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* Click EXPAND to see list of important >>
Five Themes of Geography
Location
Absolute Location
Relative Location
Regions
Place
Movement
Human-Environment Interaction (Relationships within Places)
man-made straits that connect two larger bodies of water
canals provide important water passage to connect water bodies that would otherwise require long-distance water travel around land bodies or continents
usually canals are built across isthmuses
Click EXPAND to see list of important canals
Bahr Yussef
connects the Nile to the Faiyum Oasis and Lake Moeris, built 2300 BC
Canal of the Pharaohs
connected the Nile to the Red Sea
built by Necho II, Assyrian ruler of Egypt in 7th century BC
Persian king Darius I bragged of building a canal linking the Nile to the Red Sea (6th century BC)
Corinth Canal
Grand Canal
connected the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers, built under the Sui dynasty (6th century AD)
Suez Canal
Panama Canal
channel
synonymous with "strait" but usually referring to a smaller or less important strait
see strait below
delta
geyser
A cross-section of a geyser in action
an underground water source that is intermittently ejected into the air above the surface as steam
geysers exist near active volcanic regions
whose proximity of magma heats rocks that boil the ground water, usually at depths of 6,600 ft
as the water boils, it builds pressure and intermittently erupts as steam and water out of the ground
the ground water then refills and repeats the process of heating and exploding
gulf
lake
"terminal lake" = lakes that have no outflow are called
terminal lakes occur in basins and drains
ocean
sea
spring
to do
epicontinental sea
= sea levels above continental shelfs, thus 400 ft or above sea level
strait
a narrow body of water that connects larger bodies of water, or, a narrow channel that separates land masses
synonymous with channel, passage, or pass
implicit in the terminology is that the strait allows for navigation, or passage, from one larger body of water to another
"strait comes from Old French "estreit" for "tight" or "narrow"
click EXPAND to see list of important straits:
important straits and channels
Bosporus Strait
connects Black Sea to Aegean/Mediterranean Seas
Strait of Gibraltar
connects Mediterranean Sea to Atlantic Ocean
ancient Greeks called the promontories on either side of the Strait of Gibraltar the "Pillars of Hercules", which marked the passage from the Mediterranean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean
Strait of Magellan
connects Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
the passageway near the southern tip of South America that was navigated by the explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who led the first expedition to circumnavigated the globe
the Strait of Magellan is not "straight" -- is actually a U-shaped pathway formed by the Tierra del Fuego archipelago (chain of islands)
Beagle Channel
a second, less navigable passageway near the southern tip of South America that was navigated by Charles Darwin on the HMS Beagle
NOTE: the open-ocean passageway, around the very tip of South America is called "Drake's Passage", named for English explorer Francis Drake who circumnavigated the globe
the lowest point in a "drain" that the collects water that has no outflow from the drain
the waterflow in a drain or to a sink does not flow outside of that region
usually a lake or a swamp
may evaporate, such as the Great Salt Lake
stream
atmosphere
winds
Trade winds: blow from east to west (generally)
Westerlies: blow from west to east (generally
these winds defined oceanic travel during the "age of sail" (wind-powered boats)
they also defined location and direction of European expeditions during the Age of Discovery
ex. the Portuguese discovered Brazil because their ships had to sail west, across the Atlantic in order to catch the winds and currents that would then carry their ships south and east to cross the Cape Peninsula and the Cape of Good Hope (southern tip of Africa)
The Windward Islands (winds from the east) are to the lower right, and the Leeward Islands (winds from the west) are to the upper right, eachwindward v. leeward
windward = upwind, or that side facing or nearest to the incoming wind
leeward = downwind, or that side facing away or furthest from the incoming wind
see the Lesser Antilles for the "Leeward" and "Westward" Islands
the direction of the winds impacts regions
history,
trade
especially during the age of sail
climate
dryness or wetness
seasonal wins
crops
Land forms
archipelago
a series of geographically proximate or geologically similarly island, usually formed in a chain or a cluster
basin
a land depression in an area or region which has no outflow of water
i.e., all the rivers and other water sources are contained within it
and none of those waters flow into an ocean
instead, the water flows into a "drain", usually a lake or swamp region
click EXPAND for important basins
the Great Basin, western United States
"basin" = lowlands between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada
there is no waterflow exiting the Great Basin
the Great Salt Lake is one of three major drains n the Great Basin
called a "terminal lake"
it is the 8th largest in the world
Okavango Delta, Botswana, Africa
a swampy, inland delta region that collects rain and water flow of the Okavango River (4th longest river system in Africa)
it is a "delta" because the river splits into different channels as it empties into the basin
the water levels are seasonal
the Okavango Delta is an important home to wildlife, especially elephants, rhinos, lions and leopards
butte
cape
a "headland", "promontory" or large body of land that extends into a larger water body, usually an ocean or a sea
"headland" is a "coastal landform," usually with a high point and cliffs
"promontory" is a raised land body that extends into lower land or water
promontories are often used a defensive positions for forts, castles and defensive positions
a promontory in water is a peninsula
Click EXPAND for a list of important capes:
Cape Canaveral - Florida
Cape Cod - Massachusetts
Cape Discord - Greenland
Cape of Good Hope - South Africa
Cape Horn - Chile
southernmost headland, or tip of land, on Hornos Island, one of the Hermite Islands, the southernmost of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago at the southern tip of South America
northern boundary of the Drake Passage
Cape Kidnappers - New Zealand
Cape Three Forks - Morocco
Cape Vert - Senegal; the westernmost point of Africa
Contemporary distribution (2005 map) of the world's major language families (in some cases geographic groups of families). This map includes only primary families i.e. branches are excluded. For greater detail, see Distribution of languages on Earth.
there are 15 major language families in the world
each of these major groups have sub-groups of distinct languages
there are 7,111 languages in the world
Principal language families of the world (and in some cases geographic groups of families). For greater detail, see Distribution of languages in the world.
there are also many other distinct languages (see map)
