Human Geography

• Human Geography is the study of the spatial distribution of humans and their interactions with the environment.
• Geography is the why of where, exploring the reasons behind the distribution of things and the changes in that distribution over time.
• Geography as a field of study includes subfields such as Physical Geography, which focuses on the elements of the physical environment, and Human Geography, which focuses on the spatial characteristics of humans and human activities.
• The early history of geography saw the Greeks and Romans being the first in Europe, with Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey being written in the 8th century BC.
• Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, observed Earth’s features and how they influenced human behavior.
• Ptolemy, a Greek mathematician, summarized Greek knowledge of geography, including locations and sizes of continents, and dominated European thought for 1,000 years.
• Carl Sauer, a Professor at Berkeley, expanded the focus of geography beyond physical traits of the earth to include human activity, arguing that all regions of the Earth were impacted by human behavior and had been altered by human interaction, and that cultural landscapes were the most important branch of geographic inquiry.
• Geography offers a set of concepts, skills, and tools that facilitate critical thinking and problem solving.
• Gerardus Mercator, a Flemish cartographer, created a world map for sailors and is still widely used today.
• Eratosthenes, a Greek mathematician, used geometry to calculate Earth’s circumference and coined the term geography.
• During the European Middle Ages, Muslim culture flourished in the Middle East and North Africa, building strong trading ties with Africa and East Asia.
• The Age of Exploration was marked by the launch of a new era in exploration, mapping, and description by Christopher Columbus in 1492.
• Types of maps include reference maps and thematic maps.
• Types of spatial patterns represented on maps include absolute and relative distance and direction, clustering, dispersal, and elevation.
• All maps are selective in information; map projections inevitably distort spatial relationships in shape, area, distance, and direction.
• The earliest surviving map from 6200 B.C. depicts a town and erupting volcano in what is present-day Turkey.
• Geographers' most important tools are maps.
• Cartography is the science and art of map making.
• Latitude lines measure north and south, think “ladder” up and down.
• Latitude lines are also known as parallels that never touch.
• Longitude lines measure east and west.
• Longitude lines are known as meridians.
• Longitude is the basis for measuring time.
• The Prime Meridian is at 0° Longitude and runs through Greenwich, England.
• The antimeridian is at 180° longitude.
• Ptolemy's maps were utilized for 1000+ years.
• Eratosthenes coined the term geography.
• The Age of Exploration revived cartography.
• A map can serve two basic purposes: reference tool and communications tool.
• Reference Maps provide general information, navigation, and location.
• Political Maps show states, countries, and capitals.
• Physical Maps depict natural features.
• Road Maps show highways, streets, etc.
• Thematic Maps communicate information about a place, focusing on spatial aspects such as what it's like there.
• Choropleth Maps use various colors, shades of one color, or patterns to show the location and distribution of spatial data.
• Maps are two-dimensional visual representations of the earth's surface, which means that maps will always be distorted.
• All maps are wrong, as they distort spatial relationships in shape, area, distance, and direction.
• A map projection is the process of a cartographer (map maker) showing the curved surface of the earth on a flat surface (map).
• Maps are selective in what they portray, with different projections used for different purposes.
• Mercator (1569) map projection preserves right angles of latitude and longitude, but distorts area near the poles and increases the size of high latitude areas.