Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Geography

The Ancien Régime: 17th and 18th Century Transformations

The Ancien Régime, spanning the 17th and 18th centuries, witnessed significant political, economic, and social transformations:

• Monarchs became more powerful.
• Trade increased.
• The bourgeoisie grew more powerful and wealthier.
• Humanism developed.
• Advances occurred in science and philosophy.
• New artistic styles emerged.

Main Features of the Ancien Régime (16th-18th Centuries)

• Open Economy: Characterized by craft production and trade.
• Powerful Monarchs: Absolute monarchy predominated.
• Estates System: Nobility held social power, while the bourgeoisie gained economic power.
• Culture: Humanism was a key intellectual movement.

Politics in the Ancien Régime

In the 17th century, absolute monarchy came to... Continue reading "Ancien Régime and Enlightenment: 17th-18th Century Transformations" »

-Inquisition: An institution that pursued heretics and judaisers, forced both to submit to baptism or leave the country.

-Corregidores: People chosen by the king to control city government.

-Councils: A royal court made up of jurists to improve administration and undertake governance of specific territories.

-Chancillerías: Royal courts located in Valladolid and Granada. They established an efficient political economy and increased royal income.

-Santa Hermandad: The body which maintained social order in rural areas.

-Royal secretaries: Councils responsible for studying important matters and giving advice to the monarch.

-Viceroy: The representative of the monarch in each territory who had a range of powers including the summoning and overseeing... Continue reading "Spanish Institutions and Conquests: A Historical Overview" »

City

City: definition vary around the world. Rural settlements: Small settlements that are either dispersed or concentrated in villages, agricultural and livestock farming are predominant/ Urban settlement: large settlements are normally known as cities or towns, have a higher number of people employed in industry or services. Concept of a city: Number of inhabitants- more than 10.000 people are classified as cities/ economic activity: urban areas are identified mostly by secondary and tertiary activities/ High population density: Have traditionally been traits of a city. Urban morphology types: irregular, orthogonal and radial. Irregular: irregular shape, made up of narrow, windy streets/ orthogonal: fairly regular, streets usually run at right... Continue reading "Understanding Urban Settlements and City Classification" »

International Trade

International trade involves buying and selling goods from and to other countries.

External Debt

External debt refers to the money a country owes to external creditors.

Balance of Trade

Balance of trade reflects the difference between a country's exports and imports. If a country exports more than it imports, it has a trade surplus (positive balance). Conversely, if imports exceed exports, it results in a trade deficit (negative balance).

Systems of Agriculture

Crop Diversity

• Single crop (monoculture): This system involves cultivating only one type of crop.
• Multiple crops (polyculture): This system involves growing more than one product simultaneously.

Water Use

• Irrigated lands: These lands require artificial irrigation in addition

Environment and Development: The Basic Issues

The livelihood depends on agriculture, animal husbandry, hunting, fishing, forestry, and foraging. The interaction between poverty and environmental degradation can lead to a self-perpetuating process. Result of ignorance or destroy or exhaust the resources.

National Level

Environmental costs are not considered in the calculations of GNI. Damage to soil, water supplies, and forests resulting from unsustainable methods of production can greatly reduce long-term national productivity but have a positive impact on current GNI figures.

Global Level

Growing consumption needs of people in developing and the developed world may have global implications as well:

• Destruction of rainforests
• Climate change

Climate... Continue reading "Environmental Accounting and Sustainable Development" »

The Rise of the Inca Empire

Around 1500, during the mid-fourteenth century, a small tribe rose from obscurity in the highlands of modern Peru to create one of the mightiest empires of Ancient America.

Early Inca Life and Development

• Around 2500 BCE, they had a village life. Their traditions originated on the coast, based on fishing, cultivating, and food gathering.
• After centuries of simple village life, a strong cultural advance began about 900 BCE, associated with progress in agriculture due to population pressure.

Cultural and Technological Advancements

• They developed a distinctive style in building, art, and ceramics, called Chavín.
• The Mochica culture built pyramids, temples, and large irrigation canals, evolving into a highly complex society.

Technological and Economic Foundations

Steam Engine: It is an engine powered by steam, typically one in which a sliding piston in a cylinder is moved by the expansive action of the steam generated in a boiler. It was significantly developed by James Watt between 1745 and 1755.

Demographic Transition: This refers to the transition from high birth and death rates to lower birth and death rates as a country develops from a pre-industrial to an industrialized economic system, typically beginning with a decline in the death rate.

Capitalism: An economic system in which the means of production are predominantly privately owned. It is an ideology rooted in economic liberalism.

Labor Movements and Social Reform

International Workers' Rights: The first international... Continue reading "Key Concepts of the Industrial Revolution" »

Origins of the French Revolution

Influence of Enlightenment and America

The **impact of the Enlightenment and the American Revolution** provided ideological foundations for change. The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America and its Constitution (1787) defended the **inalienable** rights of the citizen, the separation of powers, principles of equality and freedom, and the right to elect a government. These ideals coincided with the Enlightenment principles spreading through France, adopted by cultural elites and the new bourgeoisie. These ideas helped the bourgeoisie confront absolutism and the stratified estate system, proposing new forms of social organization and government. All of this led to the revolutionary cycle that... Continue reading "From Absolutism to Republic: The French Revolution" »

1. Maritime Innovations in the 15th and 16th Centuries

The compass, astrolabe, triangular sails, sextant, and caravel provided the essential tools for sea travel, enabling the discovery of alternative trade routes and the settlement of new lands.

2. Understanding Mercantilism in Colonial Systems

Mercantilism involved shipping raw materials to Europe to be manufactured into finished goods, with the primary goal of maintaining a favorable balance of trade by selling more than you buy.

3. Influences Behind the Age of Exploration

The Age of Exploration was driven by a desire for new trade routes, technological advancements, and the pursuit of wealth and resources.

4. The Encomienda System

This system was based on the assumption that Europeans had the... Continue reading "Key Factors and Impacts of the Age of Exploration" »

What are Economic Activity?

- It is what is carried out by humans in order to acquire goods to satisfy the material needs of humans

What are Economic Goods and How Can They be Classified?

- Products and services generated by economic activity

• Composition
• Function
• Ownership

What are the Factors of Production?

- The resources that are required for the generation of economic goods

Types and Subtypes of Production Factors

- Natural resources: Resources provided by nature that can be used for production

• Renewable: Resources that will never be wasted
• Particularly renewable: Resources whose waste depends on their use
• Non-renewable: Resources that are always wasted

- Human resources: People who convert natural resources into economic goods

- Capital: Made up of material,... Continue reading "Understanding Economic Activity and Production Factors" »