James Leigh, University of NicosiaJames Leigh, University of NicosiaTracy Bucco

Cultural Geography

Geography Fundamentals

Fundamentals

• Hemispheres, continents, oceans• Gravity, Tides, Seasons• Latitude measure N & S: parallel• Longitude measures E & W: touch

at poles• Main “lines”:

– GM– IDL– Equator– Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn– Polar Circles

• Time Zones, time change

National Geographic Globe, www.murrayhudson.com

www.maps.com

Continents

• Seven continents:– Europe– Asia– Africa– North America– South America– Australasia– Antarctica

• Subcontinents:– Central America– Middle East– Central Asia

Seven continents, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1918914/posts

CONTINENTSContinent Area sq miles Area sq kms % Land

Asia 44,485,900 17,171,557 30

Africa 30,269,680 11,684,096 20.4N America 24,235,280 9,354,818 16.3

S America 17,820,770 6,878,817 12.0

Antarctica 13,209,000 5,098,674 8.9

Europe 10,530,750 4,064,870 7.1Australasia 7,682,300 2,965,368 5.2

World Oceans by Size• 1. Pacific, 155,557,000 sq km • 2. Atlantic, 76,762,000 sq km• 3. Indian, 68,556,000 sq km• 4. Southern, 20,327,000 sq km• 5. Arctic, 14,056,000 sq km

World Oceans, http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/oceans.htm

Earth’s Seasons

Earth’s seasons, http://ncisla.wceruw.org/muse/earth-moon-sun/materials/build/material2F/index.html

Tides• Depend on the

gravity from celestial bodies– Mainly sun and

moon

• As the earth spins, the gravity of these bodies pulls the water outward to cause high tides

Tides, http://science.howstuffworks.com/tide-table1.htm

Longitude& Latitude

Longitude & latitude, http://members.shaw.ca/tannasl/image_links.htm

Maps, http://fr.mapsofworld.com/world-maps/world-map-with-latitude-and-longitude.html

Equal area maps show “correct relative size of

landforms.”

Equal area map, http://www.claymoreclan-design.com/html/promotional_maps.html

Mercator projection, http://www.culturaldetective.com/worldmaps.html

Equal area map, http://www.es.mq.edu.au/courses/GEOS264/maps/mapch2/projec.htm

24-Hour Time Clock• Conventional clock: 12 hours a.m. and p.m.• World clock: 24 hours

– Begins at midnight 00:00 hours until 23:00 hours (11 p.m.)

24 hours clock, http://amarketingprograms.com/The-24-Hour-Hot-Product-Formula-Review-Comments-and-Complaints.html

History and System• In 1884 major nations created a series of standardized time

zones.• Now world is divided into 24 time zones.• Based on GMT or UTC (Universal Time Coordinated) • Expressed from GMT e.g.:

– GMT +1 ……

– GMT -1 ……

– Up to GMT +/-12

• Adjusted in areas not to interfere with national and regional boundaries

• Adjusted in some areas for DST (Daylight Saving Time) for periods every year.

International Date Line• IDL is 180o E and W• Crossing the IDL

complicates time calculations (Brick wall).

• W E - lose a day,go to yesterday

• W E - gain a day,go to tomorrow

• Redrawn around regions

Taveuni, http://www.taveunidive.com/images/map_pacific.gif

Taveuni on IDL

World time zones

Time zones, http://www.radio6767.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5320

Taveuni dateline, http://confluence.org/special/dateline/pic2.jpg

Exploring Earth’s Countries

• ~200 countries

• Constantly changing depending on political and social forces

23 Top Nation’s

populations

• China 1.3 bn• India 1.1 • United States 300 m• Indonesia 242 • Brazil 186 • Pakistan 162 • Bangladesh 144 • Russia 143 • Nigeria 129 • Japan 127 • Mexico 106 • Philippines 88• Vietnam 84 • Germany 82 • Egypt 78 • Ethiopia 73 • Turkey 70 • Iran 68 • Thailand 64 • D R of Congo 61 • France 61 • United Kingdom 60 • Italy 58

Attraction of Cities• Civilization congregates in cities• Cities offer advantages:

– Trade– Services and amenities– Variety of jobs– Opportunity for social/cultural

interaction

• Cities attract those seeking urban lifestyle, variety, services, employment and culture

• Cities and urban areas are generally found on lowland flat areas (except Nairobi, San Francisco etc)

(Tracy Bucco)

World’stop 20cities

(population)

1 Shanghai 15 million China

2 Mumbai 12.9 India

3 Karachi 112 Pakistan

4 Buenos Aires 11.6 Argentina

5 Delhi 11.2 India

6 Manila 10.6 Philippines

7 Moscow 10.5 Russia

8 Seoul 10.4 Sth Korea

9 São Paulo 10 Brazil

10 Istanbul 10 Turkey

11 Lagos 9 Nigeria

12 Mexico City 8.7 Mexico

13 Jakarta 8.6 Indonesia

14 Tokyo 8.4 Japan

15 N Y City 8.1 USA

16 Kinshasa 8.1 D.R. Congo

17 Lima 7.9 Peru

18 Cairo 7.8 Egypt

19 Beijing 7.6 China

20 London 7.5 UK

(Tracy Bucco)