN
100-199 1+, '20'' 'l>
50-99 I
_J/"":_J \_. /',
Below50 ,r~or•.c,,a~f·, --
nodata
.. - ..~ ~111,~~-..,•~ ""

,,,. .. ' ..0 • 2,000 4,000Kifoffltlll'! 110'
100' 120'

• FIGURE 2-5 ARITHMETIC DENSITY Geographerrselyon the arithmeticdensityto compareconditionsindifferentcountries
becausethe twopiecesofinformation-totaplopulationandtotallandarea-are easyto obtain.Thehighestarithmeticdensitiesare
foundinAsia,Europea,nd CentraAl mericaT. helowestare inNorthandSouthAmericaandSouthPacific.

Chapter 2: Population and Health 49

1w 1Ici•-~W50, ~2o-... 0- 20' .;01 eo•'·ao·1-o&-1a"o-·1410&" 1r·1~ To understand relationships
- -./-~- .~f~~__,.__ ...._,.,.~..o-.--'---~eoo ben-veen population and resources
..;;.~#ti .~~80' _,,-· -,,-~~ in a country, geographers exam-
,-.J=j~SO' ine a country's physiological and
f,()'_:('~ ~::,~~ agricultural densities together. For
:--:-"I' '\-- fi '"'-i.l-. ~ _ r '\

~ ---+--i · ';£-~;-:;-;;:r-t:E~t:::::~~~ example, the physiological densi-

PACIFIC f""-\r- ties of both Egypt and the Nether-
• Jrnp:ICCO!fI!Cet\__. lands are high, but the Dutch have
2/1:j:0, 9!A~---~"1,-_-:~: .,___ ' ...l...20"

I PACIFIC \ a much lower agricultural density

160' 140' I OCEAN
120' 100' O' • .., Eutof' ff' than the Egyptians. Geographers

Personspersquare ,.,,." I conclude that both the Dutch
kilometerof arableland 1-;~. 20' and Egyptians put heavy pressure
',I\ ' .I\..Jf'-HIJ--c--,--+--1----,
• 2,000andabove . ..;
1,000-1.999 --i"""'cife.irwn, 1-t---7- on the land to produce food, but
,..,..._,J,/.I l
50-0-999 I I the more efficient Dutch agricul-
Below500
oodata eo- W' ,ir w o' 2.000 tlQOriiti,1""":i~~ <O' tural system requires fewer farm•

,a, -:z,00041,,a Mito,netm ers than does the Egyptian system.
O' 1!l' •O' 60' 811' 100' 120' 1.IO' 100' 180'

J,,.FIGURE2·6 PHYSIOLOGICADLENSITYPhysiologicdalensityprovidesinsightsintothe relationship Pause and Reflect 2.1.2
betweenthe sizeofa p-0pulatioanndthe availabilityofresourcesina region.Therelativelylargephysiological
densitiesof Egyptand the Netherlanddsemonstratesthat cropsgrownon a hectareof landin thesetwo Name a country other
countriesmustfeedfarmorepeoplethanin the UnitedStatesor Canada,whichhavemuchlowerphysiological than Egypt that has high
densitiesT. hehighestphysiologicadlensitiesare foundinAsia,sub-SaharanAfricaa, ndSouthAmericaT.he physiological and agricultural
lowestare in NorthAmericaE, uropea,ndSouthPacific. densities.

AGRICULTURAL DENSITY CHECK-IN: KEY ISSUE 1

Two countries can have similar physiological densi- Where Is The World's Population
ties but produce significantly different amounts of Distributed?
food because of different economic conditions. Agri-
cultural density is the ratio of the number of farm- ✓ Most of the world's population is highly
ers to the amount of arable land (Figure 2-7). Table 2-1 clustered in four regions.
shows several examples.
✓ Arithmetic, physiological, and agricultural
Measuring agricultural density helps account for eco- densities are different approaches to describing
nomic differences. Developed countries have lower agri- the distribution of people.
cultural densities because technology and finance allow a
few people to farm extensive land areas and feed many
people.

4 FIGURE2-7 AGRICULTURDAELNSITYThehighestagriculturadlensitiesare foundinAsiaand
sub-SaharanAfricaT. helowestarein NorthAmericaE, uropea,nd SouthPacific.

50 THECULTURALANDSCAPE

KEY ISSUE2 8

Why Is Global 7 &a NIR Doubling

Population Increasing? (•nnu•I ~'-1 1Ime (ye11rs) 2012population
7,037,000,00
■ Components of Population Growth 400,000 SC.j!QO0 SC 0.0001 59,007
■ Population Structure 1,3•5
8000 BC-1 AD 0.05 1,250
163
i AD-1750 0.06
0.43 IS5
6 1750-1800 129
85
1800-1850 0.51
,o
1850-1900 0.54

,90□-1950 0.81

1950-2000 I 75

Learning Outcome 2.2.1 1950population-2,516,000,00
Understand how to measure population growth
through the natural increase rate. 2 1900population-1,656,000,000

Population increases rapidly in places where many more 1850po_pulatlon-1,266,000,00
people are born than die, and it declines in places where
deaths outnumber births. The population of a place also in- 1800population-985,000.iJOO
creases when people move in and decreases when people
move out. This element of population change-migration- 0.8000BCpopulation-
is discussed in Chapter 3. I :so;o,~oo;o~~====~t~AO~po=pu::la::tlo~n::-3:00:,~oo:o:,oo:o:=:
gg g 8 8 8 8a,
COMPONENTS OF POPULATION GROWTH g0 0g BC o AD
0.....
Geographers most frequently measure population change "' "' st M N
in a country or the world as a whole by using three measures:
• Crude birth rate (CBR) is the total number of Jive Year

births in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the so- £ FIGURE 2-8 WORLD POPULATION THROUGH HISTORY Throughn
ciety. A CBR of 20 means that for every 1,000 peo- of humanhistorypopulationgrowthwasvirtuallynil. Populationincreased
ple in a country, 20 babies are born over a one-year rapidlybeginningin theeighteenthcentury,
period.
• Crude death rate (CDR) is the total number of deaths several-hundred-thousand-year occupancy of Earth Y
in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society. characterized by an NIR of essentially zero, and Eart
Comparable to the CBR,the CDR is expressed as the an- population was unchanged, at perhaps a half-mill!
nual number of deaths per l,000 population. (Figure 2-8).
• Natural increase rate (NJR) is the percentage by which
a population grows in a year. It is computed by sub- About 82 million people are being added to the popu
tracting CDR from CBR, after first converting the two tion of the world annually (Figure 2-9). This number n
measures from numbers per 1,000 to percentages (num- resents a decline from the historic high of 87 million
bers per 100). Thus if the CBR is 20 and the CDR is 5 1990. The number of people added each year has dropr
(both per 1,000), then the NIR is 1.5 percent, or 15 per much more slowly than the NIR because the populati
1,000. The term natural means that a country's growth base is much higher now than in the past.
rate excludes migration.
World population increased from 3 to 4 billion in 14 ye,
NATURAL INCREASE from 4 to 5 billion in 13 years, and from 5 to 6 billion a
6 to 7 billion in 12 years. As the base continues to gr•
During the twenty-first century, the world NIR has been in the twenty-first century, a change of only one-ter
1.2, meaning that the population of the world had been of 1 percent can produce very large swings in populati
growing each year by 1.2 percent. The world NIR is lower growth.
today than its all-time peak of 2.2 percent in 1963, and
it has declined sharply since the 1990s. However, the The rate of natural increase affects the doubling tin
NIR during the second half of the twentieth century which is the number of years needed to double a poJ
was high by historical standards. Most of humanity's lation, assuming a constant rate of natural increase.
the early twenty-first-century rate of 1.2 percent per yE
world population would double in about 54 years. If 1
same NIR continued through the twenty-first centu
global population in the year 2100 would reach 24 billl<
When the NIR was 2.2 percent in 1963, doubling time v
35 years. Had the 2.2 percent rate continued into 1
twenty-first century, Earth's population in 2010 w01

on- 'g 100 Chapter 2: Population and Health 51

)00 l ◄ FIGURE2-9 WORLD POPULATION
B GROWTH, 1950-2011 TheNIRdeclinedfrom
)00 ..ill 80
)0 itshistoricpeakinthe 1960s,but the numberof
e peopleaddedeach year has not declinedverymuch
)0 ."5 60 becausewithworldpopulationincreasingfrom
2.5billionto morethan 7 billionpeopleduringthe
1 most period,the percentagehasbeenappliedto an ever
d largerbase.

was 2
rth's
.lion Natural Increase rate (°lo) 2-,
rnla- a: -

refi- z!:

n in 1 __J
Jped
tion 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2015
·ears,
and have been nearly 10 billion instead of nearly 7 billion. A East Asia, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Southwest
~row 2.2 percent NIR through the twenty-first century would
enth produce a total population of more than SO billion Asia & North Africa. ·
.tion in 2100.
ime, Regional differences in N!Rs mean that most of the
opu- More than 95 percent of the natural increase is clustered
~- At in developing countries (Figure 2-10). The NfR exceeds world's additional people live in the countries that are
year, 2.0 percent in most countries of sub-Saharan Africa, whereas
f the it is negative in Europe, meaning that in the absence of least able to maintain them. To explain these variations in
tury, immigrants, population actually is declining. About one-
lion. third of the world's population growth during the past de- growth rates, geographers point to regional differences in
: was cade has been in South Asia, one-fourth in sub-Saharan
Africa, and the remainder divided about equally among fertility and mortality rates.
the
ould Pause and Reflect 2.2.1

The United States has an NIR of 0.6. Does that mean
the doubling time is more than 54 years or less?

40'

20

fl' I

160' 140" 120'

WorldNaturalncn!ase
percentper year

2.0 an<aIbove lll"
1-1,9
100' ..,.211' 20' 100" 120' 14G" 1W' 180'
0-0.9
Belowo
nodala

80'

A FIGURE2-10 NATURAL INCREASERATE Theworldaverageis currentlyabout 1.2percent.Thecountries
with the highestNIRsare concentratedinAfricaand SouthwesAt sia.

. ._ IIIHIHIHlll

52 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

FERTILITY MORTALITY

Learning Outcome 2.2.2 Natural increase, crude birth, total fertility, the desc1
Understand how to measure births and deaths tions have become repetitive because their distributi<
through CBRand CDR. follow similar patterns. Developed countries have lo,
rates of natural increase, crude birth, and total fertil
The world map of CBR (Figure 2-11) mirrors the distribu- whereas developing countries have higher rates of natl
tion of NTR.As was the case with N!Rs, the highest CBRs increase, crude birth, and total fertility.
are in sub-Saharan Africa, and the lowest are in Europe.
Many sub-Saharan African countries have a CBR over 40, The final world map of demographic variable
whereas many European countries have a CBR below 10. CDR-does not follow the familiar pattern (Figure 2-1
The combined CDR for all developing countries is ac
Geographers also use the total fertility rate (TFR) to ally lower than the combined rate for all developed CO'
measure the number of births in a society (Figure 2-12). The tries (Table 2-2). Furthermore, the variation between
TFR is the average number of children a woman will have world's highest and lowest CDRs is much less extreme tl
throughout her childbearing years (roughly ages 15 through the variation in CBRs.The highest CDR in the world is
49). To compute the TFR, demographers assume that a per 1,000, and the lowest is 1-a difference of 16-whei
woman reaching a particular age in the future will be just as
likely to have a child as are women of that age today. Thus, TABLE 2-2 COMPARING DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS IN DEVELOPEI
the CBRprovides a picture of a society as a whole in a given AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
year, whereas the TFRattempts to predict the future behav-
ior of individual women in a world of rapid cultural change. Natural increase rate DevelopedI Developing
Crude birth rate Countries Countries
The TFRfor the world as a whole is 2.5, and, again, the Total fertility rate
figures vary between developed and developing countries. Infant mortality rate 0.2 1.4
The TFR exceeds 5.0 in sub-Saharan Africa, compared to 2 Life expectancy (years)
or less in nearly all European countries. Crude death rate 11 22
Under age 15 (percent) 1.7 2,6
Pause and Reflect 2.2.2 Age 65 (percent) and above 5 48
How does the TFR in your family compare to the
overall figure for North America? -

78 68

10 8
16 29
16 6

o----'---- PACIFIC
OCEAN
,,;o-
160'
CrudeBirthRate 20'
per 1,000 population

• 4Dandabove

-3D-39

20-29

10-19

Below10 ,,.,.

nodala IOCI" 80' I 20' 60' 80' 100'
20' (I'

A FIGURE 2-11 CRUDE BIRTH RATE (CBR) Theglobaldistributionof CBRsparallelsthat of NIRsT. hecountries

with the highestCBRsareconcentratedinAfricaandSouthwesAt sia.

Chapter 2: Population and Health 53

p- • 80'
ns

er
-:y,
·al

,,,_ ---------<. 40'
180'
!). PACIFIC

U- OCEAN
---L-----L--
n-
211~ /.

:i.e I

m

L7 "

as

160' l ◄ll'

Childrenper
chlldbearing years
perwoman

4 andabove

3.0-3.9 +----r- 0I
2.0-2.9
Below2 ,, lI
nodata
"'40' ill' 11' 20' 60' J,. 1011 120'
100- 8Q'

j. FIGURE 2-12 TOTAL FERTILITY RATE(TFR)

AswithNIRsand CBRs,the countrieswiththe highestTFRsareconcentratedinAfricaandSouthwesAt sia.

lll'

OU"

t
160' ATLANTIC

CrudeDeathRate OCEAN
per1,000persons
,rt-----t-----t---
15 andabove

ll' 10-14 • I ltooo
<O'
o I ,,,2,0001
5-9
Belows

nodata I I
100' 00' 60' 40' ?II'
40' 60' BO' 100' 120' 160'

4 FIGURE 2-13 CRUDE DEATH RATE(CDR) TheglobalpatternofCDRsvariesfromthoseforthe otherdemographivcariablesalready

mappedinthischapterT, hedemographitcransitionhelpsto explainthe distinctlvedistributionof CDRs.

II)'

CBRsfor individual countries range from 7 per 1,000 to 52, of hospitals and physicians, have a higher CDR than Mex-

a spread of 45. ico and nearly every country in Latin America? The answer

Why does Denmark, one of the world's wealthiest coun- is that the populations of different countries are at various

tries, have a higher CDR than Cape Verde, one of the poor- stages in an important process known as the demographic

est? Why does the United States, with its extensive system transition, discussed later in this chapter .

., ~IlflHIHHHIfIfIUllll

54 THECULTURALANDSCAPE

Population Structure Is the dependency ratio, which is the number of peoplf
who are too young or too old to work, compared to thf
Learning Outcome 2.2.3: number of people in their productive years. People whc
Understand how to read a population pyramid. are 0 to 14 years of age and 65 and over are normallJ
classified as dependents. The larger the dependenq
Fertility and mortality vary not only from country to ratio, the greater the financial burden on those who an
country but also over time within a country. As a result, working to support those who do not. The dependenq
the number of people in different age groups in a country ratio is 47 percent in Europe, compared to 85 percent ir
forms a pattern-the population structure. sub-Saharan Africa.

POPULATION PYRAMIDS The high dependency ratio in sub-Saharan Africa de
rives from having a very high percentage of young peopl1
A country's distinctive population structure can be dis- (Figure 2-15). Young dependents outnumber elderly one
played on a bar graph called a population pyramid. A pop- by more than 14:1 in sub-Saharan Africa, whereas the num
ulation pyramid normally shows the percentage of the total bers of people under 15 and over 65 are roughly equal it
population in five-year age groups, with the youngest group Europe. The large percentage of children in sub-Sahara,
(zero to four years old) at the base of the pyramid and the Africa strains the ability of these relatively poor countrie
oldest group at the top. The length of the bar represents the to provide needed services such as schools, hospitals, am
percentage of the total population contmned in that group. day-care centers. When children reach the age of leavin.
By convention, males are usually shown on the left side of school, jobs must be found for them, but the governmen
the pyramid and females on the right (Figure 2-14). must continue to allocate scarce resources to meet th
needs of the still growing number of young people. On th
Population pyramids vary widely within the United other hand, the "graying" of the population places a bur
States. For example, Laredo, Texas, which has a large His- den on developed countries to meet their needs for incom
panic population, has a relatively broad pyramid, indicat- and medical care after they retire from jobs.
ing a large percentage of children, whereas Naples, Florida,
has a "reverse" pyramid, indicating a large percentage of SEX RATIO
elderly people. College towns, such as Lawrence, Kansas,
have unusually shaped pyramids because of the exception- The number of males per 100 females in the populatio
ally high percentage of people in their 20s. is the sex ratio. Developed countries have more femalE
than males because on average women live seven yea1
DEPENDENCY RATIO longer than men. Most Asian countries have more me
than women, primarily because male babies greatly ou
The age structure of a population helps to understand number female babies, especially In the two most popl
similarities and differences among countries. One impor- lous countries, China and India (Figure 2-16). The shorta~
tant way to compare the age structure among countries
of female babies in these countries has raised the yoss

bility that a relatively large number of female fet~s a,
being aborted.

USA Lawrence, KS Naples, FL Laredo, TX

85• 4202468642 24 66 42 246
I0-84

75-79
71)-74

65-69
60-64
55-59
50-54

45-49
41)-44

3549
30-34
25-29
20-24
15-19
11)-14
5-9
CH

A11e4 2 0 2 4 8

Percent of Total Population - Male - Fe,o

Ji.FIGURE2-14 POPULATIONPYRAMIDSFORTHEUNITEDSTATESAND SELECTEDU.S.
COMMUNITIESLaredohasa broadpyramidi,ndicatinghigherpercentageosf youngpeopleandfertilityrates.
Lawrencehasa highpercentageof peoplein theirtwentiesbecauseit is thehomeof tile Universityof Kansas.
Napleshasa highpercentagoef elderlypeoplee, speciallywomen,soits pyramidis upsidedown.

Chapter 2: Population and Health 55

)pie 40' __, -- •ll'
the
,vho PACIFIC
ally
ncy OCEAN

are "=f~----,.------1,

ncy I I
tin
(1'-------"--- r--
de-
180' ""' 20'------,,-----+
Jple
mes Percenpt ersons \
underage15
um-
11in - 40 andabove
,ran 30-39

tries 20-29

and Below20

ring nodata

1ent 120' 100' W' 60' 4ll' 10' O' 'I.fl' lO' 60' 80' 100' 120' 1150'

the A FIGURE2-15 POPULATIONUNDERAGE15 Sub-SaharaAnfrica hasthe highestpercentageof
the
bur- personsunderage 15.

Jme 80'---'·c.....,..c....~="" ◄ FIGURE2-16 SEX RATIO A map
of the percentageof peopleoverage65
tion __ Ir··i-t....,: would showa reversepattern,with the
ales highestpercentageisn Europeand the
ears PACIFIC lowestin Africaand SouthwesAt sia.
-~~---~
nen lll' -~ £~. _ _iATLANTIC

::iut- ll'~ OC~AN
,pu-
tage ;.

)SSi- 1e,o, f40' 12C1' 100- o•80' 60' 4(1' ?ft'

are Sexra1io
Moromenthan¥/omen
85+ Aboulthesame
80-84 Morewomenthanmen
/,-79 nodata
70-74
6Hi9 Pause and Reflect 2.2.3 CHECK-IN:KEYISSUE 2
SO-E•
5,-59 Name a type of community that might have a lot Why Is Global Population Increasing?
50-54 more males than females.
45-49 ✓ The NIR measures population growth as the
40-44 difference between births and deaths.
3,-39
30-34 ✓ Births and deaths are measured using several
2,-29 indicators.
20-24
1,-19 ✓ A community's distinctive distribution by age
10-14 and gender can be displayed in a population
pyramid.
,-9

,H

6 Age

Female

'.~- f;IIHIIHHIUIIIIHH

56 THECULTURALLANDSCAPE

KEY ISSUE3 STAGE 1: LOW GROWTH

Why Does Population Very high birth and death rates produce virtually no
Growth Vary among long-term natural increase.
Regions?
Most of human history was spent in stage 1 of the dem
■ The Demographic Transition graphic traqsition, but today no country remains in sta.
■ Malthus on Overpopulation 1. Every nation has moved on to at least.stage 2 of the d
mographic transition, and, with that transition, has exp
rienced profound changes in population. For most of tJ-
period, people depended on hunting and gathering f
food (see Chapter 10). When food was easily obtained,
region's population increased, but it declined when peoi;
were unable to locate enough animals or vegetation neart

■ Population Futures STAGE 2: HIGH GROWTH

Learning Outcome 2.3.1 Rapidly declining death rates and very high birth
Describe the four stages of the demographic rates produce very high natural increase.
transition.
Europe and North America entered stage 2 of the dem
All countries have experienced some changes in NIR, CBR, graphic transition after 1750, as a result of the Industri
and CDR, but at different times and at different rates. Why Revolution, which began in the United Kingdom in ti
does global growth matter? In view of the current size of late eighteenth century and diffused to the European co
Earth's population and the NIR, will there soon be too tinent and North America (including the United Stat£
many of us? during the nineteenth century. The Industrial Revolutic
was a conjunction of major improvements in manufactt
The Demographic Transition ing goods and delivering them to market (see Chapter 1:
The result of this transformation was an unprecedentc
The demographic transition is a process of change in level of wealth, some of which was used to make comm
a society's population from high crude birth and death nities healthier places to live.
rates and low rate of natural increase to a condition of low
crude birth and death rates, low rate of natural increase, Stage 2 of the demographic transition did not d
and higher total population. ihe process consists of four fuse to Africa, Asia, and Latin America until around 19'.
stages, and every country is in one of them (Figure 2-17). (Figure 2-18), and it made that transition for a differe
reason than in Europe and North America 200 years e,
Stage1 Stage2 Stage3 Stage4 lier. The late-twentieth-century push of developing cou
60 tries into stage 2 was caused by the medical revolutio
Medical technology invented in Europe and North Arm
ica has diffused to developing countries. Improved medic
practices have eliminated many of the traditional causes
death in developing countries and enabled more people
experience longer and healthier lives.

I,...so Srage1 Stage2

i z., ■ 500~
■ so
egl 40 !: 0
g C
.c 2 i!l
s· ..:.. 40 I::
~ 30 400j
~ !
"0 ■
"Ill' ."! ' 30
.,"0 ■
ii! I?
C iii 2z
.c li
€ 20 1 i- :.
'aii,i 20 !~..
:s
"0
a,
"0 .,"C

2 10 C 10

0 €

0LL.l.ll.l~LL.l.1- ___________ _,_ _ _.o iii

Lowgrowth Highgrowth Decreasinggrowth Lowgrowth 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Time
V

A FIGURE2-17 DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION MODEL Thedemographic A FIGURE2-18 STAGE 2: CAPE VERDE CapeVerdenteredstage2 of
transitionmodelconsistsof fourstages. thedemographtircansitioninapproximate1ly950,as indicatedbythelargegap
betweenbirthanddeathratessincethen.

Chapter 2: Population and Health 57

no- STAGE 3: DECREASING GROWTH STAGE 4: LOW GROWTH
3ge
de- Birth rates rapidly decline, death rates continue to Very low birth and death rates produce virtually no
pe- decline, and natural increase rates begin to moderate. long-term natural increase and possibly a decrease.
his
for A country moves from stage 2 to stage 3 of the demographic A country reaches stage 4 of the demographic transition
I, a transition when the CBR begins to drop sharply. The CDR when the CBR declines to the point where it equals the
pie continues to fall in stage 3 but at a much slower rate than in CDR and the NIR approaches zero. This condition is called
by. stage 2. The population continues to grow because the CBR zero population growth (ZPG), a term often applied to
is still greater than the CDR. But the rate of natural increase is stage 4 countries.
JO· more modest in countries in stage 3 than in those in stage 2
'ial because the gap between the CBR and the CDR narrows. ZPG may occur when the CBR is still slightly higher
than the CDR because some females die before reaching
:he A society enters stage 3 when people have fewer children. childbearing years, and the number of females in their
m- The decision to have fewer children is partly a delayed reac- childbearing years can vary. To account for these discrep-
es) ancies, demographers more precisely define ZPG as the TFR
on tion to a decline in mortality, that results in a lack of change in the total population over
a long term. A TFR of approximately 2.1 produces ZPG.
UT· Economic changes in stage 3 societies also induce people
to have fewer offspring. People in stage 3 societies are more Social customs again explain the movement to stage 4.
l}. likely to live in cities than in the countryside and to work Increasingly, women in stage 4 societies enter the labor
ted in offices, shops, or factories rather than on farms. Farmers force rather than remain at home as full-time homemakers.
lU· often consider a large family to be an asset because children People who have access to a wider variety of birth-control
can do some of the chores. Urban homes are relatively small methods are more likely to use some of them.
iif- and may not have space to accommodate large families.
Denmark, like most other European countries, has reached
•so Most countries in Europe and North America (includ- stage 4 of the demographic transition (Figure 2-20). Denmark's
ing the United States) moved from stage 2 to stage 3 of the population pyramid shows the impact of the demographic
!nt demographic transition during the first half of the twenti- transition. Instead of a classic pyramid shape, Denmark has
ar- eth century. The movement took place during the second a column, demonstrating that the percentages of young and
m- half of the twentieth century in many countries of Asia elderly people are nearly the same {Figure 2-21).
and Latin America, including Chile (Figure 2-19).
>n.
Stage1 S1age2 Stage3 18 _.,, Stage 1 Stage2 Stage3 Stage4
er-
•• 50 15 3=o·-0mg ■
cal ..■ 50 5 3-g=c··d"g'",
. of 0 • g·:,
to §
q0.... 40 12.!!!. .,: 40 i:,4 tJI 0
-g
~ 2■ !
..0 E, ! 30
z .. •e
E.. f"e' 30 .c
ll i,,v,, 20
<:!. .c 2z
1. 20 1 t: :ii
0:s
,~:, C ,t

"tl ."c' 10
C t:
iii
."c' 10

t:

iii

1860 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2010 1830 1860 1890 1920 1950 1980 2010

A FIGURE2-19 STAGE3: CHILEChileenteredstage2 ofthe demographic A FIGURE2-20 STAGE4: DENMARK Denmarkhasbeeninstage4 of
transitionin the 1930s.whendeathratesdeclinedsharplya. ndstage 3 inthe
1960s,whenbirthratesdeclinedsharply. the demographitcransitionandhasexperiencedvirtuallyno changeintotal

populationsincethe 1970s.

CAPE VERDE CHILE DENMARK

a.;..ag 202 2024 8H9
• Mare •
I0-8' -~980-M ◄ FIGURE2-21 POPULATION

!-1S-19 75-79
Male Female Male 10-1, PYRAMIDSAsa country
70-14
6S-69 ~4 movesthroughthe
,JH;t
55--$9 demographitcransitiont,he
SG-5< 50-54
<H9
45-•9 shapeof thepyramidflattens.
-40--4, 40-44
35-J9 (left)CapeYerde'spyramid
l5-J9 30-3'
30--34 ZS-29 hasa broadbase,asis typical

20-1, 20·24 ofa stage2 country(.center)
15--19 15-19

10-U 10-1' Chile'sgraphstillresembles
5-9
5-9 6-4 a pyramid(.right)Denmark's

o-• 4 6 86 4 2 0 2 4 66 6 Age pyramidIsflat,an indication
Percent of Total Population
aAge 6 4

Female oftheagingofthepopulation.

58 THECULTURALLANDSCAPE

DECLINING BIRTH RATES effective use of contraceptives to limit the numl
of children.
Learning Outcome 2.3.2
2. Lowering birth rates through contraception. 1
Summarize two approaches to reducing birth rates. other approach to lowering birth rates emphasizes t
importance of rapidly diffusing modern contracept
The CBR has declined rapidly since 1990, from 27 to 20 methods (Figure 2-24). Economic development rr
in the world as a whole and from 31 to 22 in developing promote lower birth rates in the long run, but the wo
countries (Figure 2-22). Two strategies have been success- cannot wait around for that alternative to take effE
ful in reducing birth rates: Putting resources into family-planning programs can
duce birth rates much more rapidly. In developing co1
1. Lowering birth rates through education and health tries, demand for contraceptive devices is greater fh
care. One approach to lowering birth rates emphasizes the available supply. Therefore, the most effectivewa)-
the importance of improving local economic conditions increase their use is to distribute more of them chea·
(Figure 2-23). A wealthier community has more money and quickly. According to this approach, contracepti'
to spend on education and health-care programs that are the best method for lowering the birth rate.
promote lower birth rates. According to this approach:
• With more women able to attend school and to Bangladesh is an example of a country that has had
remain in school longer, they would be more Likely tie improvement in the wealth and literacy of its peo1
to learn employment skills and gain more econom- but 56 percent of the women in the country used c<
ic control over their lives. traceptives in 2011 compared to 6 percent three deca,
• With better education, women would better un- earlier. Similar growth in the use of contraceptives has
derstand their reproductive rights, make more in- curred in other developing countries, including Colorr.r
formed reproductive choices, and select more ef- Morocco, and Thailand. Rapid growth in the accepta,
fective methods of contraception. of family planning is evidence that in the modern wo1
• With improved health-care programs, IMRs would ideas can diffuse rapidly, even to places where people h;
decline through such programs as improved pre- limited access to education and modem communicatio
natal care, counseling about sexually transmitted
diseases, and child immunization. The percentage of women using contraceptives is es
• With the survival of more infants ensured, wom- cially low in sub-Saharan Africa, so the alternative of c
en would be more likely to choose to make more tributing contraceptives could have an especially strt
impact there. Fewer than one-fourth of women in s·
Saharan Africa employ contraceptives, compared to m

40" I

PACIFIC

OCEAN

20' 140'
160'

CrudeBirth Rale 20" ..r . 2.0, / 4,900 1
decline1990-2012 \ 7a / 2,oliq/ 4,~oKJ~l.e1,ro
per 1,000population ...,.

• 15andabove
-10-14.9

-5-9.9
0-4.9
Increase
nodata

40" 20' 0- 20" CC' 60" IU 100" 120' 140' 160' It()•

A FIGURE2-22 CBRCHANGE1980-2012 Thecrudebirth ratehasdeclinedin all but a handfulof countries.
Declineshavebeenmostrapidin LatinAmericaand SouthandSouthwesAt sia,

Chapter 2: Population and Health 59

.ber than two-thirds in Asia and three-fourths in Latin America
fhe (Figure 2-25).
the
tive Regardless of which alternative is more successful,
nay many oppose birth-control programs for religious and
lrld political reasons. Adherents of several religions, includ-
ect. ing Roman Catholics, fundamentalist Protestants, Mus-
. re- lims, and Hindus, have religious convictions that prevent
un- them from using some or all birth-control methods. In the
1an United States opposition is strong to terminating preg-
nancy by abortion, and the U.S. government has at times
ytO withheld aid to countries and family-planning organiza-
tions that advise abortion, even when such advice is only
.ply a small part of the overall aid program .
.ves
It. FIGURE2-23 PROMOTINGFEWERCHILDRENWomentalk aboutbirth Pause and Reflect 2.3.2
lit- controlat a healthclinicin KampongChamC, ambodia.
?le, Why have countries in Northern Europe had little if
on- any decline in CBRsince 1990?
des
oc- ------------.------~-=-y , ,_....,--1 .- ,t --:.::=:,;,=--_~-,,.- 40'-- 2I,Y,.. O' \a, --.-.$.0."...6.0.'_
Jia, ~
nee J. ,~- 180"
rid,
ave ' •• \ 80'
,ns.
pe- ARCTI
fa-
mg ' oc
ub-
ore I 6V

., I

'O' _..,_ _ __,_I_

PACIFIC -

I--:----O; CEA-N--

t"' II1.11'
,I..,. I
120'

Percentwomenusing
familyplanning

• 75 andabove

50-74
25-49
Below25

oodata

IIO' 20' O' 20' ·I
60' '""1'0' 150'

4 FIGURE2-24 WOMEN USINGFAMILYPLANNINGMorethantwo-thirdsof couplesin developed NIGERIA
countriesusea family-planningmethod.Family-planninvgarieswidelyin developingcountriesC. hinareportsthe
world'shighestrateof familyplanningt;helowestratesarein sub-SaharaAnfrica.

2%

familyPlanningMethod

Pill

•iuo

•Condom
• Femalseterihzalion
- Malesterilization
• Periodicabstinencaendwithdrawal

Other

- Nolusit1ga molhod

GERMANY CHINA

A FIGURE2-25 FAMILY PLANNING METHODSTheprincipalfamily-planningmethodsin developedcountries

likeGermanyarecondomsandbirth-contropl ills.Theprincipalmethodsin Chinaareintrauterinedevices(IUDs)and

femalesterilizationP. eoplein sub-SaharaAnfricancountriessuchas Nigeriamakeminimaluseof family-plannin.g

· "IQIHIHI HIIIIIUIIHUHI II1IU

60 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Malthus on Overpopulation Pause and Reflect 2.3.3
Calculate the units of population and food that
Learning Outcome 2.3.3 Malthus predicted would exist in 200 years.

Summarize Malthus's argument about the CONTEMPORARY NEC-MALTHUSIANS
relationship between population and resources.
Malthus's views remain influential today. Contempor,
English economist Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) was one geographers and other analysts are taking another lo
of the first to argue that the world's rate of population in- at Malthus's theory because of Earth's unprecedented r:
crease was far outrunning the development of food sup- of natural increase during the twentieth century. N1
plies. In An Essay on the Principleof Population, published Malthusians argue that two characteristics of recent po 1
in 1798, Malthus claimed that the population was grow- lation growth make Malthus's thesis even more frighh
ing much more rapidly than Earth's food supply because ing than when it was first written more than 200 years a:
population increased geometrically, whereas food supply • In Malthus's time only a few relatively wealthy cot
increased arithmetically (Figure 2-26).
tries had entered stage 2 of the demographic trc
According to Malthus, these growth rates would pro- sition, characterized by rapid population increa
duce the following relationships between people and food Malthus failed to anticipate that relatively poor cot
in the future: tries would have the most rapid population gro"'
because of transfer of medical technology (but r
Today: 1 person, 1 unit of food wealth) from developed countries. As a result, the~
25 years from now: 2 persons, 2 units of food between population growth and resources is wider
50 years from now: 4 persons, 3 units of food some countries than even Malthus anticipated.
75 years from now: 8 persons, 4 units of food • World population growth is outstripping a w
100 years from now: 16 persons, 5 units of food variety of resources, not just food production. N
Malthusians paint a frightening picture of a world
Malthus stated made these conclusions several decades which billions of people are engaged in a desper
after England had become the first country to enter stage 2 search for food, water, and energy.
of the demographic transition, in association with the In-
dustrial Revolution. He concluded that population growth MALTHUS'S CRITICS
would press against available resources in every country
unless "moral restraint" produced lower CBRsor unless dis- Malthus's theory has been severely criticized from a
ease, famine, war, or other disasters produced higher CDRs. riety of perspectives. Criticism has been leveled at b<
the population growth and resource depletion sides
MALTHUS'S THEORY Malthus's equation.

16

14 RESOURCE DEPLETION. Many geographers consi
Malthusian beliefs unrealistically pessimistic beca
- Population they are based on a belief that the world's supply
-Resources resources is fixed rather than expanding.

~ 10 POPULATION GROWTH. Critics disagree with Malth1
theory that population growth is a problem. To
..;:, contrary, a larger population could stimulate econo1
growth and, therefore, production of more food. A la
0 population of consumers can generate a greater dem,
for goods, which results in more jobs. More people m1
I!! 8 more brains to invent good ideas for improving life.

-g Marxists maintain that no cause-and-effect relations
exists between population growth and economic devel
,g",' 6 ment. Poverty, hunger, and other social welfare problc
1"' 4 associated with lack of economic development are a re:
of unjust social and economic institutions, not pop1
0 tion growth. They argue that the world possesses suffici
~ resources to eliminate global hunger and poverty, if o
these resources are shared equally.
2

0 .__ ___ ---1, ____ _1.,. ____ ...J.._ ___ _J

2000 2025 2050 2075 2100
Years

A FIGURE2-26 MALTHUST'SHEORYMalthusexpectedpopulationto grow
morerapidlythan foodsupplyT. hegraphshowsthat if in 2000,the populationof
a placewere1 unit(suchas 1 billionpeople)and theamountofresourceswere
1 unit(suchas 1 billiontonsofgrain),thenaccordingto Malthus'stheoryi,n2100
the placewouldhavearound15billionpeopleand5 billiontonsofgrain).

Chapter 2: Population and Health 61

MALTHUS'S THEORY AND REALITY INDIA'S RECENT EXPERIENCE

On a global scale, conditions during the past half-century 100
have not supported Malthus's theory. Even though the
human population has grown at its most rapid rate ever, 80 Rice
world food production has consistently grown at a faster Wheat
rate than the NlR since 1950. Malthus was fairly close to ii, Population
the mark on food production but much too pessimistic on
population growth. .cs; 1,2

Overall food production has increased during the last c:; 1.0 "D
nail-century somewhat more rapidly than Malthus pre-
dicted. In India, for example, rice production has fol- ~ 60 0
lowed Malthus's expectations fairly closely, but wheat ~
production has increased twice as fast as Malthus expected §, 0.8 ~
(Figure 2-27). Better growing techniques, higher-yielding
seeds, and cultivation of more land have contributed to .,,: i:i'
the expansion in the food supply (see Chapter 10). Many :,
people in the world cannot afford to buy food or do not 0 0.6
have access to sources of food, but these are problems of ~
distribution of wealth rather than insufficient global pro- :I,J 40 0.4 i:i'
duction of food, as Malthus theorized. :,
£
It is on the population side of the equation that Malthus .l!!,.
has proved to be inaccurate. His model expected popu- 20
lation to quadruple during a half-century, but even in
India-a country known for relatively rapid growth (see 0.2
the next section)-population has increased more slowly
than food supply. 0 1970 1980 1990 2000 0
1960 2010
However, neo-Malthusians point out that production
of both wheat and rice has slowed in India in recent years, Years
as shown in Figure 2-27. Without new breakthroughs in
food production, India will not be able to keep food supply ~ FIGURE 2-27 POPULATION ANO FOOD PRODUCTION IN INDIA
ahead of population growth.
Productionofwheatand ricehasincreasedmorerapidlythan haspopulation.
JAPAN'S DECLINING POPULATION
In the United States, the population is expected to con-
Japan is an example of a country that faces the prospect of tinue to grow through immigration rather than through
population decline in future, from 127 million in 2010 to natural increase (see Chapter 3), but Japan discourages im-
95 million in 2050, according to the Japanese government. migration. Japanese society, having placed a high value
With population decline will come a dramatic shift in the on social conformity for thousands of years, does not wel-
country's population structure (Figure 2-28). By 2050, the come outsiders from other cultural traditions.
Japanese pyramid is expected to be reversed from that of
1950. Instead of a very high percentage of children, Japan With few immigrants, Japan faces a severe shortage of
will have a very high percentage of elderly people. workers. Japan is addressing the labor force shortage pri-
marily by encouraging more Japanese people to work, es-
pecially older people and women. Programs make it more
attractive for older people to continue working, to receive
more health-care services at home instead of in hospitals,
and to borrow against the value of their homes to pay for
health care. In the long run, more women in the labor
force may translate into an even lower birth rate and there-
fore an even lower NIRin the future. Rather than combine
work with child rearing, Japanese women are expected to
make a stark choice: either marry and raise children or re-
main single and work.

1950 2010 2050 (P,Ojee!OO) ◄ FIGURE 2-28 JAPAN'S CHANGING

90+ 2 024 90+ POPULATION PYRAMIDS Japan'spopulation
pyramidhasshiftedfroma broadbasein 1950to
~-8H9 85--89 a rectangulasrhape.Inthe future,the bottomof
81H14 the pyramidisexpectedto contractandthe top
81Hl4 75-79 to expand.
75-79 70-14
70-.74 4 6420 2 4 4 65-<9
65--09 60-.4
SS-59
55-59 S0-54
50--54 45-49
45-49 41H4

◄ IH< 35-39
30-34
35-39 25-29
W-34
2-5--29 20-24
20-24 15-19
15-19 10-14
10-14
5-9 5-9
0-4 1H

Age 6 4 2 0 2 Age

Percent of Total Population •Male• Female

62 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Stage1 Stage2 Stage3 Stage4 Stage5
3
Population Futures 50
2
Learning Outcome 2.3.4 i..40
Summarize the possible stage 5 of the demographic 0
transition. t

NIR is forecast to be much slower in the twenty-first .E, 30
century than in the twentieth, but world population will
continue to grow. The Population Reference Bureau fore- .e(/)
casts that world population will increase from 7 billion in
2011 to 9.5 billion in 2050 (Figure 2-29). Around 97 per- \:! 20
cent of this increase is forecast to be in developing countries,
whereas many developed countries may move into a pos- .:::
sible stage 5 of the demographic transition.
I
Future population depends primarily on fertility. The
United Nations forecasts that if the current TFR of 2.5 re- "ti 10
mains unchanged, world population would reach 12 billion
in 2050. On the other hand, ifTFR declines in the next few C:
years to 1.5, world population would actually decline to 8
billion in 2050. (11

DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION POSSIBLE €0
STAGE 5: DECLINE
a5
A country that has passed through the four stages of the
demographic transition has in some ways completed a Lowgrowth Highgrowth Decreasing Low Decline
cycle-from little or no natural increase in stage 1 to little growth grow1h
or no natural increase in stage 4. Two crucial demographic
differences underlie this process: A FIGURE 2-30 POSSIBLE DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION STAGE 5 St,
5 ofthe demographictransitionwouldbecharacterizedbya negativeNIR,
• The total population of the country is much higher in becausethe CDRwouldbe greaterthan the CBR.
stage 4 than in stage 1.
The four-stage demographic transition is characteri,
• At the beginning of the demographic transition, the by two big breaks with the past. The first break-the s1
CBRsand CDRs are high-35 to 40 per 1,000-whereas den drop in the death rate that comes from technologi
at the end of the process the rates are very low, approxi- innovation-has been accomplished everywhere. The s
mately 10 per 1,000. ond break-the sudden drop in the birth rate that con
from changing social customs-has yet to be achieved
2010 2025 2050 many countries.

Year Meanwhile, a possible stage 5 of the demograpl
transition is predicted by demographers for some dev
.A FIGURE 2-29 FUTUREPOPULATIONGROWTH Nearlyallofthe world's oped countries. Stage 5 would be characterized by a V(
populationgrowthis forecastto be indevelopingcountries. low CBR, an increasing CDR, and therefore a negat
NIR (Figure 2-31). After several decades of very low bi1
rates, a stage 5 country would have relatively few you
women aging into child-bearing years. Asthe smaller pc
of women each chooses to have fewer children, birth ra
would continue to fall even more than in stage 4.

The world's future population will definitely be old
The elderly support ratio is the number of working-,
people (ages 15 to 64) divided by the number of persc
65 and older (Figure 2-30). A small number means ti
relatively few workers must contribute to pensions, hea.
care, and other support that older people need. With mc
elderly people than children, a stage 5 country would ex1
rience an increased CDR because of high mortality amo
the relatively large number of elderly people.

Several European countries, notably Russia and otl
former Communist countries, already have negative NI
Russia'srugh CDRand low CBRare a legacy of a ha!f-cenh
of Communist rule. The low CBRmay stem from a long t
dition of strong family-planning programs and a deep-sea1
pessimism about having children in an uncertain world. 1
rugh CDR may be a legacy of inadequate pollution contr
and inaccurate reporting by the Communists.

Chapter 2: Population and Health 63

CHINA AND INDIA education, including advertisements on national radio and

television networks and information distributed through
Jhe world's two most populous countries, China and India, local health centers. Given the cultural diversity of the In-
wiU heavily influence future prospects for global over- dian people, the national campaign has had only limited
population. These two countries-together encompassing success. The dominant form of birth control continues to
C ....z roore than one-third of the world's population-have ad- be sterilization of women, in many cases after the women
opted different family-planning programs. As a result of have already borne several chlldren .
!.Ill less effective policies, India adds 12 million more people

..:i' each year than does China. Current projections show that CHINA'S POPULATION POLICIES. In contrast to India,
Jndia could surpass China as the world's most populous
0 country around 2030.
...n, China has made substantial progress in reducing its rate of
growth. Since 2000, China has actually had a lower CBR
Ill than the United States.

.n".,'.

Ill
n, INDIA'S POPULATIONPOLICIES. India, like most countries The core of the Chinese government's family-planning

~~ i11Africa, Asia, and Latin America, remained in stage 1 of program has been the One Child Policy, adopted in 1980.
the demographic transition until the late 1940s. During the Under the One Child Policy, a couple needs a permit to

first half of the twentieth century, the Indian population have a child. Couples receive financial subsidies, a long

increased modestly-less than 1 percent per year-and maternity leave, better housing, and (in rural areas) more

even decreased in some years because of malaria, famines, land if they agree to have just one child. The govern-

plagues, and cholera epidemics. ment prohibits maniage for men until they are age 22 and

Immediately after gaining independence from Eng- women until they are 20. To further discourage births,

age land in 1947, India saw a sharp decline in death rate (to people receive free contraceptives, abortions, and steril-
20 per 1,000 in 1951), whereas the CBR remained rela- izations. Rules are enforced by a government agency, the

tively high (about 40). Consequently, the NIR jumped to State Family Planning Commission.

2 percent per year. In response to this rapid growth, India AsChina moves toward a market economy in the twenty-

became the first country to embark on a national family- first century and as Chinese families become wealthier, the

~ed pla.nningprogram, in 1952. The government has established harsh rules in the One Child Policy have been relaxed, es-

Jd- cHnics and has provided information about alternative pecially in urban areas. Clinics provide counseling on a

cal methods of birth control. Birth-control devices have been wider range of family-planning options. Instead of fines,

ec- distributed free or at subsidized prices. Abortions, legal- Chinese couples wishing a second child pay a "family-

nes ized in 1972, have been performed at a rate of several mil- planning fee" to cover the cost to the government of sup-

in lion per year. All together, the government spends several porting the additional person. Fears that relaxing the One

hundred million dollars annually on various family-plan- Child Policy would produce a large increase in the birth

hie ni11gprograms. rate have been unfounded.

tel- India's most controversial family-planning program

ery was the establishment of camps in 1971 to perform steril-

ive izations-surgical procedures in whlch people were made

rth incapable of reproduction. A sterilized person was entitled

mg to a payment, which has been adjusted several times but
ool generally has been equivalent to the average monthly in- Pause and Reflect 2.3.4

1tes come in India. At the height of the program, in 1976, 8.3 Why might China's One Child Policy result in many

million sterilizations were performed during a 6-month more male than female children?

1er. period, mostly on women.

age The birth-control drive declined in India after 1976.

)OS Widespread opposition to the sterilization program grew CHECK-IN:KEYISSUE3

hat in the country because people feared that they would be

dth forcibly sterilized. The prime minister, Indira Gandhi, was Why Does Population Growth Vary

ore defeated in 1977, and the new government emphasized Among Regions?

.pe- the voluntary nature of birth-control programs. The term ✓ The demographic transition has four stages

mg family planning, which the Indian people associated with

the forced steriJization policy, was replaced by the term characterized by varying rates of births, deaths,

her family welfare to indicate that compulsory birth-control and natural increase.

!Rs. programs had been terminated. Although Mrs. Gandhi ✓ The CBRhas declined since 1990 in all but a

ury served again as prime minister from 1980 until she was as- handful of countries.

tra- sassinated in 1984, she did not emphasize family planning

1ted during that time because of the opposition during her pre- ✓ Malthus believed that population would

fhe vious administration. outstrip resources, but critics argue that that

rols In the past several decades, government-sponsored hasn't been the case in the world as a whole.

family-planning programs in India have emphasized

.. ~lffllllllltlllllll1H

64 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE • Italians fleeing the trading post carried the infected rats
on ships west to the major coastal cities of Southeastern
KEY ISSUE4
Europe in 1347.
Why Do Some Regions • The plague diffused from the coast to inland towns and

Face Health Threats? then to rural areas.

■ Epidemiologic Transition • It reached Western Europe in 1348 and Northern
■ Infectious Diseases Europe in 1349.
■ Health Care
About 25 million Europeans- at least one-half of the conti-
Learning Outcome 2.4.1 nent's population-died between 1347 and 1350. Five other
Summarize the four stages of the epidemiologic epidemics in the late fourteenth century added to the toll in
transition. Europe. ln China, 13 million died from the plague in 1380.

The plague wiped out entire villages and families,
leaving farms with no workers and estates with no heirs.
Churches were left without priests and parishioners,
schools without teachers and students. Ships drifted aim-
lessly at sea after entire crews succumbed to the plague.

As world NIR slows and the threat of overpopulation re- STAGE 2: RECEDING PANDEMICS (RAPIDLY

cedes, at least at a worldwide scale, geographers increas- DECLINING CDR)
ingly turn their attention to the health of the record num-

ber of people who are alive. Medical researchers have Stage 2 of the epidemiologic transition has been called the

identified an epidemiologic transition that focuses on stage of recedingpandemics.A pandemic is disease that oc•

distinctive health threats in each stage of the demographic curs over a wide geographic area and affects a very high

transition. Epidemiologists rely heavily on geographic con- proportion of the population. Improved sanitation, nutri•

cepts such as scale and connection because measures to tion, and medicine during the Industrial Revolution re•

control and prevent an epidemic derive from understand- duced the spread of infectious diseases. Death rates die

ing its distinctive distribution and method of diffusion. not decline immediately and universally during the earl)

years of the Industrial Revolution. Poor people crowdec

into rapidly growing industrial cities had especially higl

Epidemiologic Transition death rates. Cholera-uncommon in rural areas-becam1
an especially virulent epidemic in urban areas during th,

The term epidemiologictransition comes from epidemiol- Industrial Revolution.
ogy, which is the branch of medical science concerned
Construction of water and sewer systems had eradicate,

with the incidence, distribution, and control of diseases cholera by the late nineteenth century. However, choler,

that are prevalent among a population at a special time persists in several developing regions in stage 2 of the de

and are produced by some special causes not generally mographic transition, especially sub-Saharan Africa anr

present in the affected locality. The concept was originally South and Southeast Asia, where many people lack acces

formulated by epidemiologist Abdel Omran in 1971. to clean drinking water (Figure 2-31). Cholera has also bee1

found on Hispaniola, the island shared by Haiti and the De

minican Republic, especially in the wake of an earthquak

STAGE 1: PESTILENCE AND FAMINE in 2010 that killed 200,000 and displaced 1 million.

(HIGH CDR) A computer-based Geographic Information System wz
invented in the twentieth century, but the idea of ove:

In stage 1 of the epidemiologic transition, infectious and laying maps to understand human and natural patterns ·
parasitic diseases were principal causes of human deaths, much older. A century before the invention of computer

along with accidents and attacks by animals and other GIS helped to explain and battle stage 2 pandemics.
humans. Malthus called these causes of deaths "natural Dr. John Snow (1813-1858) was a British physician, nc
checks'' on the growth of the human population in stage 1
a geographer. To fight one of the worst nineteenth centu1

of the demographic transition. pandemics, cholera, Snow created a hand-made GlS in 185·

History's most violent stage 1 epidemic was the Black On a map of London's Soho neighborhood, Snow overlai

Plague (bubonic plague), which was probably transmitted two other maps, one showing the addresses of cholera vi

to humans by fleas from migrating infected rats: tims and the other the location of water pumps-which f,

• The Black Plague originated among Tatars in present- the poor residents of Soho were the principal source of wat

day Kyrgyzstan. for drinking, cleaning, and cooking (Figure 2-30).
The overlay maps showed that cholera victims were n,
• It diffused to present-day Ukraine when the Tatar army
attacked an Italian trading post on the Black Sea. distributed uniformly through Soho. Dr. Snow showed th

Chapter 2: Population and Health 65

rats <C'· ...../
tern
AT4NTIC
and
--------,- OCEAN
1.ern
-----j-
Jnti-
•ther \ 120' 100'
>IIin
380. 1611'
ilies,
1eirs. Choleraoutbreaks,2010-2011 \
ners,
aim- Areasrepo~lnogotbreai<S I\
e.
Countrietso whlCflcholeradittuscd .,,. 00' h .,,. ""'40' 60'
)LY <O' 'I.fl'
0' 100' 120" 110'
ithe
t oc- J,. FIGURE 2-31 CHOLERA Countriesreportingcholerain recentyearsarefoundprimarilyin sub-SaharaAnfrica
high
.utri- andSouthAsia. •
:l re-
; did a large percentage of cholera victims were clustered around sewage was getting into the water supply near the pump.
early one pump, on Broad Street. Tests at the Broad Street pump Although no longer operative, the contaminated pump
vded subsequently proved that the water there was contami- still stands in London and can be seen in the photo on
high nated. Further investigation revealed that contaminated page 42.
:ame
Before Dr. Snow's geographic analysis, many believed
phe that epidemic victims were being punished for sinful be-
havior and that most victims were poor because poverty
:ated was considered a sin. Now we understand that cholera af-
olera fects the poor because they are more likely to have to use
e de- contaminated water.

and STAGE 3: DEGENERATIVE DISEASES
ccess {MODERATELY DECLINING CDR)
been
Stage 3 of the epidemiologic transition, the stage of degen-
e Do- erative and human-created diseases, is characterized by a
decrease in deaths from infectious diseases and an increase
:uake in chronic disorders associated with aging. The two espe-
cially important chronic disorders in stage 3 are cardiovas-
1 was cular diseases, such as heart attacks, and various forms of
over- cancer. The global pattern of cancer is the opposite of that
ms is for stage 2 diseases; sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia have
1ters, the lowest incidence of cancer, primarily because of the rel-
atively low life expectancy in those regions.
1, not
:1.tury 4 FIGURE 2-32 SIR JOHN SNOW'S CHOLERA MAP In 1854, Dr,John Pause and Reflect 2.4.1
1854.
~rlaid Snowmappedthedistributionof choleravictimsandwaterpumpsto prove In what climate zone are most of the countries that
have experienced cholera recently?
a vic- thatthe causeof the infectionwascontaminationof the pumpnearthe corner

:h for of BroadandLexingtonstreets.
water

e not
i that

~HIIIII,Hf·IIfIIIIIHHI.1III1,II1I1I1Hlll

66 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

STAGE 4: DELAYED DEGENERATIVE through medical advances. Through medicine, cance
DISEASES (LOW BUT INCREASING CDR) spread more slowly or are removed altogether. Operatior
such as bypasses repair deficiencies in the cardiovasculi
Learning Outcome 2.4.2 system. Also improving health are behavior changes sue
Summarize the reasons for Stage 4 and a possible as better diet, reduced use of tobacco and alcohol, and e;
stage 5 of the epidemiologic transition. ercise. On the other hand, consumption of non-nutritiot
food and sedentary behavior have resulted in an increai
Omran's epidemiologic transition was extended by S. Jay in obesity in stage 4 countries (Figure 2-34).
Olshansky and Brian Ault to stage 4, the stage of delayed
degenerative diseases. The major degenerative causes of Pause and Reflect 2.4.2
death-cardiovascular diseases and cancers (Figure 2-33)- Have you had a parent or grandparent whose
linger, but the life expectancy of older people is extended lifespan was extended by modern medical advances?

.,. - ...

PACIFIC ,,,.
OCEAN
...
.. ---
,,,.
1W' U mo
,..
,-------, .. ,,.
Maleuncer deathrate
per 100,000population

150andabove

126-149

HXH25

Below100

nodata

• FIGURE 2-33 MALE CANCER Cancerisan exampleof a causeof deathformenthat is higherindeveloped
countriesthan indevelopingones.

... IW" U,J" ...

PACIFIC
OCEAN
w-·-·..- --

O'-- -----.'\:~. ~
IND/AN
160' 1,!J' OCEAN fh=

Peteantobue· -. '

ATLANTIC
OCEAN

•=• 30andabove
10-19,9

Below10

nodata

• llod1massIndex ,..,.,. 1(1' "" .,. "I ?<I' .,.
al leastJO!<t,im'

~ FIGURE 2-34 OBESITY Obesityis a healthprobleminthe UnitedStatesand inSouthwesAt sia.

~·.:~.-1--~~,,~ OfflDDl_, .

Chapter 2: Population and Health 67

Infectious Diseases REASON FOR POSSIBLE

Recallthat in the possible stage S of the demographic tran- STAGE 5: POVERTY
sition, CDR rises because more of the population is elderly.
Some medical analysts argue that the world is moving into Infectious diseases are more prevalent in poor areas than
stage 5 of the epidemiologic transition, brought about by other places because unsanitary conditions may persist,
a reemergence of infectious and parasitic diseases. Infec- and most people can't afford the drugs needed for treat-
tious diseases thought to have been eradicated or con- ment. Tuberculosis (TB)is an example of an infectious dis-
trolled have returned, and new ones have emerged. A ease that has been largely controlled in developed countries
consequence of stage 5 would be higher CDRs. Other epi- but remains a major cause of death in developing coun-
demiologists dismiss recent trends as a temporary setback tries (Figure 2-35). An airborne disease that is often called
in a long process of controlling infectious diseases. "consumption" and that damages the lungs, TB spreads
principally through coughing and sneezing. TBwas one of
In a possible stage 5, infectious diseases thought to the principal causes of death among the urban poor in the
have been eradicated or controlled return, and new ones nineteenth century during the Industrial Revolution.
emerge. Three reasons help to explain the possible emer-
gence of a stage 5 of the epiderniologic transition: evolu- The death rate from TB declined in the United States
tion, poverty, and increased connections. from 200 per 100,000 in 1900 to 60 in 1940 and 4 today.
However, in developing countries, the TB rate is more than
REASON FOR POSSIBLE STAGE 5: 10 times higher than in developed countries, and nearly 2
EVOLUTION million people worldwide die from it annually. TBis more
prevalent in poor areas because the long, expensive treat-
lnfectious disease microbes have continuously evolved ment poses a significant economic burden. Patients stop
and changed in response to environmental pressures by taking the drugs before the treatment cycle is completed.
developing resistance to drugs and insecticides. Antibiot-
ics and genetic engineering contribute to the emergence of
new strains of viruses and bacteria.

Malaria was nearly eradicated in the mid-twentieth
century by spraying DDT in areas infested with the mos-
quito that carried the parasite. For example, new malaria
cases in Sri Lanka fell from 1 million in 1955 to 18 in 1963.
The disease returned after 1963, however, and now causes
more than 1 million deaths worldwide annually. A major
reason was the evolution of DDT-resistant mosquitoes.

-80'
60'

ooI 1201

160' 140'

NewTBcasesper ATLANTIC I
100,000population
1--O-C-E-A-N-- -- -✓
Below100 L,/ /
\I
100-299
300andabove I.,r\-----t--f---t---i---.-----::-r--i----t--:-±c::---+-.;,.---,-.,.gi--40•
0 / 2,000 ,' 4,°'f Miles
nodata
I' \II "l,0/0 4,oKoi;lomers / /

I00' 80' 60' 40' 20' O' 20' 60" 80' 100' 120' 140' 160' 180'

_. FIGURE2-35 TUBERCULOSI(STB)CASESDeathfromtuberculosis a goodindicatorof a country'sability
to investin healthcareb, ecausetreatingthediseaseisexpensive.

,,.IIIIIIIIIIIIKIIHllllf