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C255 Introduction to World Geography Notes for Exam Prep Western Governors University.
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C255 Introduction to World Geography Notes for Exam Prep Western Governors University.
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C255 Introduction to WorldGeography Notes for Exam
Prep Western Governors
University.
, Five Themes of Geography
Chapter 1
I. What are the five themes of geography: Location, Relative Location, Place, Human-
Environment Interaction, Movement, and Region.
1. Location – is a concept that refers to the physical presence of a geographic place or feature on
the surface of the Earth. Location is defined as both an absolute location and a relative location.
A) Absolute location – is a global system of latitude lines (parallels) and longitude
(meridians) to identify the precise location (coordinates) of every point on the Earth’s
surface.
B) Latitude coordinates - are angular distances north or south of the equator, it’s the
latitude line that divides the Northern and Southern Hemisphere.
1. Latitude coordinates range from 0o to 90oN or 90oS at each pole.
2. Latitude is recorded as degree, minutes and seconds north or south of the equator.
C) Longitude coordinates – are angular distances east and west of the Prime Meridian (an
imaginary line that runs from North Pole to South Pole)
1. Longitude coordinates range from 0o (Prime Meridian) to 180oE or 180oW (second
imaginary line – Anti-Meridian on the opposite side of Earth)
2. Longitude is recorded as degrees, minutes, and seconds east or west of the Prime
Meridian.
, D) Relative Location – used to understand the relationship between places and how distinct
locations interact with one another, physically, politically, economically, and socially.
A) Considered as the location of a feature in relation to other features. (Ex. “the post office is across
the street from the gas station,” or “the pet shop is between the drug store and the hardware store”)
2. Place – concept that refers to the wide range of human activities and human-environment
interactions that occur in a particular location
A). Places are location where daily life occurs as interact with other people, build our economic
and political systems, develop our distinct cultural and social traditions, and both use and adapt to the
environment around us.
B) Places never exist in isolation, but always bound into a global web of interactions with other
places both near and far.
3. Human-Environment Interaction – a concept that forms the traditional foundation of the Geography
discipline.
A). The direct connections between humans our biophysical world. Exhaust from a gasoline-
powered engine emits directly into the atmosphere. These carbon emissions feed into air pollution that
directly affects health, plant life and the rise in global air and ocean temperatures, associated with
anthropogenic (human-caused) global climate change.
4. Movement - a concept that humans and animal life are always in motion. It’s a fundamental feature
of our global economic system, global population distributions, migration patterns, and political events.
A) Countries struggling to control movement across borders, through key transportation
corridors and between places is connected through economic and political powers.
5. Region – examines the development and significance of formal regions, functional regions, and
vernacular/perceptual regions.
A) Formal regions defines what’s both inside and outside of that region.
1) Some have well-defined political boundaries. (Ex. DC is a formal region that has boundaries
dividing it from both Maryland and Virginia.
2) Can be based on measurable phenomena, such as particular types of dominant land use or
population density. (Ex. U.S. Corn Belt, the Great Plains, and other U.S. ecological regions are based
on measurable natural features and predominant land use patterns)
B) Functional Regions – defined by its purpose and what purpose the region serves. Doesn’t
necessarily have clear defined boundaries.
C) Perceptual Region – Perceptual regions consists of the “regions in our minds”, thought of as a
distinct identity that sets it apart from neighboring regions and people.
D) Vernacular Region – consist of generally understood cultural regions where residents share
similar lifestyles, a shared cultural heritage, or some shared identifying characteristic that may not be
clearly definable on a map with precise boundaries.
Chapter 1 – Introduction to Geography
• Understand spatial characteristics of population, including population density, population
distribution, and population redistribution
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