Geography Notes

June Examination

Map Skills:

Counter Lines:
• horizontal lines which indicate the height and shape of a slope.
• provide information about height and shape of objects.
• Counter Interval:
o provide information about height and shape of objects.

• Cartographer: a person who makes maps

• Model: smaller realistic copy of a real object or feature

Steep and Gentle slopes:

• STEEP SLOPE: lines that are very close together.
• GENTLE SLOPE: lines that are further apart from each other.
• Gradient:
o Difference in height between two points
o Distance between the two points
Rivers, valleys and spurs:

Spurs – U Shaped, more space

Valleys – V shaped, close together

• Spur – Mountain that extends outward from side of a mountain between valleys
• Valleys – Low area of land between hills or mountains, typically a river or stream
following through

Unit 2 – 1:10 000 Ortophoto maps

• Orthophoto image: a picture of the land that is made using computer technology
• Distortions: not the true shape of objects
• Orthophoto map: a rectified image based on an aerial photograph with additional
information from a map
• Grid: a set of regularly spaced lines which provide a mathematical base for a drawing

Orthophoto images made from aerial photographs:

• Orthophoto image is a combination of a map and a vertical aerial photograph
• Computer program helps cartographers to correct the scale and remove any
distortions in vertical photograph.
• Ortophoto maps display the following:
o Contour lines
o Heights
o Road numbers
o And grid showing coordinates

How height is shown on orthophoto maps:

• Orthophoto maps have contour lines marked on them.
 • Contour lines are at five-metre intervals.
• Orthophoto maps also show height using spot heights
o Spot height marks a place where the exact height of a place is known, such a
top of a hill or a place next to a road.

Unit 3 – 1:50 000 topographic maps

• Topographic maps on the scale of 1:50 000 are special maps that show different
features on the land.
• The symbols show natural and constructed features. (don’t need to know them they
give u a map with a key)
• Natural features:

•
• Constructed Features:

Height clues on topographic maps

• Contour Lines:
o Brown lines
o Connect places with same height
o Contour interval = 20meter on 1:50 000 map
o Not every contour line is numbered
o Every 5th contour is shaded darker
• Spot Heights:
o Show the exact height of a place in metres as a number next to a dot.
o Spot heights show the top of a hill
• Trigonometric beacons:
o Also known as ‘trig’ beacons
o Show points on land for which exact height is known
o Marked as little triangles
o Number gives height as a decimal e.g. 1091.7
 o Whole of South Africa is mapped using trig beacons
• Benchmarks:
o Points for which exact height is known
o Shown on maps as a number and arrow, usually next to the road
o Benchmarks show height in meters as decimals example: 436.1

Unit 4 – Information from maps

Interpreting information from topographic and ortographic maps and aerial
photographs
• Describe landscape:
o How high is the land? (contours, spot heights, trig beacons)
o Is the area flat or hilly. (contour patterns, steep and gentle slopes)
o Are there perennial rivers or non-perennial rivers?
o Is there a coastline?
o Are there dams?
• Identify land use:
o Is the area used for crops or fruit farming?
o Is the area used for forestry?
o Are there mines in the area?
o Is the area used for transport?
o Is there a built-up area of town or city?

Settlement patterns, identify shape, size, location:

1. Is the settlement on the coast, on a river, on flat land or in a valley?
2. What is the shape of the settlement? Is it roughly circular, ribbon-shaped, or semi-
circular.
3. Why do you think the settlement is located in this place?
a. Is it a route centre?
b. Does the settlement offer services to surrounding farmers?
c. Look for amenities in the settlement such as water, electricity, schools,
hospitals, churches, police stations, post office and recreational grounds.
d. Is the settlement an industrial town?
4. How big is the settlement?

Using the orthophoto map and topographic map together

• Can get more information about an area by using the topographic and orthophoto
map together.
Module 3: Unit 1 – Development

• Development means becoming better, stronger and more advanced

• There are certain indicators;
• E.g. population growth rate or the number of TV sets per 1000 people, that inform us
about the standard of living of people in a country
• We can use this information to calculate the level of development of the country
• Countries that have achieved a high level of development – developed countries
• Low level of development – developing countries

Main Aspects:
• Economic aspect
• Social aspect
• Environmental aspect

Economic Aspect:
• When we talk about how wealthy a person or a country is, we are referring to the
economic aspects of their development.
• There are different indicators of economic development.
• One indicator is the per capita income, - the average amount of money that a
person earns per year.
• Another important economic aspect is how a country earns its income
• Very often, the poorer and less developed countries earn most of their income from
primary activities
o Farming, mining, fishing and forestry
• The more developed, wealthier countries earn most of their income from secondary
activities
o manufacturing goods
• Or tertiary economic activities
o providing services

Social Aspects:
• The indicators of the social aspects of development include;
o Quality of life
o access to social services – good education systems and infrastructure
o access to basic needs – clean water is also part of the social aspect
• More developed countries usually have strong democracies, where people have a lot
of political and personal freedom and enjoy basic human rights
• Right to equality between people of different genders, races, cultures and religions.
• Another name for developed countries is first world countries
• Another name for developing countries is third world countries.
 Environmental Aspects:
• How countries use their natural resources plays a big part in their development
• The main environmental aspect of development is how sustainable the level of
development in a country is
• Environmentally sustainable development causes as little long-term damage to
the environment as possible, leaving enough resources for future generations

Ways of measuring development:

• Development is measured by using different indicators, namely;
• economic, social and environmental indicators
• The most common statistic used for measuring the level of development of a country
is the economic indicator gross domestic product (GDP) per capita
• The total value of all the goods and services produced in a country during a year,
divided by the number of people in the country
• In most countries in the world, the GDP per capita is increasing, but in some of the
poorest countries, it is not
• Some of the reasons GDP per capita and the level of development do not improve in
certain countries are:
o Wars
o Rapid population growth
o Paying off large debts
o a lack of resources for development
o Natural and human disasters (including Aids)

Ways of measuring development social indicators:

• Population growth rate
• Birth rate
• Death rate
• Adult literacy rate
• Measurements of access to education, health and nutrition

Human Development Index:

• Human Development Index, combines a number of important indicators and gives a
more balanced picture of the level of development
• Measures well-being and compares the level of development of different countries
• HDI is a figure of between 0 and 1
• An HDI of 0 indicates the worst possible quality of life
 • An HDI of 1 indicates the best possible quality of life.
• It is calculated as a decimal value
o Switzerland, scoring 0,93, more developed
o Botswana, scoring 0,55
• HDI combines social and economic indicators – more accurate way of measuring the
level of development than if only one indicator is used
• Three indicators that are used in HDI are
o life expectancy
o level of education
o GDP per capita

Life Expectancy:
• Life expectancy (LE) – the average lifespan from birth to death of a person in a
particular country
• Women usually have a slightly longer life expectancy than men
• LE is one of the best social indicators of the standard of living and the level of
development in a country, because it is influenced by factors such as:
o the standard of health services and
o level of nutrition in a country
• In the past 50 years, the life expectancy in some of the more developed countries
has increased by more than 50%
• Improvements in medicines and medical treatment
• However, in many of the less developed countries, it has not increased
• In some countries in southern Africa, it has even dropped because of diseases such
as malaria and Aids

Level Of Education:
• Another good social indicator
• Countries where the people have a high level of education – use the skills to create
wealth
• Good education systems produce well-qualified people – use their skills to increase
the level of development of the country
• Countries in Asia, such as Japan, South Korea and China, where the HDI and level of
development have risen rapidly because of improved education
• Sadly some countries in Africa the education levels have remained low

Per Capita GDP

• Per capita GDP – most popular economic indicator.
 • Measures the total amount of goods and services produced in a country in a year
divided by the number of people in the country.
• Usually given in US dollars (US$).
• Any amount over $20000 is considered to be a high per capita GDP.
• A medium per capita GDP is roughly between $3000 and $20000 and a low per
capita GDP is below $3 000.
• NB: High incomes do not guarantee high levels of development
• In some countries, such as SA, there is a huge gap between the incomes of the rich
and the poor.
• The per capita GDP for the country is pushed up by the earnings of a small group of
wealthy people, but the income and HDI for most people is low
• GDP on its own can be misleading because the cost of living varies from country to
country

Module 3: Unit 2 – Factors that influence development

Historical Factors:
• There have been periods when certain countries or ethnic groups have been more
developed, and usually more powerful, than others
• E.g. Ancient Greeks and the Romans in Europe, and the Mayans, Aztecs and Incas in
Central and South America.
• In each case – historical reasons for the advance and decline of these groups
• Possibly discovered certain valuable resources, and good leaders, or developed some
forms of weapon, transport or other technology that put them ahead of other
groups

Colonialism:
• Periods in history when a country or groups of people have prevented other groups
from developing by controlling factors or resources that would enable them to
develop – Colonial Era
• Policy of practice of taking over political control of another country
• occupying it with settlers, and exploiting its resources
• It began near the 1400s and continued into the 1900s
• Most countries in Africa were colonies and only gained independence between 1950
and 1970
• Colonialism increased the level of development of the colonial power through
increased wealth.
• However, it had the opposite effect of the colony which was being stripped of its
resources.
 • Many were left bankrupt after independence and many suffered civil wars due to
power struggles.

Trade:
• Trade – increase in the wealth and development of countries.
• Countries that trade have learnt how to use new resources and have made good
income by selling their extra resources.
• However, there are sometimes examples of trade that has benefited only one
country, while the other has been disadvantaged.

Trade Imbalances:
• A trade imbalance – when the income received from exports does not equal the cost
of imports.
• When imports are greater than exports, a trade deficit occurs.
• Importing country may need to take a loan to pay the difference.
• E.g. South Africa exports minerals to the USA valued at $2 billion, and imports
machinery from the USA costing $3 billion, then South Africa has a trade deficit of $1
billion.
• It is often a developing country that cannot afford to payoff a loan that has the trade
deficit.

Unfair Trade:
• Sometimes trading countries create trade barriers to protect their own businesses –
affects countries that want to sell them goods.
• E.g. subsidies, trade tariffs and embargoes.
• all of which are considered to be unfair.
• As with imbalances, one country is able to sell goods to another, but the second
country is prevented or restricted from selling its goods to the first country.
• The developed countries normally introduce these unfair practices
• Developing countries suffer and sometimes they are forced to sell their products at
reduced prices
• just to earn some income from their products
• Fair trade – movement that encourages importers in developed countries to pay
higher prices for imports from developing countries

Technology and Industrialisation:

• Industrialisation means that a country changes from being a producer of mainly
primary goods, to being a manufacturer of products in large factories
• Industrialisation started during the Industrial Revolution in Britain in the late 18th
century
 • Today, many nations become industrialised – moved away from heavy industry into
new areas,
o IT
• This shift is because of the dependence on raw materials and the negative
environmental impact
o air and water pollution
• Newly industrialised countries such as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa
(they are known as the BRICS) – established themselves as some of the world's
biggest manufacturers of products such as cars, clothing and machinery
• Some of the developed countries have made huge advances in communications
o Use this to continue developing rapidly
• Living standards improved a great deal, but
o the gap in wealth is also becoming wider

Health and Welfare

• Countries with a high life expectancy, benefit from a fit and productive workforce
• People work for many years and become more experienced and skilled

Countries with wealthy populations:

• A wealthy population has more chance of being a healthy population, because:
• People can afford to eat good, nutritious food.
• They can afford to go on holidays to relax.
• Their living conditions are comfortable and hygienic.
• There are sufficient doctors and hospitals to treat all the patients in these developed
countries.

Poor Countries:
• In poor countries, people often do not have their basic needs met:
• They do not have sufficient nutritious food or clean water
• Their living conditions are often unhygienic
• Diseases spread easily – they become sick and cannot work
• There are not enough doctors and hospitals to treat the sick
• Many people don’t contribute to the GDP and HDI of the country doesn’t increase –
known as the downward spiral of poverty

Education:
• A highly educated population – skills to keep improving technology; keeps the
country developing more and more.
• In order for a country to become industrialised – needs to have sufficient skilled
people.
• engineers, accountants and skilled managers.
 • In poor, underdeveloped countries; not many skilled people – is a shortage of
entrepreneur (who start businesses).
• Not many work opportunities and unemployment is high
• Qualified, skilled workers earn bigger incomes than poorly-educated workers
• bigger incomes + taxes = greater per capita GDP
• Adult literacy is an important part of education
• Literacy is important in the modern forms of communication used in business, such
as email
• people who are not literate are not able to use these new technologies and this
slows development

Political Stability:
• An important factor that is negatively affecting development on the African
continent is political instability
• Since the end of colonial era – many civil wars in Africa
• Angola, Mozambique, Sudan, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Nigeria
• The effects of these wars – low HDls and declining levels of development
• Wars prevent a country from developing and cause development to decline

Resources:
• Quantity and type of resources that a country has and its ability to use these
resources – huge influence on its level of development
• High level of development in Australia, the USA and Canada – wide range of
resources
• Brazil many resources, but it has only recently begun to fully exploit some of these
resources
• The result has been that in the past 10 years, the per capita GDP and HDI in Brazil
have increased dramatically and the country is now one of the fastest developing
countries in the world.

Population Growth:
• Population growth can delay development – country uses more resources to just
provide the basic needs of the growing population
• Population growth is usually higher in developing countries than in developed
countries

Module 3: Unit 3 – Opportunities for development

South African Trade Negotiations:
• Since 1994 – signed many new trade agreements
• SA: wide range of products to sell
 • Main exports are minerals, such as iron, coal, gold and platinum, agricultural
products, such as fruit, wine and wool, and manufactured goods, such a canned food
and motor car
• Main imports are oil, machinery and chemicals
• When countries such SA enter trade agreements – try to make it easy for both the
countries to achieve a satisfactory balance of trade

• E.g. If SA imports coffee from Brazil and exports iron ore to Brazil both countries will
try to negotiate that the value of their exports will be equal to or more than the cost
of their imports
• Unless one of the countries wants more of the imported goods and is prepared to
have a trade deficit
• Sometimes changes in the price of products may make it possible for one country to
have a trade surplus
• E.g. SA exports gold to Saudi Arabia in exchange for oil – If price of gold increases
faster than the price of oil, SA can buy more oil for the same amount of gold
• terms of trade become better for South Africa which will then have more money to
spend on development.

• When signing trade agreements, as South Africa has with the other BRICS countries,
countries try to make trading easier by reducing or dropping all trade barriers
• such as tariffs and subsidies
• South Africa now has Free Trade Agreements (FTA's), where there are no tariffs, with
a number of countries
• This makes trading easier and more equitable for both trading
• Partners
• Occasionally, importing countries set a limit on the amount of a certain product that
they import – to protect their local industry: trade quota
• E.g. the clothing workers' union in SA has asked the government to limit the amount
of clothing that is imported from China – worried that clothing factories in South
Africa may have to close and people will lose their jobs

Alternative Development:
• Industrialisation = improving development levels
• However, industrialisation often results in pollution (China has serious air pollution
problems from its many large factories)
• It also require large quantities of raw materials, which could be expensive to import
• Some countries have come up with alternative ways to increase development
without relying on heavy industry
Alternative to industrialisation:
• Development is not promoted and controlled only by the national governments of
countries.
• Provincial governments, city councils, municipalities, private businesses and non-
government organisations can all play a role to further development.
• One of the most successful alternative forms of small-scale or micro-development is
community-based development.

Community-based development:
• Sometimes organisations that promote development find that their ideas and plans
to develop communities are not very successful – they do not really understand
what the community needs and what its specific challenges are
• Community-based development involves the community members in planning –
work with local communities to provide their needs
• By involving community members themselves, they empower the communities to
take responsibility for their own development

Education and training:

• Community-based development does not just provide financial assistance – involves
teaching new skills to community members.
• Use these skills to address their needs and to start businesses that will help develop
their community.

Rural Development Programmes:

• Community development can take place in urban or in rural communities – most
needed in rural areas where unemployment is high
• Rural communities are usually far from markets and advisers – important part of
community development is to bring the community into contact with people or
organisations that can help them
• A successful community development project – eventually benefit the entire
community

Sustainable Development:
• For development to be successful in the long-term it has to be sustainable
• Sustainable development meets current development needs in such a way that
future generations will still benefit
• It uses natural resources in a sustainable way so that there will be enough resources
for future generations
• There are three different types of factors that contribute to sustainable
development
• economic, social and environmental factors
Economic Factors:
• Economically sustainable development does not damage the economy in the
long term
• Once a business or industry has been established – needs to be profitable to be
sustainable
• E.g. If a government borrows lots of money to pay for development – boost the
economy in the short term and, hopefully, cause economic growth that will lead
to further economic development
• However, the government will have to payoff its debts and if there has not been
economic growth it cannot payoff the debts – economy will eventually suffer

Social Factors:
• Social factors: people's social wellbeing
• their cultural identity, which includes their traditions and beliefs, must be
considered when making decisions about development
• E.g. government builds a highway in a remote area, benefit – making it easier for
tourists to reach the community and spend money
• Harm – people in the community may start losing those aspects of their culture that
make them unique, like their traditional way of dressing, their food or even their
language
• Rapid development in a traditional community may even cause new social problems
that it did not have before
• Theft, drug and alcohol abuse, prostitution and other crimes may increase
• Eventually tourists will not visit the community

Environmental Factors:
• Development has to be environmentally sustainable to last
• If a country or community uses methods that are not sustainable in order to exploit a
resource, it will eventually deplete the resource
• The resource will then no longer contribute to the income or GDP