General Geography PDF

# Avant-propos "I've always been bad at geography"... "Ah, I really like this subject". Geography lessons leave no one indifferent; you either like it or you don't. Why? Each student has their own explanation: from "it's too complicated" to "it makes me travel and understand the world." This book a...

# Avant-propos "I've always been bad at geography"... "Ah, I really like this subject". Geography lessons leave no one indifferent; you either like it or you don't. Why? Each student has their own explanation: from "it's too complicated" to "it makes me travel and understand the world." This book aims to minimize the former and foster the latter. A first edition of *General Geography* was published in 1996 and updated in 2006. It has been used in many schools. This edition retains the themes from the previous one, but with a significantly modified structure, incorporating topics that have become increasingly important in recent decades: sustainability, technological developments, global warming, challenges to overcome, both social and environmental as well as economic... References to sustainable development are found in most subjects treated by geography and appear throughout the chapters. A chapter is specifically dedicated to this topic. It is true that a radical change in the functioning of human society is necessary, due to the realization that the Earth is not limitless. It is highly likely that future history books will date the early 21st century as a major socio-economic upheaval. This book also aims to address a number of challenges: * _The first_ is to bring together the core concepts in a volume. As this subject is at the crossroads of many others to which it gives a spatial dimension and interaction, the physical and environmental axes, the demographic and social axes, as well as the economic axes are systematically addressed in order to grasp their foundations and then brought into relation, particularly in the proposed extensions. * _The second_ is to find a way to avoid getting lost in the multitude of topics covered, and especially to grasp the interactions of the themes with one another. A system of cross-references allows you to draw on complementary information from other chapters, putting them in a “geographical network”. * The basic notions that serve to understand the core topics can be used as a springboard for in-depth study. It is with this goal in mind that suggestions are proposed in an “Explore Further…” section. They suggest, for example, applying the topic discussed to current events, or conducting additional research, which is a source of motivation to learn more. * Particular importance has been given to illustration. This edition is also enriched by the drawings of two talented artists. * A detailed table of contents and a comprehensive index also help to navigate the intricacies of the topics covered. The latter allows for a different approach to the book, letting yourself be guided by concepts that spark your interest. May this *General Geography* help you better understand the world around us, grasp the interactions between humanity and nature, and between humans, and most importantly, to become aware of the importance of enabling both to live in lasting harmony. **Christian Berset** # 1. Geography ## 1. History of geography and maps Long before geography existed as a science, travelers who described the countries they visited were essentially working as geographers. * As early as 5000 years ago, in Mesopotamia, scribes already drew diagrams that conveyed practical knowledge (defining hunting zones, property lines...). These documents can be considered as the first "maps". ## The time of the Greeks and Romans * The word "geography" comes from the Greek "Gê" or "Gaia" = the Earth and "graphein" = to write, describe, draw. * As early as 500 BC, in Greece, geographers were no longer content merely to describe places, but also to explain the world through logical reasoning. For example, around 250 BC, Eratosthenes demonstrated that the Earth is round and calculated its circumference. Greeks drew the first maps of the Old World and developed a coordinate system. * Later, the Romans developed maps to help traders, soldiers and administrators manage their vast empire. ## What is the circumference of the Earth? * Eratosthenes observed that at the summer solstice, the sun's rays fall perpendicularly on Syene and form an angle of 7.5° in Alexandria. * As a result, the arc of the circle also measured 7.5°, which is 1/48 of 360°. * Since the distance from Syene to Alexandria is 827 km, the Earth's circumference is: 48 x 827 km = approx. 39,700 km. * Today's measurements give us 40,009 km! ## The Middle Ages * During this period in Europe, religion was pervasive and influenced people's vision of the world. * According to the Church, the Earth is represented by a flat disc at the center of the universe. * Continents, in "idealized" forms, are surrounded by an ocean sometimes populated by terrifying monsters. * Some maps obtained are called "OT"; the "T", symbolizing the Mediterranean Sea, is located inside the "O" and serves as a continent delimiter. * Meanwhile, in Arabia and China, mapping techniques improved and would be adopted during the Renaissance in Europe. # 2. Geography Today Geography is at the crossroads of numerous sciences, both humanities and physical sciences, from which it seeks to grasp the spatial organization and interactions. Therefore, a geographer can be considered a "specialized generalist," generalizing by referring to various sciences and specializing by interpreting them through geographical concepts (see below). If today's geographers use the same tools as their predecessors, maps, texts (books...), images (photos, paintings...), fieldwork (interviews, surveys...), censuses, measuring instruments (rain gauge, barometer, seismograph...), these tools are becoming increasingly sophisticated and efficient. In addition, the contribution of new technologies multiplies information sources and the possibilities of processing them. Satellites constantly send images of the Earth, filtered according to the theme of the research. Computer programs provide virtually limitless perspectives for data processing, known as GIS (Geographic Information System). GIS can map desired elements using databases stored in high-capacity servers. Navigation software provides good examples, indicating routes, warning of hazards or traffic jams, displaying gas stations or any other selected information. Another common example is the ability to virtually travel through a city using mapping software that provides 3D visualization. GIS is highly useful in forecasting, thanks to its modeling capabilities, both in physical areas such as climate and in human areas such as demography, and in ecological areas for landscape evolution... This geographical data goes beyond the field of geography itself, and it is used by numerous other sectors of society (police, land planning, telecommunications, transportation, etc.). ## Geography - one path to understanding others... “Geography is the description of the home of humans and humans in their home, which is the Earth.” (Pierre George). It is the desire to understand how the different envelopes of our globe work: those of the earth, water, air, plants, animals, humans, and to understand their relationships and intertwined interactions. It is the knowledge of the human habitat, the “oecumène”. It is the knowledge of the other. One of the paths to understanding the other. The “other”, in what makes them like all mortals, in what makes them part of the world, and equally, in what makes them different: the diversity of natural and cultural contexts, the diversity of habitats, the diversity of places. But the “other”, in a second sense as well, this plural “other” that we all are. Because we simultaneously live in several “shells”: that of our home, our neighborhood, our country, our continent, the planet... We belong jointly to several territorial communities, of different sizes and types. We shape our spaces and are shaped by them. And this happens in a constant movement of change where everything is connected: "our environmental problems are both natural problems with social dimensions and societal problems with natural dimensions." (M. Jollivet) **Jean-Luc Piveteau**, former Director of the Institute of Geography, University of Fribourg ## Where, what, how, why? Towards geographical concepts These questions are essential to understanding the spatial organization of the territory. To answer them, the field of geographical study is extremely broad, extending from the human and natural sciences to the physical sciences, as well as the links that are established between them. Several concepts can be used to approach the knowledge of the world from a geographical perspective, including: * **Location**: where? Why in this particular location?...; * **Causality**: who or what determined this location? What is the role of man?...; * **Scale**: is the phenomenon at the global or local level? What are the differences in impact depending on the scale?...; * **Flow**: what are the directions and intensities of population movements, trade etc..?...; * **Representation**: is my understanding different from that of someone else? (cultural differences, social differences, spatial differences)?...; * **Interactions**: who are the “actors”? What are the cause-and-effect relationships between them?...; * **Evolution**: how is the situation evolving over space and time (essential recourse to history)? Modern geography is increasingly trying to understand the world, to explain it, to grasp its dynamism and interactions rather than simply describing it. ## The nebula of geography