WORLD GEOGRAPHY
CHAPTER FIVE
“HUMAN GEOGRAPHY”

I. POPULATION GEOGRAPHY
A. Studying Population, why?
1. Decide where to build new schools
2. How to redraw political boundaries
3. Characteristics of populations include ...
a. Birth and death rates
b. Age distribution
c. Male/female distribution
d. Life expectancy
e. Infant mortality
f. Urban/rural ratio
g. Gross domestic product (GDP)
h. Ethnicity
i. Language
j. Religion
k. Education
B. Population Density
1. Average number of people living in an area
2. Reflects a country’s land size, its population, & its environmental conditions
C. Population Distribution
1. People are spread unevenly across Earth
a. 90 percent live in the Northern Hem.; 2/3 of those live in the middle lats. between 20° & 60° north
b. Many people live in lowland areas along fertile river valleys near edges of conts.
2. Four areas of large population clusters
a. East Asia (China)
b. South Asia (India)
c. Europe
d. Eastern North America (Boston - D.C.)

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3. People are unevenly distributed because they tend to live in areas that are favorable for settlement such as ...
a. Available natural resources (oil, arable land, water)
b. Mild climate
c. Economically developed
d. Favorable government policies
e. Rural/urban settlement
f. Available capital resources (trans., tech.)
g. Free from conflicts
D. Population Change
1. Number of people in a place is result of three major factors
a. Birthrate (number of births each year for every 1000 people)
b. Death rate (number of deaths each year for every 1000 people)
c. Migration (process of moving from one place to another)
1. Emigrants (people who leave a country to live somewhere else)
2. Immigrants (people who come to a new country)
3. Push factors (cause people to leave)
4. Pull factors (cause people to come)
5. Refugees (people who have been forced to leave & cannot return to their homes)
6. Routes followed are influenced by physical geography
7. Influence cultural lanscapes, how?
a. Languages spoken
b. Religion and religious freedom
c. Customs/Traditions

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2. Factors that influence growth rates include ...
a. Modern medicine and hygiene
b. Education
c. Industrialization and urbanization
d. Economic development
e. Government policy
f. Role of women in society
E. Natural Increase (based on birth & death rates)
1. Subtract birthrate from death rate
2. Highest rates are found in Africa & SW Asia
3. Moderate rates are found in Central & South America and in Southeast Asia
4. Lowest rates are found in most European & North American countries, Australia, New Zealand, & Japan
5. Italy & Russia have negative rates
II. CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY
A. Culture includes features of a people’s way of life
1. Learned & passed down to generations through teaching, example and imitation
2. Important parts include language, religion, architecture, clothing, economics, family life, food, government, beliefs, institutions, shared values, technologies, and skills
3. Regional landscapes reflect the cultural characteristics of their inhabitants, how?
a. Religious buildings
b. Dwellings
c. Statues and monuments
B. Culture traits are activities and behaviors that people often take part in
C. Culture regions are areas in which people have many shared culture traits; Sometimes ...
1. It is an entire country (Japan and Korea)

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2. Countries include many culture regions such as African countries that have many ethnic groups (human population that shares a common culture or ancestry)
3. Borders divide culture regions & separate members of one ethnic group
4. It includes several countries
D. Culture Change
1. Brought about by modern transporation & communication
2. Acculuturation (process when an individual or group adopts some traits of another culture)
3. Innovation (new ideas that a culture accepts)
4. Diffusion occurs when an idea or innovation spreads from one person or group to another and is adopted
a. Physical barriers may slow diffusion
b. Cultural similarities may aid diffusion
E. Globalization
1. Communication networks such as the Internet & satellite TV are spreading culture traits more quickly than ever before
2. Process in which connections around the world increase & cultures become more alike
3. Today, it often has its roots in the U.S.
F. Traditionalism
1. Opposite of globalization
2. Follow longtime practices & oppose many modern technologies and ideas
3. Keeps cultures separate and distinct
G. Cultural similaries can link or divide regions
1. Language
2. Ethnic heritage
3. Religion
III. WORLD LANGUAGES AND RELIGIONS (worksheet)