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

Urban Classification, Morphology and Land Use

Quantitative Criteria

Quantitative criteria are based on figures; they consider a settlement to be a city when the core population exceeds a certain number of inhabitants. Quantitative criteria also consider villages to be cities if they meet certain characteristics.

Morphology and Location

Morphology refers to the physical form of the city.

• Location: the concrete space where the city sits.
• Location in the environment: the position of the city with respect to its geographical environment.
• Plano (plan): the arrangement of built-up areas and open spaces in the city.
• Catchment area: the area or zone influenced by an urban center.
• Urban network: a group formed by the location of cities in space and the relations

The Importance of the Service Sector

The service sector plays a crucial role in modern economies, exhibiting distinct characteristics in developed and underdeveloped countries:

• Diversity: In developed countries, services are widespread and diverse, while in underdeveloped countries, more basic services predominate.
• Access: The majority of the population in developed countries has access to a wide range of services. In contrast, access to services is limited for a significant portion of the population in underdeveloped countries.
• Contribution to GDP: In developed countries, a significant portion of GDP comes from business and public services. In underdeveloped countries, personal services contribute more significantly.
• Employment: Developed countries

Item 2: Industrialization and Economic Systems

ITEM-2

Industrialisation-Process: the process through which the traditional productive structure of a society is transformed, leading to the strengthening and modernization of industrial and service sectors.

Manufacturing-system: a system that mainly consisted of workers who receive training and tools and are paid a salary to produce manufactured goods.

Liberalism-economic: a doctrine and economic system based on the conviction that individual freedom of action, within certain natural or legal constraints, leads the economy toward optimum production with minimum possible cost.

System-Capitalism-or: the capitalist system, a mode of production characterized by advanced technology, private ownership of... Continue reading "Industrial Revolution: Industrialization, Capitalism & Social Change" »

The Old Regime: Political and Social Foundations

The Old Regime refers to the political, economic, and social development in Europe situated between feudalism and the bourgeois revolutions.

Economic System of the Old Regime

Subsistence Agriculture

The primary economic activity was subsistence agriculture, characterized by:

• Low income.
• Self-sufficiency (autarky).
• Three-year crop rotation, including a fallow period.

This system often led to subsistence crises.

Commercial Expansion and Growth

Stability, achieved after conflicts like the Thirty Years' War and formalized by the Treaty of Utrecht, led to economic growth.

Population growth resulted in:

• Increased demand for products.
• Price increases.
• Increased production and profits.

Commercial Companies facilitated... Continue reading "European History: Absolutism, Revolutions, and the Bourbon Dynasty" »

The Old Regime and the Enlightenment

Defining the Old Regime

The Old Regime refers to European societies of the Modern Age that had survived the medieval feudal era. These societies continued to maintain a model of life based on an agricultural economy of a noble type, an absolutist monarchy, and a society divided into estates.

Society was structured into estates, meaning one's social standing was determined by birth. The economy was primarily agricultural, subsistence-based, and of a noble type. Politically, craft guilds held influence, and kings commanded absolute power with no separation of powers, often justifying their rule as divinely ordained.

The Enlightenment's Vision

The Enlightenment was an intellectual and cultural movement of the eighteenth... Continue reading "Europe's Transformation: From Old Regime to Liberal Revolutions" »

Understanding the Primary Economic Sector

The primary sector of the economy encompasses all activities related to the extraction and exploitation of natural resources from the Earth's surface, subsurface, and water bodies. Nature provides abundant resources—plants, animals, and minerals—that humans utilize directly through their transformation to satisfy fundamental needs such as clothing, food, and shelter.

Key components of the primary sector include agriculture, livestock farming, forestry, fishing, and mining. These activities are crucial from the standpoint of economic development and global food security.

Key Primary Sector Activities

Agriculture

Agriculture involves the production of a wide variety of plant species. These crops serve... Continue reading "Primary Economic Sector: Resource Extraction & Production" »

Dry Regions of Spain

The dry regions of Spain cover the largest territory of the Iberian Peninsula. This area occupies the two sub-plateaus and the basins of the Guadalquivir and Ebro rivers, in addition to Extremadura, Valencia, southern Catalonia, and the Balearic Islands. In these areas, rainfall ranges between 400 and 800 mm annually. However, other areas are classified as semi-arid, where rainfall is between 200 and 400 mm.

Rainfall Patterns

Semi-arid areas include Almeria, Murcia, parts of the Ebro and Duero depressions, Granada, and Alicante, as well as part of the Canary Islands.

Causes of Aridity

In the Canary Islands, the shortage of rainfall is due to their latitude and the influence of the Azores High. In the south of the peninsula,... Continue reading "Spain's Dry Regions & Mediterranean Forests" »

European Agriculture

Since the agricultural revolution began in the late 18th century, increased investment in machinery and research have resulted in modern, highly productive agricultural landscapes. Two main characteristics are:

• Mediterranean landscapes: Combine dry farming, generally low-yielding, devoted mainly to the traditional Mediterranean trilogy (olives, grapes, cereals), with irrigated agriculture.
• Central cereal landscapes: Characterized by high yields through mechanization and crop rotation.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)

The CAP determines the agricultural policies of member countries. Created 50 years ago, it was born when production did not cover population needs, forcing significant food imports. The CAP's main objectives... Continue reading "European Agriculture: From Tradition to Modernization" »

Demographic Transition (1900–1975)

This period marks the transition from old to current population structures. In Spain, this process occurred later than in other Western European countries; although brief, its intensity was notably higher.

Mortality and Birth Rate Dynamics

The transition involved a gradual decline in birth rates and a sharp decline in mortality, resulting in high natural growth.

• The birth rate declined smoothly but discontinuously, alternating periods of greater decline with others of recovery, often influenced by historical events.
• 1920s: Economic prosperity led to demographic recovery.
• 1930–1956: The decline resumed. The 1929 crisis, political instability during the Second Republic, the Civil War, and the subsequent postwar

Key Population Concepts

Census of Population

The process of collecting data on the number of individuals within a given population and their main characteristics (demographic, socioeconomic, socio-cultural, etc.). Censuses are typically conducted periodically.

Real Growth

The change in a population's size over a specific period, resulting from the balance between natural growth and net migration. It can be represented as: CR = CV + SM = (TN - TM) + (I - E), where CR is Real Growth, CV is Natural (Vegetative) Growth, SM is Net Migration, TN is Birth Rate, TM is Death Rate, I is Immigration, and E is Emigration.

Vegetative Growth (Natural Growth)

Measures the population change during a period due solely to the balance between births and deaths. Formula:... Continue reading "Key Population and Demography Definitions" »