Global 2 R Regents Review Spring 2011 Geography Review

Geography What is geography? –Geography is the study of the earth’s surface, climate and topography

Geography Why is geography important? –The obvious reasons: we should know where things are –We should know how geography has impacted human development –We should know how and why history has been impacted by the earth

Geography Kinds –Physical –Economic –Human/cultural

Physical Geography Topography –Continents –Mountains –Peninsulas –Valleys –Deserts –Rain forests

Physical Geography Bodies of water –Oceans –Rivers –Seas –Straits –Canals

Physical Geography Climate –Climate is the average weather usually taken over a 30-year time period for a particular region and time period. Climate is not the same as weather, but rather, it is the average pattern of weather for a particular region. Weather describes the short-term state of the atmosphere. –From weatherwizkids.com

Continents There are 7 continents –Africa –Asia –North America –South America –Antarctica –Europe –Australia

Mountains Important Mountains –Himalayas –Urals –Alps –Andes

Peninsulas A body of land that is surrounded on 3 sides by water –Iberian –Italian –Arabian –Korean –Yucatan

Rivers & Valleys Nile Ganges Indus Yellow (Huang He) –China’s “Sorrow” why? Tigris & Euphrates

Deserts A desert is a landscape or region that receives very little precipitation. Deserts are defined as areas with an average annual precipitation of less than 10 inches.

Deserts Gobi Sahara

Rainforests The tropical rain forest is a forest of tall trees in a region of year-round warmth. An average of inches of annual rain fall. Almost all rain forests lie near the equator.

Major Bodies of Water Oceans –Pacific –Indian –Arctic –Atlantic –Southern

Major Bodies of Water Seas –Barents Sea –Red Sea –Black Sea –Mediterranean Sea

Major Bodies of Water Caribbean Sea Caspian Sea –Land-locked North Sea Adriatic Sea Baltic Sea

Straits A strait is a narrow body of water between 2 larger bodies of land

Straits Bosporus Dardanelles Magellan Gibraltar Bering

Canals Suez Panama

Economic Geography Agriculture Industrial production Natural resources Economic systems

Economic Geography Economic geography is the study of the location, distribution and spatial organization of economic activities across the Earth Source: wikipedia.com

Human & Cultural Geography The study of where humans are and what they are doing around the globe.

Human & Cultural Geography Demography –The size and distribution of human population in a given area –Population density

Other Geographic Issues Longitude: imaginary lines on the map that run north/south –These lines begin at zero degrees with that line being called the Prime Meridian Latitude: imaginary lines on the map that run east/west These lines begin at zero degrees with that line called the equator

Other Geographic Issues Latin America –Generally speaking, Latin America is composed of Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean Islands –The term Latin America comes from the fact that the two dominant languages, Spanish and Portuguese, are derived from Latin

Other Geographic Issues Asia Minor –Also known as Anatolia, this is the area that encompasses most of modern day Turkey and borders the Black Sea to the North, the Caspian Sea to the northeast and the Mediterranean to the south.

Other Geographic Issues Monsoons –Seasonal winds that bring heavy amounts of rain in the summer –Best example would be Indian monsoons coming off the Arabian Sea and hitting the west coast of India

Other Geographic Issues Ring of Fire –an area where large numbers of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur in the basin of the Pacific Ocean –In a 40,000 km horseshoe shape, The Ring of Fire has 452 volcanoes and is home to over 75% of the world's active and dormant volcanoes.

Other Geographic Issues Archipelago –A chain of islands Philippines Bahamas Japan