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Fundamentals of World Regional Geography, © 2017, 2013 Cengage Learning

Fourth Edition WCN: 02-200-208
Joseph J. Hobbs ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of t his work covered by the copyright herein
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IBrief Contents
1 Objectives and Tools of World Regional Geography 2
2 Physical Processes and World Regions 24
3 Human Processes and World Regions 49
4 Europe 88
5 Russia and the Near Abroad 149
6 The Middle East and North Africa 206
7 South and East Asia 282
8 Oceania and Antarctica 366
9 Sub-Saharan Africa 400
10 Latin America 448
11 The United States and Canada 492
Glossary G-1
Index 1-1
iii
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Photos courtesy of Joe Hobbs
INSIGHTS: DEVOLUTION 107

1 Objectives and Tools of World 4.4 Economic Geography 110
Regional Geography 2 INSIGHTS: GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS AND EU/US HFOOD
l.1 What Is Where, Why There, and Why Care? 3 FIGHTSH 116
1.2 The Language of Maps 9 4.5 Geopolit ical Issues 118
INSIGHTS: MENTAL MAPS 10 REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE: EUROPE'S BORDERS: WELCOME(?) TO
SCHENGENLAND 121
GEOGRAPHIC SPOTLIGHT: TOBLER'S FIRST LAW OF GEOGRAPHY 12
4.6 Regional Issues and Landscapes 122
GEOGRAPHIC SPOTLIGHT: CORE LOCATION
The European Core 122
AND PERIPHERAL LOCATION 13
Properties of the European Core 122
1.3 Geographic Technologies and Careers 15
Great Britain: Aging Seat of World Power 124
GEOGRAPHIC SPOTLIGHT: THE MERCATOR PROJECTION 16
GEOGRAPHIC SPOTLIGHT: ENVIRONMENTAL PERCEPTION 125
GEOGRAPHIC SPOTLIGHT: GIS IN ACTION 19
Ireland: Struggles and Resilience on the Emerald Isle 126
GEOGRAPHIC SPOTLIGHT: GOOGLE EARTH 20 GEOGRAPHY OF CITIES: GLOBAL CITIES 127
Ireland's Troubles 128
2 Physical Processes and World Regions 24 Paris as a Primate City 129
Divided and Reunified Germany 130
2.1 Geologic Processes 25
East Germany, Now Eastern Germany 131
2.2 Patterns of Climate and Veget ation 27
Europe Lights the Way on Alternative Energy 132
GEOGRAPHIC SPOTLIGHT: NATURAL HAZARDS 28
The European Periphery 133
2.3 Biodiversity 35
Propertiesof the European Periphery 133
2.4 The World's Oceans 36
Northern Europe 134
2.5 Global Climate Change 39
Southern Europe 135
GEOGRAPHY OF ENERGY: THE KYOTO PROTOCOL AND BEYOND 45
Eastern Europe 138
Communism in Ideals and Practice 139
3 Human Processes and World Why They Call It "'Balkanization• 141
TheRoma 142
Regions 49
3.1
3.2
Two Revolutions That Have Changed t he Earth
The Geography of Economic Development 54
SO 5 Russia and the Near Abroad 149
INSIGHTS: MAPPING WORLD VALUES 64 INSIGHTS: REGIONAL NAMES OF RUSSIA AND

THE NEAR ABROAD 1S4
INSIGHTS: LAND GRABBING 66
5.1 Area and Population 154
3.3 The Geography of Population 67
5.2 Physical Geography and Human Adaptations t55
INSIGHTS: DEFORESTATION AND THE FUELWOOD CRISIS 68
INSIGHTS: RUSSIA'S DEMOGRAPHIC CRISIS 156
GEOGRAPHY OF CITIES: THE TRIUMPH OF THE CITY 78
GEOGRAPHY OF NATURAL HAZARDS: NEAR-EARTH
INSIGHTS: POPULATION AND FOOD ENERGY 82 OBJECTS 161
3.4 An Action Plan for Global Problems 83 GEOGRAPHY OF THE WORLD'S GREAT RIVERS:
THE VOLGA 163
4 Europe ss 5.3 Cult ural and Historical Geographies 163
4.1 Area and Population 89 INSIGHTS: RUSSIA AND OTHER LAND EMPIRES 167
GEOGRAPHIC SPOTLIGHT: SITE AND SITUATION 94 5.4 Economic Geography 169
REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE: EUROPE'S CRISIS WITH ISLAM 96 GEOGRAPHY OF SACRED SPACE: STALINGRAD 17-0
4.2 Physical Geography and Human Adapt ations 96 INSIGHTS: RUSSIA'S DUTCH DISEASE 175
4.3 Cultural and Hist orical Geographies 103 5.5 Geopolit ical Issues 176
iv
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PROBLEM LANDSCAPE: CHECHNYA AND DAG ES TAN: DEFYING The Libyan Domino 257
RUSSIA IN THE CAUCASUS 178 Syria's Minority Dynasty Challenged 257
GEOGRAPHY OF ENERGY: OIL IN THE CASPIAN BASIN 189 Bahrain: A Pearl Is Crushed 257
Revoir in Yemen's Mountainous Redoubt 257
Hallmarks of the Revolution 258
Peoples and Resources of the Core/and 192
The Arab Fall 259
Notes on Ukraine 193
Syria: /SIS Emerges from the Maelstrom 262
Chernobyl, The Type-Site of Nuclear Disaster 194
Iraq: The United States' "Pottery Barn"? 266
Farming the Fertile Triangle 194
Gulf War I: Ousting Saddam from Kuwait 266
GEOGRAPHY OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING: THE NATASHAS 195
Gulf War II: Invasion and Occupation ofIraq 267
Russia's Eastern and Northern Lands 196 The Kurds 269
Lake Baikal, The Pearl ofSiberia 196 The Pahlavis, the Ayatollahs, and the Youngsters of
Russia's Far East 196 Iran 270
The Wild North 197 Turkey: Where East Meets West 272
The Caucasus 198 Is Turkey European? 273
The Armenian Genocide 199 ... Or Is Turkey a Great Middle Eastern Power? 273
Central Asia 199 The GuffOil Region 274
The Shrinking Aral Sea 199 G/S Helps Turn an Arabian Mirage into Reality 274
6 The Middle East and North Africa 206 7 South and East Asia 2s2
6.1 Area and Population 207 7.1 Area and Population 283
6.2 Physical Geography and Human Adaptations 212 GEOGRAPHY OF POPULATION: CHANGES IN CHINA'S ONE-CHILD
PERSPECTIVES FROM THE Fl ELD: WAY-FINDING
POLICY 288
IN THE DESERT 219
7.2 Physical Geography and Human Adaptations 288
PROBLEM LANDSCAPE: THE RISE AND FALL OF DUBAI'S PERSPECTIVES FROM THE FIELD: THE LOST CITY
ARTIFICIAL ISLANDS 222
OF BANGKOK 291
6.3 Cultural and Historical Geographies 223
INSIGHTS: SHIFTING CULTIVATION 293
GEOGRAPHY OF SACRED SPACE: JERUSALEM 225
REGIONAL LANDSCAPE: ZOMIA 296
INSIGHTS: SUNNI AND SHI'ITE MUSLIMS 231
GEOGRAPHY OF SACRED SPACE: THE KOREAN VILLAGE 298
6.4 Economic Geography 233
REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE: ASIA, MOTHERLAND OF
6.5 Geopolitical Issues 236
MEGACITIES 299
GEOGRAPHY OF ENERGY: PIPELINES AND CHOKEPOINTS
IN THE MIDDLE EAST 238 7.3 Cultural and Historical Geographies 299
REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE: THE ASWAN HIGH DAM 241 INSIGHTS: THE SACRED COW 305
GEOGRAPHY OF WATER: VIRTUAL WATER 243 7.4 Economic Geography 3-09

GEOGRAPHY OF TERRORISM: WHAT DO AL-QA'IDA INSIGHTS: OUTSOURCING 313
AND ISIS WANT? 244 7.5 Geopolitical Issues 315
6.6 Regional Issues and Landscapes 249 PROBLEM LANDSCAPE: GEOPOLITICAL HOT ZONES
Israel and Palestine 249 IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC 316
The Arab-Israeli Conflict 249 7.6 Regional Issues and Landscapes 321
Arabs and Jews: The Demographic Dimension 251 South Asia 321
Land for Peace 252 Faith, Sectarianism, and Strife 321
The Arab Spring 255 INSIGHTS: CHINA'S STRING OF PEARLS 327
Stirring from Stagnation 255
The Caste System 328
The Pharaoh Falls 256
Contents v
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vi Contents
Keeping Malthus at Bay 328 GEOGRAPHY OF DISEASE: HIV/AIDS AND EBOLA IN AFRICA 408
Low-Lying Bangladesh and Maldives: Canaries in the REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE: THE GREAT RIFT VALLEY 410
Climate-Change Coal Mine? 329
Afghanistan: Graveyard ofEmpires 331 INSIGHTS: AFRICA'S GREATEST CONSERVATIONIST 411
Southeast Asia 334 9.3 Cult ural and Historical Geographies 412
Deforestation ofSoutheast Asia 334 9.4 Economic Geography 419
GEOGRAPHIC SPOTLIGHT: STRATEGIC INTERESTS PROBLEM LANDSCAPE: CLEANING UP THE DIRTY
IN US EDUCATION 335 DIAMONDS 423
GEOGRAPHY OF THE WORLD'S GREAT RIVERS: INSIGHTS: THE RESOURCE CURSE 424
THE MEKONG 336
INSIGHTS: AFRICA'S NEW TALKING DRUMS: THE MOBILE PHONE
The Great Tsunami of2004 338
REVOLUTION 426
Misrule in Myanmar 339
9.5 Geopolit ical Issues 429
The Lady of Burma and Her Country's Turnaround 341
Sex, Drugs, and Health in Southeast Asia 342
Blueprints for Development in Africa: The Millennium
Vietnam Then and Now 343
Development Goals and Sustainable Development
Indonesia: One Country, One People, One Language,
Goals 433
300 Ethnic Groups 345
Urbanization in Africa's Future 434
GEOGRAPHIC SPOTLIGHT: VISUALIZING CLIMATE CHANGE WITH
The Poor, Oil-Rich Delea ofNigeria 436
GIS 346
East Africa: No More Divisionism? 437
China 348
Africa's First World War 438
Han Colonization ofChina's "Wild WestH 348
The Galapagos Islands ofReligion 439
The Three Gorges Dam 349
Ethnicity, Colonialism, Strife, and Reconciliation in South
The South-North Water Transfer Project 350
Africa 440
What's Next for Industrial China? 351
Madagascar and the Theory ofIsland Biogeography 442
Addressing Inequities in China: Rich v. Poor,
Urban v. Rural 352
Taiwan and the Two Chinas Problem 354
10 Latin America 448
Japan and the Koreas 355 10.1 Area and Population 449
Postwar Japan 355 10.2 Physical Geography and Human Adaptations 453
North and South Korea: Night and Day 357 GEOGRAPHY OF NATURAL HAZARDS: HEARTBREAK
IN HAITI 459
8 Oceania and Antarctica 366 10.3 Cultural and Historical Geographies 460
8.1 Area and Population 367 10.4 Economic Geography 468
8.2 Physical Geography and Human Adaptations 371 REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE: INEQUITIES IN LATIN AMERICA 470
8.3 Cultural and Historical Geographies 378 REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE: THE NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE
AGREEMENT (NAFTA) 472
INSIGHTS: DEFORESTATION AND THE DECLINEOF EASTER
ISLAND: TOO SIMPLE A PARABLE? 380 10.5Geopolitical Issues 475
GEOGRAPHY OF DRUG TRAFFICKING: THE WAR ON DRUGS 478
PERSPECTIVES FROM THE FIELD: IN SEARCH OF JOHN FRUM 382
Middle America 481
8.5 Geopolitical Issues 386
Mexico's Stature 481
REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE: FOREIGN MILITARIES IN THE PACIFIC: A
South America 482
MIXED BLESSING 388
Venezuela's Petroleum Politics 482
Brazif, The Stirring Giant 482
Australia and New Zealand 388
The Amazon, Its Forest, and Its People 484
Becoming Less British, More Asian-Pacific 388
Australia's Original Inhabitants Reclaim Rights
to the Land 392
11 The United States and Canada 492
Exotic Species on the Island Continent 393 11.1 Area and Population 493
GEOGRAPHIC SPOTLIGHT: COUNTER-MAPPING 394 11.2 Physical Geography and Human Adaptations 498
Antarctica: The White Continent 394 GEOGRAPHY OF NATURAL HAZARDS: NATURE'S WRATH
IN THE UNITED STATES 502
9 Sub-Saharan Africa 400 11.3 Cultural and Historical Geographies 506
9.1 Area and Population 401
GEOGRAPHY OF ENERGY: ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND ENERGY
9.2 Physical Geography and Human Adaptations 403
ALTERNATIVES IN THE UNITED STATES 524
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Contents vii
INSIGHTS: TRADE BARRIERS: SUBSIDIES AND TARIFFS 526 The Changing Geography ofAmerican Settlement 539
11.5 Geopolitical Issues 532 The Big Apple 543
11.6 Regional Issues and Landscapes 536 San Francisco, The City by the Bay 543
The Thirsty West 544
Canada 536
The Quebec Separatist Movement 536 The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 546
Overfished Waters 537
The Race for the Arctic 538
Glossary G-1
Greenland: A White Land 538
The United States 539 Index 1-1
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IMaps
1.3 World regions as identified and used in this book. 7 attributed impacts, the relative contribution of climate
change (major or minor) to the observed impact, and
1.4 Definitions of a vernacular region, the American South.
confidence in attribution. 40
Purple shading represents three state-based delineations;
colored lines delimit various religious, lingui stic, and 3.2 DNA pathways trace human m igrations out of Africa and
cultural usouths." These are just a few of the many different across the Earth. Scientists have identified the human
interpretations of the region. 8 lineages of the world descended from 10 sons of a genetic
Y-chromosome figurative "Adam" and 18 daughters of a
1.6 (a) Small-scale and (b) large-scale maps of San Francisco
mitochondrial figurative "Eve". 51
and environs. 10
3.4 Cultural, linguistic, and religious hearths worldwide. All
1.A In the left map, note how the major landmasses are
areas are approximate. 53
grouped around the margins of the Atlantic and Arctic
Oceans. The Briti sh Isles and the northwestern coast of 3.6 The human footprint. The biome map on page 31 depicts
Europe lie in the center of the "land hemisphere," which what the world's vegetation would look like without
constitutes 80 percent of the world's total land area and human activity. Here we see how strongly people have
has about 90 percent of the world's population. In the changed the natural environment. This isarithmic map of
map on the right, New Zealand lies near the center of the the human footprint is a quantitative analysis of human
opposite hemisphere, o r "water hemisphere," which has impacts on the Earth's biomes. A score of 1 indicates t he
only 20 percent of the land and about 10 percent of the least human influence in a given biome. A higher number
population. 13 means greater impact. However, because each biome
has its own independent scale, a score of 1 in a tropical
1.B What are the approximate latitude and longitude
rainforest might reflect a different level of human activity
coordinates of Oslo, Norway? (The answer is in endnote 18
than in a broad leaf forest. 55
on page 23.) 14
3.7 Wealth and poverty by country. Note the concentration
1.8 Examples of different map projections. 15
of wealth in the middle latitudes of the Northern
1.9 Maps are not always objective renditions of the landscape. Hemisphere. 56
Some have an agenda, and it is possible to "lie" with maps.
3.8 The Human Development Index classifies its scores into
(a) Depicts an open, easy access to the sea through the
four categories: 1.0 to 0.8 is "very high" development; 0.79
Douglas Channel, while (b) depicts a passage with islands
to 0.7 is "high"; 0.69 to 0.55 is "medium"; and scores of 0.54
that require ships to navigate with caution. 15
and under are "low." 57
1.C The Mercator Projection. 16
3.9 Fragile states are low-income countries characterized
2.1 Major tectonic plates and their general direction of by poor governance and/or weak state capacity, leaving
movement. Earthquakes, volcanoes, and other geologic citizens vulnerable to economic shocks, natural hazards,
events are concentrated where plates separate, collide, and climate change. Stable states are the opposite of
or slide past one another. Where they separate, rifting fragile states. The most stable states are depicted in this
produces very low land elevations (well below sea level classification as "sustainable states." 59
at the Dead Sea of Israel and Jordan, for example) or the
3.A World Values Survey 64
emergence of new crust on the ocean floor (in the m iddle
of the Atlantic Ocean, for example). Note the "Ring of Fire" 3.B Global map of land-grabbing 66
around the edges of the Pacific Plate. 26
3.C The status of the world's aquifers. A higher groundwater
2.3 World precipitation map. ls this, as some authorities say, the footprint per aquifer area represents greater stress on this
most important of all world maps? 29 vital water resource. 67
2.4 World climates. 30 3.15 Life expectancy is closely tied to economic well-being;
people live longer where they can afford the medicines
2.5 World biomes (natural vegetation) map. 31
and other amenities and technologies t hat prolong life. 71
2.8 World biodiversity hotspots as recognized by Conservation
3.16 Population change rates are highest in the countries of
International. 36
Africa and other regions of the developing world and
2.11 World commercial shipping routes, as mapped by the lowest in the more affluent countries. 71
National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis. Over
3.21 This dot density map shows the approximate distribution
3300 commercial and research vessels were tracked for a
of people around the world. 75
year to develop this map showing where human activity
on the oceans is highest. 38 3.E This map shows the percentage of the population in each
country living in urban areas, and also shows the locations
2.14 Global patterns of impacts in recent decades attributed
of all metropolitan areas w ith populations of 5 million o r
to climate change. Impacts are shown at a range of
more. 78
geographic scales. Symbols indicate categories of
viii
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Maps ix
3.F Over 700 suppliers around the world contribute to the 4.30 Human activities over long periods of t ime have
design and development, sourcing, manufacturing, transformed the natural landscapes of Europe. This map
warehousing, and distribution of Apple's iPhone. The depicts "pre-settlement" temperate mixed and coniferous
components come from cit ies and are assembled in forests, and the d istribution of forests currently. 124
cities; the processes of globalization and urbanization are
4.31 Historical industrial concentrations, cities, and seaports of
linked. 79
the European core. Older industries such as coal m ining,
4.1 The physical geography of Europe. 90 heavy metallurgy, heavy chemicals, and textiles clustered
in these congested d istricts. Local coal deposits provided
4.2 The political geography of Europe. 91
fuel for the Industrial Revolution in most of these areas,
4.3 Figure 4.3 {a) Population distribution and {b) population which have shifted increasingly to newer forms of industry
pie chart of Europe. The continent's demographic as coal has lost its economic significance and older
heavyweights are Germany, the United Kingdom, France, industries have declined. 124
and Italy. 93
4.H Global cities of the world. The factors used to determine a
4.4 By virtue of its location and polit ical status, Lampedusa is a city's score are its level of business activity, human capital,
primary destination for migrants wanting to reach Europe information exchange, cultural amenities, and political
from Africa by sea. 95 engagement. 127
4.5 Europe in terms of latitude and area compared w ith the 4.35 Paris is the primate city at the hub of France's
United States and Canada. 98 transportation network. 130
4.6 The westerly winds carry moderating influences from 4.37 Principal features of Germany. Note which parts of the
the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic Drift waters ashore country belong to what formerly were East and West
in the w inter to warm the land, and in the summer to Germany. 130
cool the land. 98
4.39 The subregions and countries of the European
4.9 The maximum extent of glaciation in Europe about periphery. 134
18,000 years ago. 100
4.40 Whaling takes place within the exclusive economic zones
4.12 Climate types (a) and biomes {b) of Europe. 101 (EEZs) of Norway and Iceland. 134
4.13 Land use in Europe. 101 4.42 The Basque country of Spain and France. 135
4.16 The languages of Europe. 105 4.44 North and South in Italy, as perceived by Italians. This
is a vernacular map, so there are no "true" boundaries
4.17 The religions of Europe. 106
separating north and south. The green striped regions are
4.C Devolutionary areas of Europe. Power is being devolved sometimes, though not always, considered part of Padania
from central governments to regional authorit ies in many (Northern Italy). 136
parts of Europe. This map depicts places like Scotland
4.45 Cyprus is vexed by its divisions. 137
and Wales, where the transfer has taken place, and others
like Corsica, where devolution is anticipated, declared, or 4.46 Positioned between stronger powers to the east and west,
sought. 107 Eastern Europe is a classic shatterbelt, with a tumultuous
past reflected in its shifting borders. 138
4.19 The Columbian Exchange. Europe served as the gateway
for New World goods that diffused t hroughout the Old 4.47 Present and former members of CEFTA. For Eastern
World. 109 European countries, joining CEFTA is a precursor to EU
membership. 140
4.24 Members of the European Union. 114
4.48 Ethnic composit ion of Yugoslavia's successor states. 141
4.25 The "Euro" (a) and the countries that use it (b). The euro
is the common currency of 19 of the European Union's 4.50 Distribution of the Roma across Europe. 142
28 countries. Greece leads the way of countries that want
5.1 Physical geography of Russia and the Near Abroad. 152
to drop it, sparking fears of a greater unraveling of the
European Union. Most conspicuous by its absence, the 5.2 Political geography of Russia and the Near Abroad. 153
United Kingdom was among three countries refusing to
5.3 {a) Population distribution and (b) population pie chart of
join the Eurozone to begin with. The euro was worth US
Russia and the Near Abroad. 155
$1.21 on January 1, 2015, the date that Lithuania joined the
Eurozone as the last Baltic country to do so. 115 5.0 A comparison of the 2015 populations of selected
countries, shown in red, with their projected 2050
4.27 European members of the North Atlantic Treaty
populations, shown in blue. 157
Organization (NATO). 119
5.4 Russia and the Near Abroad compared in lat itude and area
4.F Schengenland. 121
with the continental United States and Canada. 158
4.28 The countries comprising Europe's core. 122
5.5 {a) Climates and {b) biomes of Russia and the Near
4.29 Political geography of the European core. 123 Abroad. 159
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x Maps
5.6 Land use in Russia and the Near Abroad. 160 6.2 Polit ical geography of the Middle East and North
Africa. 209
5.9 The belt offertile chernozem (black earth) soils stretches
from Ukraine through Kazakhstan into southern 6.3 The Middle East and North Africa compared in lat itude
Siberia. 160 with the United States. 211
5.12 Moscow's situation near many important rivers, and the 6.4 (a) Population distribution and (b) population pie chart in
canals linking them, allows goods to be t ransported from the M iddle East and North Africa. 211
Russia's heartland to the Mediterranean Sea and the Arctic
6.6 (a) Climates and (b} biomes of t he Middle East and North
Ocean. 162
Africa. 213
5.14 Languages of Russia and the Near Abroad. The Soviet
6.9 Land use in the Middle East and North Africa. 214
Union had challenges trying to hold together such a large
collection of et hnic groups. The Russian Federation is 6.16 An idealized model of the classic rnedina, or Muslim
facing similar difficulties. 164 Middle Eastern city. Figure 6.D shows the ethnic quarters
that w ere also typical of the medina. 220
5.16 Religions of Russia and the Near Abroad. 166
6.18 Languages of t he Middle East and North Africa. 223
5.H The development of the land empires of Russia and t he
Soviet Union. Moscow has always been at its core. 167 6.19 Religions of the Middle East and North Africa. 224
5.19 Countries with Communist governments in 1980 and t hose 6.0 Sacred sites and the ethnic quarters of t he old city of
that were allied with t he Soviet Union. Between World Jerusalem. 225
War II and 1991, many countries declared themselves
neutral in the Cold War between Washington and Moscow, 6.24 The Gulf countries. 233
and some that did align w it h either the US or USSR 6.25 One-third of the world's proven oil reserves are in just two
changed allegiances over time. 172 countries: Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. 234
5.22 The autonomies of Russia, and the boundaries of the 6.26 One-third of the world's annual oil production is
federal districts created in 2000. 176 consumed by just two countries: the United States and
Ukraine is divided between a Ukrainian-speaking west China. 234
5.25
and a Russian-speaking east. 181 6.28 A map of current members of OPEC. 235
5.28 Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014, and anti- 6.29 Chokepoints in the Middle East and North Africa. 236
Ukrainian separatists have proclaimed their
own independent states along Ukraine's eastern border 6.F Principal pipelines in t he heart of the M iddle East.
with Russia. 183 Vulnerable chokepoints and volatile polit ical relations have
led to the construction, closure, and often indirect routing
5.29 Transnistria is still internationally recognized as part of of many pipelines. 238
Moldova. 185
6.31 Israel's National Water Carrier transports water from Lake
5.30 Reference map of the Caucasus region. 187 Kinneret to Israel's t hirsty cities. The Mountain Aquifer is
5.L Russia, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan have agreed on also a major source of Israeli d rinking w ater. The Two Seas
how to divide Caspian Sea oil and gas between them. Canal would generate hydroelectricity, bring desalinated
Iran and Turkmenistan want each country to have water to Jordan and potentially stabilize the water level of
an equal share. 189 the drying Dead Sea. 240
6.32 The Nile River and its tributaries are a vital source of water
5.M Oil pipeline routes from Baku. 189
for about 200 million people in Africa. Many countries
5.31 Is Russia a reliable provider of fossil fuels to Europe, or is it have erected dams to provide water for irrigation and to
too ready to turn off the tap for political reasons? 190 generate electricity. Note this map is oriented such t hat
north is at t he left rather than t he top. 240
5.32 Reference map of t he strategically important Fergana
Valley region of Central Asia. 191 6.1 Although al-Qa'ida has many affiliate terror groups, the
relat ively newly formed ISIS has quickly acquired a number
5.33 Political geography of t he coreland of Russia and the Near
of pledges to its cause. Some of ISIS's affiliated terror
Abroad. 193
groups originally supported al-Qa'ida but later switched
5.37 Energy-hungry Asian countries are increasingly relying allegiances. 245
upon oil and natural gas produced in Russia's Far East to
6.36 The Guardian rendered this extraordinary interactive
power their economies. 197
online graph of friends and enemies in the East. This is
5.40 The Caucasus, rich in cultures. 199 the site commentary: "As the US and UK are set to again
commit to military involvement in the Middle East, t his
5.41 The Armenian Genocide. Ottoman Turks uprooted over a
interactive visualizes the intricate, complex and sometimes
million ethnic Armenians from their ancestral homeland
hidden relationships and alliances across the region. Its
between 1915 and 1918. 199
tangled, opened state is meant as a kind of visual joke,
6.1 Physical geography of the M iddle East and North showing how its fabric defies simple solutions." You will
Africa. 208
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Maps xi
benefit from exploring it at http://www.theguardian.com 6.58 Political geography of the heartland of the Middle
/news/datablog/ng-interactive/2014/sep/24/friends-and East. 270
-enemies-in-the-middle-east-who-is-connected-to-who
7.1 Physical geography of South and East Asia. 284
-interactive. 247
7.2 Political geography of South and East Asia. 285
6.38 Israel, the Occupied Territories, and surrounding
areas. 249 7.3 South and East Asia compared in area and latitude with
the United States. 286
6.39 The British and French drew up the Sykes-Picot Line to
d ivide the heart of the Middle East between them after the 7.4 {a) Population distribution and (b) population pie chart of
fall of the Ottoman Empire in World War I. 250 South and East Asia. 286
6.40 The 1947 UN partition plan for Palestine and Israel's original 7.5 {a) Climates and {b) biomes of South and East Asia. 290
(p re-1967) borders. The 1948- 1949 war, which began as soon
as Britain withdrew from Palestine and Israel proclaimed 7.6 This map shows how the monsoons work, w ith prevailing
its existence, aborted the UN plan and created a tense new winds blowing from the sea during the summer, bringing
political dynamic in the region. 250 heavy rains, and winds blowing toward the sea in winter,
bringing dry conditions. 292
6.41 Palestinian refugee movements in 1948 and 1967.
Many who fled in the first conflict had to relocate again 7.8 Land use in South and East Asia. 294
in the second. 251 7.G Zomia, a perceptual region comprised of the highland
6.43 Israel and the Occupied Territories compared in size to areas of Southeast Asia. 296
New England and the Benelux countries. 253 7.11 Languages of South and East Asia. 300
6.44 The West Bank. Israeli and Palestinian areas of control 7.13 Religions of South and East Asia. 302
were delimited in the peace process of the 1990s, but
because of recurrent violence, almost all areas are 7.L Maritime boundary disputes in the South China Sea.
effectively controlled by Israel. Also depicted are Jewish Boundaries not being contested (usually defined by a
settlements, the completed and planned portions of t reaty between nations) are listed as "agreed upon.'' 316
the Israeli-built separation barrier, and t he Green Line 7.N Maritime boundary disputes in the Sea of Japan (East Sea)
delimiting the internationally recognized border between and the East China Sea. 317
sovereign Israel and the occupied West Bank. 254
7.27 Reference map of South Asia. In recent decades, some
6.48 Yemen fell into chaos after the collapse of the national of India's cities and states changed their colonial-era
government in 2012. Houthi rebels, secessionist factions, names to more authentic Indian ones. Some city
al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula terrorists, and surviving examples are Bombay (now Mumbai), Calicut (Kozhikode),
pro-government forces all battled for control of key cities. Calcutta (Kolkata), Cochin (Kochi), Madras (Chennai),
The Shi'ite Houthis reasserted control over large parts Pondicherry (Puducherry), Poona (Pune), and Trivandrum
of the country, sparking a military confrontation with {Thiruvananthapuram). The state names of Uttaranchal
neighboring Sunni Saudi Arabia. 260 (Uttarakhand) and Orissa (Odisha) have also been
6.49 Freedom House is a US-based organization that advocates changed. 322
for democracy and human rights around the world. It 728 Pre- and post-independence polit ical units of South Asia.
releases an annual report that rates countries as free, partly Before India and Pakistan were partitioned in 1947, they
free, or not free based on a variety of criteria including comprised the single unit of British India (sometimes
the presence of an independent judiciary, free and fair called the Indian Empire). British India was made up of
elections, freedom of expression and the media, and several provinces governed d irectly by the British and over
gender equality. In the Middle East and North Africa, only 500 autonomous "princely states" controlled indirectty
Israel has consistently been rated a free country, though by Britain through a local Indian ruler. In 1948, Sri Lanka,
Tunisia's recent successes show that there are no inherent Burma, and Sikkim also achieved independence from the
barriers to freedom within Arab societies. 261 UK (the Maldives remained a colony until 1962). Sikkim
6.50 By 2015, ISIS was in control of a large area of both Syria gave up its independence to join India as a state in
and Iraq. 263 1975. 323
6.52 Years of war have left 8 m illion d isplaced persons within 729 The political borders, areas of control, and religious
Syria and 4 million refugees outside the country. 265 composition of the disputed territory of Jammu and
Kashmir. 324
6.53 Ethno-religious g roups across Syria and Iraq. 266
7.31 India's "Red Corridor." Many of India's poorest areas lie
6.56 The Kurds are the largest ethnicity in the world without a within the Red Corridor, where the Naxalite insurgency is
country. In Iraq they have created a relatively prosperous strongest. 325
de facto autonomous region. They have appealed for
more backing from the US and other Western powers 7.32 Ethnicity in Sri Lanka. The heavily Tamil areas of the north
to preserve their gains there, especially by repelling and east fought a long civil war against the government to
ISIS. 269 establish their own country, called Tamil Eelam, until 2009,
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xii Maps
when they were finally defeated. The city of Trincomalee 8.1 Physical geography of Oceania. 368
would have been the capital of this new nation. 326
8.2 Political geography of Oceania. 369
7.0 China's "string of pearls," stretching from Hong Kong to
8.3 Oceania compared in area (but not latitude) with the
Pakistan. 327
United States. 371
7.35 India's gender ratios. Most of India's states report far more
8.4 (a) Population distribution and (b) population pie chart
boys born than girls each year. 329
of Oceania. 371
7.37 The geographic situation of Bangladesh. Bangladesh is
8.5 (a) Climates and (b) biomes of Oceania. 372
situated along the enormous delta made by the Ganges
and Brahmaputra Rivers. The country's low elevation 8.6 Zealandia, a continental fragment that is mostly
makes it very susceptible to storm surges and rising submerged. Only New Zealand and New Caledonia
sea levels. 330 rise above the waves. The ridges to the north are not
part of Zealandia. 372
7.39 Ethnic Pashtun areas and international borders.
"Pashtunistan" was cleaved in two by the Durand Line, 8.8 land use in Oceania. 373
which was established in 1893 and remains the boundary
between Afghanistan and Pakistan today. 331 8.10 The hotspot in the Pacific has created a long chain of
islands and seamounts as the Pacific Plate rode over it.
7.43 In Southeast Asia, natural forest cover has been rapidly The oldest islands in the chain are the northernmost. The
reduced by many human activit ies, especially commercial island of Hawaii (the Big Island) is the youngest. 374
logging and farming. 337
8.14 Languages of Oceania. 378
7.45 The Wallace Line. Flora and fauna on one side of the
Wallace Line are remarkably different from those on the 8.15 The origin and diffusion of the Austronesians. Austronesian
other side. 338 peoples likely originated in Taiwan about 5,000 years ago.
Over several millennia t hey spread throughout Southeast
7.46 The earthquake and tsunami of 2004. The epicenter of Asia and nearly all of the Pacific islands. Some historians
the earthquake was located off the west coast of the believe Austronesians may have reached the west coast
Indonesian island of Sumatra. It created a tsunami of of South America as well. 379
tremendous force and scope, inflicting massive suffering
and loss of life. 338 8.B Easter Island is one of the most remote islands
in the world. 381
7.48 Ethnicities in Myanmar. 340
8.17 Religions of Oceania. 382
7.53 Indochina's political evolution. The French colonized
Indochina in stages in the latter half of the 19th century, 8.22 Reference map of Australia, New Zealand, and nearby
consolidating their hold on the area by 1907. Four countries. 390
independent countries emerged after France withdrew 8.27 Reference map of Antarctica. 395
from the area in 1954. 343
9.1 Physical geography of Sub-Saharan Africa. 402
7.54 Vietnam today. Along with Laos and Cambodia, it
forms the area called Indochina or the Indochinese 9.2 Political geography of Sub-Saharan Africa. 403
Peninsula. 344 9.3 Sub-Saharan Africa compared in area and latitude with the
7.R A 1-meter (39-inch) sea level rise would inundate much conterminous United States. 404
of the Mekong Delta, home of some of the world's most 9.4 Population distribution (a) and population pie chart (b) of
fertile farmlands. 346 Sub-Saharan Africa. 404
7.56 Indonesia, highlighting its Papua and Aceh regions. 9.A HIV/AIDS has had a devastating impact in Sub-Saharan
Timor-Leste achieved independence in 2002 after a Africa and is redrawing the demographic profiles of some
quarter-century long attempt by Jakarta to incorporate countries in extraordinary ways. 408
it as an Indonesian state. 347
9.7 (a) Climates and (b) biomes of Sub-Saharan Africa. 410
7.58 The five autonomous areas of China. 348
9.8 l and use in Sub-Saharan Africa. 411
7.61 Locations of the Three Gorges Dam and the canals and
pipelines of the South-North Water Transfer Project. 350 9.11 Languages of Sub-Saharan Africa. 413
7.62 The six original special economic zones, along with the 9.12 Religions of Sub-Saharan Africa. 416
special autonomous regions of Macau and Hong Kong that 9.14 In the 1870s, the European presence in Africa was mostly
were incorporated into China in the late 1990s. 352 limited to several small coastal settlements. Less than half
7.64 The geographic distribution of Chinese incomes. The a century later, European powers controlled nearly the
provinces along the coast tend to be much wealthier than entire continent. 418
those inland. 353 9.15 Ethnic groups of Nigeria. States labeled in red are
7.65 East Asia: the economic powerhouses of Japan, South governed by shari'a law. 418
Korea, Taiwan, and coastal China. 355
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Maps xiii
9.18 Many African economies are heavily dependent 11.A Selected natural hazards in the continental United States.
upon mineral exports, especially the oil-rich countries Areas shaded red have the highest risk of experiencing
of West Africa. 422 that hazard. 502
9.26 Political geography of Nigeria. 436 11.16 Land use in Canada, the United States, and Greenland. 504
9.29 Political geography of South Africa. 440 11.21 Culture areas of Native Americans, First Peoples, First
Nations and Alaska Natives in Canada, the United States,
9.31 Between 1971and1981, South Africa established 10
and Greenland. 507
"homelands" to segregate its native black population
during apartheid. These homelands, often called 11.26 European colonization of North America 510
Bantustans, had varying levels of autonomy, and some
11.28 Territorial acquisitions of the United States and
were declared independent nations, though no other
Canada. 511
countries ever recognized them. The Bantustans were
reintegrated into South Africa upon the end of apartheid 11.29 Ethnic composition of selected US metropolitan areas.
in 1994. 441 The inner circle represents the city's center, and the outer
circle represent s the city's suburbs. The demographic
10.1 Physical geography of Latin America. 450
shifts resulting from the Great Migration and "white
10.2 Political geography of Latin America. 451 flight" are especially noticeable in cities like Detroit and
Cleveland. 513
10.3 Latin America and the United States. Note the great
longitudinal offset of North and South America. 454 11.34 Non-indegenous languages of the United St ates, Canada,
and Greenland. 518
10.4 (a) Population distribution and {b) population pie chart
of Latin America. 454 11.35 Religions of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 518
10.5 (a) Climates and (b) biomes of Latin America. 455 11.37 Distribution of fossil fuels across North America, with
Keystone and Trans-Alaska Pipelines. 521
10.8 Land use in Latin America. 456
11.40 Croplands of North America. 523
10.13 The t ypical effects of El Nino on world climate. 459
11.44 Poverty in America. High poverty rates are clustered
10.14 Major Native American groups and civilizations in Latin
in several areas of the country: the mostly white, rural
America on the eve of the Spanish conquest. 461
counties of Appalachia; the mainly black Mississippi Delta
10.18 Languages of Latin America. 463 region; the heavily Hispanic Rio Grande Valley in Texas; and
the Indian reservations of the Dakotas, Arizona, and New
10.21 Religions of Latin America. 467 Mexico. The highest poverty rate (55 percent) is found in
10.26 Exports of minerals and fossil fuels are very important to Oglala Lakota County, S.D., which is located within the Pine
the economies of many Latin American countries. 471 Ridge Indian Reservation. Wealthy suburban counties tend
to have the lowest poverty rates; Douglas County, Colo.,
10.28 The 1%2 Cuban Missile Crisis brought the United States and Loudoun Count y, Va .. and Hunterdon County, N.J .. all have
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republk s close to the brink of poverty rates of about 3 percent. 531
nuclear holocaust. This 1962 map shows the range that Soviet
missiles would have if stationed in Cuba. 475 11.45 There is an extraordinarily dense network of highways and
railways in the United States and southern Canada. Much
10.30 The Panama and Nicaragua Canals. 476 of this infrastructure is aging and in need of repair. 532
10.D Drug t rafficking routes. 478 11.48 Principal features of Canada. 536
10.E The distribution of the cartels across Mexico. 479 11.50 The Grand Banks. 537
10.32 Political geography of Mexico. 481 11.52 Recent dramatic reductions in sea ice cover and hopes of
10.34 Political geography of Brazil. 483 abundant resources have Arctic Ocean countries staking
territorial claims and drawing future trade routes. 538
10.36 Deforestation in the Amazon Basin. 485
11.54 Principal features of the United States. Alaska is shown at
11.1 Physical geography of the United States, Canada, and the same scale in Figure 11.63. 540
Greenland. 494
11.55 This map shows population movement trends in t he US. Note
11.2 Political geography of the United States, Canada, and especially the shift of population away from the Great Plains
Greenland. 495 and rural areas of the eastern half of the country towards the
11.3 (a) Population distribution and {b) pie chart of the United West (especially around Las Vegas), Florida, and suburban
States, Canada, and Greenland. 497 areas surrounding cities such as Atlanta, Dallas, and
Washington. 541
11.7 Physiographic regions of North America. 499
11.59 The Colorado River Basin. 545
11.15 (a) Climates and (b) biomes of the United States, Canada,
and Greenland. 501 11.63 Reference map of Alaska. 547
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Preface
To appreciate how our complex world works today, it is vital to • T he climate and biome classification and mapping schemes
have a solid ground ing in the environmental, cultural, historic, have been revised to be consistent with the Koppen system
economic, and geopolitical contexts of the world's regions and and the World W ildlife Fund ecoregions data.
nations. Fundamentals of World Regional Geography estab- • Pie charts have replaced population cartograms.
lishes that foundation and offe rs you an opportunity to explore
• The language and religion maps in each regional chapter are
the events, issues, a nd landscapes of the world in more detail.
revised using better and more consistent data.
Chapters 1 through 3 provide the basic concepts, tools, and
vocabula ry of world regional geography. In the first chapter, • The book is more thematic and conceptual than in previous
geography's uniquely spatial approach to the world is intro- editions. Fritz Gritzner's big geograph ic question, "What is
duced a long with some of the discipline's milestone concepts where, why there, and why ca re?," leads us to critical thinking
and its considerable career possibilities-especia1ly those grow- about the concepts and themes that span the world's regions.
ing from the "geospatial revolution." The second chapter covers • T he new Geographic Spotlight fea ture depicts geographers'
the essential characteristics of the world's physical processes and methods of capturing, a na lyzing, a nd depicting geographic
how human activity has altered some of them. Climate change information.
and the treaties to control it have a prominent role in that chap- • T he definitive "18 Standards of Geography" a uthored by
ter. Chapter 3 traces the modification of landscapes by human the Nationa l Council for Geographic Education (NCGE),
actions, describes trends and projections of population g rowth, and presented in Chapter 1, served as a consta nt reference
a nd considers agendas to slow destructive trends in resource use. in w riting the book. At the end of the course, the book's
Then come eight chapters exploring the world's regions reader will be able to claim confidently, "My geographic
through a consistent, thematic approach focusing in turn on understa nding has been informed by all the sta ndards. I can
five elements: Area a nd Popu lation, Physical Geography and match each standard with content in the book."
Human Adaptations, Cultural a nd H istorical Geographies,
• Extensive use of the NCGE Standa rds is one of many ele-
Economic Geography, a nd Geopolitical Issues. The final sec-
ments that recommend this book in preparing for the AP
tion of each chapter, entitled "Regional Issues and Landscapes,"
Huma n Geography test.
contains a selection of short studies of critica l problems in
glo bal affairs and exemplary o r important problems in huma n • Regional chapters have a new feature entitled " Life in ... ,"
or physical geography, where a resident of that region discusses land and life in a
The book is built for use in either a one- or two-semester particular country. The only exception is the chapter on the
course. If time is limited, the five thematic elements of each United States because most of the book's readers know life
chapter may be a priority, with limited use of the case studies in in that country.
the " Regional Issues and Landscapes" section . After the three • In the introductory Chapter 3 and in each regional chapter,
introductory chapters, it does not matter what order the re- economic geography has been given more attention. G lo-
gional chaprers are read in; no regional chapter presumes that balization has shifted wealth from more to less developed
any other regional chapter has been read. However, a unique countries, lifting hundreds of millions of people out of pov-
cross-reference system allows a theme or issue introduced in erty while gutting middle class jobs in developed cou ntries
one region to be tied im mediately to other regions. and widen ing inequalities in many societies. These issues,
MindTap for Fundamentals of World Regional Geography, along with the crosscurrents of post-Great Recession eco-
4e implements the cross-reference system through easy-to-use nomic growth a nd the impacts of China's economic slow-
links so readers can instantly navigate to the related theme or down, are tied together throughout the book.
issue. Read more about the powerfu l learn ing tools made avail- • The geographies of fresh and marine waters have more at-
able in M indTap in the Course Support section of the Preface. tention than in previous editions.
• Urban geography is much more prominent than in earlier
editions.
New to the Fourth Edition • Geopolitical issues are more important than ever. Here the
Both longtime a nd first-time users of Fundamentals of World reader is brought up to date on geopolitical problems while
Regional Geography should be pleased with this edition. Much also given a geographic foundation for understanding post-
of the critical content of the previous editions is retained, but pu blication current events.
this is the most extensive revision to date, and a number of new • Geopolitical instability and other climate change impacts
elements are introduced here. on human systems are covered th roughout.
• Almost all of the maps are new or newly designed. Cartog- • Think Critically q uestions are raised with many figure cap-
rapher Andrew Dolan and I have worked to tie the maps tions, challenging the student to use the text information in
tightly to the content. a thoughtful manner.
xiv
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Preface xv
• Graphs have a new clean look and are more accessible. global cities are introduced here. A new map of Iceland's
• A thorough Study Guide useful for both instructors and and Norway's EEZs shows where their wha ling takes place.
students concludes each chapter. The geopolitical evolution of the East European shatterbelt
is depicted in five maps.
• Chapter 5, Russia and the Near Abroad, sees Russia fall-
Chapter-Specific Changes ing into economic crisis (with "Dutch Disease") while
Vladimir Putin consolidates his hold on power in the wake
• Chapter 1, "Objectives and Tools of World Regional Geog- of Russia's invasion and intervention in Ukraine. Future ac-
raphy," introduces NCGE's "Six Essential Elemen ts" and tions by Russia, especially in "frozen conflicts" like that in
"18 Standards of Geography." Two new objectives of the Transnistria, and where Russian irredentism is strong, are
book are presented: To become geographically literate, considered. Russia's power to use pipelined energy as a po-
and To use geographic critical thinking to understand the litical tool is analyzed and mapped. The country's demo-
world. Tobler's First Law of Geography is introduced. There gra phic crisis is updated and mapped with a comparison of
is a figure showing " how to lie with maps." The AAG's neighboring countries' demographics. The Chelyabinsk and
"Strategic Research Directions" for students and scientists Tunguska meteor events are in a new discussion of near-
of geography are highlighted as thematic elements covered earth objects. A Cold War map depicts communism glob-
in the book. ally in 1980. "Life in Moldova" is the guest essay. Eurasia's
• Chapter 2, Physical Processes a nd World Regions, contains status as the "cockpit of history" girded by the "Iron Si lk
global maps using the new world climate and biome data. Road" is proposed. The Armenian Genocide is discussed
There is more discussion of ocean resources, with a new and mapped.
map of global shipping la nes. Data, modeling, and treaties • Chapter 6, the Middle East and North Africa, is filled with
related to climate change a re updated, with a globa l ma p of new features. The region's endu ri ng economic importance
changes observed to date. IPCC conclusions structu re the is seen in a map of global oil reserves, alongside global oil
discussion. consumption. The tense standoff over Nile Basin waters is
• Chapter 3, Human Processes and World Regions, includes a discussed and mapped, and the Geography of \Y/ater fea-
new map and d iscussion of globa l human migrations, based ture takes a closer look at the importance of virtual water
on DNA a na lysis. The Geography of Economic Develop- and land grabbing for many of the countries. The region's
ment section introduces the dramatic shifts in wealth across geopolitical importance as a shatterhelt with numerous
the globe, and the factors behind them. The new discus- chokepoints is underscored in view of emerging threats,
sion of globalization and development with five outcomes particu larly terrorism. The evolution of Islamic State in Iraq
of globalization is especially useful. T he Human Develop- and Syria (ISIS) from Syria's civil war and America's engage-
ment Index, Fragi le Stares Index, and Human Values Index ments in Iraq a re traced and mapped, and US options fo r
are mapped and discussed at the globa l scale, as is "land confronting ISlS a re considered. There is discussion and a
grabbing," which re-emerges in many of the regional chap- map of the refugee camps of externally and internally dis-
ters. There is new discussion of freshwater, including the placed Syrian refugees. There is an in-depth compa rison of
concepts of "virtual water" and "water footprints," along al-Qa'ida and ISIS, a nd a backgrounder on what Salafist
w ith a new map of the world's aquifers. A unique graphic movements are seeking. There is a map of t he distribution of
of global human migrations serves as a reference in many Islamist terrorist movements across Eurasia and Africa. An
regional chapters. T here are new maps and discussions of extraord inary graph shows the tangled web of allies and ad-
urban geography and the globalization of industrial supply versar ies within and beyond the region. America n geopoliti-
chains. cal interests in the region are detailed. US options in dea ling
with Iran's nuclear ambitions are considered. A sequence of
• Chapter 4 on Europe covers the region's growing immigra-
maps shows the evolution of political borders in Mesopo-
tion crisis a nd the related rise of populist and nationalist
tamia and raises the prospect of Iraq's fragmentation. The
parties, and its "crisis with Islam." Recent developments
previous edition's "Ara b Spring" is bookended here by the
in the devolution of Scotland and Catalonia are covered.
"Arab Fal l." The Saudi intervention in Houthi-dominated
There is a vivid new map of the Columbian exchange a nd a
Yemen is discussed. Three maps of Freedom House ratings
thematic map of Lampedusa as a migrants' stepping stone
through time depict the region's lack of democratic insti-
to Europe. A new graph and discussion depict the decline
tutions. Dubai's troubled a rtificial islands are a "problem
of Europe's primary and secondary economic sectors and
landsca pe." A graph ic shows how the Gulf's traditional ar-
the rise of its tertiary services sector. "Life in Fra nce" is the
chitectural " wind catchers" work. "Life in Egypt" is the
guest essay. Problems in the Eurozone and European Union
guest essay.
(EU), including the Greek financial crisis, are described,
along with Germany's linchpin status. Eu ropean reactions • Chapter Seven on South and East Asia is the book's lon-
to Russia's invasion of Crimea are discussed. Environmen- gest because it covers the most popu lous world region. It
tal Perception is illustrated with English la ndscape tastes. d iscusses the revision of China's one-child pol icy. A new
Attributes of the "global city" with a worldwide map of graph shows the ecological succession associated with
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Editorial review bas deemed that any suppressed content docs nor materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengagc Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any lime if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
xvi Preface
slash-and-burn cultivation. In this chapter a nd others, we away from commodities towards manufacturing and ser-
consider Edward G1aeser's ideas about cities, including their vices, all helping to grow economic prospects. Africa's "du-
slums, as engines of innovations. The economic geography rable strengths and resources" are listed. "Confl ict metals"
text and maps have expanded to consider the International have become problematic. We see land grabbing and the
Monetary fund's characterization of China as the world's continuing "sustained looting" of Africa's resources. We
largest economy; the interdependence of the Chinese and consider China's infrastructure-for-minerals swaps with
Amer ican economies; the "onshoring" of US jobs previously African governments, and the different priorities of Chi-
offshored to China, as wages rise there; China's gaps be- nese and American aid. The growth of Islamist terrorism
tween rich and poor, rural and urban ; the vulnerabil ities is viewed as one reason for renewed Western geopolitical
of China's real estate sector and overall economy; and the interest in the region. The Sustainable Development Goals
domestic fallout and international repercussions of China's and the Millennium Development Goals preceding them
economic slowdown. Geopolitical Hot Spots in the Western are described in the African context. Current and planned
Pacific describes and maps each of the conAicting ma riti me urban projects across the region are introduced. The his-
claims in this a rea. Ch ina's strategic "string of pearls" is toric geography of race relations in South Africa and a map
discussed and mapped. China's growing frustration with of the "homelands" are introduced to provide more under-
North Korea is discussed. Maps and prose show the evolu- standing of the current situation. "Life in Tanzania" is the
tion of colonial India into India, Pakistan, East Pakistan, guest essay.
and disputed Kashmi r, and the emergence of the Naxalite • Chapter 10 on Latin America includes a completely revised
"Red Corridor" in India. A map shows the distortions be- section on economic geography that reveals the region's
tween genders, due largely to abortions, in India's states. growing relationship with China (including impacts
We consider the future of Afghanistan, the "Graveyard of of China's economic slowdown), disturbing economic
Empires," in the wake of the US drawdown. A new map inequalities, the drive to diversify into manufacturing
shows the contributions of palm oil pla ntations and other and services, and the w1de adoption of neo-liberalism and
developments to deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia. related free trade agreements (amidst pushback by Brazil
Myanmar earns a dedicated ethnic map and discussion of and the "Bolivarian socialist countries"). A new map depicts
growing democracy and new relationships with the US. In- minerals and mining. The status of NAFTA and other
dochina's political evolution is described and mapped. The FTAs is updated. There is a town plan of the colon ial city
benefits and drawbacks of golden rice are discussed. The and discussion of life in the region's informal settlements.
guest essay is abour "Life in Vietnam." The reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Cuba
• Chapter 8 takes us across Oceania and Antarctica. Helping and the US is marked. There are new insights and maps
to illustrate New Zea land's position in tectonic movements, in the "Geography of Drug Trafficking" about smuggling
there is a new map of the mostly submerged continental routes, the drugs value chain, and the role of cartels. The
fragment of Zealandia. Christchurch's 2011 earthquake is Nicaragua Canal is discussed and mapped. Students are
discussed in the accompanying text and in the guest essay invited to contribute to humanita rian mapping projects in
on "Life in New Zealand," by a Maori woman geographer. Latin America and elsewhere, including through Mapgive
The Hawaii-Emperor Seamount Chain map reveals how the and Tomnod. The guest essay is "Life in Amazon ia for
Hawaiian Islands and others were born. We reconsider the Uncomacted Tribes."
simple parable of Easter Isla nd's decline. There is more in- • Chapter 11 is the most thorough revision to date of the
sight into how control over natural resources spawned con- United States and Canada. Current debates over legal and
fl ict in the Solomon Islands. Renewed US military interests illega l immigration in both countries a re discussed. There
in the Pacific as a counterweight to Ch ina are discussed. The are new maps of physiographic regions and natural hazards.
titanic Castle Bravo atomic test in seen in the context of The section on "Cultural and Historical Geographies" in-
foreign militar y uses of the region. Australia's "Pacific Solu- cludes new discussions of ea rly peoples' migrations into
tion" for its unwanted immigrants is introduced. Aborigi- North America, ecological and cu ltural impacts of Europe-
nal and Torres Strait Islander efforts to reclaim territories ans, European settlers and settlements, and peoples of the
and resources are brought up to date with a recent Supreme US and Canada today. There is a new map of the ethnic
Court ruling in Australia. There is a Geographic Spotlight composition of selected US metropolitan areas. There is a
on countermapping. Recent research on climate change re- new discussion of the geographic underpinnings of the re-
lated to Antarctica accompanies a new map of the continent. gion's prosperity. Using a new map of the region's energy
• Chapter 9 on Sub-Saharan Africa portrays the continent in resources and routes, readers are encouraged to weigh in
its most hopeful state in decades. The fight aga inst HIV/ on the Keystone XL pipeline controversy. The revised eco-
AIDS continues with new hope as ARVs reach more people. nomic geography section depicts the American "energy
The sudden epidemic of Ebola and the success in fighting it revolution," the convergence of new oil drilling and falling
are discussed. Maps and prose describe the devastating traf- oil prices, new insights into alternative energies and agri-
ficking of ivory. There are discussions of better governance, cu ltural technologies, growth in information technologies
less conflict, more foreign investment, and diversification and how they have displaced traditional workers, projected
Preface xvii
sectors of employment, and growing social and economic you choice in the configuration of coursework and enhance-
inequalities. America's infrastructure woes are described. ment of the curriculum via web apps known as MindApps.
Geopolitica l issues include expressions of war -weariness MindApps range from ReadSpea ker (which reads the text out
whi le the US finds itself on a perpetual war footing. Saul loud to students) to Kaltura (allowing you to insert inline video
Cohen argues that the US is no longer a superpower. Read- and audio into your curriculum), to ConnectYard (allowing
ers are asked to consider six great geopolitical challenges for you to create digital "yards" through social media-all with-
the US. New patterns of settlement in small, midsized, and out "friending" your students). MindTap for Fundamentals of
large cities are discussed, along with urban "smart growth." World Regional Geography, 4e provides the following unique
There is a much-expanded discussion of issues related to fearnres to enhance your course:
Colorado River waters and drought in the West.
• An interactive eBook with highlighting, note taking, and an
interactive glossary
• Unparalleled content cross-referencing so students can
Acknowledgments make important connections across the regions of the world
I am grateful to everyone who encouraged me t hroughout, • Interactive mapping exercises based on the high-quality
especially my wife, Cindy; daughters, Katie and Lily; and maps in the text
my Mom. Brothers Greg and Will offered va luable help with • Global Geoscience Watch, an idea l one-stop site for current
Chapter 11 content, as did Andy Dolan. In addition to drafting events and research projects for a ll things geography
ourstanding maps, Andy considered every word in the book • Pre-tests and Post-tests for each chapter that are auto-graded
for accuracy, timeliness, and relevance, and researched all the in MindTap and include helpful hints for students
numbers. Andy also contributed substantially to section 11.3,
and to the climate and biome discussions of each chapter. I
have never had a better and more supportive editor than Jake
Warde. Lori Hazzard worked tirelessly and kindly through all Instructor Resources
the book's stages.
The Cengage Learning team was headed up by Product Instructor Companion Site
Manager Morgan Carney and included Content Developer Everything you need for your course in one place! This col-
Jake Warde, Associate Content Developer Kellie Petruzzelli. lection of book-specific lecture and class tools is available on-
Lori Hazzard of MPS Limited, Editorial Assistant Victor Luu, line via www.cengage.com/login. Instructors can access and
Marketing Manager Ana Albinson, Content Developer Digiti- download preassembled Microsoft® PowerPoint® lecture
zation Project Manager Jennifer Chinn, Intellectual Property slides, the instructor's manual, the image library, animations,
Analyst Christine Myaskovsky, Art Director Michael Cook, videos, blank maps, test banks, and more.
Photo Research Manager Veerahaghu Nagarajan of Lumina
Datamatics and Text Permissions Manager Manjula Devi Sub-
ramanian, also of Lumina Datamatics.
Cengage Learning Testing Powered
by Cognero
This flexible online system allows the instructor to author,
course support Resources edit, and manage test-ba nk content from multiple Cengage
Learning solutions; create multiple test versions in an instant;
The text is accompanied by a number of ancillary publications and deliver tests from an LMS, a classroom, or wherever the
to assist instructors and enhance student learni ng, including instructor wants.
full MindTap course support!
MindTap for Fundamentals of World

Regional Geograph'ft 4e
MindTap is a personalized, fully online digital learning plat-
form of authoritative content, assignments, and services that
engages your students with interactivity while also offering
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Editorial review bas deemed that any suppressed content docs nor materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any lime if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
About the Author
Joe Hobbs received his B.A. at the University of Sudan. Upcoming work dea ls with impacts of
Cal ifornia Santa Cruz and his M.A. and Ph.D. climate cha nge on cultures and liveli hoods in
at the Un iversity of Texas at Austin. He is a ge- the Lower Mekong Basin and with best prac-
ography professor at the University of Missouri, tices in environmental management for Ajman ,
where he also serves as d irector of the Vietnam United Arab Emirates.
Institute. He is a mainly a geographer of the Joe is the author of other books including
Middle East, with many years of field research "' Bedouin Life in the Egyptian Wilderness and
.c
on Bedouin peoples and natural environments in ~ Mount Sinai (both University of Texas Press),
Egypt's deserts . Joe's inrerest in the region grew i co-author of The Birds of cgypt (Oxford Uni-
c:;
from his boyhood in Saudi Arabia . His profes- versity Press), and co-editor of Dangerous
sion in geography grew out of life abroad with his Mom and Harvest: Drug Plants and the Transformation of Indigenous
Dad, all of his rravels, and especially his being a "wayfel - Landscapes (Oxford University Press).
low" of Saleh Ali, a Bedouin of the Ma'aza tribe. H is research Joe has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in world
in Egypt has been supported by grants from Fulbright, the regional geography, geopolitics, environmental geography, the
American Council o f Learned Societies, the America n Re- geography of the Midd le East, the geography of caves, the ge-
search Center in Egypt, and the National Geographic Society ography of global current events, and the geographies of drugs
Committee for Research and Exploration. He served as the and terrorism, as well as a field course on the ancient Maya ge-
team leader of the Bedouin Support Program, a component ography of Belize. He has received the University of M issouri's
of the St. Katherine Nationa l Park project in Egypt's Sina i highest teaching award, the Kemper Fellowship, and awards
Peninsula , and led an effort to establish a national plan for for leadership in international education at MU. He has led
environmenta l management in the United Arab Emirates. H is adventure tou rs to remote areas in Latin America, Africa, the
most recent field research has been with a team, fu nded by the Ind ian Ocean, Asia, Europe, and the High Arctic. Joe lives in
Norwegian Research Council, studying the interactions be- Missouri with his wife, Cindy; daughters, Katie and Lily; and
tween nomadic pastoralists and acacia trees in Egypt and the turtles, lizards, cats, and dogs.
xviii
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In loving memory of Tommy, Jack,
Elizabeth, and Avantika
Copyright 2017 Ccngagc Leaming. All Righl~ Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in pan. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the cBool:. andior cChaptcr(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content docs not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it
Above: Maps are the primary way geographers visualize spatial information of all kinds. Above is a selection of maps from
this book. each focusing on a different relationship between people, places, and the environment.
Left: Paddling the Perfume River. central Vietnam. Joa Hobbs
Objectives and Tools of

We are living in the era of
world Regional Geography
the geographer.
elcome to world regional geography. What an important and useful field of study! In recent times the
- HAL MOONE Y, STANFORD
ECO LOG IS T
1
W world has seemed endangered on so many fronts: great powers struggle for control in Ukraine; violent
lslamists threaten the social and political fabric of the Middle East; China exerts its power over the marine
territories of less powerful Asian countries; Ebola ravages West Africa and threatens other regions, for example.
What on Earth is going on? But buried by the worrisome headlines are remarkable stories of breakthroughs
in technology, communications, and agriculture as well as advancements in the eradication of disease and
hunger. What are those all about? Where are we, Earth's peoples, headed?
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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Ccngage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
1.1 What is Where. Why There, and Why Care? 3
Chapter outline
1.1 What Is Where. Why There. and
1.1 What Is Where, Why There, and Why Care?
WhyCare? OJ In studying world regional geography, we seek to understand what is going on, and
1.2 The Language of Maps 09 why, and especially where. How are we doing? Many findings suggest "not very
1.3 Geographic Technologies well." A study carried out recently by professors in three Ivy League colleges re-
and Careers 15 vealed that only one in six adult Americans could accurately locate Ukraine on a
world map. Asked to locate Ukraine on a world map with only country borders
Chapter Objectives drawn in, the 2066 respondents were literally all over the map, placing Ukraine
This chapter will enable you to on every continent except Antarctica, which was not depicted. Ukraine turned up
in a number of US states, especially in Alaska. A number of respondents put it in
• Learn about the scope of geography as an
academic discipline. Greenland. 2
What difference does it make? Who cares if you know where Ukraine is, much
• Get acquainted with the essential themes.
elements, and standards of geography. less Greenland? Long ago geography earned a reputation for mind-numbing memo-
• Learn some key concepts in geography. rization of state capitals, and for driv ing students away (•Figure 1.1). Netflix's de -
• Appreciate the book's overall objectives.
scription of a 2014 film called Geography Club reads in part: "Looki ng for a haven
from the social hell of [high] school, the teens in this dramedy form a social d ub
• Learn the basic language of maps.
they know no one else will join."3 T hat's not very funny to geographers like me,
• Explore the "geospatial revolution:
geographic information systems (GIS), and
but I understand it. The tru th is, by itself, a piece of knowledge like where Ukraine
remote sensing. is probably means little. But geography is all about context and connections. Un-
• See how geographic knowledge is put to derstanding where things are makes it much easier to appreciate and answer the
work in the job market. who, what, when, why, and how questions in life, at every sca le-from your daily
activities to world affairs. Geography always starts with the where question, but it
is far more interesting and importa nt than its old reputation for memorizing places
suggests. Helping you to understa nd contexts and relationships, geography can
help you make better-informed judgments and decisions. My geographer colleague
Fritz Gritzner coined this definition of geography, which also serves as a methodol-
ogy and as a challenge for us to think critically: "What is where, why there, and
why care?"4
To illustrate the importance of geographic insight, let's drill down a little deeper
into that Ukraine study, which was conducted after Russia annexed the Crimean
Peninsula in 2014 and appeared ready to take eastern Ukraine by force. The profes-
sors who conducted the study found that the farther away from the actua l location
of Ukraine the survey participants guessed Ukraine was, the more likely they were
rn support US military intervention in Ukraine. Should that kind of disconnect con-
cern us as we think about expending American "blood and treasure" in the world's
hotspots?
Most of us using this book are Americans, and ou r collective experience in re-
cent decades has prompted us to say this to our politicians: We a re tired of getting
it wrong, a nd we can't afford to get it wrong. Our decision makers are responding.
Here is what the former US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told cadets at the US
Military Academy at West Point in 2011:
Any future defense secretar y who advises the president to again send a big America n
land a rmy into Asia o r into the Middle East o r Africa should "have his head exam-
ined," as Gener al [Douglas] MacArthur so delicately put it . . . Just think about the
range o f security cha llenges we face right now beyond Traq and Afgha nistan: terrorism
and terrorists in search of weapons of mass destruction, lran, Nor th Korea, militar y
modernization programs in Russia and China, failed and fa iling states, revolution in
the Middle East, cyber-piracy proliferation, natural and man-made disasters, and more.
And I must tell you, when it comes to predicting t he natu re and location of our next
military engagements, since Vietnam, our record has been perfect . \Y/e have never once
gotten it right. s
In his second term in office, President Obama depicted his foreign policy motto as
"don't do stupid stu ff." 6
If only American presidents were advised by geographer s . . . Geography
is all about "getting it right" and "doing smart stuff" when it comes to un -
derstanding how the world works. Geographic know ledge of the where, who,
Copyright 2017 Ccngagc Leaming. All Righ l~ Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in pan. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppret>scd from the cBook andior cChaptct(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content docs not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengagc Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
4 CHAPTER 1 Objectives and Tools of world Regional Geography
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• Figure 1.1 Geography used to be associated with memorizing mind-numbing facts. Not any more!
what, when, why, and how can help guide informed deci- for you, and I hope you will use this feature often and learn
sion making at all scales, from whether and how the United much from it.
States should commit troops to a ground war to how you I also want to draw your attention to features that will help
can get from point A to point B in your own community. you know what the most important points in the book are. My
Geographic insight has the power to transform our lives WRG students often ask me that famous question: "Do I need
and contribute to the welfare of our commun it ies and our to know that for the test?" l cannot tell you what your professor
countries. or TA will put on your test or quiz, but I can help you recognize
By the end of this chapter, you will know what geography the ideas, issues, concepts, themes, and information that are
is, recognize the benefits you can gain from learning world re- fundamental to world regional geography (fundamental means
gional geography, understand the organization and objectives "of central importance") and that are worthy of testing. I en-
of this book, and learn some of the key concepts and rnols of courage you to use the Study Guide at the end of each chapter. It
geography. highlights the chapter's most important points and issues. If you
want to double its usefulness, I recommend that you read the
Before You Go on Study Guide even before you read the chapter, and use it more
thoroughly after your reading and when you are preparing for
I have been teaching world regional geography (WRG) fo r the test. Another device that I am fond of as a writer and that
more than 25 years, and l know the ch allenges you face as shou ld be useful to you is the topic sentence or phrase introduc-
a student in taking on such a la rge and important subject ing or summarizing the main point or content of a given pas-
as the world. Knowing the earth gets a lot easier when you sage. Usually my topic sentence is at the beginning or end of a
recognize the patterns that repeat themselves in different paragraph, hut not always. Want a quick read of the chapter to
places, and a lso when you recognize the key points of what get up to speed? Follow the topic sentences like highway signs.
you are reading. So, before you continue reading, you need
to know about some important features of the book that help
you with WRG recognition. The first is its cross-referencing What Is Geography?
system. The book is written with global interconnections in Geography, a term first used by the Greek scholar Eratosthenes
mind. "Globalization" is understandable as a concept, but in the third century BC E,7 literally means "description of the
how exactly does it work? The page and figure numbers in Earth" but is probably best characterized as "the study of the
the book's margins (and the hyperl inks in the ebook) tie the Earth as the home of humankind." Focusing on interactions
diverse strands of global issues together. for example, when between people and the environments in which we live, the
you read in Chapter 3 how countries running low on pro- modern academic discipline of geography has its roots in the
ductive agricultural land become " land grabbers" in other Greek and Roman civilizations and the Scientific Revolution
countries, page numbers in the margin lead you to the places in Europe.
where land grabbing is occurring (go to page 65 to see whar I Geography has unique properties as a scientific disci -
mean). As you read about China's economic growth and its pline. These traits are ar ticulated especially well in the set
appetite for raw materials, you are likewise d irected to places of National Geography Standards, composed by the Na-
around the world where these forces come into play (see tional Council for Geographic Education (NCGE) and pro-
page 65). I put a lot of effort into making these connections moted by the National Geograph ic Society. 8 The standards
Copyright 2017 Cengage Leaming. All Righl~ Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in pan. Due to cloctronie righ1s, some lhird party content may be suppressed from the cBook andior eChaptcr(s).
Editorial review bas deemed that any suppressed content docs nor materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengagc Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any lime ifsubsequent rights restrictions require it.
are based on the NCGE's six essential clements of geog- Another conceptual summary of geography's distinctive
raphy. Each of the six elements has a subse t of geograph ic properties is known as the Five Themes of Geography. The
knowledge standa rds, eighteen in a ll, that " represent the N ational Counci l for Geographic Education and the Asso-
most current concept io n of what it mea ns to be geographi- ciation of American Geographers (AAG) developed these
cally literate." These eighteen sta ndards represent the sub- themes. Because of their clarity and easy use, many geogra-
sta ntive conten t o f the field of geog raphy, a nd they a lso phers prefer them for teaching, and I encourage you to try them
underpin this book's contents. Yo u should be able to take out for you rself (see Try It, page 6). You r prof may wish to use
a ny issue discussed in the text and match it with one or this set instead of or alongside the six essential elements and
more of the eig hteen sta ndards. The standa rds a re presented their eighteen standards. The five Themes of Geography are
in •Table 1.1: listed here:9
In this book, I have worked mainly behind the scenes to en- 1. Location
sure that you r geographic literacy 1s in formed by these NCGE
2. Place
standards. The book's t hree introductory chapters employ
all eighteen standa rds to set the world stage for you, and the 3. Huma n-Environment Interaction
chapter o utline of each regional chapter reflects (but does not 4. Movement
mirror) the six essentia l elements. 5. Region
Tab1e1.1 The Six Essential Elements and 18 Standards of Geography

The World in Spatial Terms. Geography studies the relationships among people, places. and environments by mapping information about them into
a spatial context (spatial means "of or relating to space").
Standard 1: How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools. and technologies to acquire, process, and report information.
Standard 2: How to use mental maps to organize information about people. places. and environments.
Standard 3: How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth's surface.
2 Places and Regions. The identities and lives of individuals and peoples are rooted in particular places and in human constructs called ·regions."
Standard 4: The physical and human characteristics of places.
Standard S: That people create regions to interpret Earth's complexity.
Standard 6: How culture and experience influence people's perception of places and regions.
3 Physical Systems. Physical processes shape the Earth's surface and interact with plant and animal life to create, sustain, and modify ecosystems.
Standard 7: The physical processes that shape the patterns of Earth's surface.
Standard 8: The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems on Earth's surface.
4 Human Systems. People are central to geography; human activities, settlements. and structures help shape the Earth's surface. and humans compete
for control of the Earth's surface.
Standard 9: The characteristics, distribution. and migration of human populations on Earth's surface.
Standard 10: The characteristics. distributions. and complexity of Earth's cultural mosaics.
Standard 11: The patterns and networks of economic interdependence on Earth's surface, process. patterns, and functions of human settlement.
Standard 12: The process, patterns, and functions of human settlement.
Standard 13: How forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence the division and control of Earth's surface.
5 Environment and Society. The physical environment is influenced by t he ways in which human societies value and use the Earth's physical features
and processes.
Standard 14: How human actions modify the physical environment.
Standard 15: How physical systems affect human systems.
Standard 16: The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources.
6 Uses ofGeography. Knowledge of geography enables people to develop an understanding of the relationships among people, places, and
environments over time- that is, of the Earth as it was, is. and might be.
Standard 17: How to apply geography to interpret the past.
Standard 18: To apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future.
Source: National Council for Geo graphic Education, 2012. Geo graphy for Life: National Geograp hy Standards, 2012. http://education.nationalgeographic.co m/standards/national
-geography-standards/.
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Editorial review bas deemed that any suppressed content doos nor materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengagc Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any lime if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Look at some of the most pressing

Try it The Geography of Anyplace globa l environmental issues that con-
cern us today: they include deforesta-
Try using the Five Themes ofGeography to was marshy swampland. Construction of t he tion and shortages of fresh water.
characterize any place. Here is an example to twin towers of the World Trade Center, as well In Humboldt's wake, other geogra-
work from, using Ground Zero in Manhattan. as the buildings erected after the 9/11 attacks, phers in Europe and the United States
required special foundations to keep the Hudson wrote about environmental changes
Geographic Characteristics of Ground Zero River's water from pouring in. due to deforestation and the expan-
Location: Lower Manhattan. New York City (with Movement: Before 9/11, the daily comings sion of agriculture and industry. The
an exact location of latitude: 40 degrees, 42 min-
and goings of office workers in the World Trade American geographer Carl Sauer
utes, 43 seconds N; and longitude: 74 degrees,
Center; on 9/11, the diversion of airplanes to (1889-1975) wrote, "We have accus-
00 minutes. 49 seconds W (later in the chapter. t arget the buildings; after 9/11, the flow of tourists tomed ourselves to think of ever ex-
we will look at latitude and longitude).
and construction crews to the site. panding product ive capacity, of ever
Place: Formerly, office buildings and firms Region: Situated in region of the United fresh spaces of the world to be fi lied
at the heart of one of the world's great financial
States known as the Northeast, in a humid with people, of ever new discoveries
centers (a reason it was targeted for destruction);
subtropical climate region (in the next chapter, of kinds and sources of raw materials,
now. a place of historical significance and collec-
we look at such physical regions). of continuous technical progress oper-
tive grief for people o f the United States.
You can use the five themes to appreciate ating indefinitely to solve problems of
Human-Environment Interaction: Lower any place geographically, from the Great supply. Yet our modern expansion has
Manhattan occupies low-lying ground that once
Pyramids of Egypt to where you are now. Try it. been affected in large measure at the
cost of an actual and permanent im-
poverishment of the world." 12 These
words have a modern ring to them, but
The National Geographic Society's educational division rec- Sauer, a geographer at the University of California-Berkeley,
ommends, "While the five themes are still used, essential wrote them in 1938. Sauer focused geographers' attention on
geography content knowledge for students is best described how the forces of nature and cu lture shape the landscapc-
in the Narional Geography Standards, which were updated the collection of physical a nd human geographic features on
10 the Earth's surface- a nd in particular the roles that human
in 2012."
The five themes, the six elements, and the eighteen standards ideas, activities, a nd cultures play in modifying t he landscape.
cover a lot of ground. In its scope of interests, geography is the Sauer is credited with founding the landscape perspective in
most all encompassing of the social sciences (a point of pride
for us geographers). Broad ly, the discipline has two major
branches, physical geography and human geography, each soC\AI. SCIENCEs
of which has roots and rela tionships with other disciplines \4 istory
in the social and physical sciences (•Figure 1.2). Although we , I
.
I
are classified as social scientists, we geographers often bridge I
the social and natural sciences and even the humanities in ,/ .
.
our research, publication, and teaching (another point of
pride for us).
,
..
I
As you can see in the center of Figu re 1.2, where all the GEOG~ /
I "1.o-S- /
components of the discipline converge, geography is almost .. 'J-
always concerned with the theme of human-environment PEOPLE
interaction. This concern has put geogra phers at the cutting GEOGRAPHY
edge of science and policy in the twenty-fi rst century because so
many of the Earth's most pressing problems-climate change,
population growth, and hunger, for example-involve the
coupling of human and environmental systems.
Geog raphers' interests in huma n-environment interac-
tion , a nd es pecially in the ways in which people are chang-
ing the face of the Earth , go way back. T he great German
geographer Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) began
geography's modern era in a series of classic studies on this Pedology
th eme. From fie ld observations in Venez uela, he concluded, PffYstcAL SCIENCE.S
"felling the trees wh ich cover the sides of the mountains
•Figure 1.2 Selected subfields of geography. These are the main
provokes in every climate two d isasters fo r furure genera - subj ect areas in human geography and physical geography and
tions: a want of fuel a nd a scarcity of water." 11 A century their links with t he most closely related disciplines in the social and
and a ha lf later, we a re von Hu mboldt's fu t ure ge nerations . natural sciences.
Copyright 2017 Ceftgage Leamiftg. All Righl~ Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in pan. Due to cloctronie rights, some third party content may be supprc.>scd from the cBook andior cChaptcr(s).
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American geography, based on the method of studying the a convenience and a generalization, helping us become ac-
transformation throug h time of a natural landscape to a q uainted with the world and preparing us fo r more detailed
ss cultural landsca pe. Essentia lly, Sauer challenged us to thin k insights. T his WRG book recognizes eight world regions; o th-
of what the world would loo k like without people and then ers have more o r less.
understand w hat people have done to reshape the world Three types of regions are recognized by geographers. Each
through time. is helpful in its own way in conveying information about d if-
Culture-the system of values, beliefs, and attitudes that ferent parts of the world :
shapes and influences perception and behavior-underlies
• A formal regio n (also called a uniform or ho mogeneous
many of our decisions about how to use a nd modify the land-
region) is one in w hich all the population sha res a defin ing
scape.13 That is why geographers are so concerned with cul-
trait or set of traits. A good example is a political unit such
tural features such as ethnicity, language, and religion, and
as a county or a state, where the regional boundaries are
why you will learn much abom them in this book.
defined on a map. Figure 4.2 on page 91 is a formal region
map showing the countries of Europe.
The world Regional Approach • A functional region (also called a nodal region) is a spatial
to Geography unit cha racterized by a central focus on some kind activity
The world regiona l approach to geography ranges across (often an economic activity). At the center of a functional
the huma n a nd physical su bfields of geography, synthesiz- region, the activity is most intense, whereas toward the
ing, simplifying, and characterizing the human experiences edges of the region the defining activity becomes less impor-
of Earth as home. It is impossible to deal with something as tant. A good example is the distribution area fo r a metro-
large and d iverse as our planet without an organizing frame- politan newspaper, with the highest numbers of subscribers
wo rk. Wo rld regional geography simplifies the task by divid- in the city and d iminishing numbers at growing dista nces
ing the world into regions (•Figure 1.3 and •Table 1.2). These from the city.
subd ivisions of space are human constructs, not "facts on the • A vernacular region (or perceptual region) is a region
ground." People create and draw bounda ries around regions that popularly exists in people's minds but has no defini-
that share relatively similar characteristics. A region is simply tive boundaries This region may play an importa nt role in
0 CE A N
p A •C I F r C
ffPAC·IFIC OCEAN
.. ~
OCEAN
0 CEAN IA.
OCEAN
·s 0 UTHE R N 0 CE AN
AN1ARC1'1C CIR
• Figure 1.3 World regions as identified and used in this book.
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8 c HA PTER 1 Objectives and Tools of world Regional Geography
Table 1.2 The Major world Regions: Basic Data
World 52,485.9 135,935.9 7,227.7 1.2 52 27 18 11,900 107,405 84 79 87 0.669

Europe 1.959.3 5,072.0 532.2 0.1 73 16 3 32,400 19,145 3 98 98 0.878
Russia and the Near Abroad 8,5332 22,100.8 284.5 0.4 65 19 9 12,900 5,068 13 99 98 0.745
Middle East and North Africa 5,416.1 14,027.8 531.2 1.9 63 30 10 11,600 9,150 29.5 77 87 0.694
South and East Asia 8.265.3 21,407.1 3,950.7 l.l 45 25 14 7,900 41,074 7.4 79 88 0.646
Oceania 3,306.8 8,564.5 38.4 1.1 70 24 10 31,200 1,311 0.5 86 89 0.808
Sub-Saharan Africa 8,655.2 22,417.2 919.5 2.6 37 43 61 2,600 3.275 5.7 52 69 0.462
Latin America 7.946.2 20,580.7 618 1.2 78 27 16 14,000 9,336 9.3 88 89 0.734
North America 8,403.8 21.765.8 353.2 0.4 81 19 2 51,800 19,046 15.3 99 99 0.913
Sources: World Population Data Sheet, Population Reference Bureau, 2014; Human Development Report, United Nations, 2014; World Factbook, CIA, 2014.
cultural identity but does not necessarily have official or introducing each region, I will tell you what characteristics
dear-cut borders. Good examples are the South, the Bible I chose to define it.
Belt, and the Rust Belt in the United States (•Figure 1.4).
T hese regional terms have economic and cultural connota- The Objectives of This Book
tions, but ten people m ight have ten different definitions of
the qualities and boundaries of these regions. Vernacular or I have written this book to help you ach ieve five objectives:
perceptual regions, created by individuals and cultures, rep- 1. To become geographically literate. This book will empower
resent the regional identities that help us organize, simplify, you with a comprehensive geographic vocabulary and an
and make sense of the world around us. T his book's eight advanced command of the " la nguage" of world regional ge-
regions are vernacular regions: not all geographers agree ography. Using the framework of world regions, this book
which countries make up the Middle East, for example. In puts the "meat on the bones" of the 18 geographic stan-
dards, giving you all you need to achieve geographic literacy.
2. To understand Earth's problems and their potential solutions.
Like geography broadly, WRG is concerned with problems
in human-environment interaction. Some of chese problems,
such as overpopulation, poverty, and climate change, are
global in scope, whereas others are national, regional, and
loca l, or are manifested at these scales. We will see how these
problems can be made less threatening and even solved. One
of the overarching ones, climate change, first gets our atten-
tion in Chapter 2 and re-emerges in all the other chapters.
3. To use geographic critical thinking to understand the world.
To understand and grapple with Earth's problems, includ-
ing climate change, we must consider many factors: natural
environments and resources, population, economic devel-
opment, ethnicity, history, and geopolitical interests, for
example. Is that too much information for you to take in?
No. You will use the tools of WRG to fi lter and synthesize
• Figure 1.4 Definitions of a vernacular region, the American Sout h.
information, making the information more meaningful and
Purple shading represents three state-based delineations; colored lines memorable. You will think critically to recognize and re-
delimit various religious. linguistic, and cultural "Souths." These are just a veal the geographic underpinnings of our world's problems.
few of the many different interpretations of the region. Critical thinking is "the process of actively and skill fu lly
Copyright 2017 Cengage Leaming. All Righ l~ Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in pan. Due to cloctronie rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the cBook andior cChaptcr(s).
1.2 The Language of Maps 9
conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and

evaluating information to reach an answer or conclusion." 14
Using geography's holistic and integrative approach in a re-
gional framework, you will synthesize information , tech-
niques, and perspectives from both the natural sciences and
the social sciences. You will tread into the grounds of po-
litical science, history, economics, anthropology, sociology,
geology, atmospheric science, and other areas. Pul ling these
issues and perspectives together, thinking critically and
finding the Links among them is doing geography. Doing
this synthesis within a regional framework is doing world
regiona l geography. Thinking critically in this framework,
you will be able to understand Earth's problems and poten -
tial solutions. ~
Growing your habit of geographic critical thinking will fl

0
:c
.,
be rewarding for you. Your overall university experience ...,
0
will be richer as you connect the dots between your diverse

• Figure 1.5 Study this photograph, and name the country-or at least
courses. As you carry on through Life, your insight and wis- the region-where it was taken. What clues in the physical and human
dom may reward you both professionally and personally. geographies of this place help you locate it? For more clues and the place
More complete knowledge of the world-good geography- identification, see note 16 on page 23.
is a lso good business. In the competitive environment of the
global economy, better understanding of cultures and envi-
ronments throughout the world helps boost the "bottom line." Chapter 6 on the Middle East, you will see how Jewish and
You may be surprised how much your geographic knowledge, Muslim perceptions of sacred places located within a few
enhanced by your ability to produce insight and advice from meters of each other in Jerusalem play crucial roles in con-
it, will help you in your career, whatever it turns out to be. flict and peacemaking in the Middle East and beyond. With
4. To understand the geography of current events. This book •Figure 1.5, let's consider an example of how you can use
is carefu lly written to set the stage of world events for you. your critical thinking skills to define and identify place. 16
With the book and your professor's guidance, you should As you work forward through your book and course, you
become able to read and view news with a much better un- will get better at identifying che many elements of place
derstanding of the issues underlying world events. Incidents identity, including climate, vegetation, and Landforms of the
like earthquakes and tsunamis in the western Pacific, dis- physical environment and the language, religion, history,
ease epidemics originating in southern China, and Russia's and livelihoods of the people living in that environment.
invasions of neighboring countries are not random, unpre- Your skill in interpreting places will even help make you a
dictable events. They are rooted in consistent, recognizable better traveler.
problems that have geographic dimensions. You will find it
satisfying to be "pre-i nfo rmed" about a problem that sud-
denly appears in the news. You will become somewhat of
an expert on geop olitics, the struggle for space and power 1.2 The Language of Maps
played out in a geographical setting.15 We t urn now to the most important tool that geographers use
5. To develop the ability to interpret places and "read'' land- to explore and expla in relationships on our planet: the map. As
scapes. In doing geography, you will be concerned both geographers study people, places, and environments, we usu-
with space (the exact placement of locations on the face ally (but not a lways) collect and depict information that can
of the Earth) and with place (the imprecise but important be mapped. In other words, we are interested in the spatia l
physical and cult ural contexts of a Location). Place is much context of the things. As noted in the first essentia l element of
more subjective tha n space because, like a vernacular re- geography, spa tia l means "of or relating to space."
gion, it often is defined by the meanings of a particular lo- A map is a representation of various phenomena over all
cation. For example, your perceptions of New York City or a pa rt of the Earth's surface, usually rendered on a flat sur-
may be very different from those of your friend and may face such as paper or a computer monitor. The science of mak-
be shaped by personal experience in the " Big Apple" or by ing maps is called cartogra phy. There are two basic types of
photographs or movies you have seen . In this book, there maps: reference maps and thematic maps. Reference m ap s are
is much discussion of the "sense of place" that individuals concerned ma in ly with depicting the locations of various fea-
and groups have about locations and regions. Perception tures, both natu ra l and human-made, on the Earth's su rface
of place can have a very strong influence on how we make (road atlases are a good example, as are the opening maps for
decisions and interacc with others . Perception of place can each regional chapter, such as Europe in Figure 4.1). Them a tic
even have a strong impact on world events. For example, in m aps show the spatia l distribution of one or more attributes
Editorial review bas deemed that any suppressed content docs nor materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengagc Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
When someone asks you, "Could you d raw me completely objective. Each of us has a personal that geographic information t o make our way
a map of how to get there?" you might quickly sense of space and place and associations w ith through daily life, and are always revising and
draw some lines, write down some street them. updating that information as we succeed or fail
names, talk about some fam iliar landmarks. and A mental map, like a vernacular region, is a on our way. Sometimes we use that information
apologize for how crude your map is. Your map collection of personal geographic info rmation to create act ual maps. These maps are not accu-
would probably end up looking very different that each of us uses to spatially o rganize the rate, precise. or scientific. but they portray useful
from that of anot her person asked the same images and facts we have about places, both information and tell us much about the individu-
question. Our understanding of location is not local and distant. We constantly draw upon als and cultures that create them.
across a given area. Thematic maps ca n be divided into two actu a l d istance on Earth as represented by a give n linear unit
categories: quantita tive a nd qua litative. Qua ntitative thematic o n the map. A com mon way to depict sca le is with a fraction
maps show the spatial dist ribution of numerica l information o r ratio, such as 1:10,000 or 1:10,00 0,0 00. In the fraction,
(such as population density or income levels, as in Figure 3.7 o ne linea r unit o n t he map (for exa mple, 1 inch or 1 centime-
on page 56), whereas qua lita tive thematic maps display non- ter) represents 10,000 or 10,000,000 such rea l-world units
nu meric da ta (such as the distribution of climates or languages, o n the ground . A large-scale map is o ne with a relatively
as in Figure 2 .4 on page 30). la rge representa tive fract ion (for exam ple, 1:10,000 or even
As maps are a n essentia l tool in the study of world regiona l 1:10 0) that por trays a relative ly sma ll a rea in more deta il. A
geography, it is important that you k now how to read them. sm a ll-scale map has a rela tively sma ll representa tive frac-
The main elements of the " la nguage of maps" are scale, coor- tion (such as 1:1,000,000 or 1:10,000,000) that portra ys
dinate systems, projections, a nd symbolization. a relatively la rge area in more generalized terms. C ompare
the two maps in •Figure 1.6. Figure 1.6a is a small-sca le map
showing Sa n Francisco and surrounding parts of t he Bay
Scale Area . Figure 1.6b is a large-sca le map that " zooms in" on
A ma p is a reducer; it shri nks a n area to t he manageable size pa rt of San Francisco. Remember this inverse relationship:
of a chart, piece of pa per, o r computer monitor. The a mount a small-scale map shows a large area, and a large-scale map
of reduction a ppears on the ma p's scale, which shows the shows a small area.
11:10,0001
mapb
PACIFIC
OCEAN
map a
~~=;:::::::::::;---1~
0 mi.
I, u ~ lObn. 1.
(a) (b )
• Figure 1.6 (a) Small-scale and (b) large-scale maps of San Francisco and environs.
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He was a youth of great beauty, and the king was much attached to
him. Having killed a Mahommedan after being struck by the latter, he
was offered the usual choice of Islam or death. He preferred the
latter; and though the king is said to have given him ample time for
reflection, and to have promised him rank and wealth if he would
apostatise, preferring death to dishonour, he was executed, and
interred beneath this stone. It is very difficult to get at the exact
details of this story, as there are many versions. It is told first by
Chardin or Tavernier. Just at the entrance to the burial-ground, by
crossing a ditch, over a bridge composed of old tombstones, one
comes to the Kaweh-Khana of the Armenians, a mud building of two
stories. Here in wet weather the funerals halt, and here on their
return the mourners stay to partake of wine and arrack. All through
Persia the habit of utilising tombstones for building bridges occurs,
and is not confined to the Armenians. Ispahan, which is surrounded
by huge cemeteries and intersected by many watercourses, presents
many instances of these tombstone bridges.
There is little to see in the nunnery. The revenues which have
been, and are, plundered by the priests and those in authority, are
very small. Very few nuns are now encouraged to take the veil. The
scandals have been many, and instances of cruel punishments have
not been wanting. One nun was expelled, but is now leading a
reformed life in the Church Missionary Society’s establishment,
being employed as a teacher of sewing. The nunnery has a large
school, and the girls are taught to sew and embroider, also to knit
socks. Long portions of Scripture are committed to memory, and the
ancient Armenian Bible is read, but not translated. Of course, as the
ancient and modern languages are quite different, the power of
reading what one does not understand is rather useless.
But the schools of Julfa have received a great accession in the
establishment of those of the Church Missionary Society, which are
now (1883) conducted by Dr. Hoernle and Mr. Johannes, the former
being a medical missionary (i. e. a medical man in priest’s orders),
and the latter a young Armenian gentleman, who was educated in
England, and at one time a master in the Nassick School in India. All
that is taught in a middle-class school in England is taught in the
Church Missionary Society school in Julfa; and the upper form
proceed to the first four books of Euclid, Algebra, Latin, and French,
in which, unlike the smattering of a middle-class school at home, a
thorough grounding is given. Dr. Hoernle, too, sees all comers
gratuitously, and administers to their ailments. He has a large
apartment as a consulting-room, with convenient waiting-rooms for
either sex. Another room has been set apart as a hospital, where the
more serious cases are treated surgically; and the Church
Missionary Society certainly has not spared money in benefiting the
inhabitants of Julfa.
Some orphan-boys are fed, clothed, and educated with the others,
and gradually it is hoped to make the school self-supporting; but I
fear that the Julfa people will hardly pay for what they are used to get
gratuitously. A girls’ school has also been commenced by Mrs.
Bruce, and sufficient funds having been collected to obtain a
schoolmistress, in November 1882 one went out. The Rev. Dr.
Bruce, who commenced the work in Julfa, is engaged in translating
the Bible into Persian, and portions of it have been completed and
published.
All the difficulties which were first thrown in the way of proselytism
among the Armenians, have now been surmounted, and a
considerable number of converts have been made from the
Armenian Christians to the tenets of the Church of England. But as
yet no converts have been made from the Mahommedans. These,
however, are encouraged to come to the services, in the hope of
arousing their curiosity; but they simply seem to come for the show,
only presenting themselves very occasionally. The magnificent
establishment kept up by the Church Missionary Society is the
wonder of the Persians, and Dr. Bruce has succeeded, principally by
having expended large sums of money in building in Julfa, and
employing many labourers, in securing the respect of the Julfa
Armenians.
Employment is sought to be given to the less gifted among the
scholars in a factory where various arts are taught, such as weaving,
but this does not appear a success. The clever artisans, Baabis,
nominally Mussulmans, employed by Dr. Bruce as decorators and
builders, have made a really handsome series of buildings, perhaps
a little florid. These men have been able to show their great skill in
decoration, and the beautiful geometrical patterns on the outer wall
of the church, the hand-painted screen which runs round the eaves
of the courtyard, and the incised decorations in stucco in the interior
of the church, representing parrots, flowers, etc., are curious in the
extreme.
This church can seat three hundred comfortably; the effect is good
of the pale yellow of the plaster and the coloured glass of the
windows.
Every door and window in the house, etc., is beautifully made,
stained, glazed, and varnished, and fitting accurately; in fact, one
feels a little envious when one leaves one’s poor Persian quarters,
with ill-fitting doors and windows, for this handsome European-like
establishment.
On leaving the first courtyard, which contains the private quarters
of Dr. Bruce and the church, one enters the school. Three sides of a
large courtyard are occupied by schoolrooms, and a fine playground
is in the middle, with a large stone hauz, or tank, handsomely built.
In this the boys in hot weather daily bathe. Here, too, are parallel
bars, a vaulting pole, and a giant’s stride; beyond this is another
courtyard, containing a vineyard, the technical school, the
dispensary, and rooms for the orphans. Other rooms, but small and
poor, are occupied by the girls’ school, which is, however, I believe,
to be enlarged, and an English teacher, too, has lately gone out for
the girls. Another large house adjoining is occupied by the steward of
the orphans, while at the other side are built a set of European
stables. A garden is hired by Dr. Bruce, where he cultivates
successfully all kinds of European vegetables for his table.
There is no doubt that so large an establishment, vying with that of
the bishop in size, and far exceeding it in the amount of money
expended, and the number of hands employed, is of great benefit to
the Julfa people.
The influence of the priests is on its last legs, and the education
given is very thorough, while gratuitous medical attendance is
provided by Dr. Hoernle. This, however, is indiscriminately given to
Mussulmans as well as Armenians. Of course the great hope is that
the benefits of the school may be permitted to the Mahommedan
population of the town; but this, I fear, will never be. Let us hope I
may be wrong.
The small establishment of the Lazarist Fathers, which is the next
house to the vast range of buildings belonging to the Church
Missionary Society, presents a great contrast.
The priest, with his two ragged servants, has much to do to keep
body and soul together, and he teaches a small school of both
sexes, where the course is less ambitious than that of the English
missionaries. His flock, some two hundred strong, remains faithful to
its ancient tenets, and has as yet given no recruits to the rival
establishment. This is strange, as the Armenian Church has
furnished the whole of some hundred and twenty Armenian boys,
and two hundred Armenian communicants to the Church of England
in Julfa; but as many of these latter benefit directly or indirectly, or
are merely temporary Protestants to annoy their relatives, or to
obtain protection, the result of the whole thing cannot be considered
a success as yet—in eleven years a single Mahommedan convert
not having been obtained.
CHAPTER XV.
ISPAHAN AND ITS ENVIRONS.
Tame gazelle—Croquet-lawn under difficulties—Wild asparagus—First-fruits—

Common fruits—Mode of preparing dried fruits—Ordinary vegetables of
Persia—Wild rhubarb—Potatoes a comparative novelty—Ispahan quinces:
their fragrance—Bamiah—Grapes, Numerous varieties of—At times used as
horse-feed—Grape-sugar—Pickles—Fruits an ordinary food—Curdled milk—
Mode of obtaining cream—Buttermilk—Economy of the middle or trading-
classes—Tale of the phantom cheese—Common flowers—Painting the lily—
Lilium candidum—Wild flowers—The crops—Poppies—Collecting opium—
Manuring—Barley—Wheat—Minor crops—Mode of extracting grain—Cut
straw: its uses—Irrigation.
Mr. Walton, the superintendent of the Ispahan section, had a full-

grown buck antelope (“ahū”), which was kept tied to a peg on his
croquet-lawn; the animal was rather fierce, and my young bull-dog
was accustomed to bark at him, keeping, however, out of reach of
his horns. On one occasion the antelope got loose and chased the
dog round and round the croquet-lawn, from which there was no exit,
it being between four walls; the antelope was going well within itself,
but the dog, its eyes starting from its head, and its tail between its
legs, gave a shriek of terror as it felt the sharp prongs of the pursuing
antelope prodding it every now and then; at last, utterly expended,
fear made it brave, and it turned on the animal, pinning him by the
throat. We were then able to secure the antelope, which no one had
cared to approach, as his horns were very sharp and he was very
savage from being tied up. The little croquet-lawn had been made
under very great difficulties, and it was only by getting grass seeds
from Carter’s that Mr. Walton was able to keep up turf; but he had,
by dint of watering and putting tent walls over the young grass in the
heat of the day, succeeded in making a very good lawn; and he and
his young wife played croquet nearly every evening. The fate of the
antelope was a sad one—he got loose one night, and next morning
was found drowned in the well.
Great quantities of wild asparagus were brought to the houses of
the Europeans for sale: it grows on the banks of the ditches which
surround the gardens of Julfa; there is no saltness in the soil, but it
thrives in great luxuriance, and is sold for a trifle, the villagers gladly
accepting a keran (ninepence) for fourteen pounds’ weight.
A man came one day (March 4th) bringing the no ber, or first-fruits
(i. e. the first cucumbers of the season); they were little things, some
three inches long, packed in rose leaves, and probably had been
brought up by some traveller by post from Shiraz, or down from
Kashan, where it is very hot indeed. As usual the man declined to
sell, insisting that they were a present—“peishkesh-i-shuma” (they
are an offering to you)—and consequently he has to be rewarded
with twice the value.
Tiny unripe almonds, called “chocolah,” the size of a hazelnut,
have been brought too; they are much appreciated by Persians as a
first-fruit; they are soaked in brine and eaten raw, and they are crisp
and certainly not bad; or, when a little too large and hard for this,
they are eaten stewed with lamb, forming a “khorisht,” or dish eaten
as sauce to rice.
Unripe green plums are also eaten stewed in this way with meat—
Persians eat them raw with salt; and the unripe grapes, preserved in
their own juice as a pickle, or the juice itself (ab-i-goora) is used to
season the stews.
The first really ripe fruit is the white cherry, which is called gelas;
then the morella, or alu-balu; then the goja, or bullace plum; then
follow plums in endless variety, and then the peach and apricot.
These latter grow in great perfection in Ispahan; there are seven
known kinds, six of which are sweet, and one bitter. The most valued
variety is the shukker-para; it is excessively sweet and cloying. All
grow to a large size, and so great is the plenty that the fruit in an
ordinary season is sold for twopence farthing the fourteen pounds, or
maund. The orchards where the apricot is grown are generally sown
with clover; the trees are never thinned, but, notwithstanding this, the
finest apricots in the world are certainly produced in Ispahan. There
are also plenty of nectarines and peaches. The fruit being so cheap,
the natives never gather it, on account of cost of labour, but allow it
to fall into the clover which is universally sown under the trees, and
which partially preserves it from bruising; so ripe is the fruit that it
may be generally seen cracked, with the stone appearing.
Great quantities of dried fruit are exported from Ispahan, which is
celebrated for its “keisi,” or dried apricots; these are merely the fallen
fruit, which is either too much bruised for sale or has not found a
market. They are simply placed in the sun, and become in a week
dry, hard, and semi-transparent, thus forming a very portable food:
the stones are of course removed and the fruit becomes as hard as
horn; an hour’s soaking renders them fit to eat, or when stewed they
are delicious, being so very sweet as to require no added sugar.
As a dessert fruit the Persians at times place an almond or a
peeled walnut within the fruit where the stone has been; as it dries
the nut becomes embedded, a sharp packing-needle and string is
run through them when half dry, and they are sold thus, hung on
strings like huge necklaces.
Enormous quantities of alū Bokhara, or acid plum, are sold; these,
however, are not dried but half boiled, and poured into the skins of
sheep, as bags, forming a kind of preserve; they are very appetising,
being a very acid yet sweet fruit, and are eaten raw with mast
(curdled milk), or are used as a sauce to stewed meat with rice.
Cherries, too, are dried in the sun in the same manner, the stones
being extracted; also peaches.
Small melons, called germak and tellabi, now (May) make their
appearance; these, though far superior to anything produced in
England, are not thought much of. The big brown melon, or karbiza
of Gourg-ab, which will keep good a year, and attains an enormous
size—some being seventy and eighty pounds in weight—is the most
highly prized; the flesh is white, and tastes like a Jersey pear. They
grow on a salt soil, are heavily manured with pigeons’ dung, and
freely irrigated till the plant flowers. Many choice varieties of melon
abound, as the “Shah passand,” or king’s favourite, and others.
The “Hindiwana,” or water-melons, are of three kinds, the red-
fleshed, the yellow-fleshed, and the white-fleshed: these run from
three to twenty-eight pounds in weight, as an ordinary size; there are
long and round descriptions. The skin varies from pale green to
almost black with green blotches; the latter are the best.
Pumpkins also are common and of great size.
Cucumbers never grow long, but short and thick; they are called
“keeal,” are very plentiful and delicious, and may, at the height of the
season, be bought fourteen pounds for one shaie, or halfpenny.
There is another fruit something between the melon and cucumber, a
kind of eatable gourd, called the koompezeh; it has not much flavour,
and is eaten with salt. The cucumbers form one of the staple foods
of the people; they are eaten with salt, and are looked on as a fruit;
the peasants eat at a sitting five or six pounds’ weight, and find no
inconvenience; the Persian cucumber may be eaten with impunity.
Lettuces grow in vast profusion, also the kalam kūmri, a strongly-
flavoured kind of nohl-kohl. The Aubergine, or “badinjan,” the fruit of
which I have seen weighing three pounds, and carrots and turnips
are also grown: the carrots are generally a green-rooted variety.
Spinach, called “Ispinagh,” is a favourite vegetable. Kanga (or
chardons), a kind of thistle, is brought from the mountains, and also
Rivend, or wild rhubarb; both are good.
Potatoes are now much grown, but were hardly known on my first
arrival in Persia. Kalam-i-Rūmi, or Turkish cabbage, is raised
successfully and attains an enormous size, twenty-eight pounds
being a common weight for a head; it is the perfection of cabbage,
and nearly all heart. Parsnips are unknown.
Toorbēsah, white radishes, are grown about the size of an egg, the
tops are boiled and eaten as greens. Apples are good and common.
Pears are very bad. The quinces and pomegranates are magnificent;
the former especially are grown in Ispahan and are of great size and
fragrance. They are sent with the Gourg-ab melons all over Persia
as presents to grandees.
The bamiah, or lady’s finger, is little grown; it is a nasty slimy
vegetable when cooked. Vegetable marrows are common; they
generally have the seeds removed, and are filled with spiced and
minced meat, and are boiled. Gourds of many forms are found, and
used as vessels for oil, etc. Walnuts and almonds are plentiful, also
filberts. There are no chestnuts in the south.
Some thirty varieties of grape are raised; some are merely used
for pickling, others for eating, and some only for wine-making. The
best eating grapes are the Ascari. This is the first good grape to
ripen; it is a smallish white grape, globular, bright golden colour, very
delicious, and the skin, being very thin, is swallowed.
Kishmish, a delicious grape, of white elongated shape, also small,
and very sweet, both eaten and used for wine-making. When dried
this is the sultana raisin, stoneless, the skin very thin.
Riech-i-baba, or “old man’s beard,” a long white grape, very sweet
and delicious in flavour. Some varieties of this have tiny stones,
others large; they are both red and white. Some are two and a half
inches long. The Persians, when the price of grapes is very low, and
they are unable to dispose of them, boil them down to obtain the
grape-sugar, which is sold all over Persia and eaten in lieu of sugar;
it is called “sheera.”
With vinegar this forms circa-sheera, a sour-sweet liquid, in which
various pickles are preserved, as grapes, apples, lemons.
I have mentioned that grapes are used in some places as horse-
feed.
The variety in Persian pickles is infinite, from grapes, walnuts,
almonds, peppers, onions, oranges, and lemons, green fruits, etc.; a
long list of conserves are produced.
All the fruits grown in England are found in Persia, save only the
currant, gooseberry, and raspberry.
Persians look on fruit as a staple food, and the ordinary meal of
the working classes and peasantry is a loaf of bread and a pound or
two of grapes or apricots, or a half-dozen cucumbers, which are
considered fruits. Meat is not often eaten by the poor save at the
great festivals. “Mast” is also much consumed. This is curdled milk,
and is made by adding a little curdled milk to fresh milk warmed. It is
then left to cool, and the basin of curdled milk sets in a few hours,
leaving the cream on the top. For the first twenty-four hours this is
sweet and delicious, tasting like a Devonshire junket, but as a rule
the Persian does not care for it until it has become slightly acid.
When in this state a farthing’s worth (about half a pint) added to a
quart of water forms buttermilk, or “doogh.” A little cut mint is added,
and a few lumps of ice, and a cooling drink is made, which is
supposed by the Persians to be a powerful diuretic. It is without
question a capital thirst-quencher in hot weather.
Cheese, too, is much eaten for the morning meal, with a little mint
or a few onions. The banker at Shiraz, to whom the Government
moneys were entrusted—a rich man—told me that he or any other
merchant never thought of any more elaborate breakfast than these
named above. This same man, when giving a breakfast, would give
his guests twenty courses of spiced and seasoned plats. It is said of
a merchant in Ispahan, where they are notoriously stingy, that he
purchased a small piece of cheese at the new year, but could not
make up his mind to the extravagance of eating it. So, instead of
dividing the morsel with his apprentice, as that youth had fondly
hoped, he carefully placed it in a clear glass bottle, and, sealing it
down, instructed the boy to rub his bread on the bottle and fancy the
taste of the cheese. This the pair did each morning.
One day the merchant, being invited to breakfast with a friend,
gave his apprentice the key of his office and a halfpenny to buy a
loaf of bread; but the apprentice returned, saying he could not get
the door open, and though he had bought his bread, could not eat it
without the usual flavour of cheese.
“Go, fool, and rub your bread on the door, which is almost as
satisfying as the bottle.”
Doubtless it was.
Persia is not a favourable place for flowers; the gardeners merely
sow in patches, irrigate them, and let them come up as they will.
Zinnias, convolvulus, Marvel of Peru of all colours, and growing at
times as a handsome bushy plant, five feet high, covered with
blossoms; asters, balsams, wallflower, chrysanthemums, marigolds,
China and moss roses, or “gul-i-soorkh” (from these the rose-water
is made), and the perfume in the gardens from them is at times
overpowering, are the usual flowers. Yellow and orange single roses
are common; they are, however, devoid of scent. The noisette rose,
too, is much grown, and the nestorange, a delicately-scented single
rose, the tree growing to a great size.
The favourite plant is the narcissus; it grows wild in many parts of
Persia. Huge bundles of the cut flowers are seen in the dwellings of
rich and poor; the scent is very powerful.
The Persians cut small rings of coloured paper, cloth, or velvet,
and ornament (?) the flower by placing the rings of divers colours
between the first and second rows of petals, and the effect is
strange, and not unpleasing, leading one to suppose on seeing it for
the first time that a bouquet of new varieties has been cut, for so
transparent a cheat does not strike one as possible, and a
newcomer often examines them with admiration, failing to detect, or
rather not suspecting, any deception. The ordinary Lilium candidum
is much admired in the gardens of the great, and is called “Gul-i-
Mariam” (Mary’s flower). A large proportion of the narcissus are
double; it is the single variety that the Persians ornament. The tulip,
too, grows wild, and the colchicum, also the cyclamen. Above
Shiraz, however, there are few wild flowers until one nears the
Caspian; but below Kazeroon, in the spring, the road is literally a
flower-bespangled way, blazing with various tulips and hyacinths,
cyclamens, etc.
The principal crops in the neighbourhood of Ispahan are, first the
poppy; this is the white variety, and has been grown with great
success in Persia, particularly in Ispahan. It has enriched the
peasants, but rendered grain and other produce much dearer, as, of
course, much less is cultivated. The young plants are carefully
thinned till they are a foot apart, and the ground is kept clear of
weeds. When the poppy is in flower, and just as the petals are about
to fall, the labourers, principally under the direction of men from
Yezd, who are supposed to understand the method of collecting
opium better than the rest of the Persians, score the seed-vessels
with a small three-bladed knife, making three small gashes an eighth
of an inch apart and three-quarters or half an inch long at one cut.
This operation is performed in the afternoon. From these gashes the
opium exudes in tears, and these are carefully collected at early
dawn. The process is repeated a second, and even a third time; this
latter is, however, unusual.
And here lies the danger of the opium crop: should a shower of
heavy rain descend the product is absolutely nil, the exuded opium
being all washed away by the rain. All around Ispahan, where there
is good land, and it is not exhausted, nothing can be seen for miles
but these fields of white poppies, and the scenery is thus rendered
very monotonous.
The Persian farmer is fully alive to the value of manure, and
makes it in a very simple manner. All the wood-ashes collected from
a house, and the rest of the refuse-heap, are placed in the open
street in a circular ridge mixed with mould. Into this is poured the
contents of the cesspools, which are allowed to sink into the thirsty
heaps of earth and ashes. The “koot,” or manure thus formed, is
removed to the fields, allowed to dry in the sun, then mixed with
more earth, and after a month or two scattered equally over the soil
and dug in.
Barley—which is used for the feeding of horses and mules, to the
exclusion of oats, which are never grown—rice, and wheat, are
cultivated largely. The barley of Persia is very fine; the wheat grown
is the red variety. Beans, pulse, clover, sesamum, maize, cotton,
castor-oil plant, cunjeet (a sort of colza), and nokōd, a grain like a
pea, which is much used in cookery; potatoes, lettuces, spinach, are
all largely raised. Tobacco, olives (near the Caspian), melons, and
cucumbers form the rest of the crops; and millet is also grown.
Quite one half of the barley is cut as grass for the horses, and not
allowed to ripen. Tares are grown for the same purpose and cut
green.
The harvest of wheat and barley is cut with the sickle, the whole
crop being cast pell-mell in a heap in the centre of the field, perhaps
some twenty feet high; there it is allowed to lie for a month, or till it is
convenient to the owner to extract the grain. This is done by laying
round the heap a small quantity of straw with the ear on, and going
over it with a kind of car made with heavy beams and running on
rollers fitted with sharpened edges of iron; a boy rides on this, and,
with a rope and a stick, guides a pair of oxen, or a mule and a horse,
or a mule and a donkey, which draw this very primitive machine. As
the straw gets broken, more is added, and the broken straw and ears
dragged to the side with the grain entangled among them; the
weather being very dry, the grain generally all falls out ere this
crushing process commences. The straw is in this way crushed into
pieces some two or three inches long. When the whole heap has
been gone over, the farmer waits for a windy day; when it comes, he
tosses the heap in forkfuls in the air. The cut straw is carried a yard
or two, and the grain being heavier falls straight to the ground and is
removed: the straw is now termed “kah,” and is stored; it is the
ordinary fodder of the country, hay being seldom used, save by the
rich.
It is also useful as a packing material and to make the “kah-gil”
(“gil,” clay), a kind of plaster with which all houses, save those built
of burnt bricks, are smeared, and with which all roofs in Ispahan,
Teheran, and Shiraz are carefully coated: it is not until Ghilān, on the
Caspian shore, is reached that we come to tiled roofs. Mud bricks
are also made with mud and old or spoiled kah. It is doubtless for
this that the Jews desired straw of the Egyptians to make their
bricks.
Sheep are never fed on clover in sitû, it is considered too precious
(it is cut and dried in twists some two yards long); but they are,
however, allowed to graze on the stubble of wheat and barley, and
so manure the land.
The greater part of the country is irrigated (save near the Caspian,
where the water is in such excess that men may be seen ploughing
up to their knees in it); consequently the fields are made up into
small squares or parallelograms by trenches raised with the spade;
these parallelograms run on each side of a small trench, from which
the water is admitted, and as fast as one is opened and filled from
the trench, it is stopped, and water admitted to another, and so on
until the whole field is thoroughly soaked. Of course it is impossible
to ride over a recently watered field, as, if the soil is light, one’s horse
is soon up to his girths.
Land in Persia is of value according to the quantity of water it is
entitled to, and the great cost of a crop is usually not the amount of
labour bestowed or the rent paid, but the quantity of water
purchased.
In some places land is sown with barley, etc., as a speculation,
and it is left to chance; if it rains, a profit of, say, eight hundred per
cent. is secured; if it does not do so, which is often the case, the
whole crop, seed, rent, and labour is utterly lost. This is the case
near Bushire; the ground is just scratched and the seed thrown in: it
is looked on as gambling by the Persians, and a religious man will
not engage in it.
CHAPTER XVI.
ISPAHAN AND ITS ENVIRONS.
Pig-sticking expedition—Ducks not tame, but wild—Ruined mosque with tile

inscription—Ancient watch-towers—The hunting-ground—Beaters—We sight
the pig—Our first victims—The bold Gholam—Our success—Pig’s flesh—A
present of pork—How Persians can be managed—Opium—Adulteration—
Collection and preparation—Packing—Manœuvres of the native maker—
Opium-eating—Moderate use by aged Persians—My dispensary over the
prison—I shift my quarters—Practice in the bazaar—An ungrateful baker—
Sealing in lieu of signing—Seals—Wisdom of a village judge.
On the arrival of Captain Chambers, our new assistant-

superintendent in Ispahan, he determined to get up a pig-sticking
expedition, a thing hitherto unknown in Persia.
The only man among us who had enjoyed that sport before was
Captain Chambers himself, and he had brought with him from India a
little armoury of spears; the shafts of these were bamboo, and the
heads, keen as razors, were protected by small leather cases.
With some trouble we got one of these heads copied in the
bazaar; and Captain Chambers, three of the sergeants, and I started
for Ruhdesht, where we were assured we should find plenty of sport.
We took with us two subalterns’ tents—Captain Chambers and I
occupied one, the other was used by the sergeants.
On our way we came to a little mosque all by itself in the open
plain, some twelve miles from the town; in front of it was a large
pond, on which were peacefully swimming some thousands of
ducks. We supposed that they were tame, and belonged to the
mosque, but on a stone being thrown among them, they all flew
away, to our great surprise, showing unmistakably that they were
wild ones.
After a wandering march of eleven farsakhs, we found the
particular village in Ruhdesht, to which we had been recommended,
for, as we found, Ruhdesht was not a village but a district.
We passed many ruins, one of which was a large mud-brick
mosque in very good preservation. On the inside was a band of tile-
work some twenty feet from the ground, which was four feet wide,
and bore a beautiful inscription in interlaced Arabic letters a yard
high—the letters were white on a blue ground; it was quite perfect,
the height from the ground and its lonely position having protected it
from villagers. We also saw several “mil,” or hollow columns; these
appeared to have been used as watch-towers, and not as places
from which the call to prayers was made, as they were frequently a
long distance from the mosques.
We gladly halted, having marched continuously from two p.m. till
dawn, and having gone off the track, mules, tents, and all. We took a
day’s rest for the horses and to arrange operations. We found that a
small river close to the village was swarming with pig, and it was in
the low shrubs and jungle near the banks that the animals lived in
the day, only coming out on the open plain when driven, or at night.
The cover lay on each side of the river for a quarter of a mile in
depth; it was very dense and full of holes. As we had provided
ourselves with a “hukm,” or order, from the Governor of Ispahan, we
had no difficulty in hiring sixty beaters at sixpence each, and this
number was swelled by as many volunteers; as the pigs did much
damage to the crops, the villagers were only too glad to assist in the
hunt.
The cover was not so dense as it would be later on, it being early
spring, and the bushes as yet not in leaf. Having made all the
needful arrangements, Captain Chambers, as the Nestor of the
party, took command of the beaters, and sent the whole of them in to
beat up the river bank, while we were posted at intervals of fifty
yards, with strict instructions to attack the boars only, which were
carefully described to us. The beaters were accompanied by many of
our servants who wished to enjoy the “tamasha” (show), and all the
dogs.
While we sat anxiously watching the edge of the jungle, the
beaters gradually approaching us, a pig broke cover. Regardless of
the shouts of Chambers, who implored us to let him get well out on
the open and so give a run, all of us raced at him; of course he re-
entered the cover, and was no more seen.
Then out came a sow and seven squeakers, each about eight
pounds. This was too much for our equanimity, and though we had
promised to carefully obey orders, the frantic cries of Chambers of
“ware sow” could not restrain us; we repeatedly charged the sow,
and it was a good way of learning, for she got away untouched; all
our horses were blown, and as men charged her from different
directions at the same time, it was a mercy that there was no
accident. Our horses, all much too fresh, now became more
manageable. We really did succeed in spearing two young boars,
neither of which showed any fight, being ignominiously pursued and
prodded to death.
But a third and more matured animal was now put up, and we
carefully allowed him to get well into the open. Here science was
served, for Chambers got first spear easily by good riding; the boar
turned each time he was struck, and after having been speared
some seven times sat down on his haunches with two spears in him,
which some of the inexperienced had let go.
The animal was evidently badly wounded, and it was a mere
question of time; but though our horses would pursue him when
running, none would come within striking distance now he was
stationary, and he certainly did not present a very pleasing
appearance; and though we rushed them at him, they swerved and
shied.
One of the Persian “Gholams,” or line-guards, now asked to be
allowed to cut the boar’s head off; permission was given, and the
man dismounted, drew his curved sword, made a tremendous chop
on the pig’s head, which did not seem to wound but revive him,
breaking the short sword off at the hilt.
The animal now pursued the shrieking gholam for some distance,
but a few more stabs with the spears finished him, then he was
triumphantly borne away by the villagers.
The dogs caught three young pigs, and we returned to camp tired
out. In the party of five there had been seven spills. I had two; on
one occasion I was knocked over, horse and all, by another man
coming up diagonally without warning and striking me sideways, and
as he was the heavier, over we went. My second was when pursuing
a pig; my horse slid down a dry ditch, and, on trying to get up the
other side, rolled over me.
But no one was hurt, which is a wonder, considering that it was the
first time we had carried spears, and they were all eight feet long,
and sharp. As we could get no bamboo, we had had the shafts made
of chenar or plane-wood; these were heavy but strong; the few made
of poplar were light, but all of them broke at or near the head. I fancy
that for good sport the ground should have been better; our ground
was very open, but deep dry ditches to horses who do not jump are
serious matters. We had a good dinner when we got home to the
tents, and some tried to eat the pig’s meat, but even the young pig’s
flesh was blackish, and tough as india-rubber.
Eating wild pig’s flesh, considering what they will eat, is a
disgusting idea; and I quite agree with the action of Captain S⸺
when a dead pig was sent him by the Governor of Shiraz as a
present.
The pig was dragged to the door by the servants of the farrash-
bashi (head carpet-spreader), a high official, and followed by a
shouting mob, and a verbal message came that a pig was sent as a
present. S⸺ happened to be out, but on his return he wrote a
polite note to the Governor telling him that the English did not, as he
had erroneously supposed, eat wild pig, but looked on it as an
unclean animal; and requesting that the person who brought it might
remove it.
It was ordered to be done, but the farrash-bashi sent some Jews
to drag it away. This S⸺ would not allow, but insisted that the
farrash-bashi himself should come and take it away; he had to do so,
and doubtless thought it not quite so good a joke as the bringing, for
the shouting crowd now laughed at him instead of with him.
We had a second day very similar to our first, fortunately no
accidents and fewer spills. We then returned as we came; the
greater part of the way was near the river banks, and as we were all
very tired, also our horses, we were only too glad to get in by sunset.
I had now an opportunity of seeing the preparation of opium for the
English and China markets.
A partner of the principal mercantile firm established in the Persian
Gulf came to Ispahan to examine the branch of their business there
and test the value of the trade.
The great difficulty with Persian opium is to obtain it of sufficient
purity; the Persian opium is always very deficient in morphia, and
upon the percentage of morphia by analysis the value of the drug is
determined in London.
As opium when bought in the country has to be taken in small
quantities and purchased blindfold, or rather on the opinion of
judges, whose fiat is possibly influenced, the whole business is risky
in the extreme. The ryot adds all sorts of abominations to the fresh
opium, to increase the weight, as the pulp of apples, grape sugar,
etc., and a further adulteration is generally practised by Armenian
middlemen. The system generally adopted by the respectable
merchant is to buy direct of the ryot, if possible; even to go so far at
times, if the farmer be a substantial man, as to make him advances
against his future opium crop.
Having purchased the opium, the merchant pours it into large
copper pots, some of which may contain a quarter of a ton of opium.
He then proceeds to the “teriak-mali,” or preparation, literally opium-
rubbing. Having engaged skilled workmen headed by a “reis” or
“boss,” he contracts to pay these men so much per chest, or by daily
wages; and then, if the weather be cold, the semi-liquid contents of
the pots are simmered over a very slow charcoal fire. The more solid
portions being previously removed, when the “sherbet” or juice has
become pretty thick, it is mixed again with the original more solid
portion and the whole beaten up; it is, of course, frequently weighed
to prevent thefts. Now commences the regular “teriak-mali;” weighed
portions, from half a pound to one pound, as may be found
convenient, are smeared upon thin planks with a wooden spreader
or spatula.
It is first spread perpendicularly, then horizontally, just as in old
days medical men used to spread a blister; it is done with great
rapidity and exactness. As each plank is covered it is placed on end
in the strong sun, and when sufficiently dry, scraped off for rolling
into cakes. If the opium be very moist, or the sun weak, this has to
be done many times.
The washings of the pots and utensils are carefully boiled down
that nothing may be lost, and after many weighings and much
manipulation, the opium, in theory absolutely pure, is made into
pound cakes, generally the shape and appearance of a squared
penny bun of large size, each weighing exactly one pound. The
cakes are varnished with some of the liquor or a composition, having
in the case where I was present been stamped with a seal bearing
the name of the makers.
Each cake, after it is thoroughly dry, is wrapped in a sheet of clean
paper, folded as a neat parcel and packed in chests. The tax on
each chest is heavy, and as the duty is levied per chest and not per
pound, a small profit may be made by having light cases and making
them hold, by careful packing, a little more. The cases are marked,
sewn up in hides, or, still better, dammered, i. e. packed in tarpaulin.
The preparation is an anxious time, as the workpeople will steal
the opium if they can, and it is very portable. Opium is also made up
with oil in masses for the Chinese market and in round cakes packed
in poppy refuse to simulate Turkish, but this manœuvre is not
adopted by the English firm, who attempt by great care in the
manipulation, and by only buying of the respectable among the
farmers, to prevent anything but pure Persian opium being sold
under their brand.
Of course the smaller native makers try every means in their
power to increase the weight by fraudulent additions—starch even
has been employed—but these specimens often betray their
admixture by a peculiar appearance or fracture, and defeat their
object—often indeed bearing their own punishment by being

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Fundamentals of World Regional

Geography Joseph J. Hobbs

World geography Second Edition Joseph M Castagno Editor

World geography Europe Second Edition Joseph M Castagno

World geography Asia Second Edition Joseph M Castagno

World Geography Volume 4 Africa 2nd Edition Joseph M

World geography North America the Caribbean Second

World geography Australia Antarctica and Pacific

The Geography of Spain: A Complete Synthesis Francisco

Globalization and Diversity Geography of a Changing

Fundamentals of World Regional Geography, © 2017, 2013 Cengage Learning

Manufacturing Planner: Becky Cross

Cengage Learning products are represented in Canada by Nelson Education,

To learn more about ( engage Learning Solut ions, visit www.cengage.com.

1 Objectives and Tools of World Regional Geography 2

2 Physical Processes and World Regions 24

3 Human Processes and World Regions 49

5 Russia and the Near Abroad 149

6 The Middle East and North Africa 206

7 South and East Asia 282

8 Oceania and Antarctica 366

9 Sub-Saharan Africa 400

10 Latin America 448

11 The United States and Canada 492

INSIGHTS: DEVOLUTION 107

INSIGHTS: MAPPING WORLD VALUES 64 INSIGHTS: REGIONAL NAMES OF RUSSIA AND

GEOGRAPHY OF WATER: VIRTUAL WATER 243 7.4 Economic Geography 3-09

MindTap for Fundamentals of World

Objectives and Tools of

l!IUa<e )f)U ALL LEAVE, I'()

Tab1e1.1 The Six Essential Elements and 18 Standards of Geography

Look at some of the most pressing

• Figure 1.3 World regions as identified and used in this book.

Table 1.2 The Major world Regions: Basic Data

World 52,485.9 135,935.9 7,227.7 1.2 52 27 18 11,900 107,405 84 79 87 0.669

conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and

Growing your habit of geographic critical thinking will fl

will be richer as you connect the dots between your diverse

Tame gazelle—Croquet-lawn under difficulties—Wild asparagus—First-fruits—

Mr. Walton, the superintendent of the Ispahan section, had a full-

Pig-sticking expedition—Ducks not tame, but wild—Ruined mosque with tile

On the arrival of Captain Chambers, our new assistant-

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