No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Trademarks: Wiley, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: WHILE THE PUBLISHER AND AUTHORS HAVE USED THEIR BEST EFFORTS IN PREPARING THIS WORK, THEY MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES REPRESENTATIVES, WRITTEN SALES MATERIALS OR PROMOTIONAL STATEMENTS FOR THIS WORK. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATION, WEBSITE, OR PRODUCT IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE PUBLISHER AND AUTHORS ENDORSE THE INFORMATION OR SERVICES THE ORGANIZATION, WEBSITE, OR PRODUCT MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR SITUATION. YOU SHOULD CONSULT WITH A SPECIALIST WHERE APPROPRIATE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR AUTHORS SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFIT OR ANY OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR OTHER DAMAGES.
For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002. For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport
Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022931558
ISBN: 978-1-119-86712-8 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-86713-5 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-86714-2 (ebk)
Contents at a Glance
Part
Part 3: Peopling the Planet
Part 4: Putting the Planet to Use
Part 5: The Part
Truthiness in Mapping
PART 3: PEOPLING THE PLANET
Introduction
Has there been a better teacher of geography than COVID-19? I don’t mean that as a joke. That deadly serious disease showed how interconnected our world has become. Within a matter of months, people worldwide were exposed to something that they could not see that up-ended everything else that they could.
I was in Sweden in March 2020 when the world was shut down. I was traveling with colleagues to several universities to explore partnerships, discuss joint research opportunities, and so on. Being in charge of 14 other people is a challenge by itself, but managing them after being forced home by one’s government as airlines cancel flights is quite another. Gothenburg to Charlotte via Frankfort was the original plan. Then Frankfort fell out. Agents suggested routes home via Brazil (!) and then Canada. Finally, an option opened through Brussels, but a stop in Washington D.C. was necessary as the government declared only a few airports could accept international travelers. How we organize travel networks across space — and what can happen when links within them fail — is of crucial geographic importance, as you can see.
Later we learned of the intricacy of spatial business connections as supply chains were stressed, and then political scale (who is responsible for public health decisions? The state or federal government?), and then spatial ethics as well-off countries secured vaccine supplies in numbers far greater than their poorer neighbors. COVID-19 laid bare how understanding where, why there, and why should I care — the essence of geographic thinking — is paramount in living on 21st century Earth.
Even at its worst — such as in the middle of a global pandemic — Earth is a very fascinating place. The purpose of geography is to convey the wonderment of it all and to explain how the world works. In this book I emphasize the interactions between the various things that characterize Earth’s physical and human features and how they relate to everyday life.
Hopefully, the chapters that follow will instill in you some measure of the excitement I have for understanding our home, and whet your appetite for more.
About This Book
Introductory books on geography generally come in two varieties. This one takes a topical approach to the subject. That means the chapters focus on topics of interest to geography, such as maps, climate, population, and culture. I wanted this book to focus on the key concepts of geography and introduce you to a wide range of geographic information. Basically, I thought those goals could best be achieved by taking a topical approach.
The alternative was to take a regional approach to geography, which is like a world tour. You know what I mean, right? Chapter 4: Europe. Chapter 5: Africa. And so forth. In all candor, I didn’t think I could give you a decent world tour in the allotted pages. Besides, books like that are already on the market, so why reinvent the wheel?
More importantly, I wanted Geography For Dummies to emphasize geography rather than the world per se. That may cause you to say, “Wait a minute! Isn’t geography all about the world?” The answer is yes, but in a larger sense, geography is about a whole lot more. Specifically, it’s about concepts and processes and connections between things, plus maps and tools and perspectives that combine individual “world facts” and give you big pictures that are so much more meaningful than their myriad components.
Parenthetically, there’s a curious thing about those geography-as-world-tour books. They all seem to start by telling you geography is so much more than facts about the world, and then spend 350 pages telling you facts about the world.
Foolish Assumptions
I’m going to assume that you are an average person who is curious about the world but who just happens to have a limited background in geography. And I firmly believe “average” means intelligent, so nothing is out of bounds because of the gray stuff between your ears. Instead, in my view, you are completely capable of digesting the stuff of geography. You may be 14, or 44, or 84. It doesn’t matter. As far as I am concerned, you’re ready for prime-time geography. Please understand I’m not talking wimpy stuff like “What’s the capital of Nevada?” No way. I’m talking big league stuff like how you can have a rainforest on one side of a mountain range and a desert on the other; or how to choose a good location for a wind farm; or how ocean currents help to determine the geography of climates.
I’m also going to assume that, generally speaking, you know your way around the world. Thus, when you see terms like Pacific Ocean, Nile River, Europe, or Japan, some kind of mental map pops up inside your head and allows you to “see” where they are located. On the other hand, when you meet up with terms like Burkina Faso or Myanmar, you may need some outside help. For that reason, it will be helpful to have an atlas or online reference handy.
Finally, if this book were a beer, then I’m assuming you went to your bookstore to pick up some Geography Lite. That is, you want the real thing, but figure you don’t need all the calories. One of my goals is to make this book a painless — and indeed a pleasurable — experience. A lite-hearted read, if you will, that also communicates some serious geography and leaves you with a well-rounded exposure to the subject. If that sounds about right, then I invite you to keep reading.
Icons Used in This Book
From time to time you will encounter icons in the margin of the text. The purpose of these icons is to alert you to the presence of something that is comparatively noteworthy amidst the passing prose. That may be something I regard as particularly important, or something you may wish to take your time to think about, or something you may wish to skip. In any event, here are the icons and their meanings.
This icon identifies a major concept or helps to make sense of something. Likewise, you will sometimes come across a sentence or phrase that captures the essence of a principle or the theme of a chapter or of the entire book. Those kinds of tidbits are especially worth remembering and are identified by this icon. If you take away from this book only the information flagged with this icon, you’ll have the basics of geography in your pocket.
Like many subjects, geography contains some specialized and perhaps arcane vocabulary terms that cause normal, well-adjusted people like you to scratch their heads. I could bypass this geo-jargon altogether, but then you really wouldn’t be discovering more about geography, would you? In addition, geography involves elements of math, science, technology, ecology, modeling, and other technical stuff. Some will show up in this book because they are relevant to a well-rounded geographic education even at this introductory level. I do appreciate, however, that some people may find these a bit too complicated, so this icon alerts you to the presence of such technical stuff. You can skip it if you wish.
Some aspects of geography are a little involved, so it’s always nice to encounter information that helps you simplify a process or make things easier to comprehend. Those are the kinds of items this icon pinpoints.
Beyond the Book
In addition to the abundance of information and guidance related to geography that we provide in this book, you get access to even more help and information online at Dummies.com. Check out this book’s online Cheat Sheet. Just go to www.dummies.com and search for “Geography For Dummies Cheat Sheet.”
Where to Go from Here
I recommend you read this book from start to finish as you would a novel. To some extent, geographic knowledge is cumulative. That is, there are basic concepts and information that provide a foundation for understanding other concepts and information.
Accordingly, the parts and chapters of this book follow a certain logical progression. In short, I do believe the content of this book will make more sense to you if you read this volume from start to finish.
However, if you wish, you can dive into chapters at random — each chapter is set up to be self-contained. The choice is yours!
1 Getting Grounded: The Geographic Basics
IN THIS PART . . .
Each and every academic discipline has its own particular and peculiar subject matter. Geography is no exception, but my, how things have changed!
For the longest period, geography was concerned primarily with mapping the world and acquiring facts about places. It has since become a much more analytical pursuit. Thus, the time-honored imperative to know where things are located is complemented by an equally strong (if not stronger) desire to know why they occur where they do. Geography is an applied discipline, seeking to identify the best, efficient, and fair locations for all sorts of human activities. Importantly, geography also works to understand places of difference and inequity with an eye toward making life better there — for people and the environment.
In this part, you will discover the key concepts and methods of contemporary geography as well as the principal tools and techniques of the trade. Among other things you will see how exciting technologies are giving geographers unprecedented perspectives on where and why.
IN THIS CHAPTER
» Contemplating a complex planet
» Unearthing myths
» Tracing the ancient roots of geography to the modern discipline
» Finding a new way to look at geography
» Going over some basic concepts
Chapter 1
Geography: The Why of Where and Why You Should Care
“
We should cross here.”
Staring at the broad expanse of the Galana River in southern Kenya, my response to our guide was to tilt my head to the side and say incredulously, “Are you sure?”
After all, I could look further upstream and see that the river was narrower and there were some rocks we could use to hop across. Why on Earth should we cross at the widest and deepest part? I don’t mind getting wet, but a chest-deep slog just didn’t make sense to me.
“Well, we could cross up there,” our guide said while pointing toward the rocks, “but that’s also where the crocodiles hang out. We will do better down here to walk in a group, splashing as we go to mimic a large elephant.” And so we did, and no one in our group became a croc’s lunch.
What we discover from this anecdote is that what makes sense in one place — say, something as simple as crossing a river on a set of rocks — is a really bad decision somewhere else. Place matters. In this case, it really was a life-or-death situation.
That short story should also make it quite plain that you live on a very interesting planet. Earth is a world of never-ending variety — mountains and plains, deserts and forests, oceans and croc-infested rivers. If, as Shakespeare once wrote, “All the world’s a stage,” then one could hardly imagine a greater range of sets and scenery than exists on planet Earth.
You are an actor on that stage, and you are not alone. The entire cast numbers nearly 8 billion, and they are as diverse as their Earthly stage. They practice dozens of religions, speak many hundreds of languages, and display thousands of cultures. They live in scattered farmhouses, large cities, and every size settlement in between. They practice every kind of livelihood imaginable and, in innumerable ways great and small, have interacted with and changed the natural environment forever.
So “interesting planet” and “never-ending variety” turn out to be code for “complex.” Truly, this is a complex world in which no two areas are exactly alike. On the one hand, this complexity makes for a very fascinating planet. But on the other hand, the prospect of learning all about this complexity can be overwhelming, or at least sometimes seems to be. Fortunately, one subject seeks to make sense of it all and, usually, does a pretty good job: Geography.
Geography: Making Sense of it All
People are fascinated by the world in which they live. They want to know what it’s like and why it is the way it is. Most importantly, they want to understand their place in it. Geography satisfies this curiosity and provides practical knowledge and skills that people find useful in their personal and professional lives. This is nothing new.
From ancient roots . . .
Geography comes from two ancient Greek words: ge, meaning “Earth,” and graphe, meaning “to describe.” So, when the ancient Greeks practiced geography, they described Earth. Stated less literally, they noted the location of things, recorded the characteristics of areas near and far, and used that information in matters of trade, commerce, communication, and administration.
Disputed paternity
A Greek named Eratosthenes (died about 192 B.C.) is sometimes called the “Father of Geography” since he coined the word “geography.” The Greeks themselves called Homer the “Father of Geography” because his epic poem, Odyssey, written about a thousand years before Eratosthenes was born, is the oldest account of the fringe of the Greek world. In addition to these gentlemen, at least two other men have been named “Father of Geography,” all of which suggests a very interesting paternity suit. But I digress. That the story goes back to the days of the Greeks tells us that geography is a very old subject. This is not to say that others, say Arabs or the Chinese, were not also thinking about how to describe Earth. People of every age and culture have sought to know and understand their immediate surroundings and the world beyond. They stood at the edges of seas and imagined distant shores. They wondered what lies on the other side of a mountain or beyond the horizon. Ultimately, of course, they acted upon those speculations. They explored. They left old lands and occupied new lands. And as a result, millennia later, explorers such as Columbus, Magellan, and others found humans almost everywhere they went.
Links to exploration
Geographers from ancient Greece through the 19th century were largely devoted to exploring the world, gathering information about newly found (to them!) lands, and indicating their locations as accurately as possible on maps. Sometimes the great explorers and thinkers got it right, and sometimes they did not (see the sidebar called “Measuring the Earth”). But in any event, geography and exploration became intertwined; so, “doing geography” became closely associated with making maps, studying maps, and memorizing the locations of things (see Chapters 3 through 5 for information on locating things and creating and reading maps).
. . . To modern discipline
During the past two centuries, and especially during the past several decades, geography has blossomed and diversified. Old approaches that focused on location and description have been complemented by new approaches that emphasize analysis, explanation, and significance. On top of that, satellites, computers, and other technologies now allow geographers to record and analyze information about Earth to an extent and degree of sophistication that were unimaginable just a few years ago.
MEASURING THE EARTH
In the third century B.C., the Greek scholar Eratosthenes made a remarkably accurate measurement of Earth’s circumference. At Syene (near Aswan, Egypt), the sun illuminated the bottom of a well only one day every year. Eratosthenes inferred correctly this could only happen if the sun were directly overhead the well — that is, 90° above the horizon. By comparing that sun angle with another one measured in Alexandria, Egypt, on the same day the sun was directly overhead at Syene, Eratosthenes deduced that the distance between the two locations was one-fiftieth (1/50th) of Earth’s circumference. Thus, if he could measure the distance from Syene to Alexandria and multiply that number times 50, the answer would be the distance around the entire Earth.
There are diverse accounts of the method of measurement. Some say Eratosthenes had his assistants count camel strides (yes, camel strides) that they measured in stade, the Greek unit of measurement. In any event, he came up with a distance of 500 miles between Syene and Alexandria. That meant Earth was about [500 x 50 =] 25,000 miles around (“about” because the relationship between stade and miles is not exactly known). The actual circumference is 24,901 miles at the equator, so Eratosthenes was very close.
Interesting fact: The circumference is 41 miles less pole to pole; more on that in Chapter 4!
About a century-and-a-half later, another Greek named Posidonius calculated Earth’s circumference and due to differences in the lengths of Roman versus Greek stadia, others reported his measurement as 18,000 miles. Posidonius’ measurement became the generally accepted distance mainly thanks to Strabo, the great Roman chronicler, who simply did not believe that Earth could be as big as Eratosthenes said it was. About 18 A.D. Strabo wrote his Geography, which became the most influential treatise on the subject for more than a millennium. Geography credited the calculations of Posidonius and rejected those of Eratosthenes. And that leads to an interesting bit of speculation. Columbus was familiar with Geography, so he was aware of the official calculation of Earth’s circumference — 18,000 miles. Had he known the true circumference was 25,000 miles, like Eratosthenes said, Columbus would have known that China was thousands of miles farther to the west than Strabo suggested. And if he had known the true distance to China, would Columbus ever have set sail?
As a result, modern geographers are into all kinds of stuff. Some specialize in patterns of climate and climate change. Others investigate the distribution of diseases, or the location of health care facilities. Still others specialize in urban and regional planning, or resource conservation, or issues of social justice and equality, or patterns of crime, or optimal locations for businesses — the list goes on and on. Certainly, the ancient ge and graphe still apply, but geography is much more than it used to be.
