concepts in world regional geography

1. CHAPTER 2
CONCEPTS IN WORLD REGIONAL
GEOGRAPHY

2. NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
• The interactions between people and natural environments are important.
• For many centuries, human activities relied on natural resources
• The growing seasons, water availability, soil types and minerals
influenced the locations and concentrations of people.
• Physical features such as oceans , mountain ranges and deserts
influenced migration routes.

3. NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
• Tropical Rainy Climates
- Absolutely no frost in region, average temperature of the coldest month at
least 28*c
• Boreal Climates
- 1 to 3 months with an overage temperature at least 10*c
• Polar Climates
- Extremely cold through the year, average temperature of the warmest month
above 0*c

4. NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
o Global Climate Change
- Climatic warming since the early 1800 resulted from industrial Revolution that began in
Europe and spread to North America and beyond
- The concern of global warming focuses on the carbon gases that humans release into
the atmosphere by the burning of coal, oil and gasoline
- Will probably enhance the greenhouse effect and natural climatic warming
- if I sheets melt and the ocean levels rice, it will affect the large numbers of people who
live close to the ocean

5. NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
o Hazards and Resources
- Natural resources and hazards are distributed unevenly around the world and have
important influences on regional geographic differences
- Natural hazards such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, hurricanes and other
storms and floods pose difficulties and challenges for human settlement
- They interrupt human activities for setting and developing the region
- Hazards cause loss of life and destruction of property. For instance, tsunami in
2004, killing 230,000 people in 14 countries, Indonesia was the hardest-hit country,
followed by Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.

6. NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
o Natural Resources
- People use resources to maintain their living system and built environments
- Can be divided into 2 :
i, Renewable Resources : can be replenish naturally.
The best example is solar energy which provides a constant stream of light and heat.
Water is also considered as renewable resources. All renewable resources are, however,
ultimately limited if overused. For example, the limit of local water supply along the Nile
River Valley
ii, Nonrenewable Resources : include oil, natural gas, coal and minerals available in
rocks.

7. HUMAN GEOGRAPHIES
 Concerned with material traits, social structures and belief systems.
 Specific examples include language use, religious beliefs, dress, food and
social organization.
 People often behave according to their culture’s norms and find comfort and security
through identification with a group who share commoncultural characteristics.
 The most important thing to understand about culture is that it is learned behavior.

8. HUMAN GEOGRAPHIES
 Language
- Which includes speech, writing and signing; is a means of communication among
people.
- Many European languages became world languages (lingua franca), which are spoken
by people who do not share a common mother tounge. They are among the world’s 12
most widely spoken languages each over 100 million speakers .
- Six of these (English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic & Mandarin) are official
languages of the United Nations

9. HUMAN GEOGRAPHIES
 Religions
- Christianity has over 2 billion followers followed by Islam, 1.4 billion followers;
Hinduism has 900 million believers, Buddhism 500 million.
- Judaism, Christianity and Islam are the world’s most influential religions originating
from the same world region

10. POLITICAL GEOGRAPHIES
 The study of how governments and political movements (labour unions, political
parties) influence the human and physical geography of the world and its regions.
 The world is primarily divided into countries, which are bordered territories with
governments that have political control
 Each country is ideally recognised by other countries, but it is not always the case
 For example, Taiwan is not recognised by China, which claims Taiwan as its
territory

11. POLITICAL GEOGRAPHIES
 Countries often called as nations, but these two terms do not have the same meaning
 A nation is a group of people who share a common identity, a sense of unity and a
desire for self governance.
 Government functions are concentrated in capital cities, where the head of state lives
and the administrative and government offices are situated.
 Global Governance;-
i) Intergovernmental Organisations (IGOs)
- The United Nations, which includes almost all of the world’s countries is the largest IGOs
ii) Nongovernmental Organisations (NGOs)
- NGOs such as aid bodies have assumed responsibilities for government like activities
including disaster relief.

12. ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHIES
 Concerned with the spatial patterns of material wealth and poverty, the use of
resoucers , the production, distribution, consumption of goods and the flows
of labour and capital.
 A country’s economy can be divided into four major groups of production:
i) Primary
- Concerned with the production of raw materials from natural resources, including
minerals, oil, gas, timber and fish
ii) Secondary
- Focuses on manufacturing and construction

13. ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHIES
iii) Tertiary
- Centres on the service industries
- Includes retail and wholesale trade, finance and legal industries, business services,
the media, information technology, health care and education services.
iv) Quaternary
- Focused on the information-based services (legal, financial, media, internet)
- The growth of call centre industry is one result of this trend, particularly in India.

14. THANK YOU
• NAME: NURUL ATIKAH BINTI ROSMAN
• MATRIX NUMBER: 11DPI17F1021