Tuesday - Class Notes

Human Geo

Cultural Geography

Notes

·                Culture characteristics are parts of a group everyday life. They are the ideas and themes which the group will teach to all members. These same characteristics can also link or divide a region. 

·                Examples- language, religion, heritage. 

Study Guide

Today in class, we continued to take note on Cultural Geography:

Language- Ex.) of cultural characteristics:

- Arabic unites the Arab world
- Spanish unites the Hispanic world

·                Brazil is the only South American nation which does not speak Spanish. It speaks Portuguesse.

·                Canada is a bilingual nation. French and English are their official languages. 

·                American has no official language.

Example: 

·                Switzerland is a country that has multiple languages. There is very little conflict between the groups.

·                English is now considered the world language and is used for most business transactions around the world. 

Example: 

·                In Yugoslavia many ethnic groups were made into one country (Serbs, Croats, Boshians, Albanians).

·                When strong leadership died out the different groups fought a very bloody civil and how they all have separate countries. 

Example:

·                In the countries of Rwanda and Burundi in Africa, Two ethnic groups are dominant in the other. - the Tutsis and the Hutus

·                The Hutus are dominant in one and they persecute the Tutsis and the Tutsis are dominant in the other. 

·                The US and Switzerland have peacefully merged multiple ethnic groups in their countries.

- Korea and Japan have primarily one ethnic group. 

- On the island of Cyprus the Greeks and the Turks try to gain control. 

Notes:

Religion

·                There are 5 major religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. 

·                They have millions of followers all believing the same thing. 

Religion can also be a dividing force around the world.

·                Hindus and Muslims fight in India (Hindu) and Pakistan (Muslim)

·                There are conflicts between Catholics and Protestants (two forms of Christianity) in Northern Ireland. 

·                Jews, Christians and Muslims all claim Jerusalem as their religions holy site. They are constantly fighting over the land.

Spatial Divisions

·                Spatial divisions are how we divide the livable space found on the earth by established social, economic, and political control. 

·                You can be a member of more than one spatial group.

·                Spatial divisions can also cause conflicts or cooperation. 

Examples of Spatial Divisions: -----> 

·                Countries

·                Economic alliances

- European Union (EU)

- Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

Spatial Divisions                    

·                Political Alliances

- North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

- Commonwealth of Nations

- Organization of American States (OAS)

  _________________________________________________________________________________

Religion

·                Number of adherents: around 2.2 billion (largest in the world).

·                Call them: Christians

·                Geographic Nation: Europe, the Americas, Southern Africa.

·                Denominations: Baptists, Methodists... 

More on Christianity 

·                Founder: Jesus Christ (it's Abraham in origin).

·                Holy book: The Bible, especially the New Testament

·                Beliefs: Jesus is both human and divine - the Son of God; he led a virtuous life; he was crucified, died, buried, and resurrected; descended into heaven where he reigns with God the Father. 

·                Clergy: Pope, priests, etc.

Islam         

·                Number of adherents: 1.5 billion (second largest). 

·                Call them: Muslims

·                Geographic Nation: Indonesia, Middle East, North Africa.

·                Denominations: Sunnis (75-90%), Shittes (10-20%)

·                Founder: Muhammad (570-632).

·                Holy Book: Qur'an

·                Beliefs: Monotheistic, Abrahamic

·                Five Pillars (testimony, prayer, alms-giving, fasting, pilgrimage)

·                Muslims see their purpose in life as serving and submitting to Allah (God), and observing Islamic law. 

Hinduism

·                Number of adherents: 1.1 billion (third largest) 

·                Call them: Hindus

·                Geographic Location: India, Nepal

·                Holy Book: The Vedas - eternal truths revealed to ancient sages; composed in verse form (meant to be sung and easily memorized). 

·                Founder: No distinct founder - it is a series of intellectual or philosophical points of view, rather than a rigid, strict set of beliefs - probably the oldest religion, although Hinduism is less religion than a way of life, or faith. 

·                Example: " As a person puts on new clothes and discards old and torn clothes, similarly an embodied soul enters new matrials bodies, leaving the old bodies." 

·                In other words :: re-incarnation. 

Buddhism

·                Number of adherents: 500 million to 1.5 billion (estimates vary quite a bit)

·                Call them: Buddhists

·                Geographic Location: Southeast Asia, China, Nepal, Japan (there are 1.2 million Buddhists in the US). 

·                Founder: Siddhartha Gautama

·                Denominations: Tibetan. Zen, Theravada, Amidist