Chapter 1 Key Issue 2

1
Chapter 1 Key Issue 2

• Why is Each Point on Earth Unique?

2
Place Unique Location of a Feature

• Geographers identify location in one of four
  ways-place-names, site, situation, and absolute
  location.
• All inhabited places on the Earths surface have
  been given place-names or toponyms.
• Place names may tell us about historical origins,
  such as Battle in southern England, which is
  named for the Battle of Hastings.
• They can also give us an indication of the
  physical environment-Aberystwyth in Wales, for
  example, which means mouth of the River
  Ystwyth.
• Place names may speak to religion, such as
  Islamabad, Pakistan, or economics, such as Gold
  Point, Nevada.
• Place names also change because of political
  turmoil. The city that was Leningrad in Russia
  during the communist era has now been changed
  back to St. Petersburg.

3
Site

• Site refers to the specific physical
  characteristics of a place.
• Important site characteristics include climate,
  water sources, topography, soil, vegetation,
  latitude, and elevation.
• The combination of physical features gives each
  place a distinctive character.
• Site factors have always been essential in
  selecting locations for settlements.

4
Situation

• Situation or relative location describes a
  places relationship relative to other places
  around it.
• Situation is a valuable way to indicate location,
  for two reasons-finding an unfamiliar place and
  understanding its importance.

5
Mathematical Location

• The exact location of a place on the Earths
  surface can be pinpointed on a standard grid or
  coordinate system.
• This universally accepted system of latitude and
  longitude consists of imaginary arcs on a globe.
• Line of longitude or meridians are drawn between
  the North and South poles according to a
  numbering system.
• 0º is the prime meridian, which passes through
  the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, Great
  Britain.
• The meridian on the opposite side of the globe is
  180º longitude and is called the International
  Date Line.
• Lines of latitude or parallels are circles drawn
  around the globe parallel to the equator.
• The grid system is especially useful for
  determining location where there has been no
  human settlement.

6
Regions Areas of Unique Characteristics

• A region is generally defined as an area larger
  than a single city that contains unifying
  cultural and/or physical characteristics.
• Geographers have identified 3 types of regions
  formal, functional, and vernacular.
• A formal region is also called a uniform region
  because it has specific characteristics that are
  fairly uniform throughout that region.
• A functional region is also called a nodal region
  because it is defined by a social or economic
  function that occurs between a node or focal
  point and the surrounding areas. For example,
  the circulation area of the Denver Post is a
  functional region and Denver is the node.
• A vernacular region or perceptual region is one
  that exists in peoples minds such as the
  American South. When individuals are asked to
  draw a boundary around this region, their
  boundary will probably be based on stereotypes
  they associate with the South such as climate,
  accent, cuisine, and religious practices such as
  Southern Baptist.
• Ones attachment to a region perceived as home is
  sometimes called a sense of place.