Geo Mania World

Great Smoky Mountains National Park 75th Anniversary Rededication

2009-09-01T12:23:00.001-04:00

Great Smoky Mountains National Park 75th Anniversary Rededication

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Geography Awareness Week

2008-11-18T00:57:00.003-05:00

Geography Awareness Week is November 16 - 22, 2008.

My Wonderful World - Geography Awareness Week website

The Geography Awareness Week website describes this program in the following way: "Launched in 1987 by presidential proclamation, Geography Awareness Week is held the third week of each November, promoting the importance of geography education in the United States."

Also of note this week is National Geographic's Geography Action!:

National Geographic - Geography Action

The website describes Geography Action in the following way: "For more than a century, the National Geographic Society has fostered awareness of the world’s diverse cultures and environments. The tradition continues with Geography Action! , an annual awareness program that helps educators promote geographic fluency in schools and communities across the United States and Canada."

The week spotlights the importance of a foundational geographic knowledge in this increasingly globalized world in which we live.

The following survey shows how Americans in general need a more thorough grounding in geographic literacy:
National Geographic-Roper Survey 2006

If you want to know many fun ways in which you can celebrate Geography Awareness Week, have a look at the following article I wrote on eHow.com:
How to Celebrate Geography Awareness Week

And here is a link to an article I wrote in 2006 about the poor state of global geographic knowledge among young people in the U.S.A.:
Geographic Knowledge in America is Severely Lacking

Therefore, after reading that op-ed, if you are now looking for a fun way to build your geographic literacy and knowledge, have a look at my Geo Mania World website where you can access a wide variety of free online geography and geographic knowledge games:
Geo Mania World - Free Geography Games and Map Quizzes

Geography of Iraq

2008-11-02T22:00:00.011-05:00

Here is an article about the Geography of Iraq that I recently wrote for another website. I realized I should probably post it here as well as it is, of course, about geography! So, here you go:

How to Know the Geography of Iraq

"Iraq is a country in Southwest Asia ("Middle East") that is bordered by Iran, Turkey, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, and the Persian Gulf. Iraq has obviously been featured heavily in the world's news media for many years now for a variety of reasons, mainly the United States' involvement in the country. However, despite all this attention and involvement by the U.S., very few people seem to actually know about Iraq's Geography. Geography, after all, sets the stage and foundation for everything else that occurs on the landscape. Therefore, this article is here to help you learn a little bit about the geography of Iraq.

Major Geographic Facts About Iraq:

-Official Name = Republic of Iraq, Jumhūriyat Al-ʿIrāq (Arabic), Komarê Iraq (Kurdish)

-Population (2007 estimate) = 29,267,0004 (39th)

-Capital (and largest city) = Baghdad (with 2006 population of around 7 million and metro population of around 9 million).

-Official Languages = Arabic, Kurdish

-Government = Developing Parliamentary Republic

-Independence from the Ottoman Empire on October 1, 1919; from the United Kingdom on October 3, 1932.

-GDP (PPP 2007 estimate) = Total $102.3 billion (61st); Per capita $3,600 (129th)

-Currency = Iraqi Dinar -Time Zone = GMT+3

Physical Geography and Major Geographic Features of Iraq: In general, Iraq is comprised of four main geographical regions. (1) The desert in the west and southwest area of the country (part of the larger Syrian Desert) is sparsely populated by nomads. Wadis, which carry floodwaters during winter rains but remain dry during much of the year, run from the border to the Euphrates River through this region. (2) The rolling upland between the upper Tigris and Euphrates rivers (known as "Al Jazira", "The Island") is part of a larger geographic area that extends north into Turkey and west into Syria. Parts of this region may also be classified as desert due to low amounts of rainfall. (3) The highlands in the north and northeast region of the country extend from an area between Kirkuk and Mosul across to the mountainous borders with Iran and Turkey. In this region, broad steppes submit to mountain ranges towering from 3,300 ft. to 13,100 ft. This region supports some cultivation as well as grazing, but is also home to the majority of Iraq's Kurdish population and several of the great oil fields. (4) The alluvial plain through which the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers flow, begins north of Baghdad and extends southward all the way into the Persian Gulf. The two rivers carry large quantities of silt, which they deposit at a significant rate each year helping to continually build up the delta area, which is characterized by widespread marshland. Although the area in the alluvial plain between the two rivers is highly irrigated, the salinity of the soil (due to high than average salt contents of the two rivers) significantly decreases the amount of cultivation possible in this region.

Tigris River, Iraq

Climate: The Climate of Iraq is overwhelmingly characterized by desert or desert-like, arid conditions. The average temperatures in Iraq range from greater than 120 °F in July and August to well below freezing in January. Most rainfall and precipitation occurs from December through April and averages between 4 to 7 inches annually (A desert is an area characterized as having less than 10 inches of precipitation each year). The mountains in the northern area of Iraq are where above average rates of rainfall occur each year relative to the rest of the country. Around 90 percent of the annual rainfall occurs mostly in the winter months between December and March. Much of the remainder of the year is quite dry with little to no rainfall.

Baghdad, capital of Iraq, on the Tigris River

Human Geography and Settlement Patterns of Iraq: Obviously, the majority of human settlement in Iraq is clustered along the two major waterways of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, as well as other water sources. Since Iraq is dominated by an arid environment, these water sources are essential to sustaining life and agriculture. Because the Tigris/Euphrates valley is easily irrigated, it has been important to agriculture since times of early civilization. As Iraq is part of what was once known as the "Fertile Crescent" in Mesopotamia, present-day Iraq was home to such civilizations as the Sumerian, Babylonian, and Parthian cultures. Today, in fact, the economy of Iraq is largely based on agriculture, in addition to petroleum. Except for Baghdad, Iraq's capital and primate city, most Iraqis live in small villages. Additionally, several hundred thousand Iraqis are nomadic. Regarding religion, greater than 90 percent of Iraqis are followers of Islam (with the majority of Muslims in Iraq adhering to the Shiite branch of Islam). Iraq's human geography has undergone significant impact since the toppling of Saddam Hussein's government in 2003 by U.S. and coalition forces and the subsequent transitional government."

Original article by Paul McDaniel is located at:

"How to Know the Geography of Iraq" on eHow.com

Relevant Links:

Geography of U.S. Presidential Elections

2008-10-21T23:13:00.005-04:00

Election day in the United States is only two weeks away (on November 4). On this particular election day, the United States will elect a new president. One thing that many people may not consider is how inherently geographic presidential elections are (or any election is for that matter). Geography works its way throughout a campaign and subsequent election, and the U.S. contains vast regional geographic differences that play an important role in the outcome of any election. The following video is a lecture by Professer Martin Lewis of the Department of History at Stanford University. He explains the geography of U.S. Presidential elections.

Introduction:

Lecture 1:

Additionally, you may find the following map interesting that details the geographic outcome of the 2004 U.S. Presidential election:

Adventures in the "Golden Land", Part 1 - Rangoon, Burma

2008-10-09T23:57:00.013-04:00

“Then , a golden mystery upheaved itself on the horizon - a beautiful, winking wonder that blazed in the sun, of a shape that was neither Muslim dome nor Hindu temple spire. It stood upon a green knoll… ‘There's the old Shway Dagon,’ said my companion. The golden dome said, ‘This is Burma, and it will be quite unlike any land you know about.’”

- Rudyard Kipling, Letters from the East, 1889

Schwedegon Pagoda, Rangoon, Burma

Arriving in the Golden Land and Rangoon

As the Thai Airways Boeing 767 jet from Bangkok descended into Rangoon I could see the floodplain of the Irrawaddy River delta from my window seat, the mountains in the distance, many farms throughout the floodplain, and an assortment of golden and white temples dotting the landscape, their stupas protruding above the vegetation. Rangoon’s airport is typical of the third world – no jetways, requiring a stroll out onto the tarmac, and an old dilapidated terminal building. Surprisingly, most of us made it through customs and immigration without being searched or interrogated by the numerous military government representatives.

Rangoon, although a city of five million and the largest city in Burma (Myanmar), remains very lush with tropical flora – coconut palms, bougainvillea of a variety of vivid reds, oranges, yellows, whites, and pinks, banana leaf trees, and more. This lushness adds a pleasant atmosphere often lacking in cities of comparable size, confirming it’s title of “the garden city of the east”. The city is located within the fertile Irrawaddy River delta. The city’s feel probably has not changed in decades. Old, decaying colonial buildings dominate the central city, interspersed with ramshackle structures. Walking appears to be the most common form of transportation. But, in the case of vehicular movement, traffic flows mostly on the right despite a century of British colonial rule – although most vehicles steering wheel remains on the right, as in Britain. If a taste of the British colonial lifestyle is what you seek, then simply step into the Strand Hotel. The Strand is one of the older hotels in Rangoon, and a lasting vestige of the former colonial opulence during the time of British colonial rule.

There seems to be a pagoda around every corner, but the magnificent Shwedagon Pagoda (which I visited later this afternoon) stands on a hill above everything else, dominating the skyline of the city. The people of Rangoon are very hospitable. Most men, women, and children wear a “longii” – a type of sarong wrap – instead of pants. I tried one out a few days later and I must say it does suit the tropical climate, offering superb ventilation.

Set high on Singuttara Hill, the famous Shwedagon Pagoda is quite a sight to behold! Over 400 feet tall and sheathed in no less than nine tons of gold, the pagoda is crowned with over 5,000 diamonds, and 2,000 rubies, sapphires, and topaz, with a huge emerald on its topmost spire. Regarded as one of the wonders of the world, it was first began over 2,500 years ago and completed in the 1800s. To gain merit (an integral part of Theravada Buddhism), locals come here to wash the images of the Buddha and to sweep the floor. Hundreds of smaller pagodas surround the large Shwedagon Pagoda. I walked completely around the pagoda, interacted with some of the people and monks, and saw some older photographs of the area in an adjacent museum. A visit to this site is a surreal experience not to be missed. From its superb vantage point, a view from the pagoda of surrounding Rangoon is quite impressive.

Downtown Rangoon seems to radiate out from the Sule Pagoda, also over 2,000 years old and 157 feet high. The area surrounding the pagoda appears to bustle with the comings and goings of humanity. Within the holy site of the pagoda are many pilgrims and worshippers performing tasks of merit such as washing images of the Buddha. But this is not the only holy site in the city’s center. Nor is Buddhism the only religion represented here. From my vantage point at the pagoda I could see several structures each representing one of the world’s great religions. One corner is graced by a Catholic cathedral, which stands in front of a Baptist church. On another corner is an Islamic mosque, with a Hindu temple located next door.

The famously described “1,000 scents of the Orient” may be found intermingling, stirring the senses, in many a market in Asia – ginger and curry, cinnamon, cardamom and coconut, dried fish and fresh fruits, for example. The markets of Rangoon are no exception. Everything one could possibly require may most likely be found in the city’s largest and oldest market, the Bogyoke Aung San Market, located a few blocks north of the Sule Pagoda.

The monument to Burmese independence from Britain, a 150-foot high obelisk surrounded by five 30-foot pillars, is merely a short walk from the Sule Pagoda. Nearby to the park containing the independence monument are many government buildings, housed in stately colonial structures. Also nearby is the U.S. embassy. The city center is also experiencing changes to its colonial skyline. Foreign investors are funding construction of several high-rise office and hotel buildings. However, given the political situation in Burma, with a military junta ruling the country, no one is quite sure in what direction the country is headed.

Note: this post stems from my travels to Southeast Asia in 2004.

Geography of the Global Economy

2008-09-30T23:30:00.000-04:00

In light of the recent tumultuous events shaking the United States' economy, and subsequently the world economy, I thought an entry here about the geography of the global economy (which is directly linked to the geography of globalization) would be interesting.

Here is a link to an interesting learning module about the geography of the global economy, courtesy of the Association of American Geographers:
Global Economy Module

Concerning geographers' study of the global economy, the learning module states that "Geographers study the spatial activities of economies at different scales. In the global economy, these activities include patterns of international trade, the flow of information through communication networks, regional flows of capital and resources, and the spatial distribution of labor. Increasingly, economic processes and patterns are affected by globalization - a process by which 'events, activities, and decisions in one part of the world can have significant consequences for communities in distant parts of the globe' (Haggett, 2001)" (Global Economy Module - Lesson 1).

The Global Economy learning module goes on to state that: "The global economy is a very complex system linking nations through the trade and flow of goods, services, and information. Geographers are interested in how globalization affects the spatial arrangement of economic services and activities; how this arrangement affects local and national economies; and how local and national economies contribute to the form and function of the global economy. They are interested in issues such as the relocation of economic activities and jobs from high-wage to low-wage countries; the role of information technologies in building electronic networks of commerce; the formation of economic blocs such as the North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA) and the European Union (EU); and the spectacular growth of newly industrialized economies, most notably in Pacific Asia" (Global Economy Module - Lesson 1).

Additionally, the module states that "The importance, extent, and sheer economic scale of these spatial changes, most notably during the 1970s and 1980s, took many governments and industrial enterprises by surprise. Many governments struggled to react in the face of the industrial and labor relocations that took place and to recognize that the foundations of the new economy were no longer locally or nationally based, but were now global. Likewise, private firms had to adapt by restructuring their production systems to consider the most effective and efficient means of doing business in a global market" (Global Economy Module - Lesson 1).

Globalization and the global economy are obviously very geographic and warrant the study by geographers and others. With all the upheavals currently occurring the the U.S. and global economies, it is important for people to gain a better understand of the foundations of the current system and to understand how and why globalization occurs and how and why the global economy is the way it currently is.

Geography on YouTube!

2008-08-20T00:46:00.004-04:00

Here are some interesting videos about geography and geographic topics discovered on youtube.com:

Geography Tutor - Map Skills:

Geography Tutor - Types of Maps and Map Projections:

Geography Tutor - Map and Globe Terms:

The Nations of the World:

Fifty State Capitals:

Overview of Peru for Travelers

2008-08-17T14:53:00.006-04:00

by Richard Monk, April 20, 2006

Peru is located on the upper west coast of South America. If you are considering Peru as a travel destination, following is an overview of the country.

Overview of Peru for Travelers

Historically, Peru was the location of the dominant early cultures in South America. The city of Caral has pyramid remains dated to between 2000 and 2600 BC, which may make it the oldest city in the world. Peru is also the home of the Nazca Lines, the football field size drawings in the ground that are only apparent from the air.

The Incas are a mysterious civilization, but one that was clearly dominant during its time. The Incas were based in modern day Peru. Although it was not a major city, Machu Picchu is the best known archeological remains of the Incas. It was discovered in 1911.

Machu Picchu, Peru

The Spanish defeated the Inca Empire in 1533, who remained in control for nearly 300 years. In 1821, Peru declared independence, but wasn’t able to defeat the Spanish until 1824. In fact, Peru was the last Spanish colony in South America.

Peru has seen periods of relative stability and near civil war since gaining its independence. In the late 20th century, conflicts with the Shining Path and Tupac Amaru rebel groups resulted in as many as 70,000 people being killed. Peru has moved beyond such conflicts and is experiencing a period of strong stability and economic growth. In a stunning development for patriarchal South America, Peru elected Beatriz Merino as the first female prime minister on the continent in 2003.

Peru is an interesting climatic country because it contains stunning mountains, flat plains and over 1,500 miles of beaches on the Pacific Ocean. Figuring out what to take is entirely dependent on the part of the country you will visit. Travel to Lake Titicaca, one of the highest lakes in the world, and you will need to dress for warmth. Visit the dry desert in the east of the country, and you will be dressing just the opposite.

Rio Madre de Dios, Amazon Basin, Eastern Peru

Modern Peru has a total population of 28 million people. Roman Catholic is the dominant language. The literacy rate is roughly 88 percent. After years of conflict, the country has suffered economically to the point that over 50 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. With stability returning, this situation is expected to improve.

Lake Titicaca in the Andes

Peru is one of the hottest travel destinations in South America. With the end of armed conflict, the chance to see Inca ruins should not be missed.

Article Source: http://www.articleset.com

About the Author

Richard Monk is with http://www.factsmonk.com - a site that has nothing to do with politics. » Read more articles by Richard Monk

Geography of China

2008-08-08T12:21:00.005-04:00

In honor of 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing beginning today (8-8-08) I thought an overview of the geography of the People's Republic of China would be worthwhile. I'll begin with China's physical geography, and conclude with a discussion of China's human geography.

China is one of the largest countries in the world, stretching 3,100 miles (over 5,000 km) from the East China Sea and Yellow Sea in the east to Central Asia beyond the Plateau of Tibet in the west, and about 3,400 miles (5,500 km) from borders with Russia and Mongolia in the north to the South China Sea and borders with Vietnam, Laos, Burma, India, Bhutan, and Nepal in the south. The northern and western borders are in desert regions and the southwestern border is along the Himalayas, all of which form harsh natural barriers.

The topography of China may be pictured as an "erratically changing configuration of broad plains, expansive deserts, and lofty mountain ranges, including vast areas of inhospitable terrain. The eastern half of the country, its seacoast fringed with offshore islands, is a region of fertile lowlands, foothills and mountains, desert, steppes, and subtropical areas. The western half of China is a region of sunken basins, rolling plateaus, and towering massifs, including a portion of the highest tableland on earth."

The majority of China's population (and it is the most populous country in the world with more than 1.3 billion people - about one-sixth of the earth's population) live in eastern China. Eastern China is basically divided north-south by the Qinling mountains into two quite different regions. These mountains stretch east to west and separate the basins of the Huang He (Yellow River) in the north, and the Chiang Jiang (Yangtze River) in the south - two of the world's great river systems. The Chiang Jiang is the longest and most important river in China, beginning in the Tibet Plateau and flowing eastward across central China, finally emptying out into the East China Sea near Shanghai. Many large cities are located along this highly navigable river. And the famous Three Gorges, as well as the infamous Three Gorges Dam project, are located along the Chiang Jiang.

Northern China, west of Beijing and north of Tibet, is characterized by the vast Gobi Desert, one of the largest in the world.

Much of southwestern China is made up of the Plateau of Tibet, which averages 13,000 ft. in elevation. Tibet is bordered by the Himalaya Mountains to the South, and the Kunlun Shan, Tian Shan, and Altai mountains to the north and northwest.

South and Southeast China contain hilly and mountainous landscapes of karst topography. The beautiful scenery in Guangxi province near Guilin along the Li River is a product of karst topography.

In terms of climate, much of China is in the northern temperate zone. Colder climates abound in the north, while tropical climate is common in the south. Sub-arctic climate is characteristic of the extreme highlands in the Tibet Plateau and Himalayas. China is also affected by a seasonal monsoon. There is an alternating wet monsoon in the summer and a dry monsoon in winter. Summer monsoon winds bring warm and wet currents into South China and northward. The advance and retreat of the monsoons account in large degree for the timing of the rainy season and the amount of rainfall throughout the country. North China and southward are affected by the seasonal cold, dry winds from Siberia and the Mongolian Plateau between September/October and March/April.

China is divided into twenty-three provinces, five autonomous regions, four municipalities and two special administrative regions. The autonomous regions have traditionally been referred to as "Outer China" because they are located beyond the Great Wall of China.

China is one of the world's oldest, continuous civilizations, stretching across approximately 5,000 years of history. Han Chinese make up about 90 percent of China's population. The remaining 10 percent is made up of about 50 different ethnic groups speaking a variety of dialects with different cultural practices.

Shanghai is China's largest city, and sits at the mouth of the Chiang Jiang (Yangtze River) on the East China Sea. Large ships can navigate far up the Chiang Jiang to cities such as Nanjing, Wuhan, and Chongqing, all of which have populations of more than 8 million. The second most populous city in China is the capital, Beijing, which is situated in the northern area of the Huang He (Yellow River) plain. Guangzhou is another large and important city, the most famous port of south China, located on the Pearl River in the delta of the Xi River north of Hong Kong and Macau. The Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong (formerly British) and Macau (Formerly Portuguese) are of strategic economic importance. Hong Kong is a global financial and economic center and transportation hub. Other cities important as provincial capitals or centers of commerce and industry include: Harbin and Shenyang in the northeast, Chengdu in Sichuan province in central China, and Kunming in Yunnan province.

Despite large urban centers, rural life is still important in China. A large portion of China's population still live in small, rural farming villages throughout the countryside and work on the land. These villages are often only a few miles apart and are connected to each other by footpaths and cart tracks, and they are also usually centered around a market town where farmers can sell their produce. The most important food crops in China are rice and wheat.

Food is an import cultural marker in any culture, but is especially important in China. Chinese cuisine is famous throughout the world. Countless dishes in many styles of cooking using many ingredients are found in Chinese cuisine. Different regions of China are also famous for their own particular local flavors of Chinese cuisine.

Am extensive railway passenger network links most places in China with one another. Air travel is also an important mode of transportation domestically in China because of the country's vast size - just as it is in the United States.

See the following article for more detailed information on the Geography of China:
Geography of China

Stunning Photos Of China

View SlideShare presentation

Fun Ways to Build Geographic Literacy and Knowledge "Hubpage"

2008-08-07T00:47:00.001-04:00

Check out this "hub" about Fun Ways to Build Geographic Literacy and Knowledge and GeoManiaWorld, on hubpages.com:

Fun Ways to Build Geographic Literacy and Knowledge

This site contains a variety of resources for geography fans, including various geography links, a live feed from the GeoManiaWorld blog, great geography stuff on Amazon.com, fun geography youtube.com videos, geography news posts from Yahoo news, a guestbook, and more.

Check it out!

Geographic Superlatives

2008-08-06T22:27:00.002-04:00

Well, it's about time for some more lists. This time I'm talking about geographic superlatives of the world - the highest, lowest, wettest, driest, longest, shortest, biggest, smallest, etc. of Earth's physical features. This is the type of information you will traditionally find in an Almanac. So, here we go:

Hottest, Coldest, Wettest, and Driest:
-Hottest Place: Dalol, Denakil Depression, Ethiopia, annual average temperature (93.2°F, 34°C).
-Coldest Place: Plateau Station, Antarctica, annual average temperature (-56.7°C).
-Wettest Place: Mawsynram, Assam, India, annual average rainfall (11,873 mm, 467.4"); Mt. Waialeale on Hawaii's Kauai Island is also a contender with an estimated 472" of rainfall in a year.
-Driest Place: Atacama Desert, Chile, imperceptible rainfall on a yearly basis.

Highest points on each continent:
-Mount Everest 8850m (29035ft) Asia
-Aconcagua 6959m (22831ft) S. America
-Mount McKinley 6194m (20320ft) N. America
-Mount Kilimanjaro 5963m (19563ft) Africa
-Mount Elbrus 5633m (18481ft) Europe
-Puncak Jaya 4884m (16023ft) Oceania
-Vinson Massif 4897m (16066ft) Antarctica

Lowest points on each continent (below sea level):
-Dead Sea, Asia -409 meters
-Lake Assal, Africa -156 meters
-Death Valley, North America -86 meters
-Valdés Peninsula, South America -40 meters
-Caspian Sea, Europe -28 meters
-Lake Eyre, Australia -16 meters
-Antarctica (ice covered) -2,538 meters

Deepest ocean depths:
-Mariana Trench, Pacific Ocean 35,827 ft
-Puerto Rico Trench, Atlantic Ocean 30,246 ft
-Java Trench, Indian Ocean 24,460 ft
-Arctic Basin, Arctic Ocean 18,456 ft

Deepest lakes:
-Baikal, Russian Fed. (5,315 ft)
-Tanganyika, Africa (4,800 ft)
-Caspian Sea, Asia-Europe (3,363 ft)
-Malawi or Nyasa, Africa (2,317 ft)
-Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan (2,303 ft)

Driest inhabited places (rainfall in inches per year):
-Aswan, Egypt 0.02"
-Luxor, Egypt 0.03"
-Arica Desert, Chile 0.04"
-Ica, Peru 0.1"
-Antofagasta, Chile 0.2"
-El Minya, Egypt 0.2"
-Asyut, Egypt 0.2"

Wettest inhabited places (rainfall in inches per year):
-Buenaventira, Colombia 267"
-Monrovia, Liberia 202"
-Pago Pago, American Samoa 198"
-Moulein, Burma (Myanmar 192"
-Lae, Papua New Guinea 183"
-Baguio, Philippines180"
-Sylhet, Bangladesh 178"

Largest deserts of the world:
(Subtropical):
Sahara, North Africa 3,500,000 sq. miles
Arabian, Middle East 1,000,000 sq. miles
Great Victoria, Australia 250,000 sq. miles
Rub'al Khali, Middle East 250,000 sq. miles
Kalahari, Southern Africa 225,000 sq. miles
Syrian, Middle East 200,000 sq. miles
Chihuahuan, Mexico 175,000 sq. miles
Thar, India/Pakistan175,000 sq. miles
Great Sandy, Australia 150,000 sq. miles
Gibson, Australia 120,000 sq. miles
Sonoran, S.W. USA 120,000 sq. miles
Mohave, S,W, USA 54,000 sq. miles
(Cool Coastal):
Atacama, Chile SA 54,000 sq. miles
Namib, S.W. Africa 13,000 sq. miles
(Cold Winter):
Gobi, China 500,000 sq. miles
Patagonian, Argentina 260,000 sq. miles
Great Basin, S.W. USA 190,000 sq. miles
Kara-Kum, West Asia 135,000 sq. miles
Colorado, Western USA 130,000 sq. miles
(also called the Painted Desert)
Taklamakan, China 105,000 sq. miles
Iranian, Iran 100,000 sq. miles

An Overview of Egypt for Travelers

2008-08-06T12:03:00.004-04:00

by Richard Monk, April 15, 2006

From Pyramids to the Valley of the Kings, the Arab Republic of Egypt oozes history. If you are considering traveling to Egypt, you should know the following about the country.

Overview of Egypt for Travelers

Egypt has plenty of land, but much of it is sparsely inhabited. This leads to a situation where the vast majority lives within relatively compact urban places. As the most populous Arab nation, nearly all of people live along the Nile River, particularly in Cairo and Alexandria. Cairo in particular is one of the world’s most densely populated cities with a whopping 3,800 people per square mile and roughly 18 million in the extended city. Traffic jams are legendary to say the least.

Travelers to Egypt are almost always going to see the pyramids and various archeological remains of the Pharaohs. Just so you can sound like you know what you are talking about, here is a very brief history on the rule of the Pharaohs.

Around 3,100 BC, Mena united Egypt and became the first Pharaoh. 30 dynasties would follow and are categorized as the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom and New Empire. In 525 BC, the last Pharaoh was overthrown by the invading Persians. The pyramids of Giza were built during the fourth dynasty. The Great Pyramid is the tomb of Pharaoh Khufu. The Valley of Kings you will visit is only partially an accurate representation. More than a few of the sites were actually moved to higher elevations to save them from flooding caused when the Nasser Dam went into operation.

As for modern times, Egypt covers an area of roughly 386,000 square miles. The capital is Cairo with a population between 16 and 18 million people. The climate is universally dry and hot. Life is sustained almost totally by the Nile.

The people of Egypt are known as “Egyptians.” The total population is over 77 million and growing at a rate of 1.78 percent per year. 94 percent claim to be Muslim. Arabic is the official language although English and French are also spoken. 57 percent of the people are literate and life expectancy is 71 years of age.

As this overview shows, the country is unique in that it is almost totally reliant upon the Nile River. Without the Nile, Egypt would be bereft of its heritage and modern state. Fortunately, it has learned to ride herd on the longest river in the world.

Article Source: http://www.articleset.com

About the Author

Richard Monk is with http://www.factsmonk.com - a site that has nothing to do with politics.

Geography Fun and Games "Lens"

2008-08-06T00:51:00.002-04:00

Check out this "lens" about Geography Fun & Games and GeoManiaWorld, on squidoo.com:

Geography Fun and Games - An Introduction to Geography and GeoManiaWorld

This site contains a variety of resources for geography fans, including various geography links, a geography travel poll, a live feed from the GeoManiaWorld blog, great geography stuff on Amazon.com, geography photography on flickr.com, new geography youtube.com videos, geography news posts from Google, a guestbook, and more.

Check it out!

How to Be Globally Aware

2008-08-06T00:01:00.000-04:00

This post comes from an article I previously wrote for another site. The original article, "How to Be Globally Aware", is located at:
How to Be Globally Aware

We all are living in an era of globalization. Ever-increasing economic, political, and cultural globalization and global interconnectedness are an important factor of life. Everything from business to the environment occur in a world without borders. Events and decisions in one place have a direct impact on events in many other places around the world. This is why it is important to develop a sense of global awareness in order to understand all the complex interconnections that affect everyone on a daily basis. This article offers of few suggestions on how to become more globally aware, particularly through the frameworks of geography, history, news and current events, and travel and study abroad.

Geography - The first step to becoming more globally aware is to become geographically literate. Globally aware citizens know their geography. An understanding of world geography is of fundamental importance in order to know where events occur and to understand why certain events occur in particular places. Geographical literacy and knowledge also helps to understand global connections. A fun, free way to build and develop your geographic literacy and knowledge of geography is to play free online geography games. One good place to begin is at "http://geogeomania.googlepages.com/geographygames" (see links in the additional resources section at the end of this article).

History - Read history about various world regions to gain an understanding of how countries and regions have developed over time - culturally, politically, and economically in particular - and how they have interacted with one another. Those past interactions over time still have a profound impact on how different countries interact with one another and how the world interacts as a whole today. The internet also provides a way to search for sites where you can read about various world, regional, and national history.

News and Current Events - Another way to become globally aware and develop your sense of global awareness is to read world news on a regular basis from a variety of sources around the world. When reading world news, don't just rely on one news source. Try to find news sources from all regions of the world. This will not only allow you to find out about events in each region but will also allow you to hear about the same world events from a variety of perspectives. The internet is an excellent resource for free access to a variety of news sources from around the world. One good place to start is Google News ("news.google.com"). This site retrieves and categorizes news articles from many sources throughout the world.

International Travel and Study Abroad - If financially feasible, try to travel internationally on occasion. Trips abroad are a valuable educational experience and serve to further increase your global knowledge and help you to become a more globally aware citizen. There really is no better way to understand the world than to experience it personally. If you are a college student, make it a priority to study abroad at some point during your time in college. Again, the internet is a good resource to investigate countless international and study abroad travel opportunities.

Remember to view things with an open mind and try to see things and understand events from a variety of perspectives.

And check out these links:

States, Provinces, Capitals, and Countries

2008-08-05T23:34:00.004-04:00

Brushing up on your knowledge of capital cities, states, provinces, and countries is always a good idea to maintain your geographic literacy and knowledge of geography facts. With that in mind, here are a few links to some articles about states, provinces, capitals, and countries, of various regions of the world:

Overview of Greece for Travelers

2008-08-05T22:58:00.005-04:00

by Richard Monk, April 20, 2006

From the Olympics to My Fat Greek Wedding, Greece has always been a cultural centerpiece in the history of man. Summing up its contribution requires a small library, but here is an overview.

Overview of Greece for Travelers

Greece was home to some of the earliest advanced civilizations. From the Minoans of the second BC millennium to Mycenaeans who established the basis of the current language, the country has produced cultural, philosophical, political and sport advancements unrivaled by others.

The modern Greek state obtained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1830. It has carried on what seems like a constant conflict with Turkey and was also involved in both World Wars. In 1981, Greece joined the European Community that eventually evolved into the European Union.

The official name of Greece is the Hellenic Republic. Greece covers an area of roughly 51,000 square miles. Athens is both the capital and largest population center with roughly 3.5 million inhabitants. Thessaloniki is the second largest population area with just over one million people. The terrain of Greece ranges from mountains in the north to flat plains in the south and beautiful islands off the coast. Winters are mild while summers are hot and dry making Greece a huge tourist destination.

The people of Greece are known as Greeks. They total more than 10.96 million. Population growth exists, but it is just above .2 percent annually. Greek is the official language. From a religious perspective, 99 percent of Greeks claim Greek Orthodox as their religion. Literacy rate is 95 percent and all levels of education are absolutely free. Life expectancy is 76 for males and 81 for women.

Greece is a relatively small country, but has accounted for a remarkable number of developments in the trek of mankind through history. Whether you are going to see the culture or loaf on the islands, Greece is a top travel destination for a good reason.

Article Source: http://www.articleset.com

About the Author

Richard Monk is with http://www.factsmonk.com - a site that has nothing to do with politics.

Bolivia: A Geographic Portrait

2008-08-05T16:38:00.006-04:00

by James Chartwell, March 26, 2005

South America's primary mountain range, the Andes, attains one of its widest points in Bolivia. Here the Andes are divided into two subranges, Cordillera Oriental and Cordillera Occidental. Peaks in these areas are in excess of 20,000 feet. Between these subranges lies the Altiplano which contains the highest navigable lake on earth. Lake Titicaca, which also lies in Peru, is 12,507 feet above sea level.

Also in the Altiplano is one of Bolivia's capitals, La Paz. At 11,700 feet it is one of the highest cities in the world. This region is home to one of the centers of Inca civilization and pre--Inca cultures.

Lake Titicaca is what helps make the Altiplano livable. This body of water is large enough to temper the coldness in its vicinity. Grains have been raised for centuries on the surrounding arable land up to the amazing elevation of 12,800 feet. The area supports a major group of subsistence farmers to this day.

Bolivia has had a troubled history. Aside from numerous internal struggles, the country first lost its access to the Pacific Ocean in a conflict with Chile. It then lost its northern territory of Acre to Brazil in a dispute involving the rubber industry in the Amazon Basin. On top of all that, Bolivia was forced to give up 55,000 square miles of southeastern Gran Chaco territory to Paraguay. Bolivia has reactivated its claim to restore the Atacama corridor, ceded to Chile in 1884, to secure sovereign maritime access for Bolivian natural gas.

Modern Bolivia is the product of European domination, however that influence has not affected some of the Amerindian population clusters. But these indigenous Bolivians still lost their land as did their Peruvian and Ecuadorian counterparts. However, what made the richer Europeans in Bolivia wealthy was not land but minerals.

The city of Potosi in the Cordillera Oriental became well--known for the huge silver deposits in its surroundings. Zinc, copper, and other ores were found there. Bolivia's tin deposits provided a large portion of the country's export income throughout most of the twentieth century. But in the 1980's, tin reserves declined and that along with weak world prices reached the point where Bolivia's antiquated mining methods forced the industry to all but shut down.

Oil and gas are now accounting for an increasing portion of foreign revenues. Bolivia exports much of it gas to Argentina and Brazil. In return, Brazil is commtted to assisting the development of the corridor between Santa Cruz and Corumba, Brazil, in the southeastern lowlands. It is here that commercial agriculture--especially soybeans--is on the rise.

Comparatively democratic civilian rule was established in 1982, but leaders have faced difficult problems of deep-seated poverty, social unrest, and drug production. Current goals include attracting foreign investment, strengthening the educational system, resolving disputes with coca growers over Bolivia's counterdrug efforts, and waging an anticorruption campaign. The country does have its problems, but it also has its optimism.

Article Source: http://www.articleset.com

About the Author

J. Chartwell has developed Maps-GPS-Info.com which provides practical information on GPS and maps that everyone can use. The website includes product reviews and a maps/GPS glossary. Visit http://www.maps-gps-info.com/gp.html

info@maps-gps-info.com

Globetrotting Cities of the World

2008-08-05T00:02:00.004-04:00

By Tom Takihi

How much of a globetrotter are you? Guess this city? Hint: This city is an eclectic mix of old and new, East and West. It is a bustling metropolis and an epicurean paradise. Formerly, Constantinople, it is the only city in the world that bridges two continents – Asia and Europe. It is the largest city in the predominantly Islamic country of Turkey. Answer: Istanbul.

There is nothing like discovering or learning about a city and losing yourself in its irresistible pull. There is thrill in connecting with different cities and in the process having a better grasp of humanity, history, culture, geography of the world. We are in the threshold of a new millennium. With it comes globalization- a world without borders. This reality plus hunger for knowledge has served as a catalyst for people to venture forth and acquaint themselves with the cities of the world. Come let’s take a sneak peak at some of these great cities. Let’s discover diverse worlds as we tread from one city (familiar or newfound) to the next and be entranced.

Few places in the world have a bigger number of familiar landmarks than London. Whether it is Big Ben, the Tower of London, Buckingham palace, #10 Downing Street or Harrods, the sights of London are legendary. London thrives as a collection of vibrant and distinct communities. There is West Hampstead, Kilburn with its Irish heritage, Hampstead Heath (a vast park in North London) and Soho Square. Take a virtual tour of London canals and discover a floating community of houseboats.

Paris is the City of Romance. Meander through the cloistered streets of Montmartre. Be awed by modern art and “hi-tech” architecture such as the Beaubourg Centre, the cultural heart of Modern Paris. This blending of old and new architectural styles adds up to the many reasons why most everyone ultimately falls in love with Paris.

New York is a city that never sleeps. Climb up the Empire State Building. Pass by the Chelsea galleries. Experience the sights and sounds of Brooklyn nightclubs. Take your fill of Broadway shows. Immerse yourself in the museums of New York. Truly, it is the 21st century city.

Reach for the sky. Hongkong’s skyline is one of the most famous in the world. Take a tram ride up Victoria Peak and get a glimpse of the spectacular view of the territory. Savor culinary delights honed to perfection. And take out your credit cards and splurge. Hongkong is a shopping paradise.

Chiang Mai is paradise revisited. Just an hour’s ride from Bangkok, Chiang Mai has charm, mountains, and greenery. Join in the festival of Songkran (New Year water festival) and the Loi Kratong (candle festival). Along with the showers of water and the twinkling kites that light the night sky, the city comes alive and molds the old with the new, eliciting a sense of nostalgia. Finally pay homage in the temples in Chiang Mai. Bask in the cooler climes of Chiang Mai. It can’t get any better.

Dubai is a world on its own. It is a giant-sized playground for the whole family. It is the second largest of the seven states making up the United Arab Emirates. Luxury villas, theme parks and skyscrapers dot the desert and the coast. However, Dubai is not all glitz and glamour. For a glimpse of its past, visit Deira district – narrow alleyways, nondescript buildings, jewelry shops and spice souk and breathe in a variety of aromatic spices. Try skiing at the Ski Dubai, the first indoor ski resort in the Middle East. Dubailand is set to open. Suffice to say Dubai is giving Las Vegas a run for its money.

And the list goes on… Unraveling the myriad cities of the world may take a lifetime but take the first step, you’ll never regret it. Travel, read or surf, take your pick. Keep discovering… Keep learning.

About the Author: Tom Takihi is the proud owner of the Discovery Network. For more information on this topic, please visit the dedicated portal: http://www.DiscoverWorldCities.info

Source: www.isnare.com

Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=62802&ca=Travel

More GeoManiaWorld Updates

2008-08-04T15:13:00.002-04:00

Check out the latest updates and modification to the GeoManiaWorld - Geography Trivia Games and Map Quizzes website:
GeoManiaWorld - Geography Trivia Games and Map Quizzes

Test your geographic knowledge and skill - and help build and improve your geographic literacy - with a variety of fun and challenging free online geography map and trivia games. Have fun!

Why Geography?

2008-08-04T14:55:00.003-04:00

Why Geography?

In this modern age, haven't all earth's locations been found, named, and mapped? Just about.

So, why geography?

The citizens of many of the world's countries still don't realize that ignorance of geography can affect their political stability, economic success, and environmental health. Sure, it's important to know where things are located. But even more important is learning in what ways those places are affected by their environments and their population. That, too, is geography.

Our survival is dependent on our awareness of things like where the greatest amount of carbon dioxide is being produced and where the rain forests are being destroyed. It would help us to know why terrorists want to attack. To help tsunami survivors we need to know something about the places affected. Geography is fundamental to all these things.

It's easy to see why people believe the myth that geography is only mapmaking, map reading, and knowing where everything is. For instance, TV game show contestants will be asked questions such as "what is the river that flows through Zambezi, Zambia?" In cases like this, the answer can be known by having studied a map. Knowledge of where places and events are located is important and useful. Knowing where something happened gives the event more significance.

Perhaps you've heard this story: A high school student in the United States applied to a domestic university. The admissions employee that reviewed and denied the application noted that the applicant needed to go through the foreign admissions office. The student was from New Mexico.

Geography is so much more than knowing where something is or happened. Do you know the capital of Bolivia? The answer is La Paz and Sucre -- two different places. Here's why: In 1899 Bolivia's Conservative Party was overthrown by the Liberal Party during the Federal Revolution. Tin mining, which was in the area of La Paz, had become an important industry for the country, and tin entrepreneurs supported the Liberals. So, the Liberals wanted to move the capital from Sucre to La Paz. They only partially succeeded. The constitutional capital is now Sucre and the administrative capital is La Paz. Now that you know the "why," you are much more likely to remember the "where."

A set of eighteen learning standards has been created for the science of geography. These eighteen standards are separated into six essential elements:

Physical Systems
1. The physical actions that create the patterns of earth's surface
2. The features and spatial distribution of ecosystems on earth's surface

Places and Regions
3. The material and human attributes of places
4. That people form regions to decode earth's complexity
5. How culture and experience influence people's understanding of places and regions

The World in Spatial Terms
6. How to use maps and other geographic tools and techniques to obtain, process, and describe information from a spatial viewpoint
7. How to use mental maps to organize data about people, places, and environments in a spatial context
8. How to study the spatial arrangement of people, places, and environments on earth's surface

Human Systems
9. The features, dispersion, and migration of human populations on earth's surface
10. The features, dispersion, and intricacy of earth's cultural mosaics
11. The patterns and networks of economic interdependence on earth's surface
12. The processes, patterns, and functions of human settlement
13. How the forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence the division and control of earth's surface

The Uses of Geography
14. How to apply geography to interpret the past
15. How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future

Environment and Society
16. How human actions change the physical environment
17. How physical systems affect human systems
18. The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources

Author:
by James Chartwell
J. Chartwell has developed Maps GPS Info.com which provides practical information on GPS and maps that everyone can use. The website includes product reviews and a maps/GPS glossary.
Visit http://www.maps-gps-info.com/gp.html

Terms: Articles may be reprinted provided content is not edited and links are kept live
Source: www.articledepot.co.uk

Know the Geography of Spain

2008-08-04T13:33:00.006-04:00

Author: Peter Wilson

A detailed map of Spain will come in handy when it's time to plan your vacation. You can get a quick overview of the geography and topography, and help you orient yourself to the important cities and landmarks within the country. You can also get a feel for where Spain lies in relation to the rest of Europe and the world.

Where in the World?

Spain is at the southwest part of Europe. In comparison, Spain is just over two times the size of the state of Oregon in the US. Besides the mainland, Spain also includes several islands off the coast of Morocco. The islands are the Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Penon de Alhucemas, Islas Chafarinas and Penon de Velez de la Gomera. Understanding the physical layout and area of Spain goes a long way toward understanding the Spanish culture.

Though Spain borders several countries (France, Gibraltar, Portugal and Morocco), it still has a considerable amount of coastline (nearly 5000 km). Beaches are a significant draw for vacationers. Another reason it's so popular is because of the mild climate. Spain enjoys good weather nearly year-round. The most temperate area is along the coastline, with the more extreme temperature changes occurring inland.

At its lowest point, Spain is at sea level. The country's highest point is a peak in the Canary Islands. The Pico de Teide reaches 3718 m.

Important Cities in Spain

The Strait of Gibraltar lies at the southern tip of Spain. This is the route from the Mediterranean Sea to the North Atlantic Ocean. This is a popular passing area for merchants and trade.

The Alicante region, located in the southeast region of Spain, is a popular tourist attraction for visitors from Europe. It offers a wide variety of activities, from historical ruins to modern conveniences.

Madrid, Spain's capital, is near the center of Spain, near the Tagus River, which flows to the North Atlantic Ocean via Portugal. Seville is in the southwestern part of Spain. It's famous for it's tributes to Spanish culture through art and culture. It's also an important financial center in Spain. Barcelona and Cartagena are also popular tourist spots.

The cities of Gijon and Santander are located near the Bay of Biscay, on the northern coast of Spain. Other northern coastal cities include A Coruna and Vigo. As Spain is nearly completely surrounded by water, it's no surprise that fishing and salt harvesting are big business here.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/know-the-geography-of-spain-85284.html

About the Author:

Focusing on the area of Spain, Peter J. Wilson writes articles especially for http://www.alicante-spain.com . His abstracts on detailed map of Spain are found on http://www.alicante-spain.com/spain.html .

World Globes - They Still Make Geography Fun

2008-08-04T13:18:00.003-04:00

Author: Jesse Akre

Once upon a time people thought the world was actually flat and if you got to the end you would fall off. Then in the Middle Ages a globe was made depicting the world as round. People marveled at the thought of our world being spherical and a passion for exploring was born. Now world globes can be seen in class rooms, office buildings and homes and they are still capturing the imagination of all those who gaze upon them.

Spin one around and learn where exactly Iraq is or where Switzerland the country of your ancestors is located or just where exactly your South American cruise is going. No matter where you are going you'll be able to find a globe that suits your needs and your style.

Choose from world globes for the desk or the floor, globes that illuminate showing both a political and physical map of the world and many others. Sure you could go to your local discount stores or department store and buy a globe off of the shelf, but why not get one that is truly a conversation piece or a work of art? By shopping online from the comfort of your home or office you can find the largest selection of world globes at the most reasonable prices.

Maybe you want a gemstone globe that will make any room sparkle with its more than 25 different semi-precious stones that are individually hand-cut and hand-shaped to represent each country? Or maybe some globe bookends to hold your collection of antique atlases? You'll even find globe clocks, acrylic globes that can double as planters or candy dishes and globe and executive pen sets. From floor globes on stands of dark wood or metal to desk globes that show day and nighttime for any time, date, and location in the world throughout the four seasons as well as pinpointing the actual location of the sun throughout the year.

Besides being a great accent piece in any room, world globes also increase our knowledge of geography which is sadly lacking by many Americans. In fact according to a National Geographic Society survey of 18-24 year olds twenty percent think Sudan is in Asia and 37% can't find Iraq. And most of them don't think it is important to know where world events are taking place. By giving your child a globe at a young age and encouraging their wonder and exploration of the world these bad attitudes and lack of knowledge can be prevented.

So whether you choose a desk world globe or a floor world globe you'll be inspired to care about our planet and explore it with the wanderlust of the old days. There is always something new to discover when you gaze upon your globe and ponder what it is like in the locale you are pointing at. It is a small world after all and world globes encourage you to learn more about this earth and explore its exotic locales every day.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/world-globes-they-still-make-geography-fun-265508.html

About the Author:
Jesse Akre offers online consumers advice when purchasing lovely world globes, earth globe, and Replogle globe.

Longest Rivers in the World

2008-08-01T13:52:00.006-04:00

Well, here's another list - this time related to the natural environment. This is a list of the longest rivers in the world. However, you'll quickly note that rivers aren't only important to the natural environment. They may be viewed as the arteries and lifelines of continents. Rivers not only drain large areas of land, but they also allow for human use by allowing transportation and the movement of people, resources, and goods across continents. Rivers also grant shipping access to and from the world's oceans. As you can see, rivers are an important environmental feature for many reasons. In this listing, I list the River name, length in miles and kilometers, and the body of water for the river's outflow. So, here is the list of the world's longest and most important rivers.

The River Nile at Aswan, Egypt

1. Nile, 4135 mi, 6650 km, Mediterranean Sea
2. Amazon, 3980 mi, 6400 km, Atlantic Ocean
3. Yangtze (Chiang Jiang), 3917 mi, 6300 km, East China Sea
4. Mississippi/Missouri, 3902 mi, 6275 km, Gulf of Mexico
5. Yenisei/Angara/Selenga, 3445 mi, 5539 km, Kara Sea
6. Yellow (Huang He), 3398 mi, 5464 km, Bohai Sea
7. Ob/Irtysh, 3364 mi, 5410 km, Gulf of Ob
8. Congo/Chambeshi, 2922 mi, 4700 km, Atlantic Ocean
9. Amur/Argun, 2763 mi, 4444 km, Sea of Okhotsk
10. Lena, 2736 mi, 4400 km, Laptev Sea
11. Mekong, 2705 mi, 4350 km, South China Sea
12. Mackenzie/Peace/Finlay, 2637 mi, 4241 km, Beaufort Sea
13. Niger, 2611 mi, 4200 km, Gulf of Guinea
14. Parana (Rio de la Plata), 2486 mi, 3998 km, Atlantic Ocean
15. Volga, 2266 mi, 3645 km, Caspian Sea

Amazon River Landscape, South America

Yangtze River (Chang Jiang), People's Republic of China

For a much longer and more detailed listing of the longest rivers in the world, see this article:
List of Rivers by Length

The Ten Big Questions in Geography

2008-07-26T11:20:00.002-04:00

This is from an article I previously wrote for another website - "How to Know the Big Questions in Geography" - found at:
How to Know the Big Questions in Geography

An article appearing in the August 2002 issue of the academic journal "Professional Geographer" by Cutter, Golledge, and Graf, discusses ten big questions that scholars and researchers working in the field of geography should be addressing through their research endeavors. The questions were in response to a challenge by a science correspondent for the New York Times, John Noble Wilford. Cutter, Golledge, and Graf (2002) respond to Wilford's challenge by articulating these ten big questions in geography research. The ten questions indeed carry with them important societal implications and they are broad enough so that most geographic scholarly research can fit within one of their frameworks. These questions are meant to encourage geographic research that would generate public interest, media attention, as well as the respect of policy makers. This article presents the ten big questions in geography.

Geography Big Question #1: What makes places and landscapes different from one another, and why is this important?

Geography Big Question #2: Is there a deeply held human need to organize space by creating arbitrary borders, boundaries, and districts?

Geography Big Question #3: How do we delineate space?

Geography Big Question #4: Why do people, resources, and ideas move?

Geography Big Question #5: How has the earth been transformed by human action?

Geography Big Question #6: What role will virtual systems play in learning about the world?

Geography Big Question #7: How do we measure the unmeasurable?

Geography Big Question #8: What role has geographical skill played in the evolution of human civilization, and what role can it play in predicting the future?

Geography Big Question #9: How and why do sustainability and vulnerability change from place to place and over time?

Geography Big Question #10: What is the nature of spatial thinking, reasoning, and abilities?

The ten big questions in geography originally appeared in the following academic paper: Cutter, Susan L., Reginald Golledge, and William L. Graf. 2002. "The Ten Big Questions in Geography." Professional Geographer (August 2002): pages 305-317.

Original article by Paul McDaniel may be found here:
How to Know the Big Questions in Geography

World's Busiest International Airports

2008-07-23T00:51:00.002-04:00

Airports are a place of exciting fascination for many geographers. They are places representing many ideas of geography all in one: the wonders of aviation and air travel, international and domestic travel, globalization, global interconnectedness, transportation and tourism geography, and they are also interesting to geographers who study human impact on the landscape. Airports are somewhat like mini-cities. At any rate, here is a list of the top thirty busiest airports in the world in 2007 by passenger traffic. For each entry, I list the name of the airport, the city, state, and country, the number of passengers passing through the airport in 2007, and the airline that operates a major hub at that particular airport:

Hartsfield-Jackson-Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

1. Hartsfield-Jackson-Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Atlanta, Georgia, USA - 89,379,287 - Delta Airlines, Air Tran Airways
2. O'Hare International Airport (ORD), Chicago, Illinois, USA - 76,159,324 - United Airlines, American Airlines
3. London Heathrow Airport (LHR), London, England, UK - 68,068,554 - British Airways, BMI, Virgin Atlantic
4. Tokyo-Haneda International Airport (HND), Tokyo, Japan - 66,671,435 - Japan Air Lines, All Nippon Airways
5. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Los Angeles, California, USA - 61,895,548 - Delta Airlines, United Airlines
6. Charles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG), near Paris, France - 59,919,383 - Air France
7. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, USA - 59,784,876 - American Airlines
8. Frankfurt Airport (FRA), Frankfurt am Main, Germany - 54,161,856 - Lufthansa
9. Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK), Chaoyang, Beijing, People's Republic of China - 53,736,923 - Air China, China Southern Airlines
10. Madrid Barajas International Airport (MAD), Barajas, Madrid, Spain - 52,122,214 - Iberia
11. Denver International Airport (DEN), Denver, Colorado, USA - 49,863,389 - United Airlines, Frontier Airlines
12. John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Queens, New York City, USA - 47,810,630 - Delta Airlines, Jet Blue Airways, American Airlines
13. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS), The Netherlands - 47,793,602 - KLM/Royal Dutch Airlines, Northwest Airlines
14. McCarran International Airport (LAS), Las Vegas, Nevada, USA - 47,595,140 - U.S. Airways, Southwest Airlines
15. Hong Kong International Airport (HKG), Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China - 46,995,000 - Cathay Pacific, Dragon Air
16. George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), Houston, Texas, USA - 42,978,617 - Continental Airlines
17. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), Phoenix, Arizona, USA - 42,197,080 - U.S. Airways, Southwest Airlines
18. Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK), Bangkok, Thailand - 41,210,081 - Thai Airways International, Bangkok Airways, Orient Thai Airlines
19. Singapore Changi Airport (SIN), Changi, Singapore - 36,701,556 - Singapore Airlines
20. Orlando International Airport (MCO), Orlando, Florida, USA - 36,480,416 - Southwest Airlines, Delta Airlines
21. Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), Newark, New Jersey, USA - 36,391,911 - Continental Airlines
22. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), Romulus, Michigan, USA - 36,126,555 - Northwest Airlines
23. San Francisco International Airport (SFO), San Mateo County, California, USA - 35,793,117 - United Airlines
24. Tokyo-Narita International Airport (NRT), Narita, Chiba, Japan - 35,530,035 - Japan Air Lines, All Nippon Airways, Northwest Airlines
25. London Gatwick Airport (LGW), Crawley, England, UK - 35,218,399 - British Airways
26. Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), Fort Snelling, Minnesota, USA - 35,160,505 - Northwest Airlines
27. Dubai International Airport (DXB), Dubai, United Arab Emirates - 34,348,110 - Emirates
28. Munich-Franz Josef Strauss Airport (MUN), Munich, Bavaria, Germany - 33,959,422 - Lufthansa
29. Miami International Airport (MIA), Miami, Florida, USA - 33,740,416 - American Airlines
30. Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT), Charlotte, North Carolina, USA - 33,383,812 - U.S. Airways

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Dallas, Texas, USA

GeoManiaWorld Updates

2008-07-15T17:47:00.002-04:00

Check out the latest updates and modification to the GeoManiaWorld - Geography Trivia Games and Map Quizzes website:
GeoManiaWorld - Geography Trivia Games and Map Quizzes

There is a now a random geo fact that changes with each browser refresh, and there are more links to more cool sites with free online geography games! Check it out!

Also, check back in with the blog soon as I will get back to updating it more often (I've been out of town a good bit over the past couple of weeks).

Largest Cities in the World

2008-06-28T01:08:00.007-04:00

One thing I would like to do in this blog is to occasionally post and comment on themed lists of various items related to world geography. So, to start things off in this post, the first of a series of "list" posts, I would like to list and discuss the largest cities in the world. But, when forming such a list, particularly pertaining to a geographic feature such as a city, one must ask what criteria will we take into account when classifying cities on the list. Do we just count the city itself (the city proper), the urbanized area, or the metropolitan area? Or perhaps we should form a separate list for each of those items. Various cities would most likely then appear at different points on the list. But for this post, I will list the twenty largest metropolitan areas by population (I also may come back to the post and add more lists based on different criteria as well). So, without further adieu, here we go:

Tokyo, Japan, with Mt. Fuji

Earth's twenty largest metropolitan areas by population (based on 2003 population data):
1. Tokyo, Japan - 32,450,000
2. Seoul, South Korea - 20,550,000
3. Mexico City, Mexico - 20,450,000
4. New York City, United States - 19,750,000
5. Mumbai (Bombay), India - 19,200,000
6. Jakarta, Indonesia - 18,900,000
7. Sao Paulo, Brazil - 18,850,000
8. Delhi, India - 18,600,000
9. Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto, Japan - 17,375,000
10. Shanghai, China - 16,650,000
11. Metro Manila, Philippines - 16,300,000
12. Hong Kong/Shenzhen, China - 15,800,000
13. Los Angeles, United States - 15,250,000
14. Kolkata (Calcutta), India - 15,100,000
15. Moscow, Russia - 15,000,000
16. Cairo, Egypt - 14,450,000
17. Buenos Aires, Argentina - 13,170,000
18. London, United Kingdom - 12,875,000
19. Beijing, China - 12,500,000
20. Karachi, Pakistan - 11,800,000

Sao Paulo, Brazil

GeoManiaWorld - Geo Games and Trivia Resources

2008-06-26T01:15:00.004-04:00

Don't forget to check out all the cool geography trivia and map game resources located at the other GeoManiaWorld site:
GeoManiaWorld - Geography Trivia Games and Map Quizzes

Start building or strengthening your geographic literacy and geographic knowledge. And have fun all at the same time!

Geographic Literacy and Illiteracy

2008-06-26T00:25:00.007-04:00

A while back I came across the following article, "Study: Geography Greek to young Americans", and found it both interesting and disturbing considering the prominent role the U.S. plays around the world:
CNN - Study: Geography Greek to Young Americans

Here is an article about the same story directly from National Geographic:
National Geographic - Young Americans Geographically Illiterate, Survey Suggests

The decisions and actions made and taken by the United States play a profound role and have a great impact in many local places and lives around the world. I think it might be important for U.S. citizens to at least be cognizant of who, what, and where is/are affected by the actions of our country. Here are the results of the actual survey/report described in the above articles:
2006 National Geographic-Roper Survey of Geographic Literacy

and if you would like to test your own knowledge through a twenty-question sample of the survey questions, then go here:
2006 National Geographic-Roper Survey of Geographic Literacy, Sample Questions

And here is an excerpt from WorldHum.com
"Where's Iraq?
Although we Americans are famously lacking in world geography knowledge, there has always been one surefire way we could learn a country’s place on the map: by attacking it, or at least intervening in its affairs. When that happens, our newspapers feature little regional maps with the country colored black, and our TV news shows offer up little glowing maps in the right-hand corner of our television screens. This is how we learned that Vietnam is a nation in Southeast Asia, and that Nicaragua is a small country in Central America. But now, sadly, even this extreme educational method is failing. Reports CNN: “After more than three years of combat and nearly 2,400 U.S. military deaths in Iraq, nearly two-thirds of Americans aged 18 to 24 still cannot find Iraq on a map, a study released Tuesday showed." The National Geographic-Roper Public Affairs 2006 Geographic Literacy Study states that it coincides with the launch of the National Geographic-led campaign called ‘My Wonderful World.’
MyWonderfulWorld.org
A statement on the program said it was designed to ‘inspire parents and educators to give their kids the power of global knowledge.’”

Well, here is a link to conclude this post, if you're interested, to an op-ed I wrote about the disturbing lack of geographic literacy and knowledge among young people in the United States:

May 04, 2006 - Geographic Knowledge in America is Severely Lacking

Hopefully all this will light a fire under many more people to take it upon themselves to become more geographically literate and geographically aware of the world in which they live.

To continue the discussion of the importance and necessity of a knowledge and understanding of geography, here is a poignant article by one eminent geographer, Harm de Blij, in which he comments on the current nature of geography and the importance of geography in this ever increasing era of global interconnections and economic, political, and cultural globalization:
Uncle Sam Wants You...to study geography

Finally, if you want another take on the foundational importance of the field of geography in all walks of life, you may find the following essay, by James Michener (a prominent writer), quite interesting as it describes his take on the field and how geography is quite literally the foundation for many other fields of study:
Geography - The Queenly Science

How do you know if you should be a Geographer?

2008-06-24T23:18:00.007-04:00

When some people find out that I majored in geography or that I like geography, their eyes tend to glaze over as if that is unheard of. Well, there are probably more geographers lurking around among us than most people might think. In fact, some people may think like a geographer on the inside despite what they do to earn a living. In this post I would like to convey ten characteristics common to most geographers. If you have an inclination to adhere to any of these characteristics, then deep down you may think and act like a geographer.

Most of this post comes from an article I previously wrote for another site. The original article, "How to Know if You Should be a Geographer", is located at:
How to Know if You Should be a Geographer

Geographers are a special breed. Many geographers share similar interests, traits, and characteristics such as a wonder and curiosity about the world and everything on/in it, a strong desire to stare at maps of all types, and a never ending appetite to travel to places. The ten characteristics here should help you determine if you are a geographer deep down.

#1: Have a curiosity about places.
#2: Enjoy studying all sorts of maps.

#3: Prefer sitting next to the window on airplane flights.

#4: Have an interest in foreign areas as well as areas of your own country.

#5: Enjoy working outside, hiking, or exploring.

#6: Have good problem solving skills.
#7: Be good at seeing connections at what others may see as unrelated problems or issues.
#8: Be able to adapt to rapid technological change.
#9: Try to see the big picture in any circumstance.
#10: Have an interest in connections between people and the environment.

So, if you have or do any of these things, then you may have the makings of becoming a geographer, in addition to what it is you may already do.

London, England

2008-06-24T12:11:00.013-04:00

While I'm on a role about world cities, I though I would go ahead and write about one more. So here is the third of a series of posts about famous world cities. In this case, London, England, capital of the United Kingdom. London is another city I have been fortunate to travel to many times over the years, and one in which I always look forward to returning. London is probably one of the most famous cities in the world. It has a very long history, from being a Roman backwater to the nerve center of one of the largest empires in history (British Empire), and today remains one of the control centers of the global economy. Geographers of all types, like most places we visit, will become very excited upon a visit to London. There is just so much to see and do here. Geographers who look at the world through one or more of the five themes of geography (see a previous post) will undoubtedly find much to examine and observe in London.

But if you are reading this and have never been to London before, but might like to plan a trip there in the future, you might be interested to know about the most famous sights. With this in mind, I'll post here an article I previously wrote for another website - "How to See London's Top Ten Attractions". The original article is found here:
How to See London's Top Ten Attractions

London contains a myriad of things to see and do, some world famous, others waiting to be discovered. But many would agree that there are certain sites that come to mind when one thinks of London. This article briefly describes sites that many would consider to be the top 10 attractions in London (but discussed in no particular order).

London Top Ten #1: British Museum - A museum of world history and culture housed in a monumental structure. It contains over six million artifacts from around the world spanning over a million years of history, including the Rosetta Stone, Elgin Marbles, and other famous antiquities.

London Top Ten #2: National Gallery and Portrait Gallery - The National Gallery houses one of the greatest art collections in the world, including over 2,000 items from the early Renaissance to the Impressionists. On display are items representing all the European schools of painting and works by all the famous artists from those styles. The National Gallery is adjacent to Trafalger Square and St. Martin in the Fields Church. The Portrait Gallery opened in 1856 and allows visitors to actually see the faces of many famous and well-known names. Popular portraits include: British Royalty, Shakespeare, The Beatles, and Margaret Thatcher.

London Top Ten #3: London Eye - This is the tallest observation wheel in the world. It sits along the Thames across from the Houses of Parliament and allows spectacular views all around London from one of its 32 enclosed capsules that each hold 25 people. One complete revolution takes 30 minutes.

London Top Ten #4: Tate Modern Museum - This museum houses an extensive collection of international modern art and is affiliated with the Tate Britain Museum. It is housed within the old Bankside Power Station, along the Thames across from the City of London and St. Paul's Cathedral. Famous works on display include exhibits by Dali, Picasso, Matisse, Rothko, and Warhol, as well as many current artists.

London Top Ten #5: Natural History Museum - One of London's most popular museums. The many exhibits in this large structure lead visitors through the array of subjects relating to natural history, with as many as 70 million specimens from around the world. Exhibits include dinosaurs, fossils, geology, earthquakes and volcanoes, a journey through the globe, the water cycle, biology, gemstones, origin of species, and much more. There are also many interactive and hands-on exhibits.

London Top Ten #6: Science Museum - This hi-tech museum contains many exhibits relating to many facets of science and technology, as well as the development of scientific and technological innovations throughout the centuries. Particular subjects covered in the exhibits include the industrial revolution, the space age, and the latest cutting edge technology. Many of the exhibits are hands-on and interactive.

London Top Ten #7: Buckingham Palace and Changing of the Guard - This is the most famous residence in London and home to Queen Elizabeth II. It was first built in 1705, and extended between 1824 and 1830. Queen Victoria took up residence here in 1837. The recognizable front of the building was completed in 1913. Although this is the Queen's primary residence, some of the State Rooms are open to visitors during the summer. Many people time their visit to the palace in the mid to late morning to coincide with the changing of the guard. The guards dressed in the familiar regalia march to the palace from nearby barracks.

London Top Ten #8: Westminster Abbey and Houses of Parliament - This structure was founded in the 11th century by Edward the Confessor and is an excellent example of Medieval architecture. It continues to provide a place for royal ceremony to this day. The abbey on the south side of Parliament Square, adjacent to the Houses of Parliament. Two famous events to be held here in the last half century include Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953 and the memorial service for Princess Diana in 1997. Of popular interest by many visitors is that many famous royals, poets, writers, statesmen, and scientists are buried within the abbey. The Houses of Parliament are within the Palace of Westminster, along the banks of the Thames. The palace was built over a thousand years ago and is currently the seat of government for the United Kingdom. The palace, including the famous "Big Ben" clock tower, are located across Parliament Square from Westminster Abbey. Nearby Parliament Street leads to Whitehall (where many government offices are located) and Number 10 Downing Street (the official residence of the Prime Minister).

London Top Ten #9: Tower of London - Originally built around 1080 as a moated fort, the Tower of London (with its famous White Tower in the middle) has had quite a varied history. It has also been a fortress, a prison (where certain people were beheaded - famous prisoners include Henry VI, Henry VIII's wives, Lady Jane Grey, and Catholic Martyrs), an arsenal, and is now home to the Crown Jewels (including the Imperial State Crown and other crowns, sceptres, rings, orbs, and jewels), the Royal Mint, and a large collection of armor related artifacts. It is located along the Thames nearby the Tower Bridge.

London Top Ten #10: St. Paul's Cathedral - Considered to be the masterpiece of Sir Christopher Wren (who designed many churches after London's Great Fire of 1666). St. Paul's was completed in 1708, was the first church built for Protestant purposes in England, and has many similarities to St. Peter's in Rome. There are many areas within the cathedral for visitors to explore, including stairs to various galleries and even to the very top of the dome (one of the largest in the world) for a spectacular view of London. Many events, particularly of music, continue to take place in the cathedral.

Original article by Paul McDaniel is found here: How to See London's Top Ten Attractions

Mexico City, Mexico

2008-06-24T03:58:00.017-04:00

Now that I've gotten started talking about one city (Beijing - see previous post), I feel inclined to go ahead and discuss another - in this case, Mexico City (la Ciudad de Mexico). I've been able to travel to Mexico City several times over the past few years, and its always an exciting experience! The view from the plane window during the descent into the city is quite spectacular as the city stretches out over the Valley of Mexico surrounded by volcanic peaks. Mexico City is one of the largest cities and metropolitan areas in the world. It sits in the Valley of Mexico (at over 7,000 ft. elevation) surrounded by mountains and volcanic peaks (the two most prominent are Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl). Human geographers (particularly urban, cultural, and population geographers) and physical geographers both will find much to get excited about here. Most great cities are great because of many different factors. Mexico City is no exception. As the old historic center (el Centro Historico) of Mexico City sits on the same site as the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, the city is abundant with history (both pre-Columbian as well as colonial), and archaeological sites. There is an excellent and efficient subway/metro city to get around the city. It is very easy to use this system to explore various parts of this vast metropolis.

As with the previous post about Beijing, I will now contribute a part of an article about Mexico City that I previously wrote for another website. The original article, "How to See Mexico City's Top Ten Attractions", is located at this site:
How to See Mexico City's Top Ten Attractions

Mexico City is one of the most populous cities in the world. It is also very historic, with many sites from different time periods accessible by visitors. Because of its vast size, tourists may have a hard time deciding on what sites to visit. This article will describe what many consider to be the top 10 attractions (listed in no particular order) in and around Mexico City.

Mexico City Top Ten #1: Plaza de la Constitucion (Zocalo) - This is literally the heart of the city and the heart of the nation's capital. Located in el Centro Historico (Historic Center), this plaza is the second largest public square in the world (Moscow's Red Square is the largest, and Beijing's Tiananmen Square is third largest). At the center of the plaza is a tall pole with a huge national flag of Mexico. As this is the heart of the city, there is always something going on here. From indigenous dances and cultural events, to music concerts and political protests. There are always souvenirs being sold as well. The Plaza, located on a Metro stop, is also surrounded by several other of the city's top ten sights: the Catedral Metropolitana, Palacio Nacional, and Templo Mayor. It is also within walking distance of the Palacio de Bellas Artes, el Torre Latinoamericana, and Alameda Park.

Mexico City Top Ten #2: Catedral Metropolitana (Metropolitan Cathedral) - This is one of the largest cathedrals in the city and contains several architectural styles as it was built over a period of around 250 years. It is located on the north side of the Plaza de la Constitucion. Many of the materials used to construct the cathedral came from the destroyed Aztec temple that stood on the same site. Due to the nature of Mexico City's soil, the cathedral is slowly sinking (as are many historic structures). If you take a stroll through the cathedral's vast interior, you will see many religious displays and examples of architecture. If you are lucky you may also here the massive pipe organ or the cathedral bells.

Mexico City Top Ten #3: Palacio Nacional (National Palace) - Located on the entire east side of the main plaza, this government building is most famous for housing several Diego Rivera murals.

Mexico City Top Ten #4: Templo Mayor (Great Temple) - These are the archaeological ruins of the Aztec Templo Mayor, which was dedicated to the Aztec gods of Tlaloc (god of rain) and Huitzilopochtli (god of war). This was the primary temple and focal point of the great center of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, which at the time was located in the same location but on a series of islands on Lake Texcoco. Many of the temple's materials were used by the Spanish to construct the adjacent Catedral Metropolitana.

Mexico City Top Ten #5: Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts), Torre Latinoamericana (Latin American Tower), and Alameda Park - The Palacio de Bellas Artes was completed in 1934 and is one of the city's finest theaters and performance venues. The interior contains several murals by Rivera, Orozco, Siqueiros, and Tamayo. Visitors to Mexico City often enjoy a performance of the Ballet Folklorico at this venue. Adjacent to the Fine Arts Palace is the Torre Latinoamericana, completed in 1956 with 44 floors. At the time it was built this was the tallest building in Latin America. Visitors may pay to ride an elevator to an upper level observation deck (with an interior and exterior) for 360 degree views of sprawling Mexico City, the Valley of Mexico, and the surrounding mountains and volcanoes (on clear days). Look directly down to the east to see the Plaza de la Constitucion, Metropolitan Cathedral, and National Palace. Look to the southwest to see Chapultepec Park. Nearby the Tower and the Fine Arts Palace is Alameda Park, which was the city's first park, dating to the 1500s.

Mexico City Top Ten #6: Bosque de Chapultepec (Chapultepec Park) - Located at the southwestern end of Paseo de la Reforma, this is the city's largest and most sprawling park (1,600 acres). Many pathways lead visitors through acres and acres of forests and lakes. Chapultepec Castle is located on a hill in the park and was once the home of Maximilian I and Empress Carlota, and is now open to visitors and home to the National History Museum. There are excellent views of Paseo de la Reforma and the Park from the Castle's various balconies. Also located in the park is a zoo, a lake with boat rentals, an amusement park, Los Pinos (the official residence and offices of the President of Mexico), the National Auditorium, and several other museums, including the Modern Art Museum, Natural History Museum, Children's Museum, and the excellent and massive National Museum of Anthropology.

Mexico City Top Ten #7: Museo Nacional de Antropologia (National Museum of Anthropology) - Considered to be one of the great museums of the world, the Museo Nacional de Antropologia contains perhaps the world's largest collection of pre-Columbian artifacts and art. The museum is massive and is arranged according to each of the particular pre-Columbian cultures, with entire halls and galleries dedicated to each. The central courtyard is famous for its vast square concrete umbrella. Popular exhibit halls include those dedicated to the Olmec, Maya, and Aztec civilizations.

Mexico City Top Ten #8: Xochimilco - Located in the southern part of the city, these are the last remnants of the series of lakes that once were here in the time of the Aztecs. The area now contains a series of canals, where visitors may take rides on brightly colored gondolas. The canals are all that is left of the Chinampas (floating gardens) type of agriculture developed by the Aztecs.

Mexico City Top Ten #9: Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe) - Guadalupe is the patron saint of Mexico. The image of Guadalupe that appeared to Juan Diego on the very hill (Tepeyac Hill) where the Basilica is constructed is an important and easily recognizable national symbol. There are actually two basilicas on this hill, an old and a new (more modern) one. Construction of the old basilica began in 1531, and of the new in 1976. The apron of Juan Diego, with the image of Guadalupe is displayed for all to see in the new Basilica. It is most likely the most important religious building in Mexico and possibly in all of Latin America. The site is particularly important in Catholicism as it is the second most visited religious site after Vatican City.

Mexico City Top Ten #10: Teotihuacan - This pre-Aztec archaeological site is a nice day trip from Mexico City (about 25 miles out from the city). It is one of the largest archaeological sites in the country and at its cultural height (150 to 450 AD) was the largest city in the world with a population of over 200,000. The site contains two large pyramids - Pyramid of the Sun and Pyramid of the Moom - and many smaller pyramids flanking the Avenida de los Muertos (Avenue of the Dead). The Temple of Quetzalcoatl is also worth seeing. Visitors may climb to the top of the two large pyramids for spectacular views of the entire site and the surrounding countryside and mountains.

Original article by Paul McDaniel located at:
How to See Mexico City's Top Ten Attractions

Beijing, China

2008-06-24T00:13:00.002-04:00

One of the purposes of this blog is to discuss particular places. With this in mind, and knowing that the Summer Olympics are coming up soon (8 August 2008) in Beijing, in the People's Republic of China, I thought it would be interesting to add a post here about Beijing. I traveled to Beijing last September (2007) to visit one of my brothers who was studying Chinese there at the time. The visit to Beijing was part of a broader trip that also took us to Shanghai, Tunxi, and beautiful Huangshan.

Beijing (along with many other parts of China) is an interesting city for a geographer to visit for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, it is growing at a tremendous rate (as are many cities and areas of China). Beijing also has a very long history and a huge presence in the Chinese national psyche. Urban geographers will have a fun time here, as will population geographers. The transit and road infrastructure is notable because of Beijing's many "ring" roads. Beijing's impact on the environment, and the environment's impact on Beijing are also two interesting points to consider. Beijing is in fact located at the southeastern edge of the massive Gobi Desert, which is why sandstorms often frequent the area. Although the city of Beijing itself feels relatively flat, visitors and tourists will note that there are some high mountains on the outskirts of the city and in the hinterland. Visitors to one of the sections of the Great Wall will especially be able to take in the mountainous scenery outside of Beijing.

To further comment on Beijing, I would like to add to this post an article that I previously wrote for another website. The link to the original article, "How to See Beijing's Top Ten Attractions", is here: How to See Beijing's Top Ten Attractions

Beijing is the capital of the People's Republic of China, but has been the seat of government for successive imperial dynasties since the Ming Dynasty established the "northern capital" in 1403 AD. Many believe that Beijing was actually the largest city in the world from 1425 to 1650 and from 1710 to 1825. It plays a significant role in the cultural history of China, even to the present day. Of particular note is that Beijing is the site of the Olympic Games, which begin on the 8th of August, 2008. This article describes what many believe to be the top ten sights and attractions in and around Beijing, although these top ten here are not presented in any particular order. Some visitors may prefer some sights, while different travelers may prefer others. This descriptive listing is particularly helpful to potential visitors to Beijing.

Beijing Top Ten #1: Forbidden City (Imperial Palace) - This is one of the quintessential images of Beijing. The Forbidden City (Imperial Palace) sprawls across 250 acres to the north side of Tiananmen Square. With over 9,000 rooms, the palace complex was first built between 1406 and 1420 AD. But due to being burned down, most of the architecture visible today was built in the 1700s during the Qing Dynasty. You can enter the palace from the north side of Tiananmen Square (south gate of palace) through the large Tiananmen Gate with Mao's picture hanging above. From the north gate of the palace you can enter Jingshan Park, where there is a spectacular view of Beijing from a hilltop.

Beijing Top Ten #2: Tiananmen Square and Great Hall of the People - The square is one of the largest public squares in the world and is the site of numerous large-scale rallies and parades. It has also been the site of many historical events over the years. Most people immediately think of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. But other important events include the announcement in 1949 by Chairman Mao of the creation of the People's Republic of China. There is typically a flag raising and lowering at sunrise and sunset, accompanied by much precision by the troops. The square is flanked on the north by the Tiananmen Gate (Gate of Heavenly Peace - with Mao's portrait) which is a main entrance to the Forbidden City, on the south by the Monument to the People's Heroes and Mao's Mausoleum, on the east by the National Museum of China, and on the west by the Great Hall of the People (the meeting place for the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China. It is well worth the effort to get inside the Great Hall of the People and look around. The architecture is monumental in scale and there are many interesting works of art, murals, paintings, and historical items on display.

Beijing Top Ten #3: Temple of Heaven - This exquisite site, with beautiful classical architecture, is regarded as a Taoist temple. It is located south of Tiananmen Square. Ming and Qing Dynasty emperors would visit the temple to offer prayers to Heaven in hopes of good harvest. The temple grounds include three main groups of structures, and are surrounded by ancient trees of various types. The three main groupings of buildings are the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the Imperial Vault of Heaven, and the Earthly Mount. Each was built to strict philosophical requirements and contains much symbolism.

Beijing Top Ten #4: Beihai Park and Jingshan Park - Beihai Park, initially built in the 10th century, was used as a winter palace for emporers. Nowadays, people go to the park for a respite from the city. The lake within the park is the largest in all of Beijing. There are also several structures to see such as the White Pagoda (built in Tibetan style), the Five Dragon Pavilion, and the Nine Dragon Wall. Jingshan Park, on the other hand, is located directly north of the Forbidden City. From the hilltop (one of the highest in Beijing) in the center of the park, visitors have a spectacular 360 degree view of Beijing. Of particular interest is the view to the south back over the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square on the other side of the Forbidden City.

Beijing Top Ten #5: Great Wall - This is one of those world famous sights that everyone grows up hearing about, and is definitely a must see! The wall was began in the 5th century BC and construction ceased in the 16th century AD, and stretches for over 4,000 miles. The section of wall nearby Beijing is well preserved in most places. These sections of wall mostly date from the Ming Dynasty. There are various places that travelers can go to see the wall and to walk along it. The most popular (and therefore the most crowded) is the section at Badaling, which is the closest part of the wall to Beijing. Other sections are accessible at Simatai, Jinshanling, Juyongguan, and Mutianyu, for example. It is possible to hike on the wall from Jinshanling to Simatai, as well as other sections, although it is quite strenuous in places. But the very mountainous scenery, along with the wall itself, make the trek worthwhile.

Beijing Top Ten #6: Summer Palace - Located in a suburban area northwest of Beijing, the Summer Palace was an imperial retreat set on a large tract of parklike land, about 10 square miles. It is the largest and most extensive imperial garden within China. Visitors to the park can explore mansions, ancient pavilions, temples, bridges, and the central Kunming lake. In 1998, UNESCO designated the Summer Palace as a World Heritage Site.

Beijing Top Ten #7: Ming Tombs - The tombs are actually located about 50 km north of Beijing, allowing visitors to see some of the countryside on their journey there from the capital. In all, 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty (which ruled from 1368 to 1644) are buried at this site. Only two of the tombs have been excavated and are open to the public.

Beijing Top Ten #8: Lama Temple (Yonghe Temple) - This is one of Beijing's most visited religious sites. Located in the northeast area of Beijing along the second ring road, it is one of the largest and most important Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in the world. The architecture of the buildings are in both the Han and Tibetan styles. There are many halls within the temple, but probably the most amazing sight is the large statue of Buddha carved from a single piece of Sandalwood.

Beijing Top Ten #9: Museums and Gardens - As the capital of the People's Republic of China, Beijing contains many fascinating museums. These include the Beijing Capital Museum, the National Museum of China (at Tiananmen Square), Chinese Ethnic Museum, the Palace Museum, various art and culture museums, various science and technology museums, Beijing Museum of Natural History, Beijing Aviation Museum, Geological Museum of China, a Military Museum, as well as the many historical sites that are like museums in and of themselves. There are also many parks and gardens in addition to the ones previously mentioned, including several Imperial gardens and the beautiful Beijing Botanical Garden.

Beijing Top Ten #10: Beijing Opera and Chinese Acrobatic Shows - Beijing opera developed in the late 18th century and combines a variety of vocals, music, acting, dance, mime, and acrobatics. Performers utilize skills of speech, song, dance, and combat to convey the story in time with music. Beijing Opera repertoire includes over 1,400 works, mostly based upon Chinese folklore and history, as well as contemporary life.

Link to original article by Paul McDaniel:
How to See Beijing's Top Ten Attractions

Earth's Population Distribution

2008-06-23T17:14:00.004-04:00

The Earth contains over 6.6 billion people. But these six billion are not evenly spread over the world's habitable surface. Where are all these people located? Many factors contribute to the geography spread of people and populations around the globe, such as climate, terrain and topography, physical and political boundaries, and more. However, broad general patterns of populations on Earth can still be understood. In this post, I outline the general characteristics of Earth's human population distribution. This is based on an article I previously wrote for another website, "How to Understand Earth's Population Distribution", located at:
How to Understand Earth's Population Distribution

Two-thirds of Earth's population lives within the mid latitudes, and almost 90 percent of the world's population lives north of the equator. Around 90 percent of the world's population is concentrated on only 20 percent of the land surface. Therefore, a large majority of Earth's inhabitants live on and occupy a small portion of Earth's total habitable land area. Three major population centers around the world include: East Asia (China, the Koreas, and Japan); South Asia (India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh); and Europe (Western, Eastern, and Southern Europe). In fact, two countries each contain over one billion people: China and India. Since Earth's population is over six billion, this means that China and India each contain at least one-sixth of the Earth's total human population. Each major world region contained the following percentage of the Earth's total population in 1999: Africa (12.8 %), Asia (60.8 %), Europe (12.2 %), Latin America and the Caribbean (8.5 %), North America (5.1 %), Oceania (0.5 %).

While low-lying areas are more preferable for the locations of settlements, still a large portion of the Earth remains quite uninhabited. The sparsely population regions include northern and western North America, northern and central Asia, and interior South America, interior Africa, and the interior of Australia. Cities and urban regions have seen dramatic increases in population over the last fifty years, with much growth continuing at present and into the future. Currently the Earth's urban population is estimated to be around 3.5 billion people.

Original article by Paul McDaniel is located at:
How to Understand Earth's Population Distribution

The Five Themes of Geography

2008-06-23T17:09:00.005-04:00

In addition to the four traditions of geography, described in a previous posting, there are five themes of geography. In 1984, the National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE) and the Association of American Geographers (AAG) composed the five themes of geography and outlined them in great detail in a publication entitled "Guidelines for Geographic Education, Elementary and Secondary Schools." The five themes are: Location, Place, Human-Environment Interaction, Movement, and Regions. This how to article will describe each of the five themes and how to understand them. This post is based on an article I previously wrote for another website. The original article, "How to Understand the Five Themes of Geography", is located at this link:
How to Understand the Five Themes of Geography

Geography Theme #1: Location - Answers the question "Where are we?" Location can be either Relative or Absolute. A relative location is described by direction to the location, its place in time, adjacent landmarks, distance from one place to another and may associate places with each other. An absolute location refers to a specific point on the Earth's surface indicated by latitude and longitude coordinates or by a street address.

Geography Theme #2: Place - Answers the question "What kind of place is it?" May be described by both physical and human characteristics. The physical characteristics of a place include topography, geology, climate and weather patterns, and natural features on the landscape such as mountains, rivers, lakes, forests, deserts, beaches, wildlife, soil types, and more. The human characteristics of a place include man-made features such as towns and cities, farm and agricultural land, roads and railroads, buildings, infrastructure, architecture, cultural habits, and more. Different people form different perceptions of place based on their own experiences and knowledge. This reveals their attitude, values and perceptions of a place.

Geography Theme #3: Human-Environment Interaction - Answers the questions "How do humans and the environment affect one another?" Three key concepts of this theme are how humans adapt to the environment, how humans modify the environment, and how humans depend on the environment. But this theme also seeks to determine what the consequences - positive and negative - of human environment interaction are. For example, what are all the outcomes of damming a river? A reservoir for human use and water consumption is created, but the landscape has also been altered.

Geography Theme #4: Movement - Particularly includes the movement of people, goods, and ideas. People interact with one another, exchange goods and services, and exchange ideas. These movements have all played formative and major roles in shaping our world over time. They are particularly important in our current era of globalization, with an ever increasing politically, culturally, and economically globalizing world.

Geography Theme #5: Regions - May be formal, functional, or vernacular. A formal region are defined by administrative and governmental boundaries, such as specific sovereign countries. Physical regions also fall under this category. A functional region is defined by its specific function (such as a television network's market coverage area). A vernacular region is a perceived region, loosely defined by the perceptions held by people (such as "the South" as in the U.S. South as a cultural region).

Original article by Paul McDaniel located at:
How to Understand the Five Themes of Geography

Cultural Geography

2008-06-23T17:02:00.004-04:00

Cultural geography is a subfield of Human Geography, which is one of the main branches of the larger discipline of geography. I would like to take the time to offer a brief overview of cultural geography, as I previously did in an article I wrote for another website. The original article, "How to Understand Cultural Geography" is located at:
How to Understand Cultural Geography

This brief article outlines the major and important points of cultural geography. Cultural geography is a subfield of human geography and seeks to explain and identify human cultural patterns and how those patterns vary across the landscapes of the world. "Culture" may be defined as the behaviors, understandings, adaptations, and social systems that characterize a group of people's lives. Cultural geographers often look for and observe "cultural traits", which include such elements as diet, clothing styles, music, religion, and language. These may also include or influence aspects of government and economy. Cultural traits often emerge from centers of innovation called "cultural hearths". Cultural geographers also want to know how culture shapes human-environment relations in addition to how people perceive as well as modify the landscape.

A "Cultural Landscape" describes the way in which a person's culture influences his or her perception of the environment. Carl Sauer (a formative geographer in the first half of the 20th century) described cultural landscapes in a famous 1925 article. Additionally, "Cultural Ecology" seeks to understand the relationship between a cultural group and the natural environment that particular group occupies. However, this gave rise to the no defunct idea of environmental determinism (which states that the physical environment is the sole determinant of human behavior and actions).

Cultural geography today is somewhat different than that of the earlier twentieth century. Cultural geographers currently deal less with aspects of the natural environment while instead focusing on issues such as communication and culture, as well as various meaning and symbolism present in cultural landscapes. Other topics currently studied from the framework of cultural geography include: globalization; ideas of Westernization, Americanization, or Islamization; theories of cultural hegemony, cultural pluralism and assimilation, multiculturalism, or cultural imperialism; cultural regions; as well as sense of place, colonialism, post-colonialism, internationalism, immigration and emigration, tourism, and more.

Link to original article by Paul McDaniel:
How to Understand Cultural Geography

The Four Traditions of Geography

2008-06-23T16:54:00.003-04:00

Geography is among the older of disciplines. Modern geography, however, has moved beyond simple description of the earth. The field of geography today is best understood as "the study of how the physical and cultural attributes of the earth interact to form spatial or regional patterns" (Clawson 2001). In 1964, William D. Pattison outlined four traditional areas of study that aid the geographer's ability to explain what goes on in the world: the spatial or location tradition; the regional tradition; the human-environment tradition; and the earth science tradition. With this in mind, I offer a brief overview of the four traditions of geography.

This post comes from an article I previously wrote for another website. Here is the link to the original article:
How to Understand the Four Traditions of Geography

Geography Tradition #1: Spatial or location tradition - This tradition includes the spatial location or spatial distribution of cultural and physical features and activities on the earth. The following topics are part of this tradition: spatial analysis, mapping, movement and transportation, boundaries and densities, quantitative tools and techniques (such as computerized mapping and Geographic Information Systems - GIS), areal distribution, spatial patterns, and Central Place Theory.

Geography Tradition #2: Regional tradition - This tradition includes the notion that there exists distinctive regions and areas. The tradition includes the explanation and analysis of possibilities as to how those areas or regions formed. The following topics are part of this tradition: world regional geography, international relationships and trends, description of regions or areas, and how regions are different from one another.

Geography Tradition #3: Human-environment tradition (sometimes called the man-land tradition) - This tradition includes the study and explanation of the many relationships that exist between people and the land and environment that supports people. The following topics are part of this tradition: impact of nature on humans, human impact on nature, perception of environment, cultural, political, and population geography, natural hazards, and environmentalism.

Geography Tradition #4: Earth science tradition - This tradition may be the oldest of the four, and includes description, analysis, and explanation of the physical characteristics of the earth. The following topics are part of this tradition: physical geography, study of the earth as the home to humans, parts of the earth including the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. Related disciplines include geology, mineralogy, paleontology, glaciology, geomorphology, and meteorology.

This post comes from an article I previously wrote for another website. Here is the link to the original article:
How to Understand the Four Traditions of Geography

National Parks

2008-06-23T16:08:00.013-04:00

I really enjoy visiting national parks. It gives me a real rush. Many national parks contain so much exciting, beautiful, and sometimes quite literally breathtaking sights and scenery. Although the United States contains the most extensive national park system, many countries around the world create national parks to preserve what they deem to be their most spectacular natural scenery and most important historical and cultural items.

For a geographer like me, visiting these magnificent places is quite a thrill. Since geography is such a broad field, from the physical sciences to the social, there is so much for a geographer to get excited about in national parks. How did the spectacular scenery within a particular park form, how did come to be the way it is, how does it continue to change today, and in what way will it change in the future? What is the human history and impact on the landscape in and around a particular park? And how has the land in this particular area shaped and impacted human activity in the past and how does it continue to do so? These questions and many more are part of why I get excited every time I plan a visit to a national park.

With this in mind, I would like to include here bits and pieces of an article I previously wrote for another website. Here, I describe the highlights and offer an overview of the top five most visited national parks in the United States. A link to the original article appears below the article text. Enjoy!
"How to Visit the Top Five National Parks"

Original Article by Paul McDaniel:
How to Visit the Top Five National Parks - eHow.com

This article describes major attractions in the top five most visited national parks in the United States' National Park Service (based on number of visitors in 2006). These parks include Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Yosemite National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and Olympic National Park. Armed with this information, you will be better equipped to plan your trip to some of the most visited and spectacular national parks in the United States. For more detailed information on each park, be sure to check each park's webpage on the National Park Service website (links listed in the additional resources section below).

Top Five National Park #1: Great Smoky Mountains National Park - On the Tennessee/North Carolina border, the Great Smoky Mountains are ancient, but are also some of the highest in the eastern United States. Most visitors to Great Smoky Mountains travel through the park along U.S. Highway 441 (Newfound Gap Road) between the Sugarlands Visitor Center near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and the Oconaluftee Visitor Center near Cherokee, North Carolina. Many attractions are located along this route, including many hiking trails and trailheads, picnic areas, and sights such as the Chimney Tops, Alum Cave Bluffs trailhead (to Mount LeConte via Alum Cave Bluffs), Newfound Gap (with access to the Appalachian trail), the road to Clingman's Dome, and several waterfalls. Another popular area of the park is Cades Cove (a farming valley with several preserved or restored structures), accessible via a road from the Sugarlands Visitor Center, or from Townsend, Tennessee. Laurel Falls is a popular waterfall along the road from Sugarlands to Cades Cove. Backpacking and camping are also popular in the park. Other, more remote areas of the park are also worth visiting: Mt. Sterling, Cosby area, Greenbriar area, Elkmont area, and Cataloochee Valley area.

Top Five National Park #2: Grand Canyon National Park - In northwest Arizona along the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon is considered one of the top natural wonders of the world because of its size as well as its display of over two billion years of geologic history. Most visitors to the Grand Canyon arrive by car via Arizona Highway 64 to the South Rim and the Grand Canyon Village area (where the main visitor center and park headquarters are located). The Grand Canyon Village has many amenities for visitors, including several restaurants and national park lodges. Highway 64 enters the park at both the South Entrance near Tusayan, and the East Entrance near Desert View, and travels along the canyon rim in between. Many overlooks for spectacular views of the canyon are found along this route, including Hermit's Rest, Yavapai Point, Moran Point, and Desert View (with a stone watchtower). Hiking down into the canyon is also popular, but strenuous. The Bright Angel Trail from Grand Canyon Village is the most maintained trail down into the canyon. Bring plenty of water!! The North Rim visitors area (only open in summer months) of the canyon is more remote by car (although it is only 10 air miles from the south rim). Popular points at the North Rim are Bright Angel Point, Point Imperial, and Cape Royal.

Top Five National Park #3: Yosemite National Park - in the Sierra Nevada of California. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1984, Yosemite is internationally recognized for its spectacular granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, Giant Sequoia groves, and biological diversity. As much of the park is wilderness area, most visitors choose to drive through and within the park and see sights from the roadway. Most people enter the park from the west entrances via California Highway 120 (CA-120) or CA-140, or from the southern entrance via CA-41. An east entrance via Tioga Pass, also on CA-120, is only open during summer months after the snow has melted. As of writing this article, there is a $20 entrance fee per vehicle. The most developed area of the park is in Yosemite Valley (open year round, with food and lodging, and the main park visitor center), where many of the famous sights are located. You may drive several loop roads through the valley, which is flanked on either side by sheer granite cliffs thousands of feet high. The most famous sites here include El Capitan (the largest exposed granite monolith in the world, with its sheer cliff face popular with climbers), Half Dome (another granite monolith, which people may hike to the summit), several waterfalls such as Yosemite Falls (one of the highest in the world) and Bridal Veil Falls, and wildlife. Yosemite Valley may be quite crowded in summer months (there is also a free shuttle bus system for visitors in the valley). Glacier Point is another popular site with visitors, with its spectacular and literally breathtaking views of Yosemite Valley below, Yosemite Village, El Capitan, Half Dome, various waterfalls, and the surround high country of the Sierra Nevada Range. It is at the end of Glaciar Point Road, and is several thousand feet higher than Yosemite Valley. The Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias is also a popular place for visitors, located near the southern entrance of the park. Visitors may hike through the grove on a series of loop trails, or take a shuttle bus tour during peak times. Another site is Tuolumne Meadows along Tioga Road (CA-120) heading towards Tioga Pass in the eastern part of the park (open summer and fall only).

Top Five National Park #4: Yellowstone National Park - in northwest Wyoming and parts of Idaho and Montana. Yellowstone is the world's first national park, established on March 1, 1872. It is known for its wildlife and geothermal features, especially Old Faithful Geyser, one of the most popular areas in the park. The geothermal features are a result of hot spot beneath the park, and much of the park contains the Yellowstone Caldera, one of the largest supervolcanoes in the world (and has erupted with tremendous force several times over the past two million years). Most visitors combine a visit to the park with a visit to Grand Teton National Park, just to the south connected by the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway. There are entrances on all sides of the park (and there is currently a $25 per private vehicle entrance fee). The road network through and within the park is outstanding, and allows motorists the opportunity to visit most of the famous sites. There are several visitor centers located throughout the park, nearby some of the more prominent features. The most popular sites include Old Faithful Geyser (next to the Old Faithful Inn, an old national park lodge built in the grand style), Yellowstone Falls and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (and Artist Point), the abundant wildlife visible throughout the park (never approach wildlife! They are in fact...wild!), West Thumb Geyser Basin and Yellowstone Lake, Grand Prismatic Spring, and Mammoth Hot Springs. In several of the geyser basins, wooden boardwalks and walkways allow visitors to closely approach the geothermal features (don't step off the walkways though!). Camping, lodging, and food facilities are also abundant throughout the park near to the major visitor areas, as are over 1,100 miles of hiking trails.

Top Five National Park #5: Olympic National Park - On the Olympic Peninsula, in western Washington state, in the Pacific Northwest. The park can be divided into three main regions: the Pacific coastline, the Olympic Mountains, and the temperate rainforest (one of the few remaining in North America). In 1976, Olympic National Park became an International Biosphere Reserve, and in 1981 it was designated a World Heritage Site. In 1988, almost all of the Olympic Peninsula was designated as the Olympic Wilderness, further enhancing the protection of the region. Most visitors arrive by car via U.S. Highway 101, which traverses the Pacific coastal section of the park, and a northern portion of the park west of Port Angeles. There are other spur roads leading into the park from various points as well. The coastal section is typical of the Pacific coast - beautifully rugged and rocky, interspersed with sandy beaches. The center of the park is home to the Olympic Mountains, jagged rocky mountain peaks crowned by ancient glaciers. The highest point is Mount Olympus at 7,965 ft. The Olympic Mountains create a drier rain shadow in the eastern part of the park. In the western part of the park, between the coast and the Olympic Mountains, is the temperate rainforest, including the Hoh and the Quinalt Rainforests. This is the wettest area in the continental United States, receiving more rain than any other part of the country (the island of Kauai, in Hawaii, is actually the wettest place in the entire U.S.). Although few roads penetrate far into the park area, there is a well-maintained network of hiking trails. Many visitors choose to backpack into and camp within the wilderness areas of the park's interior.

Original Article by Paul McDaniel:
How to Visit the Top Five National Parks - eHow.com

Geography Trivia and Games

2008-06-23T03:51:00.000-04:00

Check out the companion site to the GeoManiaWorld Blog:
GeoManiaWorld - Geography Trivia Games and Map Quizzes

Here is an example of just one of the many geography trivia and map games you will find on GeoManiaWorld:

The GeoManiaWorld companion site is designed to provide you with many fun and exciting resources in one place to help you build and maintain your geographic literacy and geographic knowledge. Check back often for more updates and to see how the site expands beyond the pages of knowledge and trivia games.

Welcome!

2008-06-22T01:21:00.001-04:00

Welcome to GeoManiaWorld and the wonderful world of geography. The purpose of this blog is to post and comment about a wide variety of topics and issues related to the broad field of geography. Topics will range anywhere from human geography to physical geography and postings will most likely be related to items of a current and pertinent nature, but viewed from the perspective of a geographer and the field of geography. Post topics could be about cities, countries, nations, geopolitics, the environment, natural hazards, transportation, population, etc. So please check back often as new posts are added! You never know what you may find in the wonderful world of geography!