1 introduction to world geography

World Geography
and Culture
(SS 105A)
Victor Rea Oribe

Which of these places
represents the REAL WORLD?
All of them, plus many, many more.

Is the World Your Elephant?
An old South Asian tale tells how four blind scholars decided to
study an elephant.
The first scholar bumped into the elephant’s tusk. “Oh ho” he said
“An Elephant is like a spear.
“No,” the second scholar replied, feeling its trunk. “It is clearly like
a snake.”
The third scholar felt the elephant’s
leg and said, “You are wrong. It is
exactly like a tree.”
Finally, the fourth one grabbed its
tail. “This creature,” he said, “is
definitely like a rope.”

Each of these so-called scholars was partly right. But all
of them were wrong.
They had mistaken a part of the elephant for the whole
thing.
Some people make the same mistake about the world.
They think the whole earth is like the places where they
live.
But the world is a combination of many places. Some are
hot others are cold; some are filled with green trees,
others are sea of sand; some are crowded others are
empty.

What is Geography?
Geography
 comes from a Greek work, Geo and
Graphia (geographia).
 literary means “description of the
Earth”
 first used by the Greek scholar
Eratosthenes in the 3rd century B.C.E.
 it is best summed up as the “study of the
Earth as the home of humankind.”

Geography
 modern academic discipline of geography has
its roots in the Greek and Roman
civilization and emerged from that
classical tradition through the Scientific
Revolution in Europe.
 The National Geographic Society
commissioned a team of geographers to
identify the core features of the discipline of
geography.

Six Essential Elements of Geography
1. The World in Spatial Terms
• Geography studies the relationships
between people, places, and
environments by mapping information
about them into a spatial context.
2. Places and Regions
• The identities and lives of individuals
and people are rooted in particular
places and in human construct called
region.

3. Physical System
• Physical processes shape the Earth’s
surface and interact with plants and animal
life to create, sustain, and modify
ecosystem
4. Human System
• People are central to geography; human
activities, settlements, and structures help
shape the earth’s surface, and human
compete for control of the earth’s surface.

5. Environment and Society
• The physical environment is influenced by
the ways in which human societies
value and use the earth’s physical
features and processes.
6. Uses of Geography
• Knowledge of geography enables people to
develop an understanding of the
relationships between people,
places, and environments over time

Major Branches of Geography
1. Physical Geography
• It includes the natural
environmental processes across
Earth’s surface that result in the distribution
of climate varieties, plant ecologies, soil
type, mountain formation, and river action,
among other pattern.
2. Human Geography
• The study of the distribution of people and
their activities (economics, cultures,
politics, and urban changes)

Major
Branches
of Geography
Assignment # 1
Find the
meaning of
each sciences

Describe you
place of birth
using the 5
themes of
geography.

Assignment # 2
Name: Place of Birth:
Course: Country:
Time: Province:
Date: Town:
Describe the place of your birth using the 5 themes of
Geography.
1. Location (relative and absolute)
2. Relationship
3. Place
4. Region
5. Movement

The Graphic Representation
of the Earth
The GLOBE is man’s closest representation of the
Earth itself.
A globe shows the Earth as it actually looks when
seen from outer space.

The Lines in the Globe
Meridians (Lines of Longitude)
 The North-South lines on the surface of a
globe, running from pole to pole.
Meridians are used to
measure distance or to plot a
position east or west of a
line of reference known as
the PRIME MERIDIAN

By international agreement,
Prime Meridian is the line that
passes through Greenwich,
England and is numbered 0.
The East and West position
or distance measured
therefrom is known as
LONGITUDE and
expressed in degrees (0 ) of
fraction

West longitude extends halfway around the earth to
the west of Greenwich.
East Longitude
extends halfway
around the east
Since a circle comprises 3600
, west and east longitude each
reach from 0 to 180 degrees.

Parallels (Lines of Latitude)
The lines on the
globe that across the
meridians at right
angles, and thus run
due east and west.
North latitude and South latitude both extend from
0 to 900

 Located at 23.44 0 north of the Equator.
 It marks the northernmost limit of the sun’s
direct vertical rays and this occurs on June 23,
also called SUMMER SOLSTICE, in the
Northern Hemisphere.
The Tropic of Cancer

The Tropic of Capricorn
 Located at 23.440
south of the equator.
 It marks the southernmost limit of the sun’s intense
vertical rays and this condition occurs on December 21,
making the WINTER SOLSTICE in the Northern
Hemisphere.

The Arctic Circle
 June 22, in which the sun
at sometimes during the
year does not rise or set
or a period of 24 hours or
more.
 Located at
66.560 North of
the equator.
 It marks the limit of the sun’s
tangential rays in both
hemisphere on two occasions –
June 22 and December 22.

The Antarctic Circle
 Located at 66.560 South of the equator.
 It marks the limit of the sun’s
tangential rays in both
hemisphere on two occasions
– June 22 and December 22,
in which the sun at
sometimes during the year
does not rise or set or a
period of 24 hours or more.

The Global Grid System
 A system of lines used to find the location of any place
on the surface of the earth.
 It is made up of two sets of lines
 lines of latitude – runs in an east-west direction
 lines of longitude – runs in a north-south
direction
 The grid enables one
to determine
positions or
locations, east and
west of the prime
meridian, and north
and south of the
equator.

 To draw the lines of the grid system on a globe or map,
starting point or point of reference is necessary.
 The NORTH POLE and SOUTH POLE are the two
important point of reference.
 Halfway between the poles is the equator.
 It encircles the earth and divides into two equal parts or
hemisphere.

Assignment # 3
Course: Country:
Time: Province:
Date: Town:
1. Make an illustration (drawing, handwritten, short
bond paper) of a globe.
2. Identify in the illustration the important lines in the
globe.
3. Make a short description or explanations of each
line. (not more than 20 words)

Make an illustrations of the Following:

5.2.
3.
7.
6.
4.
8.
1.
9.
10
11
12 13
14
Quiz # 01
Identify the lines in
the globe.

1.
Answer:
1. Northern Hemisphere
2. Southern Hemisphere
3. Western Hemisphere
4. Southern Hemisphere
5. Equator
6. Prime Meridian
7. Line of longitude
8. Line of latitude
9. Tropic of cancer
10.Antarctic circle
11.Tropic of Capricorn
12.Arctic circle
13.North pole
14.South pole
15.International Date Line
15

The Location of Specific Places
 The grid system has been
devised to locate places on the
face of the Earth.
 The latitude and longitude of a
place is known as its
ABSOLUTE LOCATION.
 For Example, the Philippines,
absolute location is between 40
23’ and 210 25’ North Latitude
and between 1160 and 1270 East
longitude.
 No other place on the earth’s
surface has the same latitude
and longitude

of the Earth
MAP
 is the most important geographical tool.
 A great deal of the geography of any region or
area might be portrayed by map alone.
 Our modern map is derived from the Latin word
mappa (word signifying napkin, cover cloth, or
tablecloth.
 Just like a covercloth, so does a map provide
coverage for the earth or any of its parts

MAP
 is used in reference to the earth,
 is a representation of all or a portion of the
earth,
 drawn to scale and usually on a plane or
flat surface.
of the Earth

Types of Maps
1. Political Map
 maps emphasizing
man-made or
cultural features
such as the
boundaries and
location of nations,
states, provinces,
countries and cities.

Types of Maps
2. Physical maps
 maps emphasizing natural features, such as
mountains, plains, rivers, lakes, and seacoast.

Types of Maps
2. General Purpose maps
 a combination of physical and political maps.

Types of Maps
3. Thematic maps
 It is used for special purposes.
 A map that shows only one or few
kinds of information.
 It is classified into:
 Physical thematic
 Cultural thematic

Types of Maps
3. Thematic maps
 Physical thematic –
maps that may show
the distribution of
rocks and minerals,
landforms, weather
or climate,
vegetation, soils, etc.

Types of Maps
3. Thematic maps
 Cultural thematic – maps that may show the
distribution of population, language, religion,
land use, transportation, or manufacturing.

Kinds of Information shown on other
maps:
1. Climate map – rainfall, temperature, winds
2. Population map – density, relation to surface features.
3. Economic map – resources, crops, products,
industries.
4. Vegetation map – forest, desert, oceans, grasslands
5. Historical map – exploration, event, territorial changes
6. Travel map – roads, trade, railroads, trade routes.
7. Ocean map – tides, current, low or deep oceans
8. Community map – streets, buildings, agencies,
harbors
9. Special map – parks, monuments, school, churches.

Map Essentials
In order to fulfill the full purpose of a map
completely, it must possess certain essentials. These
are:
 1. Title
 2. Legends
 3. Scale
 4. Directions
 5. Latitude and Longitude

Map Essentials
1. Title
 A title of a map tells briefly what a map is all about.
 The title must be clearly visible and should indicate
the map’s subject matter.

Map Essentials
2. Map Legend
 The legend or the key
refer to the explanation to
the symbols used on a
map for the physical and
cultural features that are
indicated.
 Some of the map symbols
commonly used are:
 Pictorial – easiest to
understand
 Dots
 Lines
 Color and shading
 shapes

Map Essentials
3. Map Scale
 Is the relationship or ration between linear measurement on a map
and its corresponding true distance on the earth’s surface.
 It is a device that will allow one to measure distance and compute
the area.
 In what ever form it appears, scale means
Scale = distance on the map ÷ distance in nature

Map Essentials
4. Direction
 In a A title of a map tells briefly what a map is all about.
 The title must be clearly visible and should indicate the map’s
subject matter.

Map Essentials
5. Latitude and Longitude
 Lines drawn by
convention over the earth’s
surface in order to indicate
directions and locations of
an area.
 They are the parallels and
meridians, that intersect
each other and are together
referred to as the map grid.

Assignment # 3
Course: Country:
Time: Province:
Date: Town:
1. Draw a map (political and physical map,
handwritten, short bond paper) of the province of
your birth.
2. Use the map essential in making your map.
3. Make a short description or explanations of your
map. (not more than 50 words)

Map Projection
 The basic purpose of map projections is to transfer
the Earth’s grid system from the globe to map.
 All the map
projections have
one characteristic
in common.

Classification of Map Projections according
to the type of surface.

Assignment # 4
Name: Time/Day:
Course: Date:

Geography
The Core Concept of Geography
The View
from the
Space
The View
from the
Air
The View
from the
Ground

The View From Space
You will examine some of the physical features of the world.
These includes land and water forms, climate, natural
resources, and ecosystem.
One way of looking at the physical face of the earth is from
space. Some space-views come from photographs taken by
astronauts.
Other space-eye views called Landsat images.
A satellites called Landsat circle the globe 14 times a day. A
large turning mirror captures light reflected from strips of the
earth’s surface. The is sends the light to four sensor machine
inside the satellite.

The View From the AIR
You will learn how the environment affects people. And, in turn you
will see how people affect the environment.
From air, you see where people build cities and work for living. And
you can see how they connect themselves to other places and people.
Aerial photography is one of the tools geographers use to look at
earth from above.

The View From the GROUND
You will get the “ground truth” about the world you live
in.
You will explore the major regions of the world. You will
discover where they are located. And you will learn
something about their physical features and people’s
culture.

The Earth as Viewed From Space
The Solar System
The solar system consists of the sun and eight planets
revolving around it.

The nine planets that
revolve round the sun
following the elliptical
orbits are each held in
its path by a fine
balance of two
opposing forces (a)
gravitational force (b)
centrifugal force.
The sun exert
gravitational force on
the other member of
the solar system – the
gravitational attraction
or gravity

The law of gravitation states that “any particles of matter
attract each other with a force directly proportional to the
product of their masses and inversely proportional to the
square of the distance between them.”
This means that if two heavenly bodies are big and near
each other, the gravitational pull between them is strong.

The sun has a mass many times greater than that of any of
the planets, it exercises strong attraction upon them and
thus retains them within the system of which the sun is the
center.

What will happen if the
gravitational attraction
of the sun were the
only force in the
universe?
The sun would draw all
the planets into its
center and eventually
destroy them.
CENTRIFUGAL
FORCE – the tendency
of any moving bodies
to fly away from any

The balance between the sun’s
gravitational effect and the
centrifugal effect of each of the
planet determine the detailed path
that each follows around the sun.
Because of the
balanced full of the
gravitational and
centrifugal forces,
the earth does not
get sucked into the
fiery heat of the
sun, nor does it get
flung into the dark
and cold void of
space.

The sun is a star. A star does not have a solid surface, but is
a ball of gas (92.1 percent hydrogen (H2) and 7.8 percent
helium (He)) held together by its own gravity.
Since the sun is not a solid body, different parts of the sun
rotate at different rates. At the equator, the sun spins once
about every 25 Earth days, but at its poles the sun rotates
once on its axis every 36 days.
The sun is the most important
to the earth and to
geographical study, it is the
source of solar radiation that
allows life to exists on earth.

The sun is the
center of our
solar system and
makes up 99.8%
of the mass of
the entire solar
system.
The sun is orbited by eight planets, at least five dwarf
planets, tens of thousands of asteroids, and hundreds of
thousands to three trillion comets and icy bodies.
The temperature at the sun's core is about 15 million
degrees Celsius (27 million degrees Fahrenheit).

The Planet Earth
 also called the world and, less frequently, Gaia (Greek
Earth Goddess).
 is the third planet from the Sun.
 is the densest planet in the Solar System.
 is the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial
planets.
 is the only astronomical object known to accommodate
life.
 The earliest life on Earth arose at least 3.5 billion years
ago.
 is currently home to 10–14 million species of life.
 According to evidence from radiometric dating and
other sources, Earth was formed about 4.54 billion
years ago.

 Within its first billion years, life appeared in its oceans
and began to affect its atmosphere and surface,
promoting the proliferation of aerobic as well as
anaerobic organisms and causing the formation of the
atmosphere's ozone layer.
 This ozone layer and the geomagnetic field blocked the
most life-threatening parts of the Sun's radiation, so life
was able to flourish on land as well as in water.
 the combination of Earth's distance from the Sun, its
physical properties and its geological history have
allowed life to thrive and evolve.
The Planet Earth

The Size and Shape of the Earth
 The shape of Earth approximates an oblate spheroid, a
sphere flattened along the axis from pole to pole such
that there is a bulge around the equator.
 This bulge results
from the rotation of
Earth, and causes the
diameter at the
equator to be 43
kilometres (27 mi)
larger than the pole-
to-pole diameter.

Chemical Composition of the Earth
 Earth's mass is approximately 5.97×1024 kg (5,970 yg).
It is composed mostly of iron (32.1%), oxygen (30.1%),
silicon (15.1%), magnesium (13.9%), sulfur (2.9%),
nickel (1.8%), calcium (1.5%), and aluminum (1.4%),
with the remaining 1.2% consisting of trace amounts of
other elements.
 Due to mass segregation, the core region is believed to
be primarily composed of iron (88.8%), with smaller
amounts of nickel (5.8%), sulfur (4.5%), and less than
1% trace elements

1. Rotation
The main
consequences of
Earth’s rotation are
day and night.
Earth’s rotation has become a standard
method of measuring time because it is so
dependable and easy to use.

Earth’s rotation is measured in two ways,
making two kinds of days.
1) Mean Solar Day
The time interval from one noon to the
next, which averages about 24 hours.
Noon is when the Sun has reached its
zenith (highest point in the sky).

2) Sidereal (sider=star, at=pertaining to)
dayIs the time it takes for Earth to make one complete
rotation (3600) with respect to a star other than our sun.
The sidereal day is measured by the time required for a
star to reappear at the identical position in the sky.
The sidereal day has a period of 23 hours, 56 minutes,
and four seconds, which is almost four minutes shorter
than the mean solar day.
This difference results because the directions to distant
stars changes only infinitesimally, whereas the
direction to the Sun changes by almost 1 degree each
day.

2. Revolution
Earth revolves around the Sun in an
elliptical orbit at an average speed of 107,
000 km per hour.
Its average distance
from the sun is 150
million km.

Because of its elliptical orbit. Earth’s
distance from the sun varies.

Earth’s axis is tilted
about 23.50.
This angle is very important to Earth’s
inhabitants because the inclination of
Earth’s axis causes the yearly cycle of
seasons.

3. Precession
A very slow movement of the Earth is
called axial precession.

Although Earth’s axis
maintains
approximately the
same angle of tilt, the
direction in which the
axis point continually
changes.
As a result, the axis
traces a circle in the
sky.

At present time, the axis points toward the bright
star Polaris.
In AD 14,000, it will point toward the bright star
Vega, which will then be the North Star for about
a thousand years or so.
The period of precession is 26,000 years.
By the year 28,000, Polaris will once again be
the North Star.
Precession has only a minor effect on the season
because Earth’s angle of tilt changes slightly.

Time Determination
In 1883, an international system was set up to standardized time
measurement. According to the system, the earth is divided into 24
equal segments called ZONES.

Each new day is born at the 180th meridian, or the
International Date Line.
The center of bordering time zones are 15 degrees
of longitude apart.
Clocks in a time zone are set to the local time at
the center of the time zones.
The boundaries of the time zones vary according
to local boundaries so that cities or towns are not
split into different zones.

The creation of the International Date Line (IDL)
eliminated problems on time.
The IDL is the place where one calendar day ends
and the next begins.
The IDL is an imaginary line located at 180
degrees longitude.

The date changes when one crosses the line (IDL)
If on June 30, one proceeds westward across the
IDL, it becomes July 1 and if one crosses the line
in an eastward direction, the date automatically
becomes June 30

One adds a day crossing the line going to west and
subtracts a day in crossing the line going east.

World Geography and
Culture
SS105A

1.The literal meaning of the word
Geography?
a. “description of the Earth”
b. “ description of the universe”
c. “description of the world”
d. “description of the place”

2. The best definition for geography
a. “study of the Earth as the
home of humankind.”
b. “study of the earth and the
universe”
c. “study of the earth and its
places”
d. “study of the earth and its
people”

3. Earth rotates around its
own axis through360°
once every 24 hours. This
is the cause of
___________and________.

The Earth's polar axis tilts
at an angle of
4.____________ with its
orbital plane around the
sun. This 5. _________is
responsible for the climate
changes and the seasons
experienced on Earth.

6. We experience______ in
the Northern Hemisphere
when the Earth is on that
part of its orbit where the
Northern Hemisphere is
oriented more toward the
Sun

7. ______________ is the
beginning of Spring in
the Northern
Hemisphere. In the
Southern Hemisphere, it
is the beginning of Fall.

If you live in the
Northern Hemisphere,
(8)__________ is the vernal
or spring equinox, and
(9)__________is the
autumnal equinox.

10. The longest day of the
year in the Northern
Hemisphere.

On or about December 22, the
noontime sun shines directly over
the Tropic of (11)__________. It is the
farthest point south where the sun
ever shines directly overhead.
In the Northern Hemisphere, it is the
(12)__________ day of sunlight. It
marks the beginning of winter. This
time of year is known as the
(13) __________

The nine planets that revolve
round the sun following the
elliptical orbits are each held in
its path by a fine balance of two
opposing forces, what are those
forces?
14._________________
15._________________

16. The tendency of any
moving bodies to fly away
from any center of
rotation.

The four terrestrial planets
(in order from the sun)
17.
18.
19
20.

If on June 30, one proceeds
westward across the IDL, it
becomes (21)________________and
if one crosses the line in an
(22)___________direction, the date
automatically becomes June 30.

The Motion of the planet
Earth
23.
24.
25.

3. Earth rotates around its
own axis through360°
once every 24 hours. This
is the cause of Day and
Night_.

The Earth's polar axis tilts
at an angle of 4) 23.50 with
its orbital plane around
the sun. This 5) Inclination
is responsible for the
climate changes and the
seasons experienced on
Earth.

6. We experience
Summer in the Northern
Hemisphere when the
Earth is on that part of
its orbit where the
Northern Hemisphere is
oriented more toward the
Sun

7. March 21 is the
beginning of Spring in
the Northern
Hemisphere. In the
Southern Hemisphere, it
is the beginning of Fall.

If you live in the
Northern Hemisphere,
(8)March 21 is the vernal
or spring equinox, and
(9)Sept. 22-23 is the
autumnal equinox.

10. The longest day of the
year in the Northern
Hemisphere.
June 21

On or about December 22, the
noontime sun shines directly over
the Tropic of (11) Capricorn . It is
the farthest point south where the
sun ever shines directly overhead.
In the Northern Hemisphere, it is the
(12) Shortest day of sunlight. It
marks the beginning of winter. This
time of year is known as the
(13) Winter solstice

The nine planets that revolve
round the sun following the
elliptical orbits are each held in
its path by a fine balance of two
opposing forces, what are those
forces?
14. gravitational force
15. centrifugal force

16. The tendency of any
moving bodies to fly away
from any center of
rotation.
CENTRIFUGAL FORCE

The four terrestrial planets
(in order from the sun)
17. Mercury
18. Venus
19. Earth
20. Mars

If on June 30, one proceeds
westward across the IDL, it
becomes (21)July 1 and if one
crosses the line in an
(22)Eastward direction, the date
automatically becomes June 30.

The Motion of the planet
Earth
23. Rotation
24. Revolution
25. Precession

1 introduction to world geography

Recomendados

Recomendados

Más contenido relacionado

La actualidad más candente

La actualidad más candente (20)

Similar a 1 introduction to world geography

Similar a 1 introduction to world geography (20)

Más de Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation

Más de Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation (20)

Último

Último (20)

1 introduction to world geography