Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and exercises for Geography for Secondary education

Key Events of the 15th Century

• 1488: Bartolomeu Dias, after a journey around the coast of Africa and enduring storms, reached the southern tip of the continent. King John II of Portugal renamed it the Cape of Good Hope.
• 1492: Christopher Columbus, in command of two caravels and a ship, set sail from Palos de la Frontera, Spain, heading into the Atlantic Ocean. In October, he reached the island of Guanahani, which he named San Salvador.
• 1493: Columbus embarked on his second voyage to America. Pope Alexander VI agreed with the Spanish monarchs to grant them dominion over the newly discovered territories.

Key Events of the 16th Century

• 1501: Amerigo Vespucci, for whom the American continent is named, visited Brazil with a Portuguese fleet.
• 1502:

Latin America: A Geographic Overview

Location and Size

Latin America encompasses three of the four natural units of the Americas, representing 50% of the continent. It covers an area of 42,083,206 km², spanning latitudes from 83°N to 56°S and longitudes from 173°W to 35°W.

Key Landforms

• Isthmus: A narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas across the sea.
• Sierra: Part of a mountain range, often composed of a main range and lower foothills.
• Plain: A relatively flat, low-lying area, typically below 200m in altitude (e.g., Orinoco and Amazon basins).
• Shield: Ancient, stable rock formations (e.g., Guiana and Brazilian Shields).
• Basin: A depression on the Earth's surface, a valley surrounded by higher ground.
• Altiplano: A high intermountain

Agriculture in Underdeveloped Regions

This occurs in underdeveloped countries. It has low productivity, just enough for consumption. Rudimentary agricultural tools are used; modern machinery or chemical fertilizers are not used.

Slash-and-Burn Agriculture

• Occurs in equatorial or tropical rainforest climates where there is dense vegetation. The farmer fells the forest, slashes, and then burns it to clear a small patch for cultivation. Crops are grown in the small plot, fertilized with ash, using simple tools to produce food for home consumption. As the land is exhausted, the farmer leaves and clears another part of the forest, starting the process again. This is thus a shifting cultivation. This agricultural technique is considered a form of sustainable

The 18th century is known as the Age of Enlightenment, a triumph of light against the darkness of the Middle Ages. This century is a great period in which there will be great contributions to freedom and the first liberal revolutions.

Changes in Agriculture

• Norfolk System: A system of crop rotation that increased land productivity compared to the fallow system.
• Fallow: Agricultural technique of leaving the land to rest for a while with the aim of improving its conditions for the next crop.
• Wetlands were drained in order to increase arable land.
• The Romans abandoned the traditional wooden plow and replaced it with the iron one. Also, they used oxen, horses, and donkeys.
• The fallow system was replaced by the Norfolk system.
• Communal land transitioned

A: Albania to Algeria

• Albania - Tirana
• Germany - Berlin
• Andorra - Andorra la Vella
• Austria - Vienna
• Afghanistan - Kabul
• Saudi Arabia - Riyadh
• Armenia - Yerevan
• Azerbaijan - Baku
• Argentina - Buenos Aires
• Angola - Luanda
• Algeria - Algiers

B: Belgium to Brazil

• Belgium - Brussels
• Belarus - Minsk
• Bosnia and Herzegovina - Sarajevo
• Bulgaria - Sofia
• Bangladesh - Dhaka
• Bahamas - Nassau
• Belize - Belmopan
• Bolivia - Sucre
• Brazil - Brasília

C: Vatican City to Côte d'Ivoire

• Vatican City - Vatican City
• Croatia - Zagreb
• Czechia - Prague
• Cyprus - Nicosia
• Cambodia - Phnom Penh
• North Korea - Pyongyang
• South Korea - Seoul
• China - Beijing
• Canada - Ottawa
• Costa Rica - San José
• Colombia - Bogotá
• Chile - Santiago
• Republic of the Congo - Brazzaville
• Democratic Republic of the Congo - Kinshasa
• Côte

Mining resources in the world and in Spain

Mining resources are raw materials that have a mineral origin, although they can also be of vegetable origin (coal, petroleum). They belong to the primary sector as they are raw materials, but they are the foundation of industry (secondary sector) because they provide the minerals and the sources of energy that the secondary sector needs.

Mining areas in the world

Coal is found in the basins next to the mountain ranges that were formed some 300 million years ago, such as the Appalachians or the Ural Mountains, and other places in China, Europe and Australia.
Oil is found mainly in the countries near the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Mexico, Venezuela, Russia, and other countries, and is often found in close...

How Colonial Empires Divided the World

A. The British Empire

In the late 19th century, Great Britain possessed the largest colonial empire, controlling vital maritime trade routes with strategic bases in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, as well as the Mediterranean.

• Africa: The British established a vast empire stretching from Cairo in the north to Cape Town in the south.
• India: As the primary British colony, India served as a massive market for British goods and a critical supplier of raw materials.
• Geopolitical Rivalries: To secure the region around India, Great Britain competed with France for control of Burma (1886) and with Russia for influence in Afghanistan and Tibet.

B. The French Empire

France maintained the second-largest colonial...

The different location criteria have resulted in various types of industrial areas.

Traditional Industrial Landscape: Black Landscapes of the 19th Century

Coal fields were the most industrialized areas for many years. This is because metallurgical industries used coal as an energy source, so were located next to coal deposits.

Urban Industrial Landscape

Refineries were built in ports and cities because of the demand for petroleum. Numerous other industries developed next to the refineries, benefiting from the existing market, workforce, and low transport costs.

Port Landscape

Many industries associated with maritime transport are concentrated in and around major ports.

Industrial Mountain Landscape

Mineral deposits, raw materials, and abundant, cheap...

The Foundations of Spanish Hegemony (15th Century)

The Catholic Monarchs took the first steps towards Spanish hegemony in Europe, a dominance later consolidated in the 16th century by Charles I and Philip II.

The Dynastic Union of Castile and Aragon

• 1469: Marriage of Isabel I of Castile and Fernando II of Aragon
  • Isabel proclaimed herself Queen of the Crown of Castile in 1474 upon the death of her brother, King Henry IV.
  • Her position was consolidated in 1479 with the Treaty of Alcáçovas. This treaty ended the war against Juana la Beltraneja (daughter of Henry IV) and resulted in a division of powers: Castile was secured for Isabel, while Portugal (whose King, Alfonso V, was Juana’s husband) maintained hegemony in the Atlantic Ocean.
  • Fernando became

Industrialization: Definitions and Global Distribution

Types of Industries

Consumer Goods Industry

Examples: Bread, clothing

Heavy Industry

Example: Fire (representing energy production)

Capital Goods Industry

Example: Cars

Industrial Areas

Silicon Valley

A nickname for the southern portion of the San Francisco Bay Area, known for its concentration of computer companies.

Science Parks vs. Industrial Estates

Science Parks: Focus on high technology and promote research through collaboration between universities, businesses, and government.

Industrial Estates: Gather traditional industries in a physical location.

Major Industrial Areas