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

Essential Demographic Concepts and Population Statistics

Census of Population Definition

The Census of Population is a count of the population of a country at a specific time. It collects demographic, economic, and social data on the population and housing characteristics. It is a state statistical operation that provides a snapshot of people at a given moment. Its information can only be published in numerical form, without individual references. In Spain, the census is typically conducted every ten years.

Understanding Natural Growth

Natural Growth is the change (increase or decrease) in the number of people in a population during a specified period, resulting from the balance between births and deaths.

Migration and Emigration Dynamics

An Emigrant... Continue reading "Essential Demographic Concepts and Spanish Population Data" »

Foundations of Geography

Branches of Geography

• Physical Geography: The study of natural features like landforms and climate.
• Human Geography: The study of people, their communities, and cultures.

Types of Maps

• General-Purpose Maps: Display a wide range of information about an area.
• Thematic Maps: Focus on a specific theme, such as population density or climate zones.
• Topographic Maps: Show detailed information about the shape and features of the land's surface.

Location Systems

• Military Grid Reference System: Uses easting (vertical lines) and northing (horizontal lines) for precise location.
• Latitude: Horizontal lines measuring distance north or south of the equator.
• Longitude: Vertical lines measuring distance east or west of the prime meridian.

Time

Prehistory: The Dawn of Humanity

Prehistory is a term used to refer to the first and longest phase or age into which human history has been divided by Eurocentric/Western academic tradition. It covers most of the human past, around 2.8 million years, since the appearance of the first member of the hominid family: *Homo habilis*, the first to make and devise tools made of stone. At the beginning of the 19th century, a Danish archaeologist, Christian Jürgensen Thomsen, concluded that objects and tools made of stone tended to be older than those made of metal. He divided this remote human past into two main phases: the Stone Age and the Metal Age.

Subdivisions of the Stone Age

A few decades later, another archaeologist, John Lubbock, after studying... Continue reading "Human Prehistory: From Stone Tools to the Holocene" »

Disentailment (First Half 19th Century)

Historical Context

Beginning in 1836, the disentailment was driven by Juan Álvarez Mendizábal, Minister of Finance in the liberal government. This reform aimed to modernize the Spanish economy and reduce the power of the Church.

Objectives

• Debt Reduction: Obtain revenue to reduce the massive public debt.
• Agrarian Modernization: Modernize agriculture by transferring lands from dead hands to private owners for exploitation.
• Weakening Church Power: Reduce the economic and social power of the Catholic Church, which owned vast tracts of land.

Consequences

• Economic: Public debt was reduced and state resources increased, but land distribution favored the wealthy, worsening inequalities.
• Social: Many peasants and small

1. Industrialisation

1 industrialisation: The technological, economic, and social changes that took place from the mid-18th century in Europe. Its innovations transformed the traditional agricultural economy into an economy driven by industry and trade.

2. Demographic Revolution: Rates and Effects

2 demographic rev: Death rate: 1700: 34, 1900: 21 — decreased. Birth rate: 1700: 35, 1900: 35 — stayed the same. Life expectancy: 1700: 35, 1900: 47 — increased. Population increased because of the decrease in the death rate.

3. Key Factors That Led to Industrialization in Great Britain

3 key factors that led industrialization in Great Britain

• New mentality: technical and scientific innovation; economic liberalism (Adam Smith): minimal state intervention

Key Concepts of Human Migration

Migration: Migration refers to the movement of people from one place to another, usually across a political or geographical boundary. It can be internal or international.

Immigration: This is the process of entering a country to live there permanently or for a long period of time.

Net Migration Rate: This measures the difference between the number of people entering and the number of people leaving (emigrants).

• Formula: Net Migration Rate = (Immigrants - Emigrants) per 1,000 people.
• If the number is positive, the population increases; if it is negative, people are leaving.

Natural Growth: This refers only to the change caused by births and deaths.

• Formula: Natural Growth = Births - Deaths.
• If births exceed deaths = Positive

Geopolitics as a Material Science

Geopolitics (Kjellen): merge geography and politics into a science on how the ability to control access to resources and to defend national interests creates the material base for a nation's behaviour.

Late 19th to early 20th century: Competition for global power between imperial nations.

Classical geopolitical theorists

Mahan: Naval power is central to projecting power. This influenced U.S. strategy to build global naval bases. Example: bases in Guam, the Caribbean basin, etc.

Ratzel: Darwinian view of a hostile world and struggle for survival.

Mackinder: Focus on geographic benefits or limits to material conditions and transportation technology; the interplay of land power and sea power. The Heartland geostrategic... Continue reading "Geopolitics, Development and the Anthropocene: Power, Food, Energy" »

Review Vocabulary Sets A and B

Legal and Crime Terminology

Review Set A (R V A)

1. offenders
2. behind bars
3. charged with
4. convicted
5. go straight
6. concerned

Review Set B (R V B)

1. offenders
2. convicted
3. enforced
4. defy
5. concerned
6. comply

Environmental and Ecological Terminology

Review Set A (R V A)

1. vast
2. fossil fuel
3. waste
4. eco-friendly
5. hazardous
6. endangered
7. greenhouse effect
8. carbon footprint

Review Set B (R V B)

1. fossil fuels
2. layers
3. thawing
4. crop
5. hazardous
6. average
7. large-scale
8. waste

Phrasal Verbs and Idioms Related to Crime and Ethics

Review Set A (R V A)

1. crack down
2. turn a blind eye
3. caught red-handed
4. daylight robbery
5. objected to

Review Set B (R V B)

1. above-board
2. daylight robbery
3. caught red-handed
4. crack down
5. turn a blind eye

Prepositions and Collocations

Review Set A (R V A)

1. exposed to
2. get rid of
3. consist of
4. provide with
5. objected

The History of Al-Andalus (711–1492)

Al-Andalus was the Muslim state established in the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century. Its borders and government changed significantly over the centuries, primarily due to internal disputes between different groups.

The Conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (711–718)

In 711, a small Muslim group led by Tariq crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and defeated the Visigoths at the Battle of Guadalete. The Visigothic Kingdom was suffering an economic crisis, which facilitated the advance of subsequent Muslim armies. By 722, they controlled almost all the peninsula except a narrow strip in the north where the Hispano-Visigoths took refuge.

After conquering Hispania, the Umayyad Caliph of Damascus established the Emirate... Continue reading "Al-Andalus: Islamic Rule and Medieval Iberian Kingdoms" »

Earth Spheres and Surface Features

• Atmosphere: is the gaseous layer surrounding the Earth.
• Hydrosphere: is the whole set of waters existing on our planet.
• Lithosphere: is the solid outer part of Earth.
• Continents: are large landmasses surrounded by oceans and seas.
• Oceans: are great masses of salt water.
• Equator: the 0° parallel and the great circle dividing the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
• Tropic of Cancer: the parallel north of the equator; it crosses parts of Africa and the Americas.
• Tropic of Capricorn: the parallel south of the equator; it crosses parts of South America and southern Africa.
• Map: is the representation of the Earth.
• Scale: maps reflect Earth's surface in a limited way according to a chosen scale.

Map Terms and Map Types

• Topographic