cultural geography of the Pacific Rim countries. It has sources.
In recent years, the importance of outh East Asia has been increasing steadily. Thanks in large part to the rapid economic advancement of the region, which began with Japan, moved to Korea and Taiwan, and is currently being seen in China, this is an area which Western countries are showing an increasing interest in. As a result, it is interesting to examine the relationships between countries in the region, as well as the changing way in which America views the nations in the region, and the evolution of the relationship between America and the nations in the region.

Traditionally, the major power in the region has been Japan. Due to its economic might, Japan has been the major contributor to both the development of the region, and a major voice in local and global politics. In recent years, China has also….

geographical perspective.
elect a book that is relevant to the cultural aspect of geography.

Ireland is a terrible beauty and no where is that more evident than in Frank McCourt's depiction of the slums of Limerick.

McCourt, Frank. Angela's Ashes. New York: imon & chuster, 1999.

McCourt, the eldest of eight children lit up the publishing world with his moving account of life at the beginning of the Depression in an Irish Catholic slum.

Angela's Ashes documents the story of his early life in the Depression-era slums of Limerick, Ireland. Life in Limerick is the backdrop for the entire book and is as critical to the story as are the characters.

An impoverished Limerick parallels McCourt's childhood as he endures near-starvation and poverty, wearing rags for diapers, scavenging bits of coal and stealing food. Limerick is depicted as a somber and bleak factory town, where work is scarce. McCourt conjures up shades of Irish Catholic….

Indeed, while the major hotel chains and business situated in the recreational business district reap in the profits from the well-healed tourist traffic, there is little "trickle-down" economics at work in Cancun so that the poor stay poor while the rich just get richer. For example, Jafari concludes that tourist ghettoes "also bring little economic benefit to local communities as visitors have few opportunities to spend money on local goods and services; whereas resort income is maximized, the majority of tourist spending occurring within the (often foreign-owned) resort complex" (254).
This spatial separation between tourists, visitors and others from local residents and workers has been further reinforced and even encouraged by the inordinately high rate of migration to the area which can be attributed both to the climate and location, but to employment opportunities for Latin Americans as well. As a result, child labor is rampant in Cancun. For instance,….

Loans needed to buy the equipment and seeds create indebtedness to Western banks. Western professionals are needed to intervene and to manage. The productivity of monocrops (e.g., rice or maize) undermines other native crops. Routledge writes, "The project destabilized traditional farming methods, which further rationalized the use of new technologies from the West, and the displacement of traditional foodstuffs by the HYVs" (316). The whole agro-food system has damaged the soil fertility and made dependent the poorer nations, who are compelled to use the seeds of the manufacturers and their means of industrial growth (fertilizer, experts, credit, etc.). People are viewed as irrational and a hindrance to progress. State control over natural and financial resources consolidates the power of the national ruling party who serves the interests of transnational corporations. Routledge writes, "In the process, traditional subsistence economies and their associated cultures are being destroyed; people face displacement from….

"9.8% in urban areas; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas; an official Chinese journal estimated overall unemployment (including rural areas) for 2003 at 20% (2004 est.)" (CIA orld Factbook "China") the occupation breakdown for the nation is also rather simplistic, with a large protion of the population still being engaged in agricultural industries: "agriculture 49%, industry 22%, services 29% (2003 est.)" (CIA orld Factbook "China")
Cultural habits of China are relatively universal as the nation has relatively few national minorities and limited immigration from other nations due to its communist legacy. The majority ethnic group Han Chinese constitutes 91.9% of the total population with the significant minorities including Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities, constituting only a total of 8.1%. There is though a significant social and cultural disparity between urban and rural populations. Urban China is relatively modern, with many conveniences….

Crusaders were able to implement feudal states throughout their travels during this period of warfare, many of which have been termed Crusader states and which were erected throughout the Holy Land and in parts of Asia Minor as well as Greece. The most famous of these, of course, was the establishment of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which took place in 1099 and reigned until its fall in 1291.

Kingdom of Jerusalem

It should be remembered that for the vast duration of the reign of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, European settlers were widely outnumbered by Franks and Muslims, and only comprised approximately 15 to 25% of the entire population (Kedar 148). The Europeans lived in areas which were both rural as well as urban, and despite attempts to integrate with the surrounding foreigners, they did not infiltrate areas which were predominantly Muslim and which had never had many Christian dwellers (Ellenblu 36-37). European….

We now have the means to study the evolution of the human genome more closely than ever in the past. One of the key ideas presented by the authors is the idea of transmission fidelity. This means that culture can act as an inheritance system, promoting the transmission of certain genetic traits in a predictable fashion. This type of cultural inheritance results in distinct societies that not only share the same cultural traits, but also share similar genetic traits as well. In the past, geography and proximity to others was a factor in this process as well. Richerson, oyd, and Henrich (2010) concluded that cultural evolution and biological evolution occur simultaneously. They also suggested that cultural evolution had a significant influence on biological evolution.
This research supports the supposition that cultural evolution has a significant effect on biological evolution. This research focused on cultural evolution, as opposed to placing the….

Jameson Defined Geography Components
Global usiness

(Jameson (2007) has defined geography as one of the possible components of cultural identity needed for cross cultural communication in global business. Discuss how a company might take this component into account in managing their business.

Over the last several years, globalization has been causing firms to begin establishing operations in different areas of the world. Part of the reason for this, is because many regions can offer them significant benefits such as: lower labors costs and the ability to maximize their profit margins. Evidence of this can be seen by comparing labor costs of many developing countries with the United States. As, the below table is illustrating how they are significantly lower in comparison with the U.S.

Table 1: USA Labor Costs vs. Developing Nations

Country

Hourly Labor Costs

USA

$7.25

angladesh

$.25

China

$.69

India

$.57

Mexico

$2.30

Kenya

$.62

South Africa

$2.17

(Greenway, 2009, pg. 157)

These different figures are important, because they are showing how the low costs of labor in the….

Geography on Political, Cultural, and Economic Development of Early Civilization in Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Indus Valley
The focus of this study is the effect of geography on the political, cultural, and economic development of early civilization in Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Indus Valley. The characteristic that Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley all have in common is that they were all river valleys. Therefore, the geography of these locations was very much alike and likewise their culture, political landscape, and economic development were all very much the same.

Statement of Thesis

The civilization of Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Indus Valley were highly affected by the geography of these regions, which resulted in rapid expansion, and growth of these civilizations and which affected the cultural, political, and economic environment of these areas of the world.

Mesopotamia & Egypt

What is known as the Urban revolution occurred in Mesopotamia and Egypt around 3,500 C. This….

Diseases that are not native to a certain population and are introduced by outsiders or foreigners can have devastating effects. Native populations are vulnerable to germs and viruses brought in by outsiders because they lack the immunological strength and ability to combat these illnesses. Such was the case during the conquest of both North and South America during early colonial times. The native population was blindsided and crippled by the various diseases that the white man brought with them.
The white man overpowered the Indigenous populations of America with their superior weaponry and battle tactics. These two factors contributed greatly to the white man's dominance, another factor that contributed was, undoubtedly the spread of disease and germs. Some of the diseases that were introduced to the native population by Europeans included: smallpox, measles, typhus, and venereal diseases (Ashburn 199). Small pox was one of the diseases that absolutely decimated the native….

ebuttal to Group 1 PositionIntegrating cultural and human geographic concepts into military and intelligence operations is something to consider, but it is also important to be critical of the idea and understand potential risks and implications. Some of these risks include the possibility for misinterpretation and over-generalization, exploitations, historical oversights, cultural reductionism and over-emphasis on operational efficiency at the expense of long-term stability.For example, human geography is helpful in some cases but it can also be subject to misinterpretation. Over-reliance on the Human Terrain System (HTS) or any other such tool can oversimplify situations. Because cultures are complex, a rigid system is unlikely to capture the nuances of the reality. For this reason, these systems can contribute to faulty intelligence. Likewise, too much emphasis on understanding regional cultures could lead to false senses of security. Indeed, the assumption was that the U.S. military had taken steps after 9/11 to be….

Clothing is a very important concept in India and a person is likely to focus on adopting a certain dress style according to the circumstances he or she comes across. Factors like ethnicity, geography, climate, and cultural background are essential in determining the attitudes that a person is likely to take on with regard to dress style. Dressing styles have evolved from Langotas and loincloths to more elaborate costumes that Indians are probable to wear when they attend festivities. hile most people would like to adopt a superficial attitude when regarding what they want to wear, conditions are different in several Indian communities, taking into account that dress styles are treated with a form of intellectual seriousness there.
The Sari is the most popular form of dress for Indian women and is typically wrapped around the lower part of the body with one of its ends and taken over the upper….

Abstract This paper discusses all the facets and considerations inherent to a cultural identity essay. Namely, the paper describes the importance of cultural identity, the definition of cultural identity, and examples of cultural identity—both theoretical and literal examples in the world today. This paper seeks to show how one’s cultural identity is so much more than just a melee of one’s race, environment and heritage. Cultural identity is made up of so many factors and influences, both positive and negative, and both direct and covert. This paper sheds light on how one’s cultural identity manifests and how the cultural identity of two people from the same family can be slightly or tremendously different, as a result of a difference of lived experiences and preferences. Finally, this paper investigates some of the more dominant theories of cultural identity.

Related Topics 

Social identity

One’s cultural identity is closely connected to one’s social identity. This is because….

Social Geography
Socially Constructed Geography

As a society, humans by nature relate to the world and define norms by identifying with the environment around them. In America for example, the foundation for the society was built on idealisms that suggested that the first entrants into this society were pioneers, overcoming a vast wilderness and pristine landscape in order to build the foundation upon which modern society now reigns supreme. People by nature identify with social constructed realities that bring them together in a communal and socially responsible manner. In order to help civilians learn about society and social norms, it is often necessary to deconstruct and reconstruct the geographic landscape of a land to build a culture from a blank template.

Human beings have socially constructed the view that the landscape of this nation prior to discovery was naked, raw, virgin; basically one might conclude that it was a pristine wilderness based on….

Thematic Ed
Thematic Teaching: Geography Through a Lens of Multiculturalism

All too often, students feel that they must leave their everyday lives, experiences and interests outside of the classroom. From the perspective of many students, the more rigid foci of traditional curriculum do not allow for inclusion of personal dimensions such as ethnic background, distinct cultural knowledge or unique personal history. And as students reach the pre-adolescent stages of middle school, and as the formulation of personal identity becomes a stronger force in each individual's life, this rigid quality can have the impact of alienating the individual from the formal educational process. Thus, it is incumbent upon us as educators to find ways to bridge this gap between personal life and public education; between individuals strengths and learning needs; between creative freedom and academic proceduralism. As the Head of the Geography Department for 5th, 6th and 7th Graders, I propose a shift….