Geography: Realms, Regions, and Concepts

664 Pages·2001·1.16 MB·English

by  Harm J. de Blij

R e g i o n s
S i x t e e n t h e d i t i o n
Nation in Peril
H. J. de Blij • Peter O. Muller • Jan Nijman
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GREENLAND
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16th Edition
G E O G R A P H Y
REALMS, REGIONS, AND CONCEPTS
H. J. de Blij
John A. Hannah Professor of Geography
Michigan State University
Peter O. Muller
Senior Professor, Department of Geography and Regional Studies
University of Miami
Jan Nijman
Professor of Urban Studies, University of Amsterdam
Professor Emeritus of Geography, University of Miami
VICE PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER Petra Recter
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Ryan Flahive
PRODUCT DESIGNER Beth Tripmacher
PRODUCT DESIGNER Howard Averback
ASSISTANT CONTENT EDITOR Darnell Sessoms
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Julia Nollen
SENIOR CONTENT MANAGER Micheline Frederick
SENIOR PRODUCTION EDITOR Janet Foxman
SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR Lisa Gee
MEDIA SPECIALIST Anita Castro
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Harry Nolan
SENIOR DESIGNER Wendy Lai
SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER Margaret Barrett
PRODUCTION SERVICES Jeanine Furino/ Furino Production
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Helen Seachrist
Front cover photo: © Jan Nijman
Back cover photos: © H. J. de Blij
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
De Blij, Harm J.
Geography: realms, regions, and concepts/H. J. de Blij, Peter O. Muller, and Jan Nijman.—Sixteenth
edition. pages cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-118-67395-9 (hardback)
1. Geography—Textbooks. I. Peter O. Muller. II. Jan Nijman. III. Title.
G128.D42 2013
910—dc23
2013024700
978-1-118-67395-9 (Main Book ISBN)
978-1-118-70760-9 (Binder-Ready Version ISBN)
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
PREFACE
F
or the past four decades, Geography: Realms, Regions, whether they are concerned with international business,
and Concepts has reported (and sometimes anticipated) worldwide media, affairs of state, or disaster relief. Such deci-
trends in the discipline of Geography and develop- sions must be based on the best possible knowledge of the
ments in the world at large. In fi fteen preceding editions, world beyond our continent. That knowledge can be gained
Regions, as the book has come to be called, has explained the by studying the layout of our world, its environments, societ-
contemporary world’s geographic realms (the largest re- ies, resources, policies, traditions, and other properties—in
gional entities on the face of the Earth) and their natural short, its regional geography.
environments and human dimensions. In the process, this
book has become an introduction to Geography itself, the
discipline that links the study of human societies and natu- REALMS, REGIONS . . . AND CONCEPTS
ral environments. We look at the ways people have orga-
This book begins with an introductory chapter followed by
nized their living space, adapted to changing social as well as
12 sets of chapters that each cover one of the world’s major
environmental circumstances, and continue to confront
geographic realms and their constituent regions. The Intro-
forces beyond their control ranging from globalization to
duction discusses the world as a whole, outlining the physical
climate change. From old and still relevant concepts to new
stage on which the human drama is being played out, pro-
and untested ideas, Regions provides geographic perspective
viding environmental frameworks, demographic data, politi-
on our transforming world.
cal background, and economic-geographical context. In the
The book before you, therefore, is an information
remaining chapters, we have divided the world into 12 major
highway to geographic literacy. The fi rst edition appeared in
geographic realms and these are in turn subdivided into
1971, at a time when school geography in the United States
smaller regions. We explain why the realms and regions are
(though not in Canada) was a subject in decline. It was a
delineated the way they are, we describe their prevailing geo-
precursor of a dangerous isolationism in America, and geo-
graphic features, and we examine recent events around the
graphers foresaw the looming cost of geographic illiteracy.
world in their proper geographic context.
Sure enough, the media during the 1980s began to report
Along the way, we introduce more than 150 geographic
that polls, public surveys, tests, and other instruments were
concepts placed in their regional settings. Most of these con-
recording a lack of geographic knowledge at a time when our
cepts are indeed primarily geographical, but others are ideas
world was changing ever faster and becoming more com-
about which, we believe, students of geography should have
petitive by the day. Various institutions, including the Na-
some knowledge. Although such concepts are listed on the
tional Geographic Society, banks, airline companies, and a
opening page of every chapter, we have not, of course, enu-
consortium of scholarly organizations, mobilized to confront
merated every geographic notion used in that chapter. Many
an educational dilemma that had resulted substantially from
colleagues, we suspect, will want to make their own realm-
a neglect of the very topics this book is about. Concern about
concept associations, and as readers will readily perceive, the
geographic literacy and about the need for knowledge of the
book’s organization is quite fl exible. It is possible, for ex-
world around us continues to this day.
ample, to focus almost exclusively on substantive regional
A useful discussion of such commonplace topics as glo-
material or, alternatively, to concentrate mainly on concep-
balization, and of popular misconceptions such as the “fl at
tual issues.
world” and the “death of distance,” means that we must know
the different parts of the world, the interrelated components
The A-B Structure of the Regional Chapters
that together make up the whole. This goes far beyond de-
scription or memorization. In each of the chapters of this This sixteenth edition of Regions continues the formal sepa-
book, we ask fundamental questions about the role of geogra- ration of A and B chapters that was introduced in the fi f-
phy in the ongoing social, economic, and political develop- teenth edition, an innovation that received substantial posi-
ments in that particular realm. Geography helps to under- tive feedback from our users. As the table of contents shows,
stand the dynamic differences among realms and regions and each of the world’s geographic realms (with the exception of
why they develop the way they do. Each chapter offers rich the Austral and Pacifi c Realms) is treated in a pair of chap-
regional descriptions alongside critical analyses. ters: A chapters discuss broad geographic features at the
Knowing and understanding world geography is not scale of the entire realm; B chapters provide a more detailed
just an academic exercise. You will fi nd that much of what analysis at the scale of the realm’s constituent regions and
you encounter in this book is of immediate, practical value to countries.
you—as a citizen, a consumer, a traveler, a voter, a job-seeker. This structure increases fl exibility for the user because
North America is a geographic realm with ever-intensifying it offers the option of customizing reading assignments. As
global interests and involvements. Those interests and in- anyone who has taught or taken a course in World Regional
volvements require countless, often instantaneous decisions, Geography knows, the subject is complex, the world is still
vi Preface
a very large and highly diverse place, and semesters are short. math of its Arab Spring. Each Voice was solicited by the au-
In principle, each of the A or B chapters can be read in isola- thors specifi cally for this purpose. It provides a useful tool for
tion. If users prefer to reduce reading assignments on one or teachers to initiate class discussion about regional issues and
more realms, they might concentrate on the A chapters for a perspectives, and it helps students identify more closely
main overview of the geography of the realm; the opposite with developments and people across the spectrum of world
approach focused on the B chapters is possible as well. Nei- regions.
ther scale (realm or region) can be said to be more important
than the other. They are most revealing, of course, in terms
NEWS ABOUT THE SIXTEENTH EDIITON
of their complementary nature: one informs the other—
One of the most fascinating things about Geography is that
from the general to the specifi c, from the whole to its con-
it exudes a sense of permanence in certain respects (e.g., the
stituent parts, from the global to the local.
natural environment), but in reality things change over
The second advantage of this A-B structure is more
time—sometimes quite slowly but at other times abruptly
substantive and is anchored in current disciplinary trends.
and dramatically. New editions of Regions have a reputation
Scale, along with region, is one of the most crucial general
for comprehensive and detailed revision, and the sixteenth is
concepts in Geography. Understanding geographic events
a particularly substantial reprise. Occasionally the world
almost always demands a multi-scalar perspective. Using the
changes so fundamentally that interpretations based on ear-
A-B structure, we consistently discuss processes at two differ-
lier understandings are overtaken by new developments—
ent scales. First we employ the broader scale of the realm to
forcing us to rethink particular realms, regions, and coun-
appreciate, for example, matters of geopolitics or economic
tries, or even the global system that binds them together.
integration or core-periphery relationships—developments
Thus new editions of Regions not only contain myriad valu-
that unfold and project across an entire realm or major parts
able updates but also reappraisals of the fundamental nature
of it. Think, for example, about the realmwide ramifi cations
of the world’s geography.
of the Arab Spring movement. Subsequently, we “zoom in”
The world is undergoing some momentous changes in
on the regions nested within the realm to consider develop-
this decade: (1) widespread, longstanding pessimism con-
ments at a fi ner resolution. Think, for example, of Egypt’s
cerning Subsaharan Africa’s development prospects has rap-
ongoing political challenges since the forced 2011 resigna-
idly given way to unprecedented hope and anticipation based
tion of former President Mubarak. Typically, B chapters
on robust recent growth in this realm; (2) the European
facilitate a closer look at the role of individual countries
Union has become more disparate than ever—fi scally, eco-
and national cultures (and, where necessary, their internal
nomically, and politically—as rising core-periphery tensions
subdivisions).
weigh down the supranational federal framework; (3) the
The A-B structure should not be regarded as a rigid
globally expanding infl uence and assertiveness of China is be-
mechanism that separates geographic reality into two ‘fi xed’
ing met with increasingly mixed feelings in certain realms and
scales. Geography is a dynamic fi eld; there is continuity in
regions; (4) ravenous demand for raw materials on the world
some ways, but change abounds. Geographic space is con-
market is altering landscapes in a wide range of commod-
tinuously reorganized and reshaped. The study of realms and
ity-rich countries from Mongolia to Australia to Chile; and
regions is more based on “sliding” scales, from the level of the
(5) the Arab Spring, which has been destabilizing regional
realm downward. A chapters typically deal with broader-scale
politics in North Africa and Southwest Asia, but has yet to
issues; B chapters provide more close-up analysis. Thus inter-
deliver enduring democratic advances in any country. These
national issues that do not always involve the entire realm
developments, among others, have reverberated throughout
may be discussed in either A or B chapters, or both (e.g.,
the world in recent years and continue to transform their re-
India-Pakistan relations within the South Asian realm).
spective realms today. We will detail many of these changes, as
well as the forces that drive them, in their geographic context
Voice From the Region as our global regional survey unfolds.
Another new feature that was introduced in the fi fteenth edi-
What to Look For
tion and that met with considerable approval from the read-
ers is the boxed vignette entitled Voice From the Region. This With a revision manuscript totaling tens of thousands
feature provides a platform to let people from each geo- of words, countless map modifi cations, dozens of original
graphic realm speak directly to the reader—a local voice, un- photos, and new From the Field Notes and other boxes, no
fi ltered, that presents a refl ection on their corner of the world summary can adequately encapsulate all that this new edi-
as seen through their own eyes. Located in each B chapter tion contains. One special note: we have highlighted the
(plus Chapters 11 and 12), these vignettes, accompanied by burgeoning outward growth of several of the world’s mega-
the name and a photo of the individual providing the local cities (e.g., São Paulo, Istanbul, Delhi-New Delhi, Tokyo,
perspective, focus on important current events ranging from Moscow, Xian) and expanded the city maps in many of the
Singapore’s tenuous absorption of large numbers of Chinese Great Cities of the World boxes to refl ect this metropolitan-
immigrants to Egypt’s stalled political reforms in the after- scale urbanization.