Places and Landscape

in a
Changing World

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Introduction to Geography

Learning Objective:

 Understand the focus of geography and the two main branches of the discipline.
 Learn about the tools geographers use to study the earth’s surface.
 Summarize the grid system of latitude and longitude and how it relates to seasons and
time zones.
 Distinguish between the different types of regional distinctions recognized in
geography.
 Understand the spatial nature of geography and how each place or region is examined,
analyzed, and compared with other places or regions.

WHAT IS GEOGRAPHY?

Geography is the spatial study of the earth’s surface (from the Greek geo, which means “Earth,”
and graphein, which means “to write”). Geographers study the earth’s physical characteristics, its
inhabitants and cultures, phenomena such as climate, and the earth’s place within the universe.
Geography examines the spatial relationships between all physical and cultural phenomena in the
world. Geographers also look at how the earth, its climate, and its landscapes are changing due to
cultural intervention.

Eratosthenes of Cyrene - The first known use of the word geography was by him (modern-day
Libya in North Africa), an early Greek scholar who lived between 276 and 194 BCE.
 He devised one of the first systems of longitude and latitude and calculated the earth’s
circumference.
 Additionally, he created one of the first maps of the world based on the available
knowledge of the time. Around the same time, many ancient cultures in China, southern

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 Asia, Polynesia, and the Arabian Peninsula also developed maps and navigation systems
used in geography and cartography.

The discipline of geography can be broken down into two main areas of focus:

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY - The spatial study of natural phenomena that make up the earth’s surface.

HUMAN GEOGRAPHY- The study of human activity and its relationship to the earth’s surface.

 These two main areas are similar in that they both use a spatial perspective, and they both include
the study of place and the comparison of one place with another.
 Physical geography is the spatial study of natural phenomena that make up the environment, such
as rivers, mountains, landforms, weather, climate, soils, plants, and any other physical aspects of the
earth’s surface. Physical geography focuses on geography as a form of earth science. It tends to
emphasize the main physical parts of the earth—the lithosphere (surface layer), the atmosphere
(air), the hydrosphere (water), and the biosphere (living organisms)—and the relationships between
these parts.

The major forms of study within physical geography include the following:
 Geomorphology (the study of the earth’s surface features)
 Glaciology (the study of glaciers)
 Coastal geography (the study of the coastal regions)
 Climatology (the study of climates and climate change)
 Biogeography (the study of the geographic patterns of species distribution)

Some physical geographers study the earth’s place in the solar system. Others are environmental
geographers, part of an emerging field that studies the spatial aspects and cultural perceptions of the
natural environment. Environmental geography requires an understanding of both physical and human
geography, as well as an understanding of how humans conceptualize their environment and the physical
landscape.

Physical landscape - The physical environmental features that make up the earth’s surface. It is the
term used to describe the natural terrain at any one place on the planet. The natural forces of
erosion, weather, tectonic plate action, and water have formed the earth’s physical features. Many
US state and national parks attempt to preserve unique physical landscapes for the public to enjoy,
such as Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon.

 Human geography is the study of human activity and its relationship to the earth’s surface. Human
geographers examine the spatial distribution of human populations, religions, languages, ethnicities,
political systems, economics, urban dynamics, and other components of human activity. They study
patterns of interaction between human cultures and various environments and focus on the causes
and consequences of human settlement and distribution over the landscape. While the economic and
cultural aspects of humanity are primary focuses of human geography, these aspects cannot be
understood without describing the landscape on which economic and cultural activities take place.

The cultural landscape Places where the earth’s surface has been altered by human activity. It is the
term used to describe those parts of the earth’s surface that have been altered or created by humans.

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 For example, the urban cultural landscape of a city may include buildings, streets, signs, parking lots,
or vehicles, while the rural cultural landscape may include fields, orchards, fences, barns, or
farmsteads. Cultural forces unique to a given place—such as religion, language, ethnicity, customs,
or heritage—influence the cultural landscape of that place at a given time. The colors, sizes, and
shapes of the cultural landscape usually symbolize some level of significance regarding societal
norms. Spatial dynamics assist in identifying and evaluating cultural differences between places.

Five (5) Themes of Geography

The five themes of geography are location, place, human-environment interaction, movement, and
region. These were defined in 1984 by the National Council for Geographic Education and the
Association of American Geographers to facilitate and organize the teaching of geography in the K-12
classroom. While the five themes have since been supplanted by the National Geography Standards,
they still provide an effective means or organizing geography instruction.

Location - Most geographic studies begin by learning the location of places. Location can be absolute or
relative.

 Absolute location: Provides a definite reference for locating a place. The reference can
be latitude and longitude, a street address, or even the Township and Range system. For
example, you might be located at 183 Main Street in Anytown, USA or you might be positioned
at 42.2542° N, 77.7906° W.
 Relative location: Describes a place with respect to its environment and its connection to other
places. As an example, a home might be located 1.3 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, .4 miles from
the town's elementary school, and 32 miles from the nearest international airport.

Parallels or Lines of Latitude

Figure 1.2 Noted Lines of Latitude

The equator is the largest circle of latitude on Earth. The equator divides the earth into the
Northern and Southern Hemispheres and is called 0 degrees latitude. The other lines of latitude

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 are numbered from 0 to 90 degrees going toward each of the poles. The lines north of the equator
toward the North Pole are north latitude, and each of the numbers is followed by the letter “N.”
The lines south of the equator toward the South Pole are south latitude, and each of the numbers
is followed by the letter “S.”

Meridians or Lines of Longitude

The prime meridian sits at 0 degrees longitude and divides the earth into the Eastern and Western
Hemispheres. The prime meridian is defined as an imaginary line that runs through the Royal
Observatory in Greenwich, England, a suburb of London. The Eastern Hemisphere includes the
continents of Europe, Asia, and Australia, while the Western Hemisphere includes North and
South America.

Climate and Latitude

The earth is tilted on its axis 23.5 degrees. As it rotates around the sun, the tilt of the earth’s axis
provides different climatic seasons because of the variations in the angle of direct sunlight on the
planet. Places receiving more direct sunlight experience a warmer climate. Elsewhere, the
increased angle of incoming solar radiation near the earth’s poles results in more reflected
sunlight and thus a cooler climate. The Northern Hemisphere experiences winter when sunlight
is reflected off the earth’s surface and less of the sun’s energy is absorbed because of a sharper
angle from the sun.

The Tropic of Cancer is the parallel at 23.5 degrees north of the equator, which is the most
northerly place on Earth, receiving direct sunlight during the Northern Hemisphere’s summer.
Remember that the earth is tilted 23.5 degrees, which accounts for seasonal variations in
climate.

The Tropic of Capricorn is the parallel at 23.5 degrees south of the equator and is the most
southerly location on Earth, receiving direct sunlight during the Southern Hemisphere’s
summer.

The Arctic Circle is a line of latitude at 66.5 degrees north. It is the farthest point north that
receives sunlight during its winter season (90 N − 23.5 = 66.5 N). During winter, the North
Pole is away from the sun and does not receive much sunlight. At times, it is dark for most of
the twenty-four-hour day. During the Northern Hemisphere’s summer, the North Pole faces
more toward the sun and may receive sunlight for longer portions of the twenty-four-hour
day.

The Antarctic Circle is the corresponding line of latitude at 66.5 degrees south. It is the
farthest location south that receives sunlight during the winter season in the Southern
Hemisphere (90 S − 23.5 = 66.5 S). When it is winter in the north, it is summer in the south.

Time Zones - Universal Time (UT), Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), Greenwich Mean
Time (GMT), or Zulu Time (Z): all four terms can be defined as local time at 0 degrees longitude,
which is the prime meridian (location of Greenwich, England). This is the same time under which
many military operations, international radio broadcasts, and air traffic control systems operate
worldwide. UTC is set in zero- to twenty-four-hour time periods, as opposed to two twelve-hour

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 time periods (a.m. and p.m.). The designations of a.m. and p.m. are relative to the central meridian:
a.m. refers to ante meridiem, or “before noon,” and p.m. refers to post meridiem, or “after noon.”
UT, UTC, GMT, and Z all refer to the same twenty-four-hour time system that assists in unifying a
common time in regard to global operations. For example, all air flights use the twenty-four-hour
time

Place - Place describes the human and physical characteristics of a location. (To be discuss in chapter 3)

 Physical characteristics: Includes a description of such things as mountains, rivers, beaches,

topography, climate, and animal and plant life of a place. If a place is described as hot, sandy,
fertile, or forested, these terms all paint a picture of the location's physical characteristics.
A topographical map is one tool used to illustrate the physical characteristics of a location.
 Human characteristics: Includes the human-designed cultural features of a place. These features
include land use, architectural styles, forms of livelihood, religious practices, political systems,
common foods, local folklore, means of transportation, and methods of communication. For
example, a location could be described as a technologically advanced French-speaking
democracy with a Catholic majority.

Human-Environment Interaction - This theme considers how humans adapt to and modify the
environment. Humans shape the landscape through their interaction with the land, which has both
positive and negative effects on the environment. As an example of the human-environment
interaction, think about how people living in cold climates have often mined coal or drilled for natural
gas in order to heat their homes. Another example would be the massive landfill projects in Boston
conducted in the 18th and 19th centuries to expand habitable areas and improve transportation. (To be
discuss in chapter 2)

Movement - Humans move—a lot! In addition, ideas, fads, goods, resources, and communication all
travel distances. This theme studies movement and migration across the planet. The emigration of
Syrians during war, the flow of water in the Gulf Stream, and the expansion of cell phone reception
around the planet are all examples of movement.

Regions
A region is a basic unit of study in geography—a unit of space characterized by a feature such as a common
government, language, political situation, or landform. A region can be a formal country governed by
political boundaries, such as France or Canada; a region can be defined by a landform, such as the drainage
basin of all the water that flows into the Mississippi River; and a region can even be defined by the area
served by a shopping mall. Cultural regions can be defined by similarities in human activities, traditions,
or cultural attributes. Geographers use the regional unit to map features of particular interest, and data
can be compared between regions to help understand trends, identify patterns, or assist in explaining a
particular phenomenon.

Regions are traditionally defined by internal characteristics that provide a sense of place. Their boundaries
vary with the type of region, whether it is formal, functional, or vernacular; each type has its own meaning
and defined purpose.

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 Formal region - Area with specific agreed upon administrative, governmental or political boundaries. It
has a governmental, administrative, or political boundary and can have political as well as geographic
boundaries that are not open to dispute or debate. Formal boundaries can separate states, provinces,
or countries from one another. Physical regions can be included within formal boundaries, such as the
Rocky Mountains or New England. An official boundary, such as the boundary of a national park, can be
considered a formal boundary. School districts, cities, and county governments have formal boundaries.

Functional regions - Area defined by boundaries related to a function. They have boundaries related to
a practical function within a given area. When the function of an area ends, the functional region ends
and its boundaries cease to exist. For example, a functional region can be defined by a newspaper
service or delivery area. If the newspaper goes bankrupt, the functional region no longer exists. Church
parishes, shopping malls, and business service areas are other examples of functional regions. They
function to serve a region and may have established boundaries for limits of the area to which they will
provide service. An example of a common service area—that is, a functional region—is the region to
which a local pizza shop will deliver.

Vernacular regions - Large area defined by boundaries based on people’s perceptions or thoughts. They
have loosely defined boundaries based on people’s perceptions or thoughts. Vernacular regions can be
fluid—that is, different people may have different opinions about the limits of the regions. Vernacular
regions include concepts such as the region called the “Middle East.” Many people have a rough idea of
the Middle East’s location but do not know precisely which countries make up the Middle East. Also, in
the United States, the terms Midwest or South have many variations. Each individual might have a
different idea about the location of the boundaries of the South or the Midwest. Whether the state of
Kentucky belongs in the Midwest or in the South might be a matter of individual perception. Similarly,
various regions of the United States have been referred to as the Rust Belt, Sun Belt, or Bible belt
without a clear definition of their boundaries. The limit of a vernacular area is more a matter of
perception than of any formally agreed-upon criteria. Nevertheless, most people would recognize the
general area being discussed when using one of the vernacular terms in a conversation.

MAPS, MAP PROJECTIONS & GIS

Traditionally, the field of cartography - The art and science of map making or map making, has been a
vital discipline for geographers. While cartography continues to be an extremely important part of
geography, geographers also look at spatial (space) and temporal (time) relationships between many
types of data, including physical landscape types, economies, and human activity. Geography also
examines the relationships between and the processes of humans and their physical and cultural
environments. Because maps are powerful graphic tools that allow us to illustrate relationships and
processes at work in the world, cartography and geographic information systems have become important
in modern sciences. Maps are the most common method of illustrating different spatial qualities, and
geographers create and use maps to communicate spatial data about the earth’s surface.

Geospatial techniques- The tools used by geographers to illustrate, manage and manipulate spatial data,
which can include cartography, GIS, and remote sensing. These are tools used by geographers to illustrate,

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manage, and manipulate spatial data. Cartography is the art and science of making maps, which illustrate
data in a spatial form and are invaluable in understanding what is going on at a given place at a given time.

Making maps and verifying a location have become more exact with the development of the global
positioning system (GPS) System that uses satellite signals to determine exact location on the earth’s
surface.. A GPS unit can receive signals from orbiting satellites and calculate an exact location in latitude
and longitude, which is helpful for determining where one is located on the earth or for verifying a point
on a map. GPS units are standard equipment for many transportation systems and have found their way
into products such as cell phones, handheld computers, fish finders, and other mobile equipment. GPS
technology is widely implemented in the transport of people, goods, and services around the world.

Remote sensing - The acquisition of data about the earth’s surface through aerial photographs taken from
airplanes or images created from satellites orbiting the earth. The technology acquires data about the
earth’s surface through aerial photographs taken from airplanes or images created from satellites orbiting
the earth. Remotely sensed images allow geographers to identify, understand, or explain a particular
landscape or determine the land use of a place. These images can serve as important components in the
cartographic (map-making) process. These technologies provide the means to examine and analyze
changes on the earth’s surface caused by natural or human forces. Google Earth is an excellent example
of a computer tool that illustrates remotely sensed images of locations on the earth.

Geographic information science (GIS) - Science (or system) that uses a computer program to sort layers
of digital data to create specialized maps focusing on specific topics., often referred to as geographic
information systems, uses a computer program to assimilate and manage many layers of map data, which
then provide specific information about a given place. GIS data are usually in digital form and arranged in
layers. The GIS computer program can sort or analyze layers of data to illustrate a specific feature or
activity. GIS programs are used in a wide range of applications, from determining the habitat range of a
particular species of bird to mapping the hometowns of university students.

Figure 1.1 Illustration of Layers in a GIS Process

 GIS specialists often create and analyze geographical information for government agencies or
private businesses. They use computer programs to take raw data to develop the information

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 these organizations need for making vital decisions. For example, in business applications, GIS can
be used to determine a favorable location for a retail store based on the analysis of spatial data
layers such as population distribution, highway or street arrangements, and the locations of
similar stores or competitive establishments. GIS can integrate a number of maps into one to help
analysts understand a place in relation to their own specific needs.
 GIS also focuses on storing information about the earth (both cultural and natural) in computer
databases that can be retrieved and displayed in the form of specialized maps for specific
purposes or analyses. GIS specialists require knowledge about computer and database systems.
Over the last two decades, GIS has revolutionized the field of cartography: nearly all cartography
is now done with the assistance of GIS software. Additionally, analysis of various cultural and
natural phenomena through the use of GIS software and specialized maps is an important part of
urban planning and other social and physical sciences. GIS can also refer to techniques used to
represent, analyze, and predict spatial relationships between different phenomena.

Key Takeaways

 Geography is the spatial study of the earth’s surface. The discipline of geography bridges the
social sciences with the physical sciences. The two main branches of geography include physical
geography and human geography. GIS, GPS, and remote sensing are tools that geographers use
to study the spatial nature of physical and human landscapes.
 A grid system called the graticule divides the earth by lines of latitude and longitude that allow
for the identification of absolute location on the earth’s surface through geometric coordinates
measured in degrees. There are twenty-four time zones that are set at 15-degree intervals each
and organize time intervals around the world.
 The tilt of the earth’s axis at 23.5 degrees helps create the earth’s seasonal transitions by either
absorbing or reflecting the sun’s energy. The line of direct sunlight always hits the earth
between 23.5 degrees north (Tropic of Cancer) and 23.5 degrees south (Tropic of Capricorn),
depending on the time of year.
 A region is the basic unit of study in geography. Three main types of boundaries define a region:
formal, functional, and vernacular. World regional geography is the study of a particular group
of world regions or realms as each compares with the rest of the world.

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 Your task!
Answer the following questions:

1. How does the discipline of geography provide a bridge between the social sciences and the
physical sciences?
2. How does the cultural landscape assist in indicating the differences between a wealthy
neighborhood and a poverty-stricken neighborhood?
3. How can remote sensing technology assist in determining what people do for a living?
4. What is the significance of the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn?
5. How would GIS, GPS, or remote sensing technology be used to evaluate the destruction caused
by a tornado in certain area?
6. How is the cultural landscape influenced by the physical landscape?
7. Can you list a formal region, a functional region, and a vernacular region that would include
where you live?

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Human Actions and Their Impacts
on the World’s Environment
Learning Objective:

1. Explain how climate and human habitation are related and distinguish between the
main climate types.

2. Explain the dynamics of tectonic plates and their relationship to earthquakes and
volcanic activity.

3. Outline the main causes of and problems with deforestation. Explain the relationship
between deforestation and climate change.

4. Point out where the rain shadow effect takes place and explain why it occurs in those
places and how it may influence human activity.

5. Understand how climate change occurs and the relationship between greenhouse
gasses such as carbon dioxide and the planet’s temperature regulation.

Climate and Human Habitation

The earth’s ability to receive and absorb sunlight is a primary factor in the earth’s environment, and it
also has a big impact on human populations. There are no large cities or human communities in
Antarctica because it is so cold; most of the sunlight filtering down to Antarctica is reflected off the
earth at that latitude because of the tilt of the earth’s axis and the resulting angle of incoming solar
radiation. Answering the basic questions of where most humans live on Earth and why they live there
depends on understanding climate. Moderate type C climates usually provide the greatest opportunities
for human habitation.

Since the region between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn receives the most direct
sunlight throughout the year, it is favorable to plant and animal life, provided there is adequate
moisture or precipitation. Humans have been living in the tropics for a long time, even when the ice
sheets were covering parts of the midlatitudes. The problem with the tropics is that the soils are usually
of poor quality and the nutrients have been leached out. Today, when we look at the earth and the
distribution of human population, two main factors attract human habitation: moderate climates and
access to water.

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More than 70 percent of the earth’s surface is covered with water. The only problem is that less than 3
percent of the water is fresh, and most of that fresh water is stored in ice caps at the North or South
Pole. This leaves less than 1 percent of the world’s fresh water for human use, usually in lakes, rivers,
streams, or groundwater and underground aquifers. Climate plays an important role in where humans
live because precipitation is necessary for growing crops, raising livestock, and supplying fresh water to
urban communities.

Several geographers have developed categories to identify climate typesLong-term weather patterns
based on environmental conditions, including temperature and precipitation.. Climate can be defined as
a long-term average weather pattern evident in a particular region of the world. Weather is a term
usually used to define conditions on a short-term or even daily basis. The two main elements in climate
conditions are temperature and precipitation. For the purposes of this overview of world geography, the
various climate types have been broken down into six basic types—A, B, C, D, E, and H—after the
Köppen-Geiger classification system. Type H climates are actually a subset of the type E climate
category.

1. Type A: Tropical or equatorial climates

2. Type B: Dry or arid climates

3. Type C: Moderate or temperate climates

4. Type D: Cold or continental climates

5. Type E: Polar or extreme climates

6. Type H: (Unclassified) highland climates

Figure 2.1 Basic Climate Regions Based on the Köppen-Geiger Classification System (Local Conditions
May Vary Widely)

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Type A: Tropical or Equatorial Climates
Figure 2.2 Tropical type A climates experience
warm temperatures year round and a higher
annual rainfall, such as this location in coastal
Belize.

The humid tropical type A climate, usually

found in the tropics, has warm
temperatures year round with a high level
of precipitation, typically in the form of
rain. Type A climates have various
subgroups that indicate how variably the rainfall is distributed throughout the year. Some type A climates
produce a dry season and a wet season (monsoon), while others receive consistent rainfall throughout
the year.

Type B: Dry or Arid Climates

The dry type B climate is exemplified by the earth’s desert regions. Temperatures can be extreme, with
little precipitation. Type B climate regions experience low rainfall and high temperatures during the day
and cooler temperatures at night or during the winter season. Terrain in type B climates can range from
sand deserts to prairie grasslands or steppes. Type B climates have fewer trees than most other climate
areas.

There is a direct relationship between highlands and type B climates in various places in the world. This
climate condition, known as the rain shadow effect. When mountains or high elevation relief restrict
precipitation from reaching the other side of the mountains, resulting in arid or desert-like conditions., or
more accurately, the precipitation shadow effect, occurs when one side of a mountain range receives
abundant rainfall while the region on the other side of the mountain range is a desert or has more arid
climate conditions. This phenomenon is evident wherever there is terrain with enough elevation to restrict
the movement of precipitation-bearing clouds.

Figure 1.14 Rain Shadow Effect

Rain shadows are created when prevailing winds carrying

moisture rise quickly in elevation up a mountainside, where the
air cools and condenses to precipitate out its moisture in the
form of rain or snow. By the time the air mass hits the top of the
mountain, its moisture is much reduced. The dried air rushes
down the other side of the mountain range, where it increases
in temperature. The warm, dry air coming off the mountains
continues to pull moisture out of the land, resulting in desert or
arid climate conditions.

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Figure 2.3 Dry or arid type B climates such as central Arizona have
fewer trees than other climates. The saguaro cactus can
withstand long periods with little precipitation.

The Hawaiian island of Kauai has an extreme example of the

rain shadow effect. The island’s windward side receives
more rain than almost any other place on Earth: as much as
460 inches (almost 40 feet) a year. Only a part of the island,
however, receives that amount of rain. The height of the
mountains causes a rain shadow on the dry leeward side,
creating semi-desert conditions and type B climates.

Death Valley in California is also a result of the rain shadow effect. Little rain falls on Death Valley because
any moisture in the prevailing winds falls on the western side of the bordering mountain ranges. The
whole state of Nevada is dry because of the rain shadow effect. All the rain coming off the Pacific Ocean
falls on the coastal mountains and the Sierra Nevada in California. The mountains are high enough to
shadow that region of Nevada, and the basin and ranges further the rain shadow effect on a local basis.

On the other side of the earth, the Himalayas are an excellent example of mountains that create the rain
shadow effect. Most of western China has type B climates because of the rain shadow effect caused by
high mountains that stop rain clouds from ever reaching the region. The southern side of the Himalayas
receives extensive rainfall because of monsoon rains arriving from the Indian Ocean, but western China is
essentially a desert. It is sparsely inhabited compared with the high-density regions in China Proper to the
east, where rainfall is plentiful.

Type C: Moderate or Temperate Climates

Figure 2.4 Moderate type C climates are good for agriculture.
For example, in Appalachia, tobacco and hardwood forests
grow well.

Often described as moderate in temperature and

precipitation, type C climates are the most favorable to
human habitation in that they host the largest human
population densities on the planet. Type C climates are
found mostly in the mid-latitudes bordering the tropics.
Seasonal changes are pronounced, with a distinct
winters and summers. Winters are cool to cold and
summers are usually warm. Precipitation varies from low to high, depending on location. In the United
States, C climates dominate the southeast and the West Coast.

Type C climates are not the most widespread on the planet, but they have attracted the largest human
populations. One reason for the attraction has been the abundance of forests, farmland, and fresh water
found in type C regions. The main population centers of the planet are in type C climates. With over seven
billion people on the planet and growing, humans have populated most of the regions with type C climates
and are now filling up the other areas that have A, B, or D climate types.

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Type D: Cold or Continental Climates
Figure 2.5 Colder type D climates are prominent in states
such as North Dakota, which has the coldest annual winter
temperatures of the continental forty-eight states.

Type D climate regions are often found in the

interiors of continents away from the moderating
influence of large bodies of water. They are often
farther north than type C regions, resulting in colder
winters. Seasonal variations exist, with cool to hot
summers and cold winters. Precipitation is usually in
the form of rain in summer and snow in winter. Regions with type D climates can be found in the Great
Lakes region of the United States, much of Canada, and a large portion of Russia.

Type E: Polar or Extreme Climates

Type E is an extreme climate type found in the Polar Regions near or to the north of the Arctic Circle and
near or to the south of the Antarctic Circle. Regions with type E climates are cold with permanent ice or
permafrost year round. Vegetation is minimal, and there are no trees. Temperatures may warm slightly
during the short summer months but rarely rise above 50 degrees.

Type H: Highland Climates

Type H highland climates are usually listed as a subcategory of type E climates. Mountain ranges can create
a variety of climate types because of the change in elevation from the base of the range to the summit.
Different climate types can be found on the same mountain at different elevations. Type H climates
designate highlands or mountain terrain. Variations in climate exist on most mountain ranges. Climates
at the base of mountains will vary depending on whether the mountains are found in the tropics or in the
higher latitudes. For example, high mountains near the equator may have a type A climate at their base
and a type E climate at their summit with various type C and type D climates between them. Type H
climates are found where elevation differences are profound enough to provide different climate zones.
Higher elevation relief can reach above the tree line and have permanent snow cover at the summit. The
term relief is used in geography to indicate elevations of a land surface. Elevation zones with permanent
ice or snow can resemble a type E polar climate.

DEFORESTATION

The planet’s growing population has increased demands on natural resources, including forest products.
Humans have been using trees for firewood, building homes, and making tools for millennia. Trees are a
renewable resource, but deforestation. The removal of trees at an unsustainable rate. It occurs when
they are removed faster than they can be replenished. Most people in rural areas in developing countries
rely on firewood to cook their food. Many of these areas are experiencing a fast decline in the number of
trees available. People living in mainly type B climates may not have access to a lot of trees to start with;
therefore, when trees are cut down for firewood or for building materials, deforestation occurs. In the

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tropical areas, it is common for hardwood trees to be cut down for lumber to gain income or to clear the
land for other agricultural purposes, such as cattle ranching. Countries that lack opportunities and
advantages look to exploit their natural resources—in this case, trees—for either subsistence agriculture
or economic gain. Deforestation has increased across the globe with the rapid rise in worldwide
population.

During the Industrial Revolution, European countries chopped down their forests at a rapid rate. Much of
the British Isles was forested at one point, but today few forests remain on the British Isles, and they are
typically protected. Colonialism brought the Europeans to the Americas. The United States, in its early
development, pushed west from the original thirteen colonies, and many old growth forests. Forests that
have not been removed by human were cut down in the process. As railroad tracks were laid down and
pioneer development pushed west into the Great Plains, where there were few trees, the great cutover
occurred in the eastern and central forests—cutover is a term indicating the systematic deforestation of
the eastern and central forests. Michigan and Wisconsin saw their trees removed in a systematic
deforestation.
Figure 2.6 Forests are removed for timber, and burning the excess then clears the land for other purposes.

Some areas were allowed to grow back, but many

other areas were turned into farmland. Few old-
growth forests remain in the United States. Today
there are conflicts over how the timber industry is
handling the forests in places such as the Pacific
Northwest region of the United States.

Countries that are better off economically no longer

have to cut down their own trees but can afford to
substitute other resources or import lumber from other places. Developing regions of the world in Latin
America, Africa, and parts of Asia are experiencing serious problems with deforestation. Deforestation is
widespread: Residents of Haiti have cut down about 99 percent of the country’s forests; most of the wood
has been used as fuel to cook food. People in Afghanistan have cut down about 70 percent of their forests.
Nigeria has lost about 80 percent of its old-growth forests since 1990. Ethiopia has lost up to 98 percent
of its forested acreage, and the Philippines has lost about 80 percent of its forests.

Brazil’s Amazon basin has undergone many projects that have driven deforestation. For example, about
half the state of Rondônia in western Brazil has been deforested since 1990. The countries of Central
America have lost about half their original forests, and deforestation continues on a systematic basis.
Tropical regions of Southeast Asia and Africa are being exploited for their timber at unsustainable rates,
causing deforestation that the next generation will have to deal with. India, with over a billion people, still
has a high demand for firewood and building materials; their forests are declining faster than they can be
replanted. China, with its billion plus population, has been attempting to address its deforestation
problems by implementing a massive replanting program and conservation measures. Other countries are
starting to adopt similar measures.

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Figure 2.7A man in Malawi carries firewood for cooking and heating
purposes.

Tropical rain forests only make up about 5 percent of the earth’s

surface but contain up to 50 percent of the earth’s biodiversity.
These forests are cut down for a variety of reasons. Norman
Meyers, a British environmentalist, estimated that about 5
percent of deforestation in tropical regions is caused by the push
for cattle production. Nineteen percent of these forests are cut
down by the timber industry, 22 percent are cut down for the
expansion of plantation agriculture, and 54 percent are removed
due to slash-and-burn farming. Most tropical rain forests are
located in the Amazon basin of South America, in central Africa, and in Southeast Asia. All these areas are
looking for advantages and opportunities to boost their economies; unfortunately, they often target their
tropical rain forests as a revenue source.

What Are the Problems with Deforestation?

Deforestation causes more than the loss of trees for fuel, building materials, paper products, or
manufacturing. Another related issue in the deforestation equation is soil erosion. Without the trees to
hold the soil during heavy rains, soils are eroded away, leaving the ground in an unproductive state. In
tropical areas, soils are often degraded and lack nutrients. Most of the nutrients in the tropical areas rest
in decaying material at the base of the trees that supplies energy back into the ecosystem. Once the trees
are removed, there is little replenishing of this energy supply. Soil erosion in tropical areas makes it hard
for forests to grow back once they have been removed.

Landslides- When conditions such as high water saturation or an earthquake cause large amounts of
earth to slide downward on a slope. It can be a more severe component of the soil erosion problem. After
heavy rainfall, entire hillsides saturated with water can slide downward, causing serious structural damage
to buildings, homes, and agricultural plots. Tree roots help hold hillsides together and therefore help
prevent landslides.

 Forests play an important role in the water cycle. Trees pull up moisture with their roots from the
soil and transpire it through their leaves back into the atmosphere. Moisture in the atmosphere
collects into clouds, condenses, and falls back to Earth. Not only do trees store water, but organic
matter at the base of the trees also stores water and makes it available to the larger ecosystem,
which may slow down water runoff. Forest canopies disperse water during rainfall and create
another layer of moisture in their leaves and branches, which either is used by other organisms
or evaporates back into the atmosphere. Deforestation eliminates the role that forests play in the
water cycle.
 Forest ecosystems provide for a diverse community of organisms. Tropical rain forests are one of
the most vibrant ecosystems on the planet. Their abundant biodiversity can provide insight into
untapped solutions for the future. Plants and organisms in these habitats may hold the key to
medical or biological breakthroughs, but wildlife and vegetation will be lost as deforestation
eliminates their habitat and accelerates the extinction of endangered species.

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Figure 2.8 Lumber Mill Processing Hardwood Timber

Trees and plants remove carbon dioxide

from the atmosphere and store it in the
plant structure through the process of
photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide is a major
greenhouse gas that is a part of the climate
change process. Carbon dioxide and other
similar gases reduce the amount of long-
wave radiation (heat) that escapes from the
earth’s atmosphere, resulting in increased
temperatures on the planet. As more
carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere, climate change occurs. The removal of trees through
deforestation results in less carbon dioxide being removed from the atmosphere, which contributes to
climate change. Slash-and-burn farming methods that burn forests release the carbon in the plant life
directly into the atmosphere, increasing the climate change effect.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate change has been a constant activity in the planet’s evolution. The increase in temperature in our
environment is the activity that has gained the most attention in recent years. Questions have been raised
about the rate and extent of climate change around the world. Understanding the dynamics of the
temperature increase can assist in understanding how it is related to human activity.

The atmosphere is the gaseous layer that surrounds the earth and marks the transition between its
surface and space. The atmosphere consists of a mixture of gases, composed of nitrogen (77 percent),
oxygen (21 percent), and minor elements (1 percent) including argon, helium, carbon dioxide, and water
vapor. The small amount of carbon dioxide is a critical component in the control of the earth’s
temperature. The atmosphere extends over three hundred miles above the earth’s surface, and the lower
level makes up the earth’s climatic system. This lowest level is called the troposphere and is responsible
for the conditions that allow life to exist on the planet’s surface.

Since the 1960s, scientists have been concerned about the concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane,
nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere. These so-called greenhouse gases can trap
heat energy emitted from the earth’s surface and may increase global temperatures and cause climate
change. Since the Industrial Revolution, human activity—the burning of fossil fuels and large-scale
deforestation—has increased the amount of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Carbon
dioxide and similar gases act like the glass panels of a greenhouse that allow shortwave radiation from
the sun to enter but do not allow the long-wave radiation of heat to escape into space.

An increase in carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will normally cause an increase in
the temperature of the planet’s climate, which in turn may cause changes in weather conditions in various
places on Earth. Temperature changes may affect precipitation patterns and alter weather patterns, which
may affect agricultural outputs and influence energy needs that can create increasing economic
instability. Changes in climate also impact environmental conditions for organisms adapted to specific
habitat ranges. When climates change, an organism’s habitable zone may also change, which in turn can
impact entire ecosystems.

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Deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels can contribute to climate change. Fossil fuels such as coal,
oil, and natural gas are created when dead plant and animal life are under pressure, decay for long
periods, and retain their carbon component. Burning fossil fuels releases the carbon back into the
atmosphere. The increasing need for energy and lumber by human activity will continue to contribute to
climate change unless alternatives can be found. The increase in temperatures may result in the melting
of the ice caps, which in turn may raise sea levels, impacting human activity around the world. More
information about climate change is included in chapter 13 on Antarctica.

TECTONIC PLATES
The movement of tectonic platesSeparate sections of the earth’s crust that move independently and
collide with each other, causing earthquakes and volcanic activity. is another aspect of the earth’s
dynamics that affects human activity. The earth’s crust, which is between 10 and 125 miles thick, is not
one big solid chunk but rather a series of plates that cover a molten iron core at the center of the planet.
The plates that cover the earth’s surface slowly shift and move. Plates can slide away from each other or
they can collide, and they can slide parallel to each other in opposite directions. When two plates collide
and one plate slides under an adjacent plate, the process is called subduction. Movement or shift where
two plates meet can cause earthquakes and is usually associated with volcanic activity.

Figure 2.9 General Pattern of Tectonic Plates

Mountain chains, such as the Himalayas, are a direct result of two plates colliding. The collision pushes up
the earth into a mountain chain, either by direct pressure or by volcanic activity. Plates can move up to
an inch a year in active regions. Driven by the earth’s internal heat, these plates have created the planet’s

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mountain landscapes. Earthquakes and volcanic action along plate boundaries (called faults) continue to
affect human activity and can cause serious economic damage to a community. Plate boundaries can be
found near many natural edges of continents. The continuous action of the plates causes serious
earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that can devastate human activities. Earthquakes near the sea often
trigger tsunamis that can create enormous waves that bring destruction to coastal regions in their path.
The earthquake off the east coast of Japan in 2011 created a tsunami that brought additional destruction
to nuclear energy facilities, exposing parts of Japan and the rest of the world to radiation.

Key Takeaways

1. Human activity on the planet correlates with the type of climate and terrain that presents itself
to humans in the form of natural resources or habitability. Six basic climate zones (A, B, C, D, E,
and H) describe the earth’s climate types. Temperature and precipitation are the two main
variables that create a climate zone and its corresponding environmental attributes.

2. The earth’s crust consists of a number of separate plates that move, creating earthquakes and
volcanic activity. Most mountain ranges on Earth are a product of tectonic plate activity.

3. Removing trees faster than they can grow back is called deforestation. Humans are cutting down
the forests in many areas at an unsustainable rate. Deforestation can result in soil erosion,
changes in weather patterns, and the loss of habitats. Trees are being cut down for firewood,
building materials, or profit.

4. Mountains or high elevation relief can restrict the passage of rain clouds and cause the clouds to
lose their precipitation as the air mass increases in elevation. The other side of the mountain or
range does not receive any precipitation and is reduced to a more arid or drier region, creating
desert conditions.

5. Climate change is a phenomenon whereby gases such as carbon dioxide and methane increase in
the troposphere and restrict long-wave radiation from escaping the planet, which can result in
warmer temperatures on Earth. Trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which may
reduce climate change.

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 Your task!
Answer the following questions:

1. What climate type do you live in?

2. What are the main attributes of each climate type?
3. What two main climatic qualities do humans gravitate toward?
4. What is the difference between weather and climate?
5. How can the main causes of deforestation be alleviated or diminished?
6. What are tectonic plates, and how do they help shape the planet?
7. How would tectonic plate movement affect human activities?
8. Who is responsible for addressing the problems caused by climate change? What can
you do about it?
9. What causes a rain shadow effect? Name some examples of this phenomenon.
10. Which regions of the planet are being affected the most by deforestation?

Activities

 Research and determine when the last three earthquakes nearest where you live occurred.
What damage did they cause?

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Visualizing Places and Landscapes
Learning Objective:

1. Understand the concept of landscape and place.

2. Differentiate cultural and natural landscape.
3. Identify the physical and human characteristic of place

LANDSCAPE
 A landscape is part of the Earth’s surface that can be viewed at one time from one place. It consists
of the geographic features that mark, or are characteristic of, a particular area.
 Landscape is the ‘human element’ of our environment; it is a common good that visibly and invisibly
frames everyday lives, helps to shape the world within us as well as around us, and contributes to
meeting significant economic and environmental challenges.

 The term comes from the Dutch word “landschap”, the name given to paintings of the
countryside. Geographers have borrowed the word from artists. Although landscape paintings have
existed since ancient Roman times (landscape frescoes are present in the ruins of Pompeii), they
were reborn during the Renaissance in Northern Europe. Painters ignored people or scenes in
landscape art, and made the land itself the subject of paintings. Famous Dutch landscape painters
include Jacob van Ruisdael and Vincent van Gogh.
 An artist paints a landscape; a geographer studies it. Some geographers, such as Otto Schluter,
actually define geography as landscape science. Schluter was the first scientist to write specifically of
natural landscapes and cultural landscapes.

 Natural Landscape
A natural landscape is made up of a collection of landforms, such as mountains, hills, plains,
and plateaus. Lakes, streams, soils (such as sand or clay), and natural vegetation are other
features of natural landscapes. A desert landscape, for instance, usually indicates sandy soil and
few deciduous trees. Even desert landscapes can vary: The hilly sand dunes of the Sahara
Desert landscape are very different from the cactus-dotted landscape of the Mojave Desert of
the American Southwest, for instance.

 Cultural Landscape
A landscape that people have modified is called a cultural landscape. People and the plants they

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 grow, the animals they care for, and the structures they build make up cultural landscapes. Such
landscapes can vary greatly. They can be as different as a vast cattle ranch in Argentina or
the urban landscape of Tokyo, Japan.

The World Heritage Committee of UNESCO (the United Nations Economic, Social, and Cultural
Organization) defines a cultural landscape in three ways.

 The first is a clearly defined landscape designed and created intentionally by man. The
Archaeological Landscape of the First Coffee Plantations in the South-East of Cuba, near
Santiago, Cuba, is an example of this type of cultural landscape.
 The second type of cultural landscape is an organically evolved landscape. An organically
evolved landscape is one where the spiritual, economic, and cultural significance of an area
developed along with its physical characteristics. The Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape,
along the banks of the Orkhon River in central Mongolia, is an example of an organically
evolved landscape. The Orkhon Valley has been used by Mongolian nomads since the 8th
century as pastureland for their horses and other animals. Mongolian herders still use the
rich river valley for pastureland today.
 The last type of cultural landscape is an associative cultural landscape. An associative
landscape is much like an organically evolved landscape, except physical evidence of
historical human use of the site may be missing. Its significance is an association with
spiritual, economic, or cultural features of a people. Tongariro National Park in New
Zealand is an associative cultural landscape for the Maori people. The mountains in the
park symbolize the link between the Maori and the physical environment.

Since 1992, the United Nations has recognized significant interactions between people and the
natural landscape as official cultural landscapes. The international organization protects these sites
from destruction, and identifies them as tourist destinations.

People and the Natural Landscape

The growth of technology has increased our ability to change a natural landscape. An example of human
impact on landscape can be seen along the coastline of the Netherlands. Water from the North Sea was
pumped out of certain areas, uncovering the fertile soil below. Dikes and dams were built to keep water
from these areas, now used for farming and other purposes.

Dams can change a natural landscape by flooding it. The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River, in
Yichang, China, is the world’s largest electric power plant. The Three Gorges Dam project has displaced
more than 1.2 million people and permanently altered the flow of the Yangtze River, changing both the
physical and cultural landscape of the region.

Many human activities increase the rate at which natural processes, such as weathering and erosion,
shape the landscape. The cutting of forests exposes more soil to wind and water erosion. Pollution such
as acid rain often speeds up the weathering, or breakdown, of the Earths rocky surface.

By studying natural and cultural landscapes, geographers learn how people’s activities affect the land.
Their studies may suggest ways that will help us protect the delicate balance of Earths ecosystems.

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 LANDMARKS - was structured around interdisciplinary subjects and objectives. These included the
analysis of the integration of past landscape elements in present-day landscapes, historical techniques
and technologies related to past landscape use, diachronic use of legal and administrative practices, past
landscape perception by the communities that inhabited and exploited them, and mechanisms for public
presentation of landscape cultural heritage.

PLACE
 One of the oldest tenets of geography is the concept of place. As a result, place has numerous
definitions, from the simple “a space or location with meaning” to the more complex “an area having
unique physical and human characteristics interconnected with other places.”
 The geographically informed person must understand the genesis, evolution, and meaning of places.
Places are locations having distinctive features that give them meaning and character that differs
from other locations. Therefore, places are human creations, and people’s lives are grounded in
particular places. We come from a place, we live in a place, and we preserve and exhibit fierce pride
over places. Places usually have names and boundaries and include continents, islands, countries,
regions, state, cities, neighborhoods, villages, and uninhabited areas.

There are three key components of place: location, locale, and a sense of place.
 Location is the position of a particular point on the surface of the Earth.
 Locale is the physical setting for relationships between people, such as the South of France or
the Smoky Mountains.
 Sense of Place is the emotions someone attaches to an area based on their experiences.
 Place can be applied at any scale and does not necessarily have to be fixed in either time or space.
Additionally, due to globalization, place can change over time as its physical setting and cultures are
influenced by new ideas or technologies.

The theme of place addresses this question: What's it like there? This theme considers the characteristics
that make one place different from all other places on earth. Geographers describe a place by two kinds
of characteristics;

 Physical characteristics: The physical characteristics of a place make up its natural environment
and are derived from geological, hydrological, atmospheric, and biological processes. They
include land forms, bodies of water, climate, soils, natural vegetation, and animal life. If a place
is described as hot, sandy, fertile, or forested, these terms all paint a picture of the location's
physical characteristics. A topographical map is one tool used to illustrate the physical
characteristics of a location.
 Human characteristics: The human characteristics of a place come from human ideas and
actions. They include bridges houses, and parks. Human characteristics of place also include land
use, density of population, language patterns, religion, architecture, and political system,
common foods, local folklore, means of transportation, and methods of communication. For
example, a location could be described as a technologically advanced French-speaking.

 The theme of place helps flesh out information about location. Taken together, the themes of
location and place provide a basis for observation in geography. These themes can be used to help
answer the first two questions of geography: Where is it? And why is it there? With a sense of

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 physical and human place, we can read the landscape around us and make observations about what
we see.
 Places change over time as both physical and human processes change and thus modify the
characteristics of a place.
 Places change in size and complexity as a result of new knowledge, ideas, human migrations, climatic
changes, or political conflicts.
 Places disappear and are renamed (e.g., Czechoslovakia became the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the
Spanish rebuilt Tenochtitlan and renamed it Mexico City, and St. Petersburg changed to Leningrad
and then reverted back to St. Petersburg).

Knowing the physical and human characteristics of their own places influences how people think about
who they are. Personal, community, and national identities are inextricably bound with a person’s and a
population’s experiences in those places. Knowing about other places influences how people
understand other peoples, cultures, and regions of the world. Such knowledge not only broadens a
person’s world perspective and allows a better understanding of places with which they have a strong
personal identity.

What is place-making?
As both an overarching idea and a hands-on approach for improving a neighborhood, city, or
region, place-making inspires people to collectively reimagine and reinvent public spaces as the heart of
every community. Strengthening the connection between people and the places they share, place-making
refers to a collaborative process by which we can shape our public realm in order to maximize shared
value. More than just promoting better urban design, place-making facilitates creative patterns of
use, paying particular attention to the physical, cultural, and social identities that define a place and
support its ongoing evolution.

With community-based participation at its center, an effective place-making process capitalizes on a

local community's assets, inspiration, and potential, and it results in the creation of quality public spaces
that contribute to people's health, happiness, and well-being.

What is place-marketing?

A practice involving the application of branding and sales strategies to different regions, cities, states or
countries. An example of place marketing in business consists of tourism departments and city councils
with place marketing teams competing to attract tourists and new residents use branding techniques.
Also called territorial marketing or place branding.

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 Your task!
Answer the following questions in an essay form.

 How would you describe where you live physically? Is your place flat or hilly, hot or
cold, wet or dry? What natural resources are found there?
 What are some of the human characteristics that describe your place? For example,
what types of houses are there? Are patterns of land use different from those in other
parts of the country? What types of industry are found, and how might they be
different from industries in other parts of the country?

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 PRE-ACTIVITY
4 PICS 1 WORD

DIRECTION: Identify what country is being portrayed by the pictures.

1. 2.

3. 4.

5.

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 The countries mentioned in the activities are the countries in the Central Asia.

CENTRAL ASIA
• Central Asia is a central region of Asia, extending
from the Caspian Sea in the west to the border
of western China in the east. It is bounded on
the north by Russia and on the south by Iran,
Afghanistan, and China. The region consists of
the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and
Turkmenistan.
• Central Asia’s landscape can be divided into the
vast grassy steppes of Kazakhstan in the north and the Aral Sea drainage basin in the south. About
60 percent of the region consists of desert land, the principal deserts.
• Central Asia experiences very dry climatic conditions, and inadequate precipitation has led to
heavy dependence on the Syr Darya and Amu Darya for irrigation.

RELIGION
• Muslim has been the dominant religion in Central Asia for nearly 1,300 years. For about three-
quarters of the last 100 years, Islam -- and religion in general -- was essentially outlawed in Central
Asia, since the region was part of the Soviet Union.

• Muslim in Central Asia has existed since the beginning of Islamic history. Islam is the most widely
practiced religion in Central Asia. The Hanafi school of thought of Sunnism is the most popular,
with Shiism of Imami and Ismaili denominations predominating in the Pamir plateau and the
western Tian Shan mountains (almost exclusively Ismailis), while boasting to a large minority
population in the Zarafshan river valley, from Samarkand to Bukhara

• Christianity in Asia has its roots in the very inception of Christianity, which originated from the life
and teachings of Jesus in 1st century Roman Judea. Christianity then spread through the
missionary work of his apostles, first in the Levant and taking roots in the major cities such as
Jerusalem and Antioch. According to tradition, further eastward expansion occurred via the
preaching of Thomas the Apostle, who established Christianity in the Parthian Empire (Iran) and
India.

OTHER RELIGION
• Sufism is a religious and philosophical Muslim teaching developed in the Arab countries in the
8thc. The cause for the development of Sufism was the state of social conditions in Muslim
countries. Sufism contains elements of New Platonism, Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and
particularly Buddhism.

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 • Buddhism in Central Asia When King Kanishka came to power in 78 AD in Central Asia a new
system of chronology was adopted, replacing the chronology from the era of the Seleucids.During
the Kushan period, various religious systems were widespread in Central Asia.

• Zoroastrianism is a system of religious beliefs, which spread through the territory of ancient Iran
and Central Asia in the 7thc.-6thc. BC.

NOT RELIGIOUS

• According to a Pew Research Center survey in 2017 non-religious (including agnostics and
atheists) make up about 1.2% of Central Asia population. According to the same survey, the non-
religious are the majority of the population in Central Asia countries/territories:

LANGUAGE
• Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen, Uzbek are the languages in Central Asia and all sound very exotic
and most people have difficulties to classify them. Knowing the national languages or a few
words opens many doors for travelers. Often it’s enough being able to say hello and thank you
to put a smile on the other persons face.

OTHER LANGUAGE
RUSSIAN – THE LINGUA FRANCA – AND ENGLISH

• Due to the common Russian (Czarist / Soviet Union) past, the Russian language is widespread
throughout Central Asia and is still used as the lingua franca. The spread of Russian, however, is
steadily decreasing. However, this depends on the country and in the countryside, it is usually
more difficult to communicate in Russian. In Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan Russian is still an official

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 language. At the moment English is not much spread in Central Asia, but the western influence
and the interest in the English language, mainly among young people, increase.

PEOPLE OF CENTRAL ASIA

 The people of Central Asia are basically divided into two types: the traditional nomads and
semi-nomads (Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Mongols and Turkmen) and the settled people (the Uzbeks and
Tajiks). According the DNA studies, Tajiks, Uzbeks and Turkmen have retained their "ethnic
purity."
 There has traditionally been a lot of intermarriage between the ethnic groups of Central Asia.
Uzbeks and Tajiks have traditionally been difficult to distinguish from one another. The same is
true with Kyrgyz and Kazakhs. Clan and regional ties have historically been more important than
ethnic identity.
 Alexandre Bennigsen wrote in 1979 that ‘sub-national and supra-national loyalties remain
strong in Central Asia and actively compete with national ones’; however, his thesis that this
supra-national identity ought to be based on anti-Russian ‘pan-Turkestanism’ with the Uzbeks as
its directing element is difficult to accept, at least as far as Tajikistan is involved.
 The current population of Central Asia is 73,454,141 as of Wednesday, September 18, 2019,
based on the latest United Nations estimates.
 Central Asia population is equivalent to 0.95% of the total world population.
 Central Asia ranks number 5 in Asia among subregions ranked by Population.
 The population density in Central Asia is 19 per Km2 (48 people per mi2).
 The total land area is 3,926,790 Km2 (1,516,141 sq. miles)
 48 % of the population is urban (35,150,176 people in 2019).
 The median age in Central Asia is 26.6 years.

THE SOVIET REPUBLICS

Central Asia, central region of Asia, extending from the Caspian Sea in the west to the border of
western China in the east. It is bounded on the north by Russia and on the south by Iran, Afghanistan, and
China. The region consists of the former Soviet republics
of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan.

 UZBEKISTAN- is a Central Asian nation and former Soviet

republic. It's known for its mosques, mausoleums and other sites
linked to the Silk Road, the ancient trade route between China and
the Mediterranean.
• Capital- Tashkent
• Geographical Information
-The mountains of the southeast and northeast are foothills and lower mountains of the Tian
Shan Range, an extension of the Himalayas

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PROMINENT CULTURE
• The culture of Uzbekistan is vibrant and unique—it was formed over thousands of years,
incorporating the traditions and customs of the peoples who at various times inhabited the
territory of modern Uzbekistan.
• The traditions reflecting the multinational nature of Uzbekistan are omnipresent in its music,
dance, painting, applied arts, language, cuisine, and clothing. Each region of Uzbekistan has its
own unique shades as well, which are most clearly manifested in national dress and local
dialects.
• The festivals attract creative souls from all regions of the country, and here that you can see the
full assortment of Uzbek dances, music, applied arts, etc.
NATURAL LANDMARKS

• Boj-Bulok Cave (Festivalnaja) – Surxondaryo. Very deep cave,

explored up to the depth of 1,415 m, length – 14 270 m. There is
expectation that research of additional cave passages can make this
cave the deepest in the world.

• Anghilak Cave – Qashqadaryo. This cave contains remnants of Middle

Paleolithic people (or, possibly, other species of humans), which could be
up to 43,000 years old.

ECONOMY
• Uzbekistan’s economic freedom score is 53.3, making its economy the 140th freest in the 2019
Index. Its overall score has increased by 1.8 points, led by robustly higher scores for investment
freedom, labor freedom, and business freedom.
• Uzbekistan is ranked 36th among 43 countries in the Asia–Pacific region, and its overall score is
below the regional and world averages.
• The country has a long history of corruption, protectionism, and government intervention in
various aspects of the economy that has hampered growth.
POTENTIAL FOR GROWTH
• Uzbekistan is in its second year of a wide-ranging market-oriented program of reforms. The
government is making three fundamental shifts to the economy: from a command-and-control
to a market-based economy; from a public sector-dominated to a private sector-driven
economy; and from being inward-looking and isolationist to outward looking and open.
• Seize the new opportunities—from the digital economy, from Asia’s rising middle class, and
from investments associated to the Belt-and-Road Initiative
• Fast-growing working-age population and can use its labor force to drive growth. In 2017,
Uzbekistan had a working-age population of about 23 million, which is 72 percent of its
population.
• About 13 million participated in the labor force. By 2030, the labor force will increase by 4
million, making Uzbekistan’s the fifth largest in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA)
region.

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CRISIS (WATER)
• Uzbekistan have argued over their water resources since the collapse of the Soviet Union. At
times these disputes have seemed to threaten war. The forthcoming presidential summit in
Astana can help banish that spectre.

 KAZAKHSTAN- a Central Asian country and former

Soviet republic, extends from the Caspian Sea in the west to the Altai
Mountains at its eastern border with China and Russia. Its largest
metropolis, Almaty, is a long-standing trading hub whose landmarks
include Ascension Cathedral

• Capital- Nur-Sultan
• Geographical Information
- Kazakhstan is mountainous along its far eastern and southeastern borders, where much
of the forested Altai and Tian Shan ranges remain snowcapped throughout the year and
with many elevated peaks exceeding 6,500 meters. Just over 70% of the country is a
desert or semi-desert dry mix of eroded lowlands, grasslands and sandy areas.

PROMINENT CULTURE
• The Kazakh people are rich in traditions. From birth through old age and death, every step of their
lives has historically been marked with celebration. Even their funeral ceremonies have their own
special symbolism.
• The main tradition of Kazakhs, which eventually transformed into a feature of national character,
is hospitality.
• Respect for the elderly is another positive feature of Kazakhs.
• They wear traditional Kazakh clothes and enjoy holidays with games, horseracing, singing, dancing
and much more.

NATURAL LANDMARKS

• Big Almaty Lake is a natural reservoir perched high in the Ili

Alatau mountains, more than 8,000 feet above sea level,
backdropped by three peaks that rise above the canyon.

• The Charyn Canyon is located in the

Charyn National Park about 215km east of Almaty and approximately a 3 hour
drive via the A 351 and A 352. The Canyon itself is approximately 150 km long,
and, in places up to 300 meters deep.

ECONOMY
• Kazakhstan’s economic freedom score is 65.4, making its economy the 59th freest in the 2019
Index. Its overall score has decreased by 3.7 points because of a steep decline in the score for
fiscal health

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 • Kazakhstan is ranked 12th among 43 countries in the Asia–Pacific region, and its overall score is
above the regional and world averages.

POTENTIAL GROWTH
• Kazakhstan is the leading market in Central Asia and has emerged as a major transport and
logistics hub in the region. The country links the large and fast-growing markets of China and
South Asia and those of Russia and Western Europe by road, rail, and a port on the Caspian Sea.
• Kazakhstan has an abundance of natural resources, including oil & gas, coal and mineral deposits
and its economy continues to be fueled by extractive industries.
• With a growing middle class and economic growth poised to reach 4 percent in 2019,
Kazakhstan provides trade and investment prospects for U.S. firms seeking new opportunities in
one of the most dynamic of the emerging markets.

CRISIS (ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL)

• The speaker of Kazakhstan’s parliament, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, “dropped a political
bombshell” in an interview with the BBC President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
• Increased speculation that focused on two related questions: When will Nazarbayev step down?
And what will he do to ensure that a stable political transition takes place once he leaves office.
• Any instability in Kazakhstan likely would concern Washington. Kazakhstan allows to transport
Afghanistan-bound supplies through its territory, and U.S. companies have invested billions of
dollars in Kazakhstan’s oil and gas sectors.

 TAJIKISTAN is a country in Central Asia surrounded by

Afghanistan, China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. It’s known for
rugged mountains, popular for hiking and climbing.
• Capital: Dushanbe
• Geographical Information
- Tajikistan is almost all mountains (93%), dominated by the Alay Range in the north and
the Pamir Mountains to the southeast. In fact, more than half of the country is higher
than 3,000 m, (9,842 ft.) in elevation. Tajikistan's highest point is Qullai Ismoili Somoni,
and peaks at 24,589 ft. (7,495 m).

PROMINENT CULTURE
• The Tajik identity and culture dates back several thousand years in terms of language, beliefs,
and habits.
• It had shaped the culture, particularly the art, food, music, and festivals.
• The Tajik people are family-oriented, sincere, and known for friendliness and hospitality.
• There remains a strong folk art tradition across the nation, particularly with the creation of
textiles, embroidery, and other practical decorative arts such as carving, furniture, and jewelry
making. The art tends to be based on nature. A little-known fact about Tajikistan is that the
asymmetrical ‘Black Prince’s Ruby’ in the Imperial Crown of England originally came from here,
as did the tulips for which Holland became famous.

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NATURAL LANDMARKS
• Kuhi-Malik Fiery Caves – Sughd. Unique caves formed by a natural fire
in coal layers. Earth here still is scorching hot. Some specialists consider
that these fires may have served as inspiration to Zoroastrian religion.

• Jarajand travertine wall and hot springs –

southern Kuhistoni-Badakhshan. Huge travertine formation deposited by
a hot spring.

ECONOMY
• Tajikistan’s economic freedom score is 55.6, making its economy the 122nd freest in the 2019
Index. Its overall score has decreased by 2.7 points, with a steep drop in fiscal health
overwhelming improvements in business freedom and trade freedom.
• Tajikistan is ranked 28th among 43 countries in the Asia–Pacific region, and its overall score is
below the regional and world averages.
• The government’s main priorities are to support the banking sector, still on the verge of
collapse, and secure external financing for large infrastructure projects.
POTENTIAL GROWTH
• Tajikistan’s reliance on a narrow export base and remittances, coupled with a widening trade
deficit, has made the economy vulnerable to external economic shocks.
• Diversifying production and exports could improve incomes and economic resilience, and
sustain economic growth in the country, says a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) report.
• In its Asian Development Outlook (ADO 2019), ADB forecasts Tajikistan’s gross domestic product
growth to moderate to 7.0% in 2019 and 6.5% in 2020, from the 7.3% economic growth rate
recorded in 2018. ADO is ADB’s flagship annual economic publication.
• Tajikistan will reap significant economic dividends by strengthening its information technology
infrastructure—making internet access cheaper and better and encouraging private investment
in data and voice services
CRISIS (HIV)
• Tajikistan’s three largest cities began testing students for HIV. According to Dilshod
Saiburkhonov, deputy director of the Republican Center for the Prevention and Control of AIDS,
the government campaign to test approximately 120,000 students in Dushanbe, Tursunzoda,
and Kulob was launched in accordance with the government’s protocol request adopted.
• HIV in Tajikistan. According to the United Nations Joint Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), in 2016,
there were approximately 14,000 individuals living with HIV in Tajikistan, even though official
government statistics place that figure significantly lower. UNAIDS reported at the time that
new cases of HIV infection had increased 23 percent since 2010

 KYRGYZSTAN, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, and also

known as Kirghizia, is a country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is a
landlocked country with mountainous terrain. It is bordered by

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Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west and southwest, Tajikistan to the southwest and China
to the east.
• Capital: Bishkek
• Geographical Information
- The landlocked nation of Kyrgyzstan is bordered to the north by Kazakhstan, to the west by
Uzbekistan, and to the south and east by Tajikistan and China. The majestic Tien Shan
(Heavenly Mountains) range occupies the greater part of the area and 90% of the country
stands above 1,500m, with 71% above 2,000m. The highest peak in Kyrgyzstan is Pik Pobedy
at 7439m and the lowest point is Kara Daryya at 132m. Kyrgyzstan is also home to several
sizeable lakes, by far the largest being Lake Issyk-Kul in the northwest of the country, which
stands at 1606 m above sea level and is the second largest alpine lake in the world. The climate
is extreme and varied, ranging from dry continental to polar in the high Tien Shan, from
subtropical in the southwest to temperate in the northern fort hill zone.

PROMINENT CULTURE
• Kyrgyzstan is a mountainous country with a very rich baggage of culture and traditions.
• One of the most famous traditions is a beishik toi, a celebration when a baby is born. Once a
baby is given a name, the preparations for the celebrations start. Dozens of guests are invited,
cattle is sacrificed, food is cooked, and people are entertained.
• Another famous tradition is tushoo kesuu, a ceremony when a baby starts making first steps. It
is one of the oldest Kyrgyz customs.

NATURAL LANDMARKS

• Barskoon Falls – Issyk-Kul. Group of several waterfalls which are up to 24 m tall.

• Sokuluk Falls – Chuy. Approximately 60 m tall waterfall with a single, impressive leap
• Katvan Cave – Batken. Cave with prehistoric cave paintings.

ECONOMY

• The Kyrgyz Republic’s economic freedom score is 62.3, making its economy the 79th freest in
the 2019 Index. Its overall score has decreased by 0.5 point, with higher scores on judicial
effectiveness and trade freedom unable to offset a sharp drop in fiscal health.
• The Kyrgyz Republic is ranked 17th among 43 countries in the Asia–Pacific region, and its overall
score is above the regional and world averages.
• Despite some reforms, overall improvement in the Kyrgyz Republic’s entrepreneurial
environment has been slow and uneven.

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POTENTIAL FOR GROWTH
• Agricultural Potential for Growth and Development realizing the potential of high-value agri-
food exports is the cornerstone of the new government’s policy objectives for agriculture
development.
• The new government has declared that its priorities for agriculture sector development will be
promoting high-value agri-food production and organic agriculture, improving the quality and
safety of agri-food and orienting assistance to producers of those groups of agricultural products
(such as selected fruits and vegetables, legumes, dried fruits) that have potential to generate
high value-added in export markets.

CRISIS (TERRORISM)
• Widespread anti-government protests in Kyrgyzstan recently turned violent, with groups of
opposition protesters attempting to storm some government buildings, and clashing with riot
police. Tensions are high, as Kyrgyz authorities declared a national state of emergency, and are
enforcing curfews in at least three cities.
• As riot police fired on opposition members and protesters fought with stones and captured
weapons, estimates of casualties have varied widely, with reports ranging from 12 killed to over
100 killed.
• Opposition leaders appear to have taken over some of the national television channels, and
President Kurmanbek Bakiyev appears to have fled the capital, Bishkek overnight.

 TURKMENISTAN is a country in Central Asia bordered by

the Caspian Sea and largely covered by the Karakum Desert. It’s
known for archaeological ruins including those at Nisa and
Merv, major stops along the ancient trade route the Silk Road.
• Capital: Ashgabat
• Geographical Information-
-Most of Turkmenistan is dominated by the flat Garagum (or Kara Kum) Desert (north to
south), a sandy, scrubby, arid expanse of land. The Mountain Range covers its south-central
border with Iran, where earthquakes are quite common. The Pamir Mountain Range extends
across its far eastern border - where its highest point is located, Gora Ayribaba which peaks at
10,298 ft. (3,139 m).

PROMINENT CULTURE
• Religion in Turkmenistan. 93% of Turkmenistan's population is Muslim with a higher percentage
being Sunni Muslim. ...
• Turkmen Cuisine. Being in Central Asia, the cuisine in Turkmenistan is similar to that of their
neighboring countries.
• Some Turkmen people wear jewelry for both spiritual and cosmetic purposes. Traditionally, the
amount of jewelry worn by an individual has been symbolic of the individual's status in society.
The Turkmen jewelers traded with and learned from the people they met because they were
nomads, especially people from the Middle East.

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NATURAL LANDMARKS
• Door To Hell (Darvaze burning gas field) – Daşoguz, a collapsed cavern
with a diameter of some 70 m and depth of some 20 m. It formed
during the exploration of petrochemical resources in 1971 and has
been burning since then with bright flames.

• Hashim-Oyyk cave (Hoshmoyuk Cave) – Lebap.

Approximately 10 km long cave which is adorned with beautiful aragonite
and gypsum crystals.

ECONOMY
• Turkmenistan’s economic freedom score is 48.4, making its economy the 164th freest in the
2019 Index. Its overall score has increased by 1.3 points.
• Turkmenistan is ranked 40th among 43 countries in the Asia–Pacific region
• Turkmenistan’s hydrocarbons exports. It has done little to improve the business climate,
privatize state-owned industries, or combat rampant corruption even though dependence on
hydrocarbons and lack of diversification have deepened the country’s economic.

POTENTIAL FOR GROWTH

• Turkmenistan’s gas reserves are estimated to be the world’s fourth largest, representing about
10 percent of global reserves. In addition to cotton and natural gas, the country is rich in
petroleum, sulfur, iodine, salt, bentonite clays, limestone, gypsum, and cement—all potential
inputs to chemical and construction industries.
• China remains the largest market for Turkmenistan’s hydrocarbon exports. In an attempt to
diversify gas exports, the country is embarking on the construction of the Turkmenistan-
Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline.

CRISIS (SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY)

• Turkmenistan faced Homosexual conduct is a criminal offense under Turkmen law, punishable
by a maximum two-year prison sentence. The Turkmen government rejected recommendations,
made during Turkmenistan’s Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations Human Rights
Council (UNHRC) in May, to decriminalize homosexual conduct.

Your task!
Watch the video provided and make a reflection paper about it. You are also
advised to give your insight about this place.

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SOUTHEAST ASIA

Southeast Asia consists of eleven countries that

reach from eastern India to China, and is generally
divided into “mainland” and “island” zones. The
mainland (Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and
Vietnam) is actually an extension of the Asian
continent. Muslims can be found in all mainland
countries, but the most significant populations are
in southern Thailand and western Burma (Arakan).
The Cham people of central Vietnam and
Cambodia are also Muslim.

Island or maritime Southeast Asia includes

Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines,
Brunei, and the new nation of East Timor (formerly
part of Indonesia). Islam is the state religion in
Malaysia and Brunei. Although 85 percent of Indonesia’s population of over 234,000,000 are Muslims, a
larger number than any other country in the world, Islam is not the official state religion. Muslims are a
minority in Singapore and the southern Philippines.

HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST ASIA

Southeast Asia (Spice islands and golden pagodas)
 The name southeast Asia refers to the two peninsulas and two archipelagos that occupy the
south eastern corner of the Asian continent-a region roughly bounded by China on the North ;
India, Bangladesh, In the bay od Bengal on the west; The indian ocean on the south; and the
pacific ocean on the east what we know called south east asia used to be referred to us the “
East Indies “ and sometimes “ Indochina” although the latter term technically refers only to
part of the region.

SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization)

 Regional Defense agreement signed by Australia, New Zealand, France, Pakistan, The
Philippines, Thailand, Britain, and the USA in manila in 1954. it was formed in a response to
communist expansion in Southeast Asia. With administrative head quarters in Bangkok SEATO
had no standing forces some members were unwilling to support the USA in the Vietnam war
and SEATO was abandoned in 1977.

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ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nation)
 Regional alliance formed in 1967 to promote economic cooperation. Its members are Indonesia,
Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Burma, East-Timor, Cambodia.
Based in Jakarta Indonesia it took over the nonmilitary aspect of the Southeast Asia Treaty
Organization (SEATO)

COUNTRIES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND THEIR FLAG

 INDONESIA- This flag was adopted in 1945 when Indonesia proclaimed itself independent from the
Netherlands. The colors which, date back to the middle age were adopted in 1920s by political groups
in their struggle against Dutch rule.

 BURMA-The colors in Burma’s flag were adopted in 1948 when the country gain independence from
Britain. The emblem, added in 1974 consist of a cogwheel and dries plant symbolizing industry and
agricultural respectively.

 CAMBODIA -Cambodia adopted the present nation flag in 1948. The central emblem, a stylized
representation of the 12th-century temple of Angkor Wat has been a symbol of Khmer monarchy since
the 19th century.

 EAST-TIMOR- The yellow triangle represent its prior colonial history, the black triangle represents the
prior obscurantism, while red symbolic of the struggle for liberation, and white star is the symbolic of
peace.

 BRUNEI- the Brunei flag was officially adopted on September 29 1959. The flag Features the national
emblem. Yellow represents the Sultan of Brunei, and the Black and White stripes represent the
country’s chief ministers.

 MALAYSIA- Malaysia adopted its present flag when It became a federation in 1963. The 14 red and
white stripes represent the members of the federation. The dark blue canton stands for Malaysia’s
unity and its place within the commonwealth the yellow star and crescent are symbol of Islam.

 SINGAPORE- Singapore’s flag was adopted in 1959 and it was retained when Singapore broke away
from the federation of Malaysia in 1963. The crescent moon denotes the emergence of the new
nation. The five stars stand for Singapore's ideals of democracy, peace, justice, progress, and equality.

 LAOS - The Laos flag was officially adopted on December 2, 1975. The white circle on the blue field
is said to represent the moon shining over the Mekong River. The blue stripe represents wealth, and
the red represents the blood shed during the internal struggle for freedom.

 VIETNAM- Resistance group’s first adopted Vietnam’s flag in the liberation struggle against japan in
world war II. The sun can be seen as the star of communism, with the five points represent the
groups that help to build socialism in Vietnam: farmers, workers, intellectuals, youths and soldiers.

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 PHILIPPINES- This flag was adopted in 1898, and ratified in 1946. The eight rays of the large sun
represent the eight provinces that led the revolts against Spanish rule in 1898. The three smaller
stars stand for the three main geographical regions-Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

 THAILAND- Thailand’s flag was adopted in 1917. In the late 19th century, it featured a white
elephant on a plain red flag. In 1916, white stripes were introduce above and below the elephant,
but in 1917 the elephant was dropped and a central blue band was added.

POPULATION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

 The current population of South-Eastern Country Population (2020)
Asia is 669,451,873 as of Monday, August
17, 2020, based on the latest United Indonesia 273,523,615
Nations estimates.
 South-Eastern Asia population is Philippines 109,581,078
equivalent to 8.58% of the total world
population. Vietnam 97,338,579
 South-Eastern Asia ranks
number 3 in Asia among subregions Thailand 69,799,978
ranked by Population.
 The population density in South-Eastern Myanmar 54,409,800
Asia is 154 per Km2 (399 people per mi2).
 The total land area is 4,340,700 Km2 Malaysia 32,365,999
(1,675,953 sq. miles)
 50 % of the population Cambodia 16,718,965
is urban (334,418,881 people in 2019).
Laos 7,275,560
 The median age in South-Eastern Asia
is 30.2years.
Singapore 5,850,342

ECONOMY

The Economies of Southeast Asian Nations

For ages, Southeast Asia was a critical part of the global trading system, spices being the most important
commodity. Today it is an increasingly high tech marketplace. Early trade in Southeast Asia started
with China and its neighbors trading goods. The Portuguese settled the Maluku in the 16th century,
followed by Spaniards in the Philippines. The next centuries saw the Dutch, French, and British explorers
make their mark in Southeast Asia. Although before the 16th century, Southeast Asia was already part of
the global trading system with Indians and Arabs controlling the spice trade. The Galleon trade mostly
replaced the old trade routes as far as the New World. Spices, honey, and natural products were traded
with western goods. Formal relations were established as trade improved. Soon, many Asians traveled
abroad to study and returned to establish businesses in their own countries.

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 Major Economies of Southeast Asia

The rise of Asian economies began with the Chinese migration to neighboring Asian countries in the 16th
century reaching its apex in 1949. Together with this migration, industries such as rubber, mining, rice,
manufacturing and services prospered. After individual countries had gained their independence, modern
industries followed in oil, automobile plants, hi-tech goods, and telecoms leading the economies. The
following ASEAN member countries are the major movers in the region’s economy in 2016.

 ASEAN Economic Relations

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries meet semiannually to discuss
cultural and economic issues among member states. Common themes are mutual cooperation in
investment and trade, climate change, energy, environment, regional conflicts, poverty, and oil prices. It
also holds an annual meeting with its Asian neighbors called the ASEAN dialogue partners. This
organization is composed of China, Japan, India, and South Korea. A second set is composed
of Australia and New Zealand. Meetings with the two groups are held separately although some semi-
annual meetings are held together.

Poorest to Richest Country in Southeast Asia

Rank Country Per Capita Income (USD)

1 Myanmar 1,297.68

2 Cambodia 1,508.82

3 Timor-Leste 2,435.05

4 Vietnam 2,551.12

5 Laos 2,720.32

6 Philippines 3,103.62

7 Indonesia 3,870.56

8 Thailand 7,187.19

9 Malaysia 10,941.75

10 Brunei Darussalam 32,413.92

11 Singapore 64,041.42

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THE TOP THREE ECONOMIES

1. Singapore - $64,041

The city-state of Singapore is the richest economy in Southeast Asia when ranked in terms of
GDP per capita. The country has a highly developed market economy, which ranks towards the top
on global lists of the freest and most competitive economies. Singapore is considered to be one of
the least corrupt nations of the world and is ranks first on the list of easiest places to do business.
With its negligible corruption rate, advanced infrastructure, easy access to the sea, and highly
skilled workforce, there is never a lack of foreign investment in Singapore, and over 7,000
multinational companies operate within the country. Non-Singaporeans constitute about 44% of
the workforce here. The low tax rate has also increased its popularity as a tax haven, and Singapore
hosts the highest percentage of millionaires in the world.

2. Brunei - $32,414

A small Southeast Asian nation located on the northern coast of the island of Borneo, Brunei is
the second wealthiest economy in the region in terms of GDP per capita. About 90% of Brunei's
GDP depends on oil and natural gas production. The country receives substantial foreign
investments that supplement the income of the nation. Income from agriculture contributes only
0.7% to the GDP, while incomes from the industrial and services sectors account for 73.3% and 26%
of Brunei’s GDP, respectively. The country relies heavily on imports for its food requirements. The
country's main industries include petroleum and natural gas, as well as construction. Japan, South
Korea, Australia, India, and New Zealand are the top export partners of Brunei.

3. Malaysia - $10,942

Malaysia is the third richest Southeast Asian country in terms of GDP per capita. The country has
a newly industrialized market economy, with significant influence from the state. The Malaysian
economy was ranked as the 20th most competitive between 2014 and 2015. The country has one
of the fastest growing economies in the region and is rapidly approaching its target of becoming a
developed economy. Although the Malaysian economy has historically heavily relied on agriculture,
the sector now contributes only 7.1% to the country's the GDP. Industry accounts for 36.8% of the
national GDP, while the services sector is the biggest contributor, accounting for 56.2% of national
GDP. Tourism is also heavily promoted in the country to increase the GDP of the nation. Some of
the top exports from Malaysia include palm oil, liquefied natural gas, rubber, machinery, and
chemicals. Malaysia was ranked as the world’s third-best place for retirement between 2013 and
2014.

The Three Poorest Southeast Asia Economies

1. Myanmar - $1,298

Myanmar, also known as Burma, has the poorest economy in Southeast Asia. The country had a
highly stagnant and isolated economy for decades, but the current government is attempting to
create positive economic change in Myanmar. Adequate infrastructure and a large skilled workforce
are both lacking in the nation. in 2012, 37% of the nation's population was unemployed and 26%
lived below the national poverty line. Agriculture serves as the primary sector, and contributes 70%

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 to the national GDP. Industries and services account for only 8% and 22% of the national GDP,
respectively. Burma also receives one of the lowest levels of international aid in the world, at only
$4 per capita.

2. Cambodia - $1,509

The second poorest Southeast Asian nation in terms of GDP per capita is Cambodia. Cambodia
was previously categorized as a Least Developed Country, but its status was promoted to Lower
Middle Income in 2016. The agricultural, industrial, and services sectors account for 34.7%, 24.3%,
and 41.0% of the national GDP of Cambodia, respectively. As of 2012, 18.6% of the Cambodian
population live below the poverty line, and 3.5% of the population is unemployed.

3. Timor-Leste - $2,435

The Maritime Southeast Asian nation of Timor-Leste is the third poorest economy in Southeast
Asia. With a ranking of 133, Timor-Leste is low on the Human Development Index. 20% of the
national population of Timor-Leste is unemployed, 49.9% live below the poverty line, and nearly half
of the population lack literacy. One of the prime reasons for these outcomes is Timor-Leste's
decades-long struggle for independence from Indonesia. Soap manufacturing, handicrafts, and
printing are some of the nation's main industries. Marble, coffee, sandalwood are the country's top
exports.

PROMINENT CULTURE
The Western colonial influences and increasing tourism’s impact on the modern culture of Southeast
Asia, Buddhism has always had the biggest impact on the mainland countries of Southeast Asia
(Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar).

RELIGION
There are five major religions practice in Southeast Asia including: Christianity, Judaism, Confucianism,
Buddhism, and Hinduism

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Ethnic group

 Southeast Asia’s population includes a wide variety of ethnic groups and cultures.
This diversity is related to its position as a focus of converging land and sea routes. In addition,
over the span of human habitation, the region alternately has been a bridge and a barrier to the
movement of people. The peopling of Southeast Asia took place through various southward
migrations. The initial peoples arrived from the Asian continental interior. Successive movement
displaced these initial settlers and created a complex ethnic pattern.
 On the mainland the Khmer peoples of Cambodia remain as ancestors of earlier Pareoean
peoples. Similarly, remnants of the Mon group are found in parts of Myanmar and Thailand; the
ethnic mixture there has been produced by overlaying Tibeto-Burman and Tai, Lao,
and Shan peoples. The contemporary Vietnamese population originated from the Red River area
in the north and may be a mixture of Tai and Malay peoples. Added to these major ethnic
groups are such less numerous peoples as the Karens, Chins, and Nāgas in Myanmar, who
have affinities with other Asiatic peoples. Insular Southeast Asia contains a mixture of
descendants of Proto-Malay (Nesiot) and Pareoean peoples who were influenced by Malayo-
Polynesian and other groups. In addition, Arabic, Indian, and Chinese influences have affected
the ethnic pattern of the islands.
 In modern times the Burmans account for more than two-thirds of the ethnic stock of Myanmar,
while ethnic Thais and Vietnamese account for about four-fifths of the respective populations of
those countries. Indonesia is clearly dominated by the Javanese and Sundanese ethnic groups,
while Malaysia is more evenly split between the Malays and the Chinese. Within the Philippines,
the Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, and Bicol groups are significant.


POTENTIAL GROWTH
 The number of international visitors to the ASEAN region is expected to grow at a compound
annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.72 percent from 129.2 million in 2018 to 155.4 million in 2022,
says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
 Global Data’s latest report, “Tourism Destination Market Insights: ASEAN,” reveals that each
country in the region has huge potential for growth in the next three years as intra-ASEAN travel
increases and travelers from further afield seek more adventurous holidays.
 Laura Beaton, travel and tourism analyst at GlobalData, commented: “As disposable incomes
rise, solo-travelers, families and couples are all attracted to the ASEAN region for its beauty,
range of activities and friendly locals. Backpacking, medical & wellness travel and food tourism
will be some important trends for the countries to embrace in order to increase their appeal
further.”

44 | P a g e PLACES AND LANDSCAPE IN A CHANGING WORLD | [email protected]

LANDMARKS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

 Angkor Wat (Cambodia) is an enormous Buddhist temple complex

located in northern Cambodia. It was originally built in the first half
of the 12th century as a Hindu temple. Spread across more than 400
acres, Angkor Wat is said to be the largest religious monument in the
world. Its name, which translates to “temple city” in the Khmer
language of the region, references the fact it was built by Emperor
Suryavarman II, who ruled the region from 1113 to 1150, as the state
temple and political center of his empire. Originally dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, Angkor Wat
became a Buddhist temple by the end of the 12th century.

 The Temple of Borobudur (Indonesia) or sometimes "Barabudur" is

a Mahayana Buddhist temple located close to Muntilan on the
island of Java in Indonesia. Built during the rule of the Sailendra
Dynasty (c. 650-1025 CE), Borobudur remains the world's largest
Buddhist temple. The Buddhists among the Javanese population
performed pilgrimages and other rituals at Borobudur until around
the 14th and 15th centuries CE when the temple was abandoned as
many Javanese converted to Islam
 Petronas Twin Towers (Malaysia), pair of skyscraper office
buildings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that are among the world’s
tallest buildings. The Twin Towers, built to house the headquarters
of Petronas, the national petroleum company of Malaysia, were
designed by the Argentine-born American architect Cesar Pelli;
they were completed in 1998. The plan for each tower is identical:
an eight-lobed circular structure that contains 88 stories of
occupiable space and a pyramid-shaped pinnacle surmounted by a
slender steel spire. Both rise to a height of 1,483 feet (451.9 metres), which includes 242 feet (73.6
metres) for pinnacle and spire. Each building is supported by 16 large columns around its perimeter,
which, along with the rest of the frame, are made of high-strength, steel-reinforced concrete rather
than of structural steel; the exterior sheathing consists of stainless steel and glass. A skybridge two
stories tall links the two towers between the 41st and 42nd stories.

 The Puerto Princesa Underground River (Philippines) is an 8.2km

long underground river. The river is located within the Puerto
Princesa Subterranean River National Park in the Philippines,
approximately 30 miles north of the city of Puerto Princesa. To reach
the entrance to the river you only need to take a short ferry ride
from the town of Sabang. The river flows right into the sea, after
passing through some of the most beautiful rock formations in the
world. The river has gained worldwide admiration and attention,
leading it to be included as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature in 2011.

45 | P a g e PLACES AND LANDSCAPE IN A CHANGING WORLD | [email protected]

  Gardens by the Bay (Singapore) comprises three public gardens
in Marina Bay occupying a total land area of 1,010,000 sq m (101
ha).1 Built on reclaimed land, the three gardens – Bay South, Bay
East and Bay Central – started out as projects of the National Parks
Board (NParks).2 They have since grown to become part of an
independently managed organisation.3 Housed within the Gardens
are cooled conservatories, individual themed gardens, event and
dining spaces, connecting waterways, lakes, aerial bridges and the showpiece Supertrees. The latter
are structures up to 50 m in height, covered by plants.4 Bay South, the largest garden, officially opened
on 29 June 2012.

JAPAN
Japan, one of the world’s most literate and technically
advanced nations, is an East Asian archipelago country made
up of four primary islands and more than 6,800 others. While
most of Japan is covered by mountains and heavily wooded
areas, the country’s people lead a distinctly urban lifestyle.
Long culturally influenced by its neighbors, today the
country blends its ancient traditions with aspects of Western
life.

CAPITAL AND MAJOR CITIES

• Capital: Tokyo
• Major Cities: Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo,
Kobe, Kyoto, Fukuoka

Settled by migrants from the Asian mainland back in the

mists of prehistory, Japan has seen the rise and fall of emperors,
rule by samurai warriors, isolation from the outside world, expansion over most of Asia, defeat, and
rebirth. One of the most war-like of nations in the early 20th century, Japan today often serves as a voice
of pacifism and restraint on the international stage.

• The Chinese began to arrive in Japanese islands about 400 C.E. they brought culture writing
Buddhism and later, Confucianism.

• As time went on Asia dominated islands and the Japanese people were united under hereditary
emperor. The emperors lost power to shoguns( warlord generals) during the samurai period, a
time of feudal strife but came back under the imperial rule under the meji emperor (1868)

• The Japanese became the prime movers in the Asia industrial revolution because the Japanese
island are poor in mineral deposits specially coal iron ore, and oil, the newly industrialize some of
each neighbor, particularly Korean and china.

46 | P a g e PLACES AND LANDSCAPE IN A CHANGING WORLD | [email protected]

 • The united states occupy japan from 1945 until 1952 and give its defeated enemy massive
financial and democratic aid. Japan quickly recovered and followed the United States informing
a strong democratic free market economy.

The national flag of Japan is a rectangular white banner

bearing a crimson-red disc at its center. This flag is
officially called Nisshōki (日章旗, the "sun-rise flag"), but
is more commonly known in Japan as Hinomaru (日の丸,
the "circle of the sun"). It embodies the
country's sobriquet: Land of the Rising Sun.

Geography
• The Japanese archipelago includes more than 3,000 islands, covering a total area of 377,835
square kilometers (145,883 square miles). The four main islands, from north to south, are
Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu.
• Japan is largely mountainous and forested, with arable land making up only 11.6 percent of the
country. The highest point is Mount Fuji, at 3,776 meters (12,385 feet). The lowest point is
Hachiro-gata, which sits at four meters below sea level (-12 feet).
• Positioned astride the Pacific Ring of Fire, Japan features a number of hydrothermal features
such as geysers and hot springs. The country suffers frequent earthquakes, tsunamis, and
volcanic eruptions.

Climate
• Stretching 3,500 km (2,174 miles) from north to south, Japan includes a number of different
climate zones. It has a temperate climate overall, with four seasons.
• Heavy snowfall is the rule in the winter on the northern island of Hokkaido; in 1970, the town of
Kutchan received 312 cm (over 10 feet) of snow in a single day. The total snowfall for that
winter was more than 20 meters (66 feet).
• The southern island of Okinawa, in contrast, has a semi-tropical climate with an average annual
temperate of 20 Celsius (72 degrees Fahrenheit). The island receives about 200 cm (80 inches)
of rain per year.

Government
• Japan has a constitutional monarchy, headed by an emperor. The current emperor is Akihito; he
wields very little political power, serving primarily as the symbolic and diplomatic leader of the
country.
• The political leader of Japan is the Prime Minister, who heads the Cabinet. Japan's bicameral
legislature is made up of a 465-seat House of Representatives and a 242-seat House of
Councilors.
• Japan has a four-tier court system, headed by the 15-member Supreme Court. The country has a
European-style civil law system.
• Shinzō Abe is the current Prime Minister of Japan.

47 | P a g e PLACES AND LANDSCAPE IN A CHANGING WORLD | [email protected]

PROMINENT CULTURE

LANGUAGES
• The vast majority of Japan's citizens (99 percent) speak Japanese as their primary language.
• Japanese is in the Japonic language family, and seems to be unrelated to Chinese and Korean.
However, Japanese has borrowed heavily from Chinese, English, and other languages. In fact, 49
percent of Japanese words are loanwords from Chinese, and 9 percent come from English.
• Three writing systems coexist in Japan: hiragana, which is used for native Japanese words,
inflected verbs, etc.; katakana, which is used for non-Japanese loanwords, emphasis, and
onomatopoeia; and kanji, which is used to express the large number of Chinese loanwords in
the Japanese language.

RELIGION
• Most Japanese citizens practice a syncretic blend of Shintoism and Buddhism. Very small
minorities practice Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Sikhism.
• The native religion of Japan is Shinto, which developed in prehistoric times. It is a polytheistic
faith, emphasizing the divinity of the natural world. Shintoism does not have a holy book or
founder. Most Japanese Buddhists belong to the Mahayana school, which came to Japan from
Baekje Korea in the sixth century.
• In Japan, Shinto and Buddhist practices are combined into a single religion, with Buddhist
temples being built at the sites of important Shinto shrines.

ECONOMY
• Japan is one of the most technologically advanced societies on Earth; as a result, it has the
world's third largest economy by GDP (after the U.S. and China). Japanese exports include
automobiles, consumer and office electronics, steel, and transportation equipment. Imports
include food, oil, lumber, and metal ores.
• Economic growth stalled in the 1990s, but since has rebounded to a quietly respectable 2
percent per year. Per capita GDP in Japan is $38,440; 16.1 percent of the population lives below
the poverty line.

LANDMARKS

 The Ginkakuji Temple in Kyoto, Japan, formally referred to as

Jisho-ji and otherwise known as ‘The Serene Temple of
the Silver Pavilion’, was first built in the 15th century CE. It is
a Rinzai Zen temple with the complex consisting of the Hondo
Hall, Togudo Hall, Silver Pavilion, landscape gardens, and a
pond garden. The Togudo Hall includes the oldest surviving tea
ceremony room in Japan. Ginkakuji was designated by
UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1994 CE and is an official
National Treasure of Japan.

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  Mount Fuji, Japanese Fuji-san, also spelled Fujisan, also
called Fujiyama or Fuji no Yama, highest mountain in Japan.
It rises to 12,388 feet (3,776 metres) near the Pacific
Ocean coast in Yamanashi and Shizuoka ken (prefectures) of
central Honshu, about 60 miles (100 km) west of the Tokyo-
Yokohama metropolitan area. It is a volcano that has been
dormant since its last eruption, in 1707, but is still generally
classified as active by geologists. The mountain is the major
feature of Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park (1936), and it is at the centre of a UNESCO World
Heritage site designated in 2013.
 Japan has a long relationship with bamboo. Bamboo
appears in myths and legends as a metaphor for the
strength of men. It's eaten in many dishes in Japanese
cuisine. And, it was historically used to make tools for
the home and in battle. The opportunity to enjoy
bamboo forests these days, however, has become rare
making Arashiyama Sagano Bamboo Grove a unique
opportunity for travelers. Around the 8th
century, Japanese aristocrats began vacationing
in natural environments. The stalks here have attracted visitors from all over Japan since. The
dense forest covers about 16 square kilometers (3,950 acres), and the pathways stretch through
about 300 meters (0.18 miles) of the space. Tall fences along the pathway discourage visitors from
entering but not all adhere to this.

Your task!
Choose a famous landmark in the Philippines and make a photo essay
with minimum of 150 words. (Submit it to designated online class)
Format:
 Size: 8.5’’ x 11’’
 Font style: Calibri
 Font Size: 11
 Margin: Normal
If you will do it manually, you can right it in a clean sheet of paper and
paste the picture there.

49 | P a g e PLACES AND LANDSCAPE IN A CHANGING WORLD | [email protected]

AUSTRALIA

LAND OF FIRE AND ICE

 Australia is more prone to bushfires than

any continent on earth and 1 million
Australians live on the edge of the fire
zone.
 Australia came from the Latin word
‘Australis’ which means southern
 Countries in this Area are also sometimes
referred to as ‘Ocenia’
 Australia is lying between the Pacific and
Indian oceans in the Southern
Hemisphere.
 Australia has been called ‘the Oldest
Continent’, ‘the Last Frontier’
 Australia is one of the world’s most highly
urbanised countries; it is well known for
the attractions of its large cities such as
Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.

Form of Government: Federal parliamentary state (formally a constitutional monarchy) with two
legislative houses (76 Senate and 150 House of representative)

 Population: 24,995,000 as of 2018

 Urban – as of 2018, 86%
 Rural – 14%

Capital: Canberra
Located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory. Canberra is derives from the Aboriginal
name ‘Nganbra’ means ‘meeting place’.
5 facts about Canberra
1. It is 100 years old
2. After 6 colonies of Britain
3. Attractions in Canberra
4. Canberra and Lake Burley Griffin
5. National Events

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Largest City: Sydney
Approximately 4,920,970 people make their homes there. Around 32.55 of the population speaks
language other than English at home. Most common spoken languages include Arabic, Cantonese,
Mandarin, Vietnamese and Greek.

AUSTRALIA’S 5 LARGEST CITIES

1. Sydney - The capital of new South Wales. An 1.5 million people were born outside the
country, making Sydney one of the most multicultural cities in the world. The biggest industries
in the economy include financial services, tourism, technology, and manufacturing.
2. Melbourne- The second largest city with a population of 4,529,496. it is also the capital of the
state of Victoria. It has been distinguished as the most livable city in the world for several years
due to its high quality of education, health care, research, tourism and entertainment. The
economy of this city is based on many industries, but finance, manufacturing, IT, research,
education, and tourism are some of the strongest.
3. Brisbane- It has a population of 2,308,720, the capital of the state of Queensland. The most
common of these countries are the United Kingdom, New Zealand, China and India, this city is
also has the largest population of Taiwanese Australian citizens in the country. Brisbane has
undergone the second highest growth rate of all the state capitals. The economy here is based
on IT, finance, higher education, and public administration.
4. Perth -The capital of Western Australia, with the population of almost 2 million people, and is
famous for being the most isolated city in the world. Perth is considered as the ‘richest city’ in
Australia, people living here have more disposable income than those living in any other state.
Perth was founded by Captain James Stirling in 1829 as the administrative centre of the Swan
River Colony.
5. Adelaide- is South Australia’s cosmopolitan coastal capital. It’s ring of parkland on the River
Torrens is home to renowned museums such as the Art Gallery of South Australia, displaying
expensive collections including noted Indigenous art, and the South Australian Museum,
devoted to natural history. The city’s Adelaide Festival is an annual international arts gathering
with spin-offs including fringe and film events.

Land Mass

Australia is comprises a land area of about 7.692 million square kilometers, this is just 5% of the world’s
land mass (149.45 million square meters.

Smallest of the world’s continents and is the planet’s sixth largest country after Russia, Canada, China,
the United States of America and Brazil.

The only one of the largest six nations that is completely surrounded by water.

 Almost as great as that of the United States of America

 About 50 per cent greater than Europe, and
 32 times greater than the United kingdom

51 | P a g e PLACES AND LANDSCAPE IN A CHANGING WORLD | [email protected]

Geography of Australia

 20% of the Australia’s land mass is classified as desert. As well as having a low average annual
rainfall, rainfall across Australia is also variable
 99% of Australia are lands and the remaining 1% is water
 Climatic zones range from tropical rainforest, deserts and cool temperature forest to snow
covered mountains.
 The mainland and Tasmania are surrounded by many thousands of small islands and numerous
larger ones.
 Nearly 40 per cent of the total coastline length comprises island coastlines.

 The highest point on the Australian mainland is Mount Kosciuszko, New South Wales at 2228 metres
above sea level.
 The lowest point is the dry bed of Lake Eyre, South Australia, which is 15 meters below sea level.
 Longest River is Murray River at 2,375 kilometre (1,476 mi)

PROMINENT CULTURES

 Australia is home to the oldest surviving civilization on Earth

One of the most significant components of this multicultural milieu is Australia's First People, who
represent the oldest continuously existing culture anywhere in the world. Archaeological evidence
proves that Aboriginal and Torres strait Islander people have inhabited the continent for 60,000
years and today there are 650,00 indigenous people in Australia, roughly 2.8% of the national
population.

 Australians eat their national symbols

There is one quirky feature of Australian food: kangaroo regularly find its way onto the menu.
Australia's national icon is a common meal, in the form of steak or sausages. (Known as 'Kanga
Banger')

 Food customs at Ceremonial Occasions

No food are reserved for special occasions, although the religious traditions of some ethnic groups
include ceremonial foods. Easter and Christmas are observed by most of the population. Some
people celebrate 'Christmas in July', using the coldest month of the year to enjoy the hot dinner of
a traditional Christmas.

 Etiquette and Customs

 A predominant image among Australians is that they are very casual, easy going, and familiar.
An ideology of egalitarianism pervades, with men, women and children treated similarly.
Attempts at appearing superior to others in terms of dress, manners, knowledge, and the work
ethic are discouraged
 A handshake is the most common way to greet a new acquaintance, and a hug, a kiss on the
cheeks, or a verbal greeting the most common way to greet a friend. The colloquialism, 'g' day
(good day) is considered the quintessential greeting. There is an easy friendliness in public

52 | P a g e PLACES AND LANDSCAPE IN A CHANGING WORLD | [email protected]

 places. Personal privacy is respected and staring is discouraged, although eye contact is not
avoided.
 Gifts are exchange at birthdays and Christmas as they are in the UK. Gifts are usually opened
when they are received, in front of the gift giver.
 Many invites to the home will indeed to such an occasion and its usual to bring your own alcohol
with you. Australians love a drink.

RELIGION

Although Australia is a predominantly Christian country with about 52% of all Australians identifying as
Christians, there is no official state religion. People in Australia are agree to practice any religion they
choose as long as they not breaking the law. Most universities and communities in Australia have
facilities and places of worship for all types of faith.

SECULAR CELEBRATIONS

 Probably the most significant national secular celebration is Anzac day on 25 April. This is a
public holiday that commemorates the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps landing at
Gallipoli in turkey in 1915.
 On Remembrance Day (Nov. 11) which is not a public Holiday, a two-minute silence is observed
in remembrance of Australians who fought and died in wars.
 Australia day is celebrated on 26 January to commemorate British settlement and may capital
cities host a fireworks event.

AUSTRALIA’S ECONOMY SYSTEM

Mixed market economy is a prosperous, western market economy where the GDP is high and the rate
of poverty is low. Our free market is among the first five developed countries of the world.

Main Economy
dominated by its service sector, comprising 61.1% of the GDP and employing 79.2% of the labour force
in 2016.
Four Main Components
 Trade
 Manufacturing
 Services
 Financing

Economic Outlook for 2019

 Overview U.S GDP growth will slow to 2.1% in 2019 from 3% in 2018. It will be 2% in 2020 and
1.8% in 2021. ( According to the most recent forecast of Federal Open Market Committee meeting
on June 19, 2019 )
 Australia has entered its 28th year of uninterrupted annual economic growth, increasing more
than three per cent on average each year since 1992.

53 | P a g e PLACES AND LANDSCAPE IN A CHANGING WORLD | [email protected]

  Australia's strong ties to the Asian region support a positive medium and long-term growth
outlook.
 Now in it's 26th year of consecutive annual economic growth, the Australian economy is
underpinned by strong institutions, on exceptional services sector and an ability to respond to
global changes. Australia's economy is the world's 13th largest.

What are the Biggest Industries in Australia?

 Tourism
 Healthcare
 Finance
 Mining
 Media and Entertainment
 Manufacturing Industry
 Agriculture
 Trade
Labor Force
 Referred to as the ‘work force’ or the ‘active population’, and the participant maybe describe as
those who are “currently economically active’.
 Tourism
 9.2 million international visitors, visited Australia in 2018.
 New Zealand are the most popular out band travel destination for 2017.

POTENTIAL GROWTH
Transportation Deployment - the rate of growth within the Australian Aviation Industry due to the lack
of competition of other airlines.
Growth hormone in Sports - are one of the few legal steroids in 2018. It refers to the use of growth
hormones (GH or HGH) for athletic enhancement, as opposed.
Annual growth cycle of grapevines - be at the risk of premoture bud break. This is a potential
viticultural hazard in places like the Margaret River region at Western Australia where warm currents.

LITERACY RATE
Between 2008 and 2014, Australia adult literacy rate remained stable at around 99%. The description is
composed y our digital data assistant.

LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY trends over recent years have been usual. There are a number of factors at
play that partly explain the unusually low growth in labour productivity.
• First, low relative labour costs in mining and construction industries ( reflecting a rapid
increase in the price of their output) are encouraging very strong demand for labour in
these sectors. Moreover, output growth in the mining sector has been weak due to a
combination of declining oil and gas production and what appear to be long lags
between increases inputs in the mining sector and stronger output growth.
• Second, the non-market sector accounted for a larger-than-average proportion of
growth in employment in 2005-06. As this sector’s measures of productivity are not

54 | P a g e PLACES AND LANDSCAPE IN A CHANGING WORLD | [email protected]

 reliable, the strong employment growth in this sector may have been compounding the
overall productivity picture.
The economy changes in productivity have been difficult over recent years.

CRISIS: BUSHFIRE
 Record-breaking temperatures and months of severe drought have fuelled a series of massive
bushfires across Australia.
 Although recent cooler conditions and rain have brought some respite, more than 50 fires are
still burning in the states of New South Wales and Victoria.
 Hot and windy conditions are forecast to return to many parts of New South Wales this
weekend and authorities in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) have declared a state of
emergency as massive bushfires rage south of Canberra.
 At least 33 people have been killed - including four firefighters - and more than 11 million
hectares (110,000 sq km or 27.2 million acres) of bush, forest and parks across Australia has
burned.

LANDMARKS

 Sydney Opera House - not only Australia's most famous landmark,

this unique structure is one of the world's most instantly
recognizable and iconic buildings.

 Uluru - Located in the heart of the

Northern Territory and Australia, formerly
known as Ayers Rock , is the world largest monolith. Uluru is sacred to
indigenous Australians and is thought to have started forming around 550
million years ago.

 Heart Shaped Reef - It’s a coral bommie - an outcrop of coral reef

that has naturally formed into a heart shape. Located in Handy
Reef, become a famous Queensland landmark and Australian
Icon.
 Port Arthur Historic site houses
Australia's most intact convict settlement, including restored buildings
and homes, ruins, a harbour, a coalmine, a factory, and even an Isle of the
Dead.

 Kakadu- The world heritage listed in National

Park is a whopping 19,804 km2 (7,646,sq mi), which is about half the
size of Switzerland.

55 | P a g e PLACES AND LANDSCAPE IN A CHANGING WORLD | [email protected]

  Kangaroos Island- Kangaroo Island is one of the world's great nature-
based destinations. Think of an island with 509km of Coastline & 155km from
the East Coast to the West Coast. With native bushland, wildlife, adventure
& exploring. Where pristine beaches, local wines & sunsets are on your
doorstep.

 Bondi Beach - situated within one of the world's most intriguing cities,
epitomising the 'Australian' lifestyle, boast internationally. One of the
well known beaches in the world.

 Melbourne Cricket Ground- is regarded as Australia's premier

sporting venue. For over one hundred years, it has played host to
many of the country's biggest cricket and Australian Rules football
matches, and many other significant sporting contests besides. It
was, in fact, even the centerpiece of the Olympic Games of 1956.

 Shark Bay - This westernmost part of Australia has a unique

combination of wildlife, flora and stunning scenery unlike that
found anywhere else. Shark Bay is actually two bays sheltered
by peninsulas and a long island. The local Malgana Aboriginal
people know it as Gutharraguda, meaning ‘two waters’.

 Ballarat- was transformed from a small sheep station into a busting

mining town when gold discovered in 1851

Your task!
Make a descriptive essay about the continent and give your insight about
the bushfire crisis and answer the question “Why bushfire happen in
Australia?”

56 | P a g e PLACES AND LANDSCAPE IN A CHANGING WORLD | [email protected]

ANTARTICA
Positioned asymmetrically around the South Pole
and largely south of the Antarctic Circle, Antarctica
is the southernmost continent and is surrounded by
the Southern Ocean; alternatively, it may be
considered to be surrounded by the southern
Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, or by the
southern waters of the World Ocean. There are a
number of rivers and lakes in Antarctica, the
longest river being the Onyx. The largest lake,
Vostok, is one of the largest sub-glacial lakes in the
world. Antarctica covers more than 14 million km2
(5,400,000 sq mi),[1] making it the fifth-largest
continent, about 1.3 times as large as Europe. The
coastline measures 17,968 km (11,165 mi)[1] and is mostly characterized by ice formations, as the
following table shows:

Type Frequency

Ice shelf (floating ice front) 44%

Ice walls (resting on ground) 38%

Ice stream/outlet glacier (ice front or ice

13%
wall)

Rock 5%

Total 100%

Antarctica is the coldest continent on earth. The farther from the coast one goes the higher and colder it
becomes. In most coastal regions the mean annual temperature is around −12°C, at 1000 meters −20°C,
and in the highest parts near 4000 m it falls to −60°C. The lowest surface temperature ever recorded in
nature was −89°C at the Russian Vostok station, within the Australian Antarctic Territory.

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 Aurora Australis (also known as the southern lights, and southern polar lights) is the southern
hemisphere counterpart to the aurora borealis. In the sky, an aurora Australis takes the shape of a
curtain of light, or a sheet, or a diffuse glow; it most often is green, sometimes red, and
occasionally other colors too.

Who owns Antarctica?

Antarctic Treaty system.

The Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959 by the 12 countries whose scientists had been active in and
around Antarctica at the time. The negotiation of the Treaty stemmed from the very successful 1957–58
International Geophysical Year.

Important provisions of the Treaty:

 Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes only (Article I).

 Freedom of scientific investigation in Antarctica and cooperation toward that end … shall
continue (Article II).
 Scientific observations and results from Antarctica shall be exchanged and made freely available
(Article III).
 To promote the objectives and ensure the observance of the provisions of the Treaty, “All areas
of Antarctica, including all stations, installations and equipment within those areas … shall be
open at all times to inspection” (Article VII).

How many people live in Antarctica?

There are around 66 scientific bases in Antarctica, of which about 37 are occupied year round, the
remainder are open during the summer and closed down for winter. There are about 4,000 people
through the summer months and about 1,000 overwinter each year.

PROMINENT CULTURE

PEOPLE

 People of the Antarctic live in there for a short time to learn more about Antarctica, so most of
the people who live there are scientists. Most are in national science stations on the coast.
 Antarctica does not and has never had an indigenous population (there are no native human
Antarcticians) There haven't been any land bridges to Antarctica for around 35 million years, it
has been an isolated island for all this time.

LANGUAGE

 At Australian stations, they speak English but there are many people undertaking research in
Antarctica from all over the world. These include Chinese, Germans, Norwegians, French,
Americans, Italians and many more

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CLOTHING

 The type and amount of clothing needed to stay warm and dry depends on the time of the year,
location, and what sort of activity the person is doing. Buildings on station are heated to around
18°C, so normal clothes (e.g. jeans and t-shirt) are worn. If they were working on the ice during
summer, we would have long woolen underwear, trousers and a shirt with a windproof layer on
top. In the winter you wear lots of layers topped with a thick, quilted freezer suit.

FOOD

 People eat pretty much the same things that you eat at home in Australia, such as potatoes,
chicken, beef, ice cream, etc. All the good stuff. There is a chef on station who cooks most of the
meals. As a result, everyone gets a good variety of meals while living on station. Often there will
be a theme night, such as an Indian banquet. On these occasions, not only is the food prepared
according to the theme, but many expeditioners will also come in an appropriate costume.

Do people live in igloos there?

 No, but they do learn how to build igloos as part of field training.
 When on station, people live in accommodation blocks, or converted living vans.

ECONOMY OF ANTARCTICA

Antarctic Natural Resources- includes not only biological and mineral resources but also the land itself,
water, ice, climate, and space for living, and working, recreation and storage
Tourist Industry- began year 1958
Continental ice sheet- contains 90% of the world’s glacial ice
Mineral Resources:
1. Coal in the Transarctic Mountains
2. Iron near the Prince Charles Mountains of East Antarctica
Biological Resources:
1. Commercial Fur Sealing
2. Elephant Seals for Oil
3. Whaling
4. Commercial Fishing

CURRENT ECONOMY OF ANTARCTICA

 There is no economic activity in Antarctica at present, except for fishing off the coast and small-
scale tourism, both based outside Antarctica. There has been some concern over the potential
adverse environmental and ecosystem effects caused by the influx of visitors. Some
environmentalists and scientists have made a call for stricter regulations for ships and a tourism
quota.
 Plants
 Few land plants grow in Antarctica. This is because Antarctica does not have much moisture
(water), sunlight, good soil, or a warm temperature. Plants usually only grow for a few weeks in
the summer. However, moss, lichen and algae do grow. The most important organisms in
Antarctica are the plankton which grow in the ocean.

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LAND MARKS OF ANTARCTICA

 Lake Vostok is the largest of Antarctica's almost 400 known

subglacial lakes. Lake Vostok is located at the southern Pole of Cold,
beneath Russia's Vostok Station under the surface of the central East
Antarctic Ice Sheet, which is at 3,488m above mean
sea level.

 Vinson Massif is the highest mountain of Antarctica, and is the most

famous landmark of the Antarctica.

 The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica. Ice Shelves
are permanent floating ice sheets that are attached to land and
are constantly fed by glaciers. The Ross Ice Shelf is the largest one
at 600 - 3000 feet thick and about 600 miles long (the size of
France). The cliffs at the water’s edge are about 200 feet high.
Most of the worry over melting ice in Antarctica has focused on
the rapidly melting western shore, where there is enough ice to
raise worldwide sea levels by up to 4.3 feet. But new research
suggests that the massive Ross Ice Shelf, which has long been considered stable,
might be at risk as well

 Mount Erebus is the second highest volcano in Antarctica and the

most southerly volcano on earth. It is the 6th highest ultra-mountain
on an island. It highest is 12,448 feet, and is located on Ross Island.

 The Polar Ice Cap is found in a very cold place

called Antarctica. It seems to look as if Christmas comes everyday
due to the thick layers of snow that you will soon come across.
Being in this place is as cold as being in an enormous freezer.

 Not really a famous landmark, but many

tourists often visit these magnificent animals, the
Emperor Penguins since they freely roam in Antarctica

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EUROPE

Europe is a continent located entirely in the

Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern
Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean
to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west and
Asia to the East and Mediterranean Sea to the
south. It comprises the westernmost part of
Eurasia

PROMINENT CULTURE IN EUROPE

NATIVE PEOPLE OF EUROPE

The Saami - people live in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia. While there is no reliable figure, they
represent an estimated 50,000-100,000 people, according to the International Working Group on
Indigenous Affairs. The Saami/ Sami people are nomadic people who follows the reindeers and
herding it.

Greenlandic Inuits

In Greenland, a self-governing territory within the Danish Realm, out of a

total 57,691 of inhabitants 89.6% are Greenlandic Inuits, according to
2018 estimates cited by the International Working Group on Indigenous
Affairs (IWGIA).
Hunting has always been central to Inuit cultures, and until a few decades
ago Greenland's indigenous people lived completely off the land and sea.
Today the economy has shifted and also includes commercial fisheries,
tourism and emerging oil and mining industries.

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Russia's indigenous peoples (SAMISH TRIBE)

At the crossroads of Europe and Asia, Russia is home to 160 distinct

peoples, including 40 that are officially recognized as indigenous.

"These are groups of less than 50,000 members, who are able to
preserve some aspects of their traditional ways of life and continue to
inhabit their territories," IWGIA said in its latest report.

RELIGION

VALUES

• The European Union’s fundamental values are respect for human dignity and human rights,
freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law. These values unite all the member states –
no country that does not recognize these values can belong to the Union.

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FOLK COSTUME

• is usually associated with a geographic area or a period of time in history. It can also indicate
social, marital or religious status. If the costume is used to represent the culture or identity of a
specific ethnic group.

What to Wear in Europe: 10 ways to dress more European when in Europe?

1. Wear clean-cut conservative clothes
2. Go Neutral
3. Bring comfortable walking shoes
4. Yes to pants, but no to shorts
5. Leave the baseball cap behind
6. Accessorize with scarves
7. Leave the bling behind
8. Avoid U.S. logos and go slogan-free
9. Bring a smaller backpack to wear in front
10. Be religiously respectable

LANGUAGE

 Russian - Russian is the most commonly spoken language in Europe. European Russia has a
population of 110 million people, and 106 million of that total speak Russian.
 German Is considered the economic powerhouse of Europe, there many career opportunities
for individuals who speak German. As a result, many immigrants chose to learn the German
language.
 French is considered a Romance language and is the official language in France, Monaco, and
Western Switzerland, among others
 Italian Is the official language of Italy, San Marino, Vatican City, and Croatia. It is also the most
closely related to Latin and is the language of ancient Rome. The Italian language is associated
with high-end branding, luxury goods, classical music, and fine art.
 English- The English language was first spoken in early medieval England but is now spoken
globally. English is spoken by approximately 60 million people and is the fifth most common
language in Europe.
 Polish About 38.5 million people in Europe speak Polish. It is the native language of Poland, but
is also spoken by minority populations outside the country.

 Spanish- Most people also refer to Spanish as Castilian, since it originated in the Castile region of
Spain.
 Ukrainian- More than 36 million people in Europe speak Ukrainian.
 Romanian-With over 22 million speakers. It is a native and official language in Romania and
Moldova
 Dutch-Dutch is spoken as a first language by approximately 22 million people in Europe.

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FESTIVALS

 Flower Power, Portugal

Festas Do Pereiro De Mação, Portugal
Festas do Pereiro, Ribatejo province
When: 24-26 August
Highlight: Dancing until dawn in the town square on the Saturday night, and staying for the
Sunday procession of the Virgin to mass
 Once a year the narrow streets of Pereiro, are garlanded from wall to wall with paper flowers.
This is a typical Portuguese summer festa, where the whole village celebrates its saint with
homecomings, feasting and dancing. Pereiro has been heralded as the “capital of the flower-
decked streets” but it is also a wonderful place to see the centuries-old tradition of Nossa
Senhora da Saude (Our Lady of Good Health) being carried on a float through streets strewn
with rosemary.

 Fiesta de San Fermín

FESTIVAL, PAMPLONA, SPAIN
 Pamplona’s modern fiesta starts with fireworks called chupinazo at noon on July 6, followed by
the singing of the traditional song “Pamploneses, Viva San Fermín, Gora San Fermín” (“People of
Pamplona, Long Live Saint Fermín”). The best-known part of the festival is the running of the
bulls, or the encierro.
 From July 7 to July 14 the bulls to be used in the daily bullfights are run through the streets of the
town to the bullring. The festival ends on July 14 with the singing of “Pobre de Mi” (“Old Poor
Me”).

 La Tomatina Festival
La Tomatina dates: 28 August
 Held in the town of Buñol, La Tomatina is one of the biggest European food festivals. It is all
about the food fight, especially involving tomatoes. What’s more, is that it isn’t just the locals,
people from all over the world get to participate in this surprisingly messy yet enjoyable festival
in Spain and only 20,000 lucky ones get the ticket to this one! This is one of the most popular
European food festivals.

 Oktoberfest, Munich, Germany

 The beer, music, and food-filled festivities are as packed with culture as they are with fun, and
it’s just about impossible to have a bad time in Munich during Oktoberfest.
 Every Oktoberfest has the potential to get out of hand and a little bit wild, but the festivities in
Munich are so filled with positivity and good intentions that it’s hard not to get swept up in the
spirit.
 Must-have souvenir from Oktoberfest in Munich: a Stein, the giant glass boot festival goers
drink beer out of.

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ARTWORKS

The Creation of Adam, Michelangelo – The Sistine Chapel, Vatican City

• The walk through to the Sistine Chapel may be lined with incredible artwork from the ages, but
let’s be honest – you’re only here for one thing: the roof of the Sistine Chapel.
Museum: Sistine Chapel
The Mona Lisa
• The Mona Lisa may well be the most famous artworks in Europe, let alone all time. This
unfortunately means that it’s also one of the most visited, and there’s little chance that you’ll
get a quiet moment alone with the all-seeing lady. But that won’t detract from the moment – if
anything, it’s worth taking a step back to see how the hundreds of tourists interact with this
fascinating work of art.
The Last Supper
• The Last Supper, another famous work by artist da Vinci, is a must-visit when in Milan. This large
mural painting covers the back wall of the dining hall in the Santa Maria delle Grazie monastery
and depicts the scene of the Last Supper, when Jesus announces that one of his Twelve Apostles
would betray him. Religious or not, this impressive artwork will leave you humbled

SPORTS

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played with a
spherical ball between two teams of eleven players. It is played by 250 million players in over 200
countries and dependencies, making it the world's most popular sport.

CUISINE

 PASTA
The history of pasta is difficult to trace for several reasons. The word itself translates to “paste”
in Italian. This is a reference to the dough, made from a combination of flour and water or eggs
– all simple components that have been around for centuries.
 BAGUETTE
a long, narrow loaf of French bread.
 STEAK
is a meat generally sliced across the muscle fibers, potentially including a bone. Exceptions, in
which the meat is sliced parallel to the fibers.

WEATHER , CLIMATE AND FEATURES OF EUROPE

 Europe enjoys a mild climate, at least when compared with other locations throughout the world.
 Europe’s climates and corresponding weather can be roughly divided into six categories, based
on geography.

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 Western Europe
All of the British Isles and the Low Countries, northern Spain, most of France and the westernmost half
of Germany fall under the marine west coast climate classification. This climate type features both mild
summers and winters, with temperatures rarely becoming either uncomfortably hot or cold Other
features of western European weather include high humidity and precipitation, usually in the form of
rain, as well as considerable cloudiness.
 Mediterranean
Portugal, southern Spain and France, Italy etc. enjoy the
warm, sunny Mediterranean climate. Also found on the
southern California coast, this highly desirable climate
type features mild to warm winters, hot summers and a
pleasant spring and autumn.
 Spain
The interior portion of the Iberian Peninsula experiences
a semi-arid steppe climate. Weather patterns here are
similar to those found in the Mediterranean zone, albeit
slightly drier and cooler. The same climate type exists in
the Great Plains of the western U.S.
 Central and Eastern Europe
The climate of most of Central and Eastern Europe,
including southern Scandinavia, is categorized as cool-
summer humid continental – the same climate found in
places like Maine and Michigan. As in Western Europe,
summers are mild, but winters are significantly colder,
with snowfall a common occurrence.
 Northern Europe
The central and northern portions of Norway, Sweden etc. possess a subarctic climate, like that of
western Alaska. Long, harsh, bitterly cold winters bring frequent snowstorms. Summers, although short
and cool, feature the rare spectacle of seemingly unending daylight, with the sun hovering just above
the horizon throughout the night.
 Mountains
Regardless of latitude, a tundra climate dominates high altitudes throughout Europe. Areas
experiencing this type of climate include high elevations in the Alps, Pyreneesand the mountains
of Norway. As the second-coldest climate zone in the world, summers don’t really exist here, with
permafrost, glaciers or snow covering the ground year-round.
The cloudy sky mirrors the icy fjord of Arnarfjordur, Iceland. Arnarfjordur is one of dozens of fjords in
a region of Iceland called the Westfjords. The Westfjords is actually a large peninsula in the
northwestern part of the island.

ALPS
 -Located in Austria, France, Germany , Switzerlan ,Italy, Slovenia and Liechtenstein
 -Major tourist atrraction
 -Extend almost 700 miles

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 More than any other landmass, Europe is a continent of rivers. Rivers allowed early European
cultures to develop reliable networks for trade and communication. The Rhine, above, which flows
from the Alps to its mouth in the North Sea, is one of Europe's longest and most important rivers.

Scandinavian Peninsula
 Largest Peninsula in Europe
 Consist of Norway, Sweden and northern Region in Finland.
 Region is rich in timber , iron and copper.

European Plain
 Largest Mountain free landform in Europe
 Extend 200 Miles.
 Stretches from Pyrenees in the West of the Ural.
 Successful Agriculture area.

EUROPE ECONOMY
Strongest European Economies

• Germany, the Fourth strongest economy in the world.

• The strongest Economy in Europe with an economy worth 3.4 Trillion, followed by the United
Kingdom with an economy worth 2.9 trillion. France is third on the list with 2.4 trillion.(Feb, 8
2018)
• The economy of continent encompasses at least 741.4 million people from 50 states. While the
wealth of the different nations vary, the states that are considered in Europe are richer than
some of the wealthy nations in other continents regardless of which method is used to measure
the economy.
• Ranking the continents according to their wealth, Europe is the third wealthiest continents.

ECONOMIC SECTORS:
Agriculture and Fishing
 Europe’s agricultural sector is in general highly developed.
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
 Provides farmers with minimal price for their products and subsidizes their exports,
which increases competitiveness for their products.
 CAP is also controversial because 40% of the EU’ s budget is spent on it, and because of
the overproduction caused by it.
EUROPEAN UNION (EU)
 The European Union (EU) is a group of 28 countries that operates as a cohesive economic
and political block. Nineteen of the countries use the euro as their official currency
 The European Union (EU) consists of a group of countries that acts as one economic unit in
the world economy.
 Its official currency is the euro; 19 of its 28 members have adopted the currency.

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  The European Single Market was established by 12 countries in 1993 to ensure the so-
called four freedoms: the movement of goods, services, people, and money.
 The COMMON FISHERIES POLICY is surrounded by an extensive system of rules (mainly
consisting of quotas) to protect the environment for overfishing.

Manufacturing
Europe has a thriving manufacturing sector, with a large part of the world’s industrial
production taking place in Europe. Because of the higher wage level and hence production costs
Europe is suffering from deindustrialization and off shoring in the labor-intensive manufacturing
sectors.

Investing and Banking

 Europe has a well-developed financial sector.
 Many European cities are financial centre's with London being the largest.
 European Banks are amongst the largest and most profitable in the world.
The main products in Europe industry are bicycles, rails, machinery, marine aerospace,
equipment, food, chemical, pharmaceutical, goods, software and electronics.
TRANSPORT
Provide for the movement needs of over 700 million people and associated freight.
Rail Transport
 European rail subsides in Euros per passenger –km for 2008.
Air Transport
 Despite an extensive road and rail networks most lost distance travel within Europe is by
air.
 Air transportation is now often the cheapest way of travelling between cities.

POTENTIAL GROWTH IN EUROPE

 Switzerland has more potential for economic growth than any country in the world according to
new research.
 It is being a well- developed and wealthy nation, it was awarded the highest score in ranking.
 Has been ranked as the best place in the world to live and work, stealing the crown from
Singapore which was as the top for five consecutive years.
 High living standard and competitive salaries have a Swiss nation become a regular fixtures
among the world most livable cities. But at a time of growing global uncertainty, Switzerland’s
famed political and economic stability help it climb the ranks of HSBC expect annual survey to
score the top spot for the first time.

LANDMARKS IN EUROPE
Eiffel tower in Paris- welcomes almost 7 million people a year, making it
the most visited paid-for monument in the world. Completed on March
31, 1889, the tower was the world’s tallest man-made structure for 41
years, until the completion of the Chrysler Building in New York in 1930.

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Colosseum in Rome - Half circus, half sports arena, Rome’s most iconic
landmark is unmissable, especially now that they have opened the underfloor
passageways to visitors where the gladiators and wild beasts once roamed.
Standing inside the amphi-theatre, you can’t help wonder about the brave men
who indulged in gory bull fights here.

The Louvre in Paris - A former fortress and royal palace, the Louvre is one
of the world’s greatest museums. Primarily associated with Leonardo Da
Vinci's famous Mona Lisa, Paris' Louvre museum is a trove of 35,000
paintings and sculptures from the seventh century B.C. to the mid-19th
century. It will take 3 whole days to visit each room in the museum.

The Sistine Chapel in Vatican City -is most famous for Michelangelo’s
frescoes, but long before Michelangelo, Sisto commissioned painters
such as Botticelli to fresco the two long walls on either side of the
chapel. One side told the story of Moses, and the other, the story of
Christ. Today, the Sistine Chapel is home to the greatest frescoes in the
world.

Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy- The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the most
popular buildings in the world. It’s interesting to note that the tower was
built with plundered loot, on a marshy subsoil with glaring engineering
mistakes.

Acropolis & Parthenon in Greece - is probably the most famous and

the most visited monument in the world, and a UNESCO world
heritage site. The Temple of Parthenon was dedicated to the goddess
Athena, protector of the Ancient city of Athens. Its unique
architecture has inspired many universities, public buildings, palaces,
parliaments and libraries in the western world.

NATURAL LANDMARKS IN EUROPE

The Fjords – Norway -are among Europe’s most awe-inspiring sights. A fjord
is a deep, narrow and elongated sea or lakedrain, with steep land on three
sides. The opening toward the sea is called the mouth of the fjord, and is
often shallow. The fjord's inner part is called the sea bottom. If the geological
formation is wider than it is long, it is not a fjord. Then it is a bay or cove.

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Santorini – Greece -The cliffs of Santorini are, in reality, the rim of an
ancient volcano.Santorini is the southernmost island in the Cyclades.
Its official name is Thira (Thera in classical Greek).

This island is the site of one of the largest volcano eruptions in recorded
history. About 3,600 years ago the volcano erupted, causing an
enormous tsunami which hit the island of Crete, leading to the eventual
downfall of the Minoan civilization. Now, Santorini is a waterfilled
crescent, the remains of this ancient volcano. The towns of Oia, Fira, and Imerovigli are all perched along
the rim of the caldera.

The Northern Lights – Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland-As solar wind

blows against atmosphere of the earth it sets off one of the planet’s
most spectacular light shows. In Kakslauttanen, Finland, visitors can lie
back in bed and watch the lights through the ceilings of their glass
igloos.

Melissani Cave – Greece -Hidden away on the Greek isle of Kelafonia

in the Ionian Sea, Melissani Cave has waters so clear that boats appear
to float in the air. This cave was once sacred to the god Pan, even
though it is named after a nymph whose love Pan rejected. In her
sorrow, she plunged into a lake and killed herself. The centerpiece of
the cave is a wide opening to the sky where the overhanging rocky
roof collapsed several thousand years ago.

Douro River Valley – Portugal- For at least two thousand years,

humans have been growing wine along the banks of the Douro
River. This luscious valley provides fertile ground for vineyards
and olive orchards. In these rolling hillsides, human cultivation
lives in harmony with natural beauty.

Your task!
Make a creative output about the place it can be a collage, literary piece, video
presentation, or any creative output that describe the place.

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 AFRICA
 Covering about 20 percent of the total land
surface of Earth.

 The continent is bounded on the west by the

Atlantic Ocean, on the north by the
Mediterranean Sea, on the east by the Red Sea
and the Indian Ocean, and on the south by the
mingling waters of the Atlantic and Indian oceans.

 More than 1.2 billion people which 15 % of the

world’s total population

 Largest Country: Algeria

Covering more than half the continents landmass.
 Largest City: Lagos in Nigeria
More than 21 million inhabitants and the six
biggest metropolitan cities in the word.
 Smallest Country: Seychelles
Nation of islands.

AFRICA HAS EIGHT MAJOR PHYSICAL REGIONS:

SAHARA
 The worlds largest hot desert covering 8.5 million square kilometers (3.3 million square miles)
about the size of the United states.
 The Sahara makes up 25 percent of the continent.
 The Sahara has a number of distinct physical features, including ergs, regs, hamadas, and oases.
SAHEL
 Narrow band of semi-arid land that forms a transition zone between the Sahara to the north and
the savannas to the south.
 It is made up of flat, barren plains that stretch roughly 5,400 kilometers (3,300 miles) across
Africa, from Senegal to Sudan.
 It contains the fertile delta of the Niger, one of Africa’s longest rivers. Unfortunately, the Sahel’s
fertile land is rapidly becoming desert as a result of drought, deforestation, and intensive
agriculture.
ETHIOPIAN HIGHLANDS
 It began to rise 75 million years ago
 This dome was later split as Africa's continental crust pulled apart, creating the Great Rift Valley
system.
 Serves as home to 80 percent of Africa’s tallest mountains.

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  Important plant species native to the Ethiopian Highlands include the Ethiopian rose and the
ensete.
SAVANNA
 Savannas, or grasslands, cover almost half of Africa, more than 13 million square kilometers (5
million square miles).
 These grasslands make up most of central Africa, beginning south of the Sahara and the Sahel
and ending north of the continents southern tip.
 Among Africa’s many savanna regions, the Serengeti (or Serengeti Plains) is the most well-
known.
SWAHILI COAST
 The Swahili Coast stretches about 1,610 kilometers (1,000 miles) along the Indian Ocean, from
Somalia to Mozambique.
 The nearby coral reefs and barrier islands protect the coast from severe weather.
 There is not a lot of animal life on the sandy Swahili Coast.
 Mangrove forests are the most common vegetation.
RAIN FOREST
 Most of Africas native rain forest has been destroyed by development, agriculture, and forestry.
 Today, 80 percent of Africas rain forest is concentrated in central Africa, along the Congo River
basin.
 Estimated 8,000 plant species documented. More than 1,100 of these species are endemic, or
found nowhere else on Earth. Only 10 percent of the plants in the African rain forest have been
identified.
AFRICAN GREAT LAKES
 The Great Lakes are located in nine countries that surround the Great Rift Valley.
 As the African continent separated from Saudi Arabia, large, deep cracks were created in the
Earths surface.
 There are seven major African Great Lakes: Lake Albert, Lake Edward, Lake Kivu, Lake Turkana,
Lake Malawi, Lake Tanganyika and Lake Victoria.
SOUTHERN AFRICA
 The region of Southern Africa is dominated by the Kaapvaal craton, a shelf of bedrock that is
more than 2.6 billion years old. Rocky features of Southern Africa include plateaus and
mountains, such as the Drakensberg range.
 Southern Africa is the epicenter of Africas well-known reserves, which protect animal species
such as lions, elephants, baboons, white rhinos, and Burchells zebras.

PROMINENT CUTURE
(LANGUAGE, RELIGION, CULTURE AND TRADITION IN AFRICA)

 Africa has a high linguistic diversity with an estimated 1500-2000 different languages.
 These different languages are categorized into six major language families: Afro-asiatic
languages, Austronesian languages, Indo-European languages, Khoe languages, Niger-Congo
languages, and Nilo-Saharan languages.
 According to research Nigeria alone accounts for over 500 languages, which makes it one of the
greatest concentrations of linguistic diversity in the world.

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TOP 10 MOST SPOKEN LANGUAGES IN AFRICA

1.ARABIC
 Central Semitic language, and it is spoken by 422 million people worldwide.
 In African it is spoken by estimated 150 million people.
 Egypt alone accounts for over 54 million speakers.
 It is an official language in Algeria, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Mauritania,
Morocco, Somalia, Sudan, and Tunisia.
2.ENGLISH
 West Germanic language, and it’s spoken by over 700 million people worldwide.
 There are about 130 million speakers in Africa.
3.FRENCH
 Romance language, and it is the official language of 29 countries worldwide.
 There are approximately 115 million speakers in Africa
4.SWAHILI
 Also known as Kiswahili, it is a Bantu language and it is the official language of several African
countries.
 It is an official language in Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda.
 There are approximately 100 million speakers in Africa.
5.BERBER
 Also known as Amazigh languages is a group of closely related languages that makes up the
Afroasiatic family.
 It is spoken in West and North Africa which about 56 million African speakers.
6.HAUSA
 Chadic language, which is a branch of the Afroasiatic language family.
 It is an official language in Nigeria, Niger, and it is also spoken in Benin and Ghana.
 It is spoken by approximately 50 million African speakers.
7.PORTUGUESE
 West Romance language native to Portugal, Brazil and more.
 It is also the official language of some African countries.
 There are approximately 30 million speakers in Africa.
8.YORUBA
 West African language spoken mainly in Nigeria, Togo and Benin.
 There are approximately 28 million speakers in Africa.

9.OROMO
 Afroasiatic language spoken in the Horn of Africa, mainly in Ethiopia, northern and eastern
Kenya.
 It is also spoken is South Africa, Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Egypt.
 There are about 26 million speakers in Africa.
10.FULANI
 Also known as Fula or Fulah is a language of various dialects spoken in West and Central Africa.
 It belongs to the Niger-Congo family.
 There are about 25 million speakers in Africa.

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RELIGIONS IN AFRICA

 There are somewhere between 4 to 8 million Egyptian Christians who are estimated to be
around 10% of Egypt’s population.
 In Ethiopia, one of the first countries in the world to adopt Christianity as state religion, is only
63% Christian and 34% Muslim.
 Nigeria with the population (over 180 million) was also almost evenly divided between Muslims
(50%) and Christians (48%).

SIX (6) AFRICAN TRIBES WITH TRADITIONAL AFRICAN CULTURES

Maasai of Kenya and Tanzania
Population: 840 000
 They are renowned warriors and pastoralists who for hundreds of years roamed the wild of East
Africa.
 Maasai have fought to preserve their way of life and as a result, any east African safari is awash
with the sight of colourful Maasai, herding their cattle, walking along roads or dancing the
adumu.
 Amongst the most famous Maasai traditions are the jumping dance, the wearing of colourful
shuka, spitting and the drinking of blood.
The Himba of northwest Namibia
Population: 50 000
 Hunter-gatherers and pastoralists, the Himba descend from the southward migrating Herero of
Angola.
 Hairstyles signify status, age and social standing
 The red ochre body paint of the Himba – called otijze – is made from butter, animal fat and a
naturally occurring earth pigment that contains iron oxide.
 The Himba women apply this mixture to their skin to protect them from the harsh sun and
insect bites, lock in moisture and to beautify themselves.
 The Himba tribe of Namibia has become known the “Red People of Africa”.
The Zulu of South Africa
Population: between 10 and 13 millio
 The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group in South Africa.
 the Zulu are said to be warm-hearted and hospitable.
 The Zulu are also renowned for their skilled craftsmanship from earthenware pottery to weaving
but most notably their beadwork.
 They have opened cultural villages such as Shakaland in KwaZulu Natal, where you can
experience their culture first hand.
The Bushman, San or Khoisan of Southern Africa
Population about 80000 between South Africa, Botswana and Namibia
 Known as the first people of South Africa, the Khoisan are renowned for their close connection
to nature and their nomadic lifestyle.
 Traditionally, the San people were hunter-gatherers who lived off the land, roaming vast tracts
of bushveld all over southern Africa.

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  The magical trance dance is integral to the customs and beliefs of the Bushman. Also known as
the healing dance, this ritual brings together the entire community.
The Southern Ndebele tribe of South Africa
Population about 1.1 million
 The Southern Ndebele are widely distributed through the north-east provinces of South Africa;
Mpumalanga, Gauteng and Limpopo.
 In traditional Ndebele society, illness is believed to be caused by spells or curses
 The traditional healer or sangoma, is required to do battle with these forces using medicines like
herbs or by throwing of bones.
 All izangoma (men and women) are able to commune with the ancestral spirits.
The Samburu of Northern Kenya
Population about 160 000
 They are closely related to the Maasai people of Kenya and are said to have migrated south
from the Nile region of North Africa.
 The Samburu diet, like the Maasai, consists of milk and animal blood, while eating is reserved for
special occasions.
 The Samburu are renowned for their colourful clothing and their unique social structure.
 A gerontocracy is a social structure which is governed strictly by the elders who make all the
decisions.

ECONOMY

Africa’s Macroeconomic Performance and Prospects

 After the GDP growth of only 2.1% in 2016, Africa’s economy recovered with 3.6% growth in 2017
and 3.5% growth in 2018.
 Growth is projected to accelerate to 4% in 2019 and 4.1% in 2020, higher than in other emerging
and developing economies as a whole but lower than in China and India.
Africa’s jobs, growth and firm dynamism
 Africa’s working-age population is projected to increase from 705 million in 2018 to almost 1
billion by 2030.
 As millions of young people join the labor market, the pressure to provide decent jobs will
increase.
 Africa needs to create about 12 million new jobs every year to prevent unemployment from rising.
Integration for Africa’s Economic Prosperity
 Economic merge was to be the solution to Africa’s development dilemma, and many thought
that this required a political union.
 Most leaders of the young African states were reluctant to encourage the erosion of national
sovereignty and the emergence of a supranational authority to coordinate and manage the
affairs of the African Union.

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POTENTIAL TO GROWTH

 The largest segments of modern Africa’s economies are agriculture and mining, with tourism
growing with some areas.
 Manufacturing industries have grown large enough to ship product across the planet, and the oil
export revenues of Angola, Libya and Nigeria have the potential to change the lives of millions.

 Almost 65% of all Africans work in the agricultural sector and they produced such as corn,
coffee, wheat and fruits.
 Main natural resources are minerals such as oil, copper, gold (50%), diamonds (50%), platinum
(90%) and uranium (33%).
 As a sector its growth is central to increasing prosperity, food security, industrialization, intra-
African trade and to support Africa’s contribution to global trade.
 Many farmers stick to the traditional approaches passed down through generations.

10 GREATEST LANDMARKS ON AFRICA

NGORONGORO CRATER- extinct volcanic caldera in the Eastern

(Great) Rift Valley, northern Tanzania. It lies 75 miles (120 km) west
of the town of Arusha. Ngorongoro is thought to have formed about
2.5 million years ago from a large active volcano whose cone
collapsed inward after a major eruption, leaving the present vast,
unbroken caldera as its chief remnant.

OKAVANGO DELTA The Okavango Delta is a unique pulsing wetland.

More correctly an alluvial fan, the delta covers between 6 and 15 000
square kilometers of Kalahari Desert in northern Botswana and owes
its existence to the Okavango (Kavango) River which flows from the
Angolan highlands, across Namibia’s Caprivi Strip and into the harsh
Kalahari Desert.

SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK - national park and wildlife refuge on

the Serengeti Plain in north-central Tanzania. It is partly adjacent to
the Kenya border and is northwest of the adjoining Ngorongoro
Conservation Area. It is best known for its huge herds of plains
animals (especially gnu [wildebeests], gazelles, and zebras), and it
is the only place in Africa where vast land-animal migrations still
take place. The park, an international tourist attraction, was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in
1981.

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 NILE RIVER - the longest river in the world, called the father of African
rivers. It rises south of the Equator and flows northward through
northeastern Africa to drain into the Mediterranean Sea. It has a length
of about 4,132 miles (6,650 kilometers) and drains an area estimated
at 1,293,000 square miles (3,349,000 square kilometers). Its basin
includes parts of Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic
of the Congo, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Sudan, and
the cultivated part of Egypt. Its most distant source is the Kagera River in Burundi.

VICTORIA FALLS presents a spectacular sight of awe-inspiring

beauty and grandeur on the Zambezi River, forming the border
between Zambia and Zimbabwe. It was described by the Kololo
tribe living in the area in the 1800s as ‘Mosi-oa-Tunya’ – ‘The
Smoke that Thunders’. In more modern terms Victoria Falls is
known as the greatest curtain of falling water in the world.

Columns of spray can be seen from miles away as, at the height
of the rainy season, more than five hundred million cubic meters of water per minute plummet over the
edge, over a width of nearly two kilometers, into a gorge over one hundred meters below.

THE RUINS OF CARTHAGE- Great city of antiquity on the north coast

of Africa, now a residential suburb of the city of Tunis, Tunisia. Built
on a promontory on the Tunisian coast, it was placed to influence
and control ships passing between Sicily and the North African coast
as they traversed the Mediterranean Sea. Rapidly becoming a
thriving port and trading center, it eventually developed into a major
Mediterranean power and a rival to Rome. The archaeological site of
Carthage was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1979.

MOUNT KILIMANJARO - is the tallest mountain in Africa, making

it one of the seven summits. Kilimanjaro is very popular with both
experienced hikers and first time adventurers because it is
considered to be the easiest of the seven summits. Scaling the
mountain requires no technical skills or equipment, such as rope,
harness, crampons or ice axe. Therefore, it is a hiking or “walk up”
peak, not a mountaineering or climbing peak. Kilimanjaro is not
only Africa’s tallest peak, but also the world’s tallest free standing
mountain. The summit, named Uhuru Point, is 5,895 meters
(19,341 feet) above sea level.

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 ANALAMAZAOTRA SPECIAL RESERVE- is a wildlife reserve of Madagascar,
and is part of Andasibe-Mantadia National Park. The reserve is toward the
northeast portion of the island, and is nearly centered between the coasts.
The neighbouring Analamazaotra Forest Station is a
local reforestation effort. The reserve is situated in the region Alaotra-
Mangoro, close to Moramanga and Andasibe.

THE TEMPLES OF ABU SIMBEL- site of two temples built by the

Egyptian king Ramses II now located in
Aswān muḥāfaẓah (governorate), southern Egypt. In ancient
times the area was at the southern frontier of pharaonic Egypt,
facing Nubia. The four colossal statues of Ramses in front of the
main temple are spectacular examples of ancient Egyptian art. By
means of a complex engineering feat in the 1960s, the temples
were salvaged from the rising waters of the Nile River caused by
erection of the Aswan High Dam.

PYRAMIDS OF GIZA/GIZA NECROPOLIS- three 4th-

dynasty (c. 2575–c. 2465 BCE) pyramids erected on a rocky
plateau on the west bank of the Nile River near Al-Jīzah (Giza)
in northern Egypt. The three primary pyramids on the Giza
plateau were built over the span of three generations by the
rulers Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure. Each pyramid was part of
a royal mortuary complex that also included a temple at its
base and a long stone causeway (some nearly 1 kilometer in
length) leading east from the plateau to a valley temple on the
edge of the floodplain.

Your task!
Watch the video entitled 25 Amazing things you didn’t know about Africa
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyI1dzTOTRg) and make a reflection paper.

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SOUTH AMERICA
South America is bordered by North America and
the Caribbean Sea to the northwest, the Atlantic
Ocean to the east and north and the Pacific Ocean
to the west. It includes a total of 12 sovereign states
and two non-sovereign areas.

Population
Country (2020)

Brazil 212,559,417

Colombia 50,882,891

Argentina 45,195,774

Peru 32,971,854

Venezuela 28,435,940

Chile 19,116,201

Ecuador 17,643,054  South America population is equivalent to 5.54% of

the total world population.
Bolivia 11,673,021  South America ranks fourth largest continent in
terms of area.
Paraguay 7,132,538  The current population of South
America is 431,221,038 as of Tuesday, August 18, 2020,
Uruguay 3,473,730 based on the latest United Nations estimates.
 South America ranks number 1 in Latin America
Guyana 786,552 and the Caribbean among subregions ranked by
Population.
Suriname 586,632  The population density in South America is 25
per Km2 (64 people per mi2).
French Guiana 298,682  The total land area is 17,461,112 Km2 (6,741,770
sq. miles)
Falkland Islands 3,480
 85.5 % of the population is urban (368,408,682
people in 2019).
 The median age in South America is 32.1years.

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AMERIGO VESPUCCI
 Born on March 9, 1454 in Florence, Italy.
 Best known for his namesake: The continents of North and South America.
 First person to recognize North and South America as distinct continents that were previuosly
unknown to Europeans,Asians and Americans.

PROMINENT CULTURE OF SOUTH AMERICA

LANGUAGES OF SOUTH AMERICA

The languages of South America can be divided into

three broad groups:
• the languages of the (in most cases, former)
colonial powers
• many indigenous languages, some of which
are co-official alongside the colonial languages
• and various pockets of other languages spoken
by immigrant populations that have survived
assimilation by the process.

RELIGION OF SOUTH AMERICA

 According to the Association of Religion Data Archives 91.9% of the South America population is
Christian. Argentina has the largest communities of both Jews and Muslims in Latin America.
Protestantism is the second largest religious group practiced in South America and are also
known as Evangelicals.
 Three major religions: Christianity in general, Hinduism and Islam. In lowland South America, as
well as Andes, animism and shamanism are common, as noted among the Urarina of Peruvian
Amazonia.
 Other religious groups in South America include Bahai, Buddhism, Hinduism, Kardecist
Spiritualism, Umbanda, and Shinto. The continent is also home to a significant number of non-
religious people as well as individuals who identify themselves as Agnostic.

CULTURES AND TRADITIONS OF SOUTH AMERICA

SPORTS

A wide range of sports are played in the continent of South America, with football was being the most
popular in Venezuela.
Other sports include:
 Basketball  Volleyball

 Cycling  Futsal

 Polo  Motorsports

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  Rugby (mostly in Argentina and  Golf
Uruguay)
 Field Hockey
 Handball
 Boxing
 Tennis
 Cricket

 South America is the home to the longest running International Football Tournament; the COPA
America which has been regularly contested since 1916.
 South America is a multi-sport event, and the South American games are held every four years.

DINING ETIQUETTE

 Dining rules vary from country to country, however, in general, meals are eaten ‘Continental
Style’ with the fork in the left hand and the knife in the right hand. A common toast at the
beginning of a meal is “Salud!” or “To your health.”
 In both Argentina and Paraguay, a traditional tea is served, this tea is called Maté in Argentina,
and is consumed through an elegant silver straw called a bombilla. In Paraguay, this tea is called
Tereré and is served ice cold.

SOCIALIZING

 When invited to someone’s home, it’s generally appropriate to bring a small gift for the host or
hostess; a unique token from your home country is usually well received and will spark
conversation and interest. Otherwise, bringing wine, chocolate, or a small bouquet of flowers is
popular.
 To help with your social interactions in South America, it would be wise to study some
conversational Spanish and pick up a few simple phrases to use, such as “Buenos Dias” (good
day) and “Gracias” (thank you).

SOUTH AMERICA'S TOP 5 MOST INSPIRING CULTURAL FESTIVALS OF THE YEAR

1. Carnaval – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The Rio Carnival is by far the largest, with almost two million people participating every day for the
last four days of the two-week event. Nowadays, the Rio Carnival is the most anticipated dance-off
of the year, with about 200 samba schools in the city competing for first place. Parties brimming
with hypnotic music, unbelievable dancing, flamboyant floats, outlandish costumes, fantastic food
and non-stop festivities are held all over the Brazilian city, culminating in the Sambadrome on the
last, no-holds-barred night.
2. Inti Raymi
The Inti Raymi, also known as the Inca Festival of the Sun. Inti was one of the most revered gods for
the ancient Incas and his namesake festival, which first started in the early 1400s, is aimed to honor
and appease him with animal sacrifices, opulent processions, dances, elaborate meals and multi-day
festivities.
3. Dia De Los Santos

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 Continent-wide, people join processions to their local cemeteries where they make offerings of
particular foods and flower arrangements. The most interesting festivals, where the ancient
tradition of digging up skulls and decorating them for the day is still very much alive.
4. Festival de la Candelaria
Every year, at the start of February, ‘Fiesta de la Candelaria’ is celebrated in Puno, South Peru. This is
a festival full of culture, dance and music which brings together the catholic faith and Andean
religion in homage to the Virgin of Candelaria. The Virgin represents fertility and purity, is the patron
saint of the city and is strongly associated with ‘pachamama’ (‘mother earth’). It is this common
factor of both religions that brings them together for the festival. In 2014, UNESCO declared the
festival an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
5. Tango Festival – Buenos Aires, Argentina
The World Tango Championships is one of the most enthralling cultural festivals in all of South
America and, although relatively new, has swiftly gained cult-like status among tango-lovers world-
wide. Literally hundreds of events are hosted in Buenos Aires attracting the very best dancers, not
only from Argentina but from all over the world. The inherent passion locals have for their national
dance is mesmerizing to say the least, and although you have a near-endless list of options to catch
a tango show when visiting Buenos Aires at any time, visiting during the last two weeks of August
will add an extra dimension to your experience. Various stages of this world event are held all over
the world throughout the year, with the final staged in its most historic place of origin.

INDIGENOUS GROUPS OF SOUTH AMERICA

More than 350 indigenous groups with a population totaling over 18 million people inhabit South
America. Some of these groups still struggle for their physical survival, but many others have begun
to demand ethnic recognition and assert their political visibility.

 Mapuche People- the most numerous group of Indians in South America. They numbered more
than 1,400,000 at the turn of the 21st century. Most inhabit the Central Valley of Chile, south of
the Biobío River.

The Mapuche are famous for their 350-year struggle against Spanish and, later, Chilean
domination. To resist the Spanish in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, the Mapuche
reorganized their traditional way of life. Widely separated villages formed military, political, and
economic alliances; Mapuche warriors learned to use the horse against the Spanish; and
Mapuche leaders such as Lautaro emerged as innovative and effective strategists.

 Andean People, aboriginal inhabitants of the area of the Central Andes in South America.
Although the Andes Mountains extend from Venezuela to the southern tip of the continent, it is
conventional to call “Andean” only the people who were once part of Tawantinsuyu, the Inca
Empire in the Central Andes, or those influenced by it. Even so, the Andean region is very wide.
These two visions of Andean peoples and their accomplishments can be reconciled only if it is
recognized that what the resources and ecologic potential of an area and a people may be
depends on what part of these resources the people use or are allowed to use by their masters.
The Andean region was once rich and produced high civilizations because, over millennia, its
people developed an agriculture, technologies, and social systems uniquely adapted to the very
specialized if not unique ecologic conditions in which they lived.

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  Yanomami People, also spelled Yanomamö or Yanoamö, South American Indians, speakers of
a Xirianá language, who live in the remote forest of the Orinoco River basin in
southern Venezuela and the northernmost reaches of the Amazon River basin in
northern Brazil. The Yanomami live in vine-and-leaf-thatched houses in palisaded villages
surrounded by garden plots. They relocate their villages when the soil wears out or when a
village has become too susceptible to attack by other Yanomami.
 Chimú People, South American Indians who maintained the largest and most important political
system in Peru before the Inca. himú culture was based on agriculture, aided by immense works
of irrigation engineering. They did excellent work in textiles and in gold, silver, and copper.
Pottery types tended to be standardized, with quantity production, made in molds, and
generally of a plain black ware. The Chimú language, known as Yunca (Yunga), Mochica, or
Moche, now extinct, was very different and definitely distinct from that of the Inca.
 Aymara People, large South American Indian group living on the Altiplano—a vast windy plateau
of the central Andes in Peru and Bolivia—with smaller numbers in Argentina and Chile. Their
language is also called Aymara. Basically agriculturalists and herders, the Aymara live in an area
of poor soil and harsh climate. Coarse grass gives pasturage for llama and alpaca herds. Staple
crops include potatoes, oca (Oxalis tuberosa), ullucu (Ullucus tuberosus), quinoa (Chenopodium
quinoa), corn (maize), beans, barley, and wheat. Fishing is done from rowboats and totora-reed
rafts.

ECONOMY OF SOUTH AMERICA

 The economy of South America comprises approximately 428,578,833 people living in twelve
nations and three territories.
 The current population of South America is 428,578,833 as of Wednesday, November 20, 2019,
based on the latest United Nations estimates. South America population is equivalent to 5.54% of
the total world population. South America ranks number 1 in Latin America and the Caribbean
among subregions ranked by Population.
 From the 1930s to 1980s, countries of South America used Import Substitution, an economic
policy which replaces foreign businesses as well as imports with domestic production. This was a
policy made to produce more development and help grow domestic businesses, which are not
competitive with other international industries. However, this policy created a debt crisis in South
America.
 In 1990s when countries in South America switched over to the system of Free-Market economy.
This eventually pulled countries in South America out of the debt crisis. Now, major economic
activities include agriculture, industry, forestry, and mining.
 In 2016, four countries, which include Brazil, Ecuador, Argentina and República Bolivariana de
Venezuela experienced decline in output. Other countries in the region were observing slowdown
in growth rates.
 Brazil saw this decline in output due to increasing unemployment level, worsening financial
conditions and political issues, which, in turn, lead to decrease in private domestic consumption
and investment.
 Argentina also experienced recession in private consumption and investment, however it was
because of removal of public service subsidies due to short-term rise in inflation.

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  In contrast, Peru differed from other countries in the region - demonstrating increase in growth
rates thanks to copper production.
 In 2017, the economy has started to recover for the first time since 2014. The main contributors
to economic growth is private consumption. Increased retail trade and industrial production in
Brazil has led to expansion of its economy by 1% in 2017. Higher public investments and private
consumption have resulted in growth of economy of Argentina compared to its recession in 2016.
 In 2017, inflation rates were observed to be in a downward trend in most of the major economies.
The reasons are prior exchange rate appreciations and food price deflation. Some countries are
even expected to lower their target bands in 2019.

ECONOMIC SECTOR
 AGRICULTURE
South America is a diverse land that is rich in natural resources. It has a wide variety of agricultural
products, mineral wealth, plentiful freshwater and rich fisheries.
As one of the most important contributors of the world's agricultural market, South America is
one of the leading players in the global agricultural market and accounts for approximately 10%
of the global agricultural product export.
 INDUSTRY
80% of manufacturing of the Latin America region falls on Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. Brazil has
the third-largest manufacturing sector in the Americas. Aaccounting for 28.5 percent of GDP,
Brazil's industries range from automobiles, steel, and petrochemicals to computers, aircraft
(Embraer), and consumer durables
 FORESTRY
It is a major economic activity for tropical South America, especially the Amazon River basin. Many
high-value tree species, such as mahogany and rosewood, are negative to the rain forest. Lumber
from these trees is exported to foreign market for use in cabinets and floors.
 MINING
Chile contributes about a third of the world copper production. Brazil is the world's leading
producer of niobium and tantalum, and Peru is the largest silver producer and the second-ranked
producer of bismuth and copper.
The mining industry is one of South America's important economic engines. The continent
contains about one-fifth of the world's iron ore reserves. Iron and steel (an iron product) are used
in construction and machinery throughout the world.

POTENTIAL GROWTH INSOUTH AMERICA

POTATO POTENTIAL IN SOUTH AMERICA

 Potatoes are one of the major agro-crops, which are used in a wide range of food
applications. Potatoes are consumed in both forms—fresh and processed. Apart from human
consumption, potatoes are also used for various purposes, such as animal feed, and are used
as seed tubers for replanting potato crops.
 According to Markets and markets analysis, the global processed potato market stood at
60.77 million metric tons (MMT), in terms of volume, in 2017. With the increase in potato
production in the region, the South American market for processed potatoes is projected to
grow significantly at 7.0% from 2017 to 2022. According to FAOSTAT, 2017, Peru and

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 Columbia collectively accounted for two-thirds of the total potato production in South
America.
 South America offers immense growth opportunities to domestic as well as international
potato processing players. Brazil is one of the most attractive markets in terms of both
internal sales and export potential. The demand for processed potatoes is expected to grow
strongly in Brazil as it has the largest consumer market. The major potato product companies
in Brazil include Bem Brasil Alimentos, Serya Alimentos, and McCain do Brasil.
 In 2017, the Brazilian government decided to impose anti-dumping duty on frozen potatoes
(mostly frozen French fries) imported from Germany, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands,
as these countries were exporting at significantly lower prices, making it a concern for local
producers. Thus, Brazilian manufacturers, because of the support by the local government,
are harnessing opportunities, which acts as an aid to the South American processed potato
industry.

South America Bioplastics Market - Segmented By Product Type, Origin, Application, and Geography -
Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2018 - 2023)

• The South America bioplastics market is expected to witness a CAGR of 25.5% during the
forecasted period and is estimated to be home to 45% of global bioplastic production capacity.
Brazil accounts for more than 50% share of the total production capacity in South America
market. The markets in Colombia, Chile, and Argentina are also witnessing a high growth rate.

Economic Advantage in the Long Run

• The environmental dilemma caused on reaching a high emission level of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere is one of the major drivers for the bioplastics market. Additionally, the fluctuation in
oil prices and the change of laws in the usage of petroleum-based plastics helped accelerate the
demand for the bioplastics. Globally, the production of bioplastics is the highest in South America.
Bioplastics have moved from the initial phase of market introduction to increasing demand in the
market. Owing to this change, the South America manufacturing companies have been
introducing environment-friendly bioplastics in their product line. These companies are expected
to offer up to 50% of bio-based products by the year 2020, which will also subsequently result in
the new applications of bioplastics.

Brazil is a High Potential Market

• Brazil is the largest market for Bioplastic market in South America. With the explosion of
industries in Brazil, along with increasing environmental concerns, the demand for bioplastics
and the production of bioplastics has multiplied manifolds. Brazil has seen the largest industrial
growth and leads in South America in the production of bioplastic. Mutsui and Dow have
planned to build bioplastic plant in Brazil. This development in Brazil is seen as a trend among
other market players as well. The soaring demand for flexible packaging in the Brazil market is
also a reason to push the market growth of Bioplastics. Thus, Brazil is a high potential market in
South America region.

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LANDMARKS IN SOUTH AMERICA

Las Lajas Sanctuary – Nariño Colombia - It is a neo-gothic Roman Catholic

cathedral and church located alongside steep cliffs in Nariño Colombia. It
has made a name from its amazing architecture and myths involving the
appearance of the Virgin Mary. The church connects to the opposite site
of the canyon by a 50 meters high bridge over the Guaitara river and it
rises 100 meters high from the bottom of the canyon. The Cathedral was
built between 1916 and 1949 and since then has been a tourism and
pilgrimage destination

Christ the Redeemer – Brazil - It is one of Brazil’s and South

America’s most recognized landmarks and provides a stunning view
of the city. The statue was built between 1922 and 1931 and it is
know as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

With arms outstretched 28 meters, as if to encompass all of

humanity, the colossal Art Deco statue of Christ, called Cristo
Redentor (Christ the Redeemer), gazes out over Rio de Janeiro and
the bay from the summit of Corcovado. The 709-meter height on
which it stands is part of the Tijuca National Park, and a rack railway climbs 3.5 kilometers to its top,
where a broad plaza surrounds the statue. Completed in 1931, the 30-meter statue was the work of
Polish-French sculptor Paul Landowski and Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa, and is constructed of
reinforced concrete and soapstone.

NATURAL LANDMARKS
IGUAZU FALLS- Of all the waterfalls in the world, Iguazu has the
highest annual average flow, more than Niagara Falls. Iguazu Falls
is taller than, and twice as wide as Niagara Falls. Iguazu Falls was
formed as the result of a volcanic eruption. ... The most impressive
falls of Iguazu Falls is called 'The Devil's Throat'.

PERITO MORENO GLACIER- The Perito Moreno Glacier is a glacier

located in the Los Glaciares National Park in southwest Santa
Cruz Province, Argentina. It is one of the most important tourist
attractions in the Argentinian Patagonia. The ice dam prevents
lake water from circulating from one side to the other, which in
turn causes muddier and “milkier” water to concentrate in Brazo
Rico.

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 SALAR DE UYUNI - Large salt flats are found around the world
in places such as the United States, South America, and Africa.
The largest salt flat in the world is the Salar de Uyuni, located
in the Potosi and Oruro, Bolivia.

ANGEL FALLS-is the world's highest uninterrupted waterfall. Located in

Canaima National Park, the second largest national park in Venezuela, the
waterfall tumbles from a cleft near the summit of table top mountain
Auyán-tepu into what is known as Devil's Canyon, 3212 feet (979m) below.

GALÁPAGOS ISLANDS - is a volcanic archipelago in the Pacific Ocean.

It's considered one of the world's foremost destinations for wildlife-
viewing. A province of Ecuador, it lies about 1,000km off its coast. Its
isolated terrain shelters a diversity of plant and animal species, many
found nowhere else. Charles Darwin visited in 1835, and his
observation of Galápagos' species later inspired his theory of
evolution.

TORRES DEL PAINE-It consist of mountains, glacier, lakes and river, with
the Codillera del Paine small mountain group being the heart of the parks.
The most famous and most spectacular summit in this group are the
three Towers of Paine, after which the entire park is called.

MOUNT RORAIMA -is the highest of the Pakaraima chain of tepui

plateaus in South America. First described to Europeans by the
English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh during his 1595 expedition, its 31-
square-kilometre summit area is bounded on all sides by cliffs rising
400 metres.

MOUNT FITZ ROY (also known as Cerro Chaltén, Cerro Fitz Roy, or simply
Monte Fitz Roy) is a mountain in Patagonia, on the border between
Argentina and Chile. It is located in the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, near
El Chaltén village and Viedma lake. It was first climbed in 1952 by French
alpinists Lionel Terray and Guido Magnone.

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LENCOIS MARANHENSES - A protected area on Brazil’s north
Atlantic coast. It’s known for its vast desert landscape of tall, white
sand dunes and seasonal rainwater lagoons. Lagoa Azul and Lagoa
Bonita are two of the largest lagoons. The park’s diverse ecosystem
also includes mangrove swamps. The nearby towns of Barreirinhas
and Santo Amaro do Maranhão are gateways to the park.

AMAZON RAINFOREST - is the most biodiverse terrestrial

place on the planet. This amazing rainforest is home to more
species of birds, plants and mammals than anywhere else in
the world. Around 30% of the world's species, and 10% of the
world's biodiversity, can be found there.

Your task!
Site an Article about South America and make a reflection about it. Don’t
forget to include the source of the article
Example: Article about the recent bushfire of the world’s largest rainforest,
Amazon Rainforest.

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NORTH AMERICA

Third largest of the world’s continents, lying for

the most part between the Arctic Circle and the
Tropic of Cancer. It extends for more than 5,000
miles (8,000 km) to within 500 miles (800 km) of
both the North Pole and the Equator and has an
east-west extent of 5,000 miles. It covers an area
of 9,355,000 square miles (24,230,000 square
km).

 North America consist of six main regions:

Canada, Caribbean, Central America,
Greenland, Mexico and United states.
 Support a wide range of landscape from the
artic north to sub-tropical Central America.
 Consist of 23 countries

HISTORY
WHO ARE THE PERSONS GIVES BIG
CONTRIBUTION TO THE EXPLORATION OF
NORTH AMERICA?

 Bjarni Herjólfsson -He was a Norse-Icelandic

explorer who is believed to be the first known European discoverer of the mainland of the Americas,
which he sighted in 986.
 Leif Ericson “Leif the Lucky” - He was a Norse explorer from Iceland. He was the first known
European to have set foot on continental North America (excluding Greenland), before Christopher
Columbus.
Most historians believed that Leif celebrated as “Leif the Lucky” in the great Icelandic sagas of the
13th century and his men spent a winter in crude Viking huts hastily erected on a spot abundant
with berries and grapes and for the reason called Vinland which was located at a place now called
L’Anse aux Meadows on the northernmost tip of Newfoundland (Canada).
 Christopher Columbus - He was an Italian explorer and colonizer who completed four voyages
across the Atlantic Ocean that opened the New World for the conquest and permanent European
colonization of The America. He make the first European expedition to the Caribbean, Central
America and South America.

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WHERE DO ‘AMERICA’ NAME CAME FROM?

 AMERIGO VESPUCCI -He was an Italian explorer where the “AMERICA’’ name came from. He set
fourth revolutionary concept that the Lands that Christopher Columbus sailed to in 1942 were part of
a separate continent.
 MARTIN WALDSEEMUELLER - He was a German cartographer. He and Matthias Ringmann are
credited with the first recorded usage of the word ‘’America’’ on the 1507 map called ‘’Universalis
Cosmographia’’ in honor of the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci.

WHO ARE THE FIRST PEOPLE/INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF NORTH AMERICA?

 According to the book of Alan Axelrod, Ph.D., in Quaternary period (2 million years ago) a “land
bridge” emerged in the Bering and Chukchi Sea as the sea level dropped due to the expansion of
the ice cap surrounding the North Pole. The theory is that anywhere from 10,000 to 45,000 years
ago, human beings used the Bering land bridge “Beringia” to enter the New World.
 The “Native Americans” are so called the nomads, wanderer and hunter gatherer. They
domesticated plants in order to supplement foraged and hunted food.
 In 16th century when they made a first contact to the Europeans, Native Americans were
cultivating maize (corn), beans, squash as well as manioc, potatoes and grains. They also practiced
aquaculture and agriculture and discover that it is more stable lifestyle than hunting and
gathering.
 In some regions the indigenous peoples created monumental architecture, large-scale organized
cities, city-states, chiefdoms, states, kingdoms and empires. Among these are the Aztec, Inca and
Maya states that until the 16th century were among the most politically and socially advanced
nations in the world. They had a vast knowledge of engineering, architecture, mathematics,
astronomy, writing, physics, medicine, planting and irrigation, geology, mining, sculpture and gold
smiting.
 Many parts of the Americas are still populated by indigenous peoples; some countries have sizable
populations, especially Belize, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama,
Paraguay, Peru and the United States.

PROMINENT CULTURE

LANGUAGES IN NORTH AMERICA

Before colonization from European nations, North America was inhabited by several Aboriginal nation
speaking a wide variety of languages from several different language families. There were perhaps 300-
400 languages spoken by several million native people Some of this are:
• Eskimo-Aleut(100,000) • Salishan(3500)
• Na-dene(210,000) • Penutian(7000)
• Wakashan(1000)

The main majority languages of this continent are English (mainly in USA and Canada), Spanish (Mexico,
most of Central America and some of Caribbean) French (Canada, specially Quebec, Haiti, Guadeloupe.

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RELIGION IN NORTH AMERICA

A significant percentage of the population of North America (85 percent) is made up of the three
countries, i.e., the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Religion in this region has been a significant
factor in influencing the culture, art, philosophy, and law of its people. There are various types of
religions being practiced in North America
Major religion in North America
• Christianity is the most popular religion in North America. It accounts for approximately 75% of
the total population of North America.
• Judaism is one of the least practiced religions RANK RELIGION POPULATION (%)
in North America, accounting for
approximately 1.8 percent of the total 1 Christianity 77.4
population
• Irreligion Notably, irreligious people in North 2 Other 15.8
America account for approximately 5 percent
of the total population of North Americans.
3 Irreligious 5
• Other religions practiced in North America
include Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and the
4 Judaism 1.8
Bahá'í Faith. When combined, approximately
15.8 percent of the population of North
America falls under one of these religions.

TRADITION AND CUSTOMS

Baby Shower - In North America, baby showers are a popular way for young parents to celebrate a
pending or recent birth and to get gifts related to babies, such as toys, clothes or basic supplies. Baby
showers are typically a surprise party for the mother-to-be, so supplies must be bought by friends or
even colleagues.

Halloween - This spooky holiday celebrated on October 31st is now well-known around the world,
but celebration in the United States and Canada is probably the most traditional
In North America, many households carve jack-o’-lanterns and display the monstrous faces at the
window or on the porch. Kids and teens go trick-or-treating in their neighborhood and even adults
enjoy a thrill in some popular “haunted” attractions.

Potluck - A potluck is a communal meal where guests bring dishes to share. It is especially popular
with informal gatherings at school, at work or among a large group of friends because it’s a great way
to make meal planning easy and to distribute the costs among the participants.

NORMS

 Requesting Alterations to Meals – It is normal to request customizations to menu items, such as

adding or removing items, or using condiments.

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  Thumbs Up – Giving the thumbs up is a positive affirmation of “yes.”
 Using Smartphones Everywhere – Some people will be on their smartphone talking or texting
others, even while in public, eating meals, or entertaining face-to-face guests.
 Dressing Down in Public – Wearing flip flops, sweat pants, wrinkled shirts, and other less-than-
casual clothing in public places is normal.
 Asking Questions – People will ask you what you do, where you are from, and other questions to
get to know you better.
 The examples of social norms are simple “Please,” “hello,” or “thank you.” We are sometimes
explicitly taught to use social norms, and sometimes we accept it without even being aware of it.
 Being polite has different meanings from culture to culture. In some cultures, it is polite to eat
everything offered to you at the dinner table not to offend the hosts, while in some other cultures
this is considered to be rude and impolite.

CUISINE

Canadian Cuisine
 Maple syrup is a syrup usually made from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black
maple trees, although it can also be made from other maple species. In cold climates, these
trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar
that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring.
 Butter tart is a type of small pastry tart highly regarded in Canadian cuisine and considered one
of Canada's quintessential treats. The sweet tart consists of a filling of butter, sugar, syrup, and
egg, baked in a pastry shell until the filling is semi-solid with a crunchy top.
American Cuisine
 Sirloin Steak - dinner served with sautéed onion, potato fries, broccoli florets, cut carrots, and
whole snow peas, then garnished with chives
Mexican Cuisine
 Tacos - a traditional Mexican dish consisting of a small hand-sized corn or wheat tortilla topped
with a filling. The tortilla is then folded around the filling and eaten by hand.
 Asado - is a term used for a range of barbecue techniques and the social event of having or
attending a barbecue in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, northern
Mexico and southern Brazil. In these countries Asado is the standard word for "barbecue".

SPORTS IN NORTH AMERICA

 Basketball - one of the major professional sports leagues of North America December
 Kentucky Derby - is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, on the first
Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade
I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of one and a quarter miles at Churchill
Downs.
 Gridiron Football - is a football sport primarily played in the United States and Canada

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HOLIDAYS

 Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) -is a federal holiday in the United States
observed annually on November 11, for honoring military veterans, that is, persons who have
served in the United States Armed Forces.
 Cinco de Mayo - is an annual celebration held on May 5. The date is observed to commemorate
the Mexican Army's victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla, on May 5, 1862,
under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza.
 Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos)- is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico,
in particular the Central and South regions, and by people of Mexican heritage elsewhere. The
multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pray for and remember friends and
family members who have died, and helping support their spiritual journey
 Canada Day- is the national day of Canada. A federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the
anniversary of July 1, 1867, the effective date of the Constitution Act, 1867 (then called the
British North America Act, 1867), which united the three separate colonies of the Province of
Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick into a single Dominion within the British Empire called
Canada

RITUALS

1. Green corn Festival- also called the green corn ceremonies. This both a celebration and a religious
ceremony, primarily practiced by the people of the eastern Woodlands and the south eastern tribes.

2. The Ghost Dance was new religious movement incorporated into numerous Native American belief
systems. According to the teachings of the Northern Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka (renamed Jack Wilson)
proper practice of the dance would reunite the living with the spirit of the dead.

3.Native American Medicine- the healing traditions of Native Americans 60 back for thousands of years,
as the many indigenous Tribes of the North America learned that by mixing Herbs, Roots and other Natural
plants that they could heal various medical problems. Herbal remedies filled an important role within
these healing practices

LITERATURE

 THE COLONIAL AND EARLY NATIONAL PERIOD (17TH CENTURY TO 1830) -The first European
settlers of North America wrote about their experience starting in the 1600s. This was the earliest
American literature: Practical, straight forward, often derivative of literature in Great Britain and
focused on the future.
 THE ROMANTIC PERIOD (1830-1870)- Romanticism is a way of thinking that values the individual
over the group, the subjective over the objective , and a Person's emotional experience over
reason.
 REALISM AND NATURALISM (1870-1910) - Naturalism, like realism was literacy movement that
drew inspiration from French author of the 19th century who sought to document, through
fiction, the reality that they saw around them. Particularly among the middle and working classes
living in cities.

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  THE MODERNIST PERIOD (1910-1945)- A sense of disillusionment and loss pervades much
American modernist fiction, that sense may be centered on the specific individuals or it may be
directed toward American society or toward civilization. Generally, it may generate a nihilistic,
destructive impulse, or it may express hope at the prospect of change
 THE CONTEMPORARY PERIOD (1945-Present)- The united states which emerged from world
war II confident and economically strong, entered the cold war in the late 1940's. This conflict
with Soviet Union shape global politics for more than Four decades and the proxy wars and
threat of nuclear annihilation that came to define it were just some of the influences shaping
American Literature during the second half of the 20th century

GOVERNMENT

How the U.S.A Government is organized?

The Constitution of the United States divides the federal government into three branches:
1. Legislative- makes laws (Congress, comprised of the House of Representatives and Senate)
2. Executive- carries out laws (president, vice president, Cabinet, most federal agencies)
3. Judicial- evaluate laws (Supreme Court and other courts)

The federal government of the United States is the national government of the United States, a federal
republic in North America, composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories
and several island possessions.

The federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executive and judicial,
whose powers are vested by the U.S. Constitution in the Congress, the president and the federal courts,
respectively. The powers and duties of these branches are further defined by acts of Congress, including
the creation of executive departments and courts inferior to the Supreme Court.

The federal government, known as the Supreme Power of the Federation, is constituted by the Powers
of the Union, the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. Mexico City, as the capital of Mexico, seats
all the powers of the Union. All branches of government are independent; no two separate branches
must be vested upon a single person or institution, and the legislative power must not be vested upon
a single individual.

ECONOMY
Population 579 million (2016)
THE ECONOMY OF NORTH AMERICA GDP $22.2 trillion

 Comprises more than 579 million people (8% (Nominal; 2017110$23.7

of the world population) in its 23 sovereign trillion (PPP: 2017)[0]
states and 15 dependent territories. It is
GDP growth 2.3% (2017)
marked by a sharp division between the
GDP per capita $45,560 (2017:2nd)
predominantly English speaking countries of
Millionaires (USS)15.7 million (2016)
Canada and the United States, which are
among the wealthiest and most developed Unemployment 10%
nations in the world, Top 10% income • 32.9%

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 Countries of Central America and the Caribbean in the former Latin America that are less developed.
Mexico and Caribbean nations of the Commonwealth of Nations are between the economic extremes
of the development of North America
 Mexico lies in between these two extremes as a newly industrialized country (NIC), and is a part of
the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and a member of the Organization for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD), being one of the only two Latin American members of this
organization (together with Chile).
 The United States is by far the largest economy in North America and the largest national economy in
the world.

North American Free Trade Agreement -The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is an
agreement between Canada, Mexico and the United States to eliminate tariffs on goods traded between
themselves.

Although currently only a trade agreement, with no supranational bodies or laws as in the European
Union, there have been various proposals to move towards a customs union or a North American
currency union. It is unknown whether this may eventually develop into a North American Union similar
to that of Europe

Caribbean Community - The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was created “To provide dynamic
leadership and service, in partnership with Community institutions and groups, toward the attainment
of a viable, internationally competitive and sustainable community, with improved quality of life for all”.
CARICOM’s secretariat is based on South America although there are countries of north are its members
including Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.

Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation- the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a group of Pacific
Rim countries which meet with the purpose of improving economic and political ties. APEC’s stated
goals are aimed at free and open trade and investments by cutting tariffs between zero and five percent
in the Asia-Pacific area for industrialized economies by the year 2020.Those members of this
organization are from North America which is US and Canada.

POTENTIAL TO GROWTH

AGRICULURE
 North American crops include grains, legumes, fruits vegetables and plants for clothing and
other nonfood uses. A discussion of modern agriculture in North America cannot be complete
without some attention to agribusiness. The system of businesses associated with agricultural
production in an industrialized society
 Although farmers represented less than 2 percent of the US population, they successfully fed
the country at a high standard of living, produced grain and other products for export, and still
maintained a surplus carryover as much as 2 percent total grown
 The supporting agribusinesses-- such as suppliers of implements, chemical fertilizers and
pesticides and grain elevators tend to specialized in products and activities that support the
primary crops of their given area

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  In many areas, a farmer then can plant a crop of soybeans a practice known as double cropping.
The soybean often can be harvested in time to plant the following years wheat crop in the fall
 Legumes such as soybeans and alfalfa form the next major group produced in North America

Place Product
Louisiana sugarcane
California fruits and vegetables
U.S oranges
Alabama, Mississippi citrus crops
Washington and Canada apples and pears
Southern United States cotton

MANUFACTURING
 The United State is the world second largest Manufacturer (after china) with the record of high
real output in Q1 2018 of $2.00 trillion well above the 2007 peak before the Great Recession of
$1.95 trillion. The US manufacturing industry employed in 12. 35 million people in December 2016
and 12.56 million in December 2017, an increase of 207, 000 or 1.7%
 Through the manufacturing output robustly recovered from the great recession to reach an all-
time high in 2018, manufacturing employment has been declining since the 1990’s. This jobless
recovery made job creation/ preservation in the manufacturing sector an important topic in the
2016 US presidential election.
 The largest manufacturing industries in United States by revenue include petroleum, steel,
automobiles, aerospace, telecommunications, chemicals, electronics, food processing, consumer
goods, lumbers, and mining service

SERVICE
 In Canada, the US and the Caribbean, service-based employment is a significant percentage of
overall employment. Many people work in stores and other retail locations. In Canada more than
70% work in the services sector, with a similar percentage in the United States.
SERVICES OFFERED
 Professional Services Firm  Professional Services
 Information Technology  Convenience Services
 Education  Wellness
 Events  Culture
 Entertainment  Hospitality
 Infrastructure

INVESTMENT AND BANKING

 The United States leads North American investment and banking, Canada, Mexico and most
recently, February 2011, El Salvador is growing in this sector. And smaller economic powers such
as Guatemala Honduras, Costa Rica, and Panama are also growing slowly in this sector.
TOURISM
 Tourism is extremely important for the Caribbean economies, as they contain many beaches and
have warm climates. Skiing in Canada and the US is also important. Tourism of national parks and

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 natural landmarks, such as Mount Rushmore and the Grand Canyon in the United States, and
Niagara Falls and Moraine lake in Canada, contribute to the economy in these regions

NORTH AMERICA CANNABIS MARKET

 The cannabis market in North America “is growing at an explosive rate, fueled by progressive
legislative changes, innovation and a burgeoning commercial market.” By the year 2024, cannabis
market in North America will be worth $47.3 billion due to its legalization in North American states
particularly in Canada.

LANDMARKS

STATUE OF LIBERTY- Stands in Upper New York Bay, a universal symbol of

freedom. Originally conceived as an emblem of the friendship between the
people of France and the U.S. and a sign of their mutual desire for liberty.

MOUNT RUSHMORE - A sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount

Rushmore near Keystone, South Dakota in the U.S. Mount Rushmore features
60-foot sculptures head of four U.S.A President: George Washington, Thomas
Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.

EMPIRE STATE BUILDING- Standing in Manhattan,

New York City is an enormous skyscraper known as Empire state building. It is
held as the world's tallest skyscraper for forty one years between 1931 and
1972.

CHICHEN ITZA-The Mayan ruins Chichen Itza is located on the Yucutan

peninsula of Mexico. Chichen Itza means “at the mouth of well of the Itza
people. The architectural ruins of Chichen Itza are some of the most visited
with more than 2 million tourist a year.

THE GATEWAY ARCH - Located in ST. Louis, the Gateway Arch is another
one of the most famous landmarks in North America. It is a stylish
monument which rises to a height of 630 feet, surpassing the skyline of the
city.

THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE- A suspension bridge which spans the Golden Gate
Strait - a channel connecting the San Francisco Bay with the Pacific Ocean. The
bridge is 2,737 meters long with the height of 227 meter.

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NATURAL LANDMARKS

NIAGARA FALLS- is must see attraction in North America. An amazing Natural

wonder located on the border of the United States of America and Canada. The
geological wonder consists of three falls.

GRAND CANYON -One of North America's most amazing natural formation.

It is located at Arizona and stretches 277 miles with the width up to 18 miles
and a depth of more than a mile

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK- An extensive United State park established

in 1872 located at United States of America. The expansive park covers nearly
3,500 miles in parts of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. Best known for its
protected wildlife and geothermal features.

BANFF/LAKE LOUISE - is a hamlet in Banff National

Park in the Canadian Rockies, known for its turquoise, glacier-fed lake ringed by
high peaks and overlooked by a stately chateau. Hiking trails wind up to the Lake
Agnes Tea House for bird's-eye views. There's a canoe dock in summer, and a
skating rink on the frozen lake in winter. The Lake Louise Ski Resort features a
wildlife interpretive center at the top of a gondola.

BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK - This place is a geology lover's paradise and

attracts thousands of people from all over the world. Ancient mammals, such
as the saber-toothed cat used to roam these parts, but now you will find that
Badlands National Park is now home to bison, bighorn sheep and prairie dogs.
Our tours stop off at Wall-Drug, the famous drug store in a little town called
Wall, it's so big, and it comes with a map.

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK- is a 1,583-sq.-mi. wilderness area in Montana's Rocky

Mountains, with glacier-carved peaks and valleys running to the Canadian border.
It's crossed by the mountainous Going-to-the-Sun Road. Among more than 700
miles of hiking trails, it has a route to photogenic Hidden Lake. Other activities
include backpacking, cycling and camping. Diverse wildlife ranges from mountain
goats to grizzly bears.

LAKE SUPERIOR- is not only the largest of the Great Lakes; it is the largest
body of fresh water on Earth. Situated on the northern edge of Wisconsin,
Lake Superior extends from the upper peninsula of Michigan north to Ontario,
Canada, and reaches west to the eastern edge of Minnesota. The name
Superior refers to its size and also designates the lake's position as the
northernmost of all the Great Lakes.

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MISSOURI RIVER-The continent's longest river is the Missouri which runs from
its source to its mouth for 3,767 kilometers. It emerges from the Rocky
Mountains in the state of Montana. On the other hand, river's journey comes
to an end at Spanish Lake in the Missouri State. It flows through seven states
during its course.

Your task!
Make a descriptive essay about North America with minimum of 200 words.
(Submit it to designated online class)
Format:
 Size: 8.5’’ x 11’’
 Font style: Calibri
 Font Size: 11
 Margin: Normal
If you will do it manually, you can right it in a clean sheet of paper.

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