General Geography PDF

# Avant-propos “I’ve always been bad at geography…” “ah, I love this subject.” Geography classes provoke strong reactions; some people like it, and some do not. Why? Everyone has their explanation, ranging from “it’s too complicated” to “it allows me to travel and understand the world.” This book a...

# Avant-propos “I’ve always been bad at geography…” “ah, I love this subject.” Geography classes provoke strong reactions; some people like it, and some do not. Why? Everyone has their explanation, ranging from “it’s too complicated” to “it allows me to travel and understand the world.” This book aims to minimise the former and encourage the latter. A first edition of *General Geography* was published in 1996, updated in 2006. It was used in many schools. This edition keeps the themes from the previous version, but with a largely revised structure that includes topics that have gained importance in recent decades: sustainability, technological developments, global warming, challenges to be addressed, both social and ecological, and economic… References to sustainable development are found in most of the subjects covered by geography, and they appear throughout the chapters. One chapter is dedicated specifically to this topic. It’s true that a radical change in human society is necessary because we realise that the Earth is finite. It’s very likely that future history books will see the beginning of the 21st century as a major socio-economic upset. This book also aims to overcome some challenges: * The first challenge is to summarise the basics in one volume. This subject is a crossroads with many other subjects, lending them a spatial and inter-relational dimension: physical and environmental aspects, human demographic and social aspects, and economic aspects are tackled systematically to understand their foundations. They are then linked, notably in the proposed expansions. * The second challenge is to find a way to avoid getting lost in the multitude of topics and, most importantly, to grasp the interaction of various themes. A system of cross-references facilitates further reading in other chapters, thus creating a “geographical network.” Basic notions can serve as a springboard for further exploration. With this in mind, suggestions are offered under the heading “Let’s go further…” By way of example, they guide readers to apply the studied topic according to current events or to carry out further research, which in turn offer motivating avenues for further learning. * Particular attention has been given to illustration. This edition is also enhanced by the work of two talented artists. Moreover, a detailed table of contents and an extensive index help readers find their way through the intricacies of the discussed themes. The latter also permits a different approach to the book, allowing readers to be guided based on the terms that spark their interest. Hopefully, *General Geography* will help readers to better understand the world around them, to grasp the interactions between humans and nature, as well as between humans, and above all, to become aware of the importance of allowing both to live in harmony, sustainably. # 1. Geography ## 1. Landmarks in the history of geography and maps Well before geography existed as a science, explorers who described the countries they had visited were doing the work of geographers. Thus, 5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, scribes drew diagrams that conveyed practical knowledge: delineating hunting areas, property… These documents can be considered as the first “maps”. ## Throughout the ages of the Greeks and Romans The word “geography” comes from the Greek “Gê” or “Gaia”, meaning “Earth”, and “graphein”, meaning “to write”, “to describe”, or “to draw”. As early as 500 BC, in Greece, geographers focused on more than just describing locations. They were also trying to explain the world through logical reasoning. For example, around 250 BC, Eratosthenes proved that the Earth is round and calculated its circumference. Greeks drew the first maps of the Old World and developed a system of coordinates. Later, Romans developed maps to guide merchants, soldiers, and administrators in managing their vast Empire. ## What is the Earth’s circumference? Eratosthenes observed that on the summer solstice the sun’s rays are perpendicular to Syene and form an angle of 7.5° in Alexandria. As a result, the arc of the circle also measures 7.5°, or 1/48 of 360°. The distance from Syene to Alexandria is 827km, so the Earth’s circumference is: * 48 * 827 km = approximately 39,700km Today’s measurements give 40,009km! ## The Middle Ages At this time in Europe, religion was very influential in how people saw the world. According to the Church’s conception, the Earth was a flat disk at the centre of the Universe. The continents, stylised in shape, are surrounded by a sea sometimes populated by terrifying sea monsters. Some maps found are called “OT” maps. The “T,” which symbolises the Mediterranean Sea, is located inside the “O” and serves to define the continents. Meanwhile, in Arabia and China map-making techniques were improving and would be adopted by the Renaissance in Europe. ## From the great discoveries Marco Polo’s journey to China (1275), “discovery” of America (1492), and Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe (1521) opened up new horizons for exploration. Sailors and merchants used maps that described coastlines with precision, called *Portulans*. From the 16th century, the Renaissance in Europe revived Greek culture, transmitted notably by the Arabs. Sciences made rapid strides. The Earth is recognised once more to be a sphere, although not without opposition from the Church. To navigate the oceans, explorers developed precise measuring instruments (sextants, compasses…). Until the 20th century, explorers continued to fill in the *Terrae Incognitae* on maps. It was not until the years 1950-1960 that maps of the seabed floor and the atmosphere (meteorological maps) came to be drawn more precisely. Alongside the creation of maps and description of the world, geography evolved from the Renaissance onwards in two directions: *physical geography*, which aims to explain natural phenomena (volcanism, erosion, ...), and *human geography*, which aims to understand the links between people, and their environment, as well as their social, economic and cultural relationships. # 2. Geography today Geography stands at the crossroads of many sciences – both human and physical – which it attempts to grasp in terms of spatial organisation and interactions. Geographers can therefore be seen as “specialised generalists”: generalists in the sense that they apply themselves to the various sciences and specialist in that they interpret them through geographical concepts (see later). Geographers today use the same tools as their predecessors: maps, texts (books), images (photos, paintings), fieldwork (interviews, surveys), censuses, measuring instruments (rain gauges, barometers, seismographs), while these have become increasingly sophisticated and powerful. Moreover, new technologies provide a multitude of information sources and opportunities for processing. Satellites send continuous images of Earth, which are filtered according to the research theme. Computer programmes offer almost limitless possibilities for data processing, known as *GIS* (Geographic Information System). *GIS* allows you to map any desired feature from databases. Navigation software is a good example: It shows routes, warns of dangers or traffic jams, indicates petrol stations, or any other selected information. Another common example is the possibility of taking a virtual tour of a city using mapping software to display a 3D view. *GIS* is very useful for making predictions in both the physical domain, such as climate, and the human domain, such as demographics, and ecological domain (landscape evolution). This geographical data goes beyond the field of geography itself, as it is used by many other sectors of society (police, land management, telecommunications, transport, etc.). ## Geography, one of the ways to understand the other “Geography is the description of the human home and humans in their home, which is Earth.” (Pierre George). It aims to understand the various envelopes of our planet: the Earth itself, water, air, plants, animals, humans, and their intertwined relationships and interactions. It is the understanding of human habitat, of “*oecumene*.” It is the understanding of the other. One way to understand the other. “The other” in what makes him resemble other mortals, in what makes him connected to the whole world, and just as much, in what makes him different: the diversity of natural and cultural contexts, the diversity of habitats, the diversity of places. But “the other” in another sense, too, that plural “other” that we all are. Because we simultaneously inhabit various “shells”: that of our home, of our neighbourhood, our country, our continent, our planet… We belong to several territorial communities, of different sizes and natures. We shape our spaces and are shaped by them. And this in a perpetual movement of change where everything is connected: “Our environmental problems are both natural problems with social dimensions and societal problems with natural dimensions" (Michel Jollivet). ## 3. Where, what, how, why? Towards geographic concepts These questions are essential for understanding the spatial organization of the territory. To answer them, the field of geographical study is extremely vast and encompasses the humanities, the natural sciences, and the physical sciences, as well as the links that exist between them. Different concepts allow us to view the world with the eyes of a geographer, such as: * **Localisation:** where? Why in this place? * **Causality:** who or what determined this location? What is the role of man? * **Scale:** Is the phenomenon global or local in scale? What are the differences in impact depending on the scale? * **Flows:** what are the directions and intensities of population movements, trade? * **Representation:** Is my understanding different from someone else’s (cultural differences, social differences, spatial differences)? * **Interactions:** Who are the “actors” involved? What are the causal links and consequences between them? * **Evolution:** How is the situation evolving in space and time (essential reference to history)? Modern geography seeks to understand the world, to explain it, to grasp its dynamism and interactions rather than simply to describe it. # The geography nebula | Glaciology | Geodesy | Cartography | Tectonics | Astronomy | Geography of Gender | Geographic history | Climatology | Regional geography | Pedology | Statistics | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | |||| || || || || || || | Paleogeography | Geography Culture | Urbanism | Geomorphology | Geopolitics | Épistemology | Ecology | Geographic Economics | Teledetection | Anthropology | Land Management | | | | | | | Geography of Transport | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ethnology | Geographic Quantification | SIG | | Oceanography | Demography | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |