Human Geography

What is Culture?

Culture- combination of features of a human group

Factors- ethnic background, religion, language, style of dress, etc.

Cultural regions- areas inhabited by mostly one ethnic group

Language

Allows people within a culture to communicate English is the dominant language across the globe (92% are

fluent in US) Some countries have more than one official language

(Switzerland, Canada, Colonial Outposts) The US has no official language (1 out of 5 people speak

Spanish at home)

Religion

A person’s ultimate beliefs about the universe

Five Major Religions- Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam

Can be unifying or lead to conflicts (Kashmir, Palestine/Israel)

Kashmir

Israel/Palestine

Some facts about Population

The world’s population is about 6 billion people

Only 5 % of the land on Earth is populated

2/3 of the world’s population lives within 300 miles of an ocean

2 main population issues Population

distribution- where people live

Population growth rate- how population changes

Push-Pull Factors

Examples of push factors- environmental, war, persecution

Examples of pull factors- climate, jobs, family

Governments

Four types of Governments: Democracy

(representative) Monarchy (ruling

family) Dictatorship (one

person in charge) Communism

(government-run for the people)

Democracy

Monarchy

Dictatorship

Communism

Urbanization

Development of cities

Overurbanization- cities become too crowded

Largest urban area- Tokyo, Japan (26.4 million people)

Tokyo

Developed vs Developing

Developed Countries- rich Developing Countries- poor Population pyramids can be used to

used to determine this (more kids than adults- ing, more adults than kids- ed)

Developed Countries

Developing Countries

Which is it?

Which is it?

Which is it?

Economics

Economy- production of goods & services among a group of people

2 important types: Command (gov’t regulated) and Market (consumer driven)

Levels of Economic Activity Primary- agriculture,

fishing, forestry, and mining

Secondary- processing raw materials into products

Tertiary- provide goods and services to consumers and producers

Resources

Resources- things that people need and value

3 types: Natural, Human, & Capital