INTRODUCTION Chart Showing the Relationship of the Social Sciences

WHAT IS GEOGRAPHY?

The science of geography is likely the oldest of all sciences. Geography is the answer to the question that the earliest humans asked, "What's over there?" Exploration and the discovery of new places, new culture, and new ideas have always been basic components of geography.

Geography is often called the "mother of all sciences" as studying other people and other places led to other scientific fields such as biology, anthropology, geology, mathematics, astronomy, chemistry and etc.

Geography looks at how things differ from place to place.

Geography has no unique body of facts or concepts it can call wholly its own. It is a very broad field of inquiry and borrows its concepts from related disciplines.

Geography is both a physical science and a social science and combines characteristics of both.

Geography is interested in interrelationships … in examining how various factors interrelate.

TWO BRANCHES OF GEOGRAPHY

o physical / environmental geography - the natural features of the earth

o human / cultural geography - human culture and its impact on the earth

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

the scientific method

Observe phenomena that stimulates a question or problem
Offer an educated guess (hypothesis) about the answer
Design an experiment to test the hypothesis
Predict the outcome of the experiment
Conduct the experiment and observe the outcome
Draw conclusions and formulate rules based on the experiment

Earth is a closed system / sphere that we divide into 4 sub-spheres.

atmosphere

composition
climate vs weather
energy, heat & temperature
pressure & wind
moisture
storms & disturbances
climatic zones
hydrosphere
water properties
water distribution
water cycle – oceans, evaporation, sublimation, evapotranspiration, atmosphere, condensation, precipitation, ice & snow, snowmelt, runoff, stream flow, surface water, infiltration, ground water, discharge, springs
biosphere
ecosystems
actors that influence ecosystems
biogeochemical cycles
lithosphere
soil
earth’s structure
plate tectonics
landforms
geological hazards

HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Two ways to study

by region
Areas of the earth’s surface marked by certain properties
Devices that enable us to make spatial generalizations
Based on criteria we establish
Criteria can be human or physical properties or both
All regions have Area, Boundaries, Location

by concept / theme

Physical (environmental) geography - more problem oriented

atmosphere – atmospheric hazards, global warming

hydrosphere – distribution, use, flooding, oceans

biosphere – deforestation, desertification, food resources

lithosphere – geological hazards

Cultural (coherence and diversity) geography

learned, shared behavior … way of life

cultural diffusion

cultural conflict

language

ethnic culture

religion

Demography (population and settlement)

population size & distribution

population growth & change

demographic transition model

migration patterns

settlement patterns

urbanization

Political (geopolitical) geography

nation-states

boundaries

colonialism

fragmentation & unity

international & supranational organizations

Economic (development) geography

more / less developed

core-periphery model

indicators or economic development

indicators of social development

sustainable development

On-line Resources

North America

Bureau of Transportation Statistics
The availability of transportation for goods and services is a major factor in how people interact with geography. Transportation figures into the location of cities, the economy, distribution of goods and services and how people migrate. This web site is the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, part of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Included in the volumes of information and publications about transportation available through this site are geographic data (e.g. roads), the St. Lawrence Seaway, goods transshipped through Canada, and international travel statistics.
Farm Service Agency (FSA)
An agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) supports American farmers through commodity programs, farmer operating and emergency loans, conservation, domestic and overseas food assistance and disaster programs that improve the economic stability of agriculture and the environment. These programs help farmers produce an adequate food supply, assist farmers to compete for export sales of commodities in the world marketplace, and keep consumer prices reasonable while caring for the environment and natural resources.
Bureau of Indian Affairs
This site is for the Bureau of Indian Affairs under the Department of the Interior of the U.S. government. It contains information and links about native Americans including such things as tracing your Indian ancestry, maps, regions and federally recognized tribes. (This site is down temporarily but they tell me it will return.)

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Latin America

Where in South America?
This site consists of a set of interactive web pages about South America. The user can play quiz games, obtain general information, go through a tutorial about a location and much more. The tutorial starts with an interactive map of South America. Passing the pointer over a country yields its name, population and capital. Clicking on the country takes the reader to a brief summary paragraph about the country. The quiz game consists of a series of questions describing some characteristic of a country which the user answers by clicking on the map. A dialog box tells the user if he is correct or directs him/her to the correct answer. This is part of a larger site called "Where? Geography Place Games and Tutorials." This is a good site to learn some basic information about a country in an interactive fashion.
National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade: Brazil
This site consists of a broad range of information, including geographical, political and historical. While emphasizing the historical, this site provides a good overview of Brazil, its government, economy, infrastructure and natural resources, as well as its relations with the rest of the world.
WTC net: Chile
Another special interest site, this one is geared to facilitate international trade. In addition to some very general information about the country, much of the regional information is focused on mercantile trade with Chile.
Track star: Let's learn about Bolivia
This interesting site is a virtual guide to Bolivia, containing several segments that takes the user (within the "Track" framework) to other web sites containing various types of information about the country. At the top of the first page of each segment is a list of questions focusing on specific things about the country based on information that is available at the current site. The information ranges from what appears to be a compilation of data taken from such sites as the CIA World Factbook and similar sites, to pages on the "Discovery Channel On-line" site, providing a broad range of information about Bolivia.

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The Caribbean

Soufriere Hills, Montserrat, West Indies
This site is maintained by the Michigan Technological University as part of their volcano monitoring activity around the world. The Soufriere Hills volcano on the Caribbean island of Montserrat has been very active in recent years. This site contains links to information about the volcano itself, as well as many images of the volcano in various stages of eruption. Additionally, there are links to the Montserrat Tourist Information Board, a good site that illustrates the impact of geography on people since much of the island has been evacuated due to the volcanic activity.
Dominican Republic
This site at the University of Texas includes a wide range of information about the Dominican Republic, one of the two countries on the island of Hispaniola. This page includes links to such things as Dominican Republic Art & Culture, Academia, and Government, among others. One of the links will take you to the Dominican Republic Chamber of Commerce which contains a variety of information on current events, history and geography of the country.
Bahamas
Although this site appears to be set up for the basic purpose of attracting visitors (tourists) to the Bahamas, it contains a lot of information about this chain of islands off the southeast coast of the United States. You can find an overview of the history of the islands as well as items on local culture, local services and how to get there.

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Sub-Saharan Africa

Elephants of Cameroon
African Elephants (Loxodonta africana) joined the endangered species list in 1988. Concern for their survival arose after increasing ivory prices provoked unprecedented poaching during the 1970s. In little more than a decade, poachers killed more than half of Africa's elephants. This site is about a conservation program designed to help preserve this important species in Africa.

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Southwest Asia & North Africa

The Ottoman Kilafa
This site contains a general history of the Ottoman Empire, starting with the Turkish Caliphs. It contains interesting information about the Caliphs as far back as the 1200s. Additionally, there are maps, information about modern Turkey, Islamic "Unitarians" (Wahhabis) and other links. The site is organized and presented from an Islamic perspective.
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
OPEC is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to the stability and prosperity of the petroleum market, as enshrined in the OPEC Statute. It has eleven members. An organization like OPEC is also known as a cartel because it regulates prices and output.
Egypt History: arab net
This site is a collection of pages containing brief summations of Egyptian history from several thousand years BC to the present. Furthermore, it contains links to other information about Egypt, including geography, maps, government, and more. This site also provides the capability to search other Arab related topics.
Saudi Arabia Ministry of Information
This is an extensive site containing information released by the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Information, and containing a broad range of topics, from tourism to history to current events. The pages on Islam are interesting and provide good insight into concerns of the region. Similarly, the issues section has good information on many topics brought out in the text, such as cultural nationalism and globalization.

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Europe

The Holy See: The Vatican
This is the web site of the Pope. Catholicism has had a significant impact on the development of Europe and the world for nearly two thousand years. It continues to influence events around the world. The head of the Catholic religion is the Pope who lives in Vatican City, an enclave within the city limits of Rome, Italy. This site provides access and links to information about this major religion, from history to current issues and Papal announcements. It also provides access to the Vatican library catalogue, which contains an extensive array of historical documents. For example, the first page of a simple search on Erasmus returned several documents dating back to the 16th century.

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Russia & Its Neighbors

Baikal
This site contains information about the region around Lake Baikal, And was established by the Irkutsk State University. The site contains several links to information about the Lake, the area around it, and maps (in Russian) of the area.
Russian Federation Social-Economic Regions
This web site provides access to information organized on the basic regions of modern day Russia. It includes several maps, access to topography, and information about each of the republic centers. Clicking on the links brings up general information about that center as well as additional links to information about the area, including history and current issues.
About Georgia
This web site was developed by a librarian in Georgia to tell others around the world about his homeland. It contains some interesting information about the country as well as the Georgian Constitution and information that might be of interest to a visitor. It also has links to several other sites relating to Georgia. Some of it is still under construction and only available in either Russian or Georgian.
Russian Political Resources

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Central Asia

Turkmens International
This web site is devoted to information about Turkmenistan and its people, the Turkmens. This site includes basic information about Turkemenistan, its government, people, culture (arts) and images of its attractions as well as links to related sites. This region was little heard of until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, which is when Turkmenistan was established (as it is today). It also has some information about the Turkman population in Iran.
Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan
This is the web site of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The role of Kazakstan's Chamber of Commerce and Industry increased considerably with the development of foreign economic relations. We seek to actively promote economic and scientific exchanges between Kazakstan and other countries. It contains general information about Kazakhstan as well as the Chamber and its functions.

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East Asia

Government Information Office: Republic of China
This is the web site for the Government Information Office for the Republic of China (Taiwan). It contains links (in several languages) to information about Taiwan, including history and current issues (such as relations with the People's Republic of China - which it terms Mainland Affairs). Other links include culture, environment, and news.
People's Republic of China
This web site covers several different levels of information about China. It has links to issues such as China's position on Tibet as well as news items. Some of the links appear to only take you to pages that are in Chinese, but it is still a good source for a lot of information.
Government of Japan Environment Agency
This is the official government of Japan web page on environmental issues. It contains links and information about the state of Japan's environment as well as laws and regulations, policy, organization, etc. One can get a sense of Japan's philosophy with respect to the environment as well as programs in place to improve it.
Friends of the Earth (Hong Kong)
This is the site for an environmental group in Hong Kong. The Environmental Fact Sheet Web Page is compiled and published by the Friends of the Earth Hong Kong. This fact sheet has information about water pollution, air pollution, waste, and more. (Sometimes you can't get it in English!)

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South Asia

A Different Bangladesh
This is a personal website developed to inform web surfers about Bangladesh. It contains information about the history of Bangladesh, current events, government points of contact, facts and culture, etc. Despite the obvious pro-Bangladesh bias, this is a good place to get a sense of Bangladesh from which you can learn enough to start an educated search and ask the right questions.
Bhutan Tourism Corporation Limited
This is a relatively small site, but it contains lots of good introductory information on Bhutan. What is interesting is that Bhutan has adopted a restricted tourism policy yet this site gives information on how to visit this nation in the high Himalayas.
Sri Lanka, the Pearl of the Indian Ocean
This is a good site covering the island of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon). It contains good overview information of the country, as well as information on history, tourism, food, recipes, events, and more. This is another good start site for someone interested in Sri Lanka.
Pak Watan
Another good country overview site, this time on Pakistan. It covers topics from cricket to nuclear arms, as well as mountains and other terrain information, images, and links to a broad range of other sites about Pakistan, including government sites.

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Southeast Asia

Vietnam
This is a good starting site for information about Vietnam. It contains some general geographic statistics from the CIA World Factbook as well as other Vietnam information. There is ample history and the site offers good links.
Government of Brunei Darussalam Official Website
This is the official government web site for Brunei and contains a wealth of information concerning the country and the government. You can view key government documents (such as their constitution) or look at maps of the country, as well as key dates in the history of the country.

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Australia & Oceania

Frequently asked questions about New Zealand
General and specific information about New Zealand life by Phil Stuart-Jones from 1994-1997 and now by Lin Nah. This FAQ should be read by anyone contemplating visiting New Zealand or thinking of moving here.
Environment Australia Online
This is a general web page with links to several regions and other web pages in the Australian government with environmental responsibilities. These other sites include information on flora and fauna in their areas, as well as science, tourism and recreation.
Solomon Islands Official Website
It is not obvious why this is the “official” web site of the Solomon Islands. However, it does contain general information about the islands, including such things as tourism, geography, basic statistics, etc. In addition it contains links to other sites about the Solomons and the Pacific.
Polynesians Then and Now
This web site is an excerpt from a book called the Tahiti Handbook. It contains information about the history of French Polynesia, the culture, and the language as well as links back to general travel resources (it is a travel company web site).