1. Geography of The Importance
Western Canada of Place

2. Why study geography?
• To understand more about the changing world we
live in
• To learn more about the people and cultures of the
world so that we can better understand each other
• To evaluate the connection between the earth and
those who live on it

3. Five Themes of Geography
• Concepts that geographers use to study the world
and the people that inhabit it
• Provide a framework to truly understand the
geography of a place
• Help geographers gather, organize, and analyze
information

4. Five Themes of Geography
1. Location
2. Place
3. Human-environment interaction
4. Movement
5. Regions

5. Location
Absolute location:
• The exact location of a place on the globe
• Uses a system to find an exact spot on the earth
• Latitude and longitude, street addresses, GPS,
map coordinates

6. Latitude
Lines extend east and
west around the earth
and measure the distance
north and south of the
Equator (0 degrees)

7. Latitude
Also called parallels
because each line of
latitude is the same
distance apart and they
never meet.

8. Longitude
Lines extend north and
south around the earth
and measure the distance
east or west of the Prime
Meridian (0 degrees).

9. Longitude
Also called Meridians.
Lines of longitude are not
the same distance apart
everywhere.

10. Location
Relative location:
• The position of a place in relation to another
place
• Uses descriptions to identify places on the earth
• Landmarks, direction, time, distance

11. Location
Room 409 is at the end of the hall, next to the stairs.
Argyle is at 1131 Frederick Road, North Vancouver.
Seattle is about 200 km south of Vancouver.
Sydney, Australia is located at 150° east longitude
and 35° south latitude.

12. Place
• Place is a description of the characteristics that
make a certain location distinct
• Describes what it is like there
• Physical Characteristics
• Cultural Characteristics

19. Place
Physical Characteristics:
• Natural features of the land in a particular
location
• Landforms — plateaus, plains, mountains,
deserts, rivers, soil, beaches
• Flora (plants) and fauna (animals)
• Climate – temperature, rainfall
• Resources – petroleum, minerals

20. Place
Cultural Characteristics:
• The ways people live in a particular location
• Religion, food, music, language,
architecture, holidays as well as other
aspects of everyday life
• Land use, housing, economic activities
• Type of government, political ideologies

21. Human-environment interaction
• “Relationships within place”
• Explores the human use and modifications of the
environment
• Bridges, dams, mining, any structures built by
humans

22. Human-environment interaction
• Humans adapt to the environment
• Humans modify the environment
• Humans depend on the environment

23. How do we use the earth?
How have we changed the earth?

24. Movement
How do people, goods
and ideas get from one
place to another?

25. Movement is the travel of people, goods
or ideas from one location to another.

26. People
Products
Ideas
Movement

27. Regions
How is this place similar
to other places?
Are there common
characteristics?

28. Regions
Formal regions:
• Defined by governmental boundaries
Functional regions:
• Defined by a function
Vernacular regions:
• Loosely defined by people’s perception