The Complete Idiot's Guide to Geography

Joseph Gonzalez, Thomas E. Sherer

Penguin, 2004 - Science - 422 pages

It really is a small world, after all.

In this new edition, readers will find the basis for recent environmental and political events that have shaped geography; the latest statistics related to country size, population, and geopolitical makeup; larger, all-new detailed maps; and new content on the environment and energy in the 21st Century.

€ Unfolding of geopolitical events around the world has consumers looking for authoritative, up-to-date geographical sources
€The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 provides teachers with unprecedented authority in the use of federal funds to teach geography to upper-level high school students

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i did not like it it did not help my teacher said it was wrong he told me not to listen to it i think it is alot of bs lies

Contents

• What Is Geography?: 3
• The Dread PlaceName Quiz: 4
• Why Were Geographically Illiterate: 5
• Physical Geography A Look at Mother Earth: 7
• It All Revolves Around the Sun: 8
• Talking About a Revolution: 9
• Considering Climate: 10
• Why Does the Wind Blow?: 12
• The Earths Moving Surface: 14
• Earthquakes and Faults: 16
• Building Up the Earths Surface: 17
• The Crushing Effects of Ice: 18
• Cultural Geography The Hand of Humankind: 19
• ParlezVous More than 3OOO Languages?: 20
• Languages Officially: 21
• Race Ancestry Ethnicity Culture or Nationality What Does It All Mean?: 23
• Climbing the Family Tree: 24
• An Eye on Ethnicity: 25
• Countries Nations and States: 27
• Sorting Through Settlements: 28
• The Global Economy: 30
• Maps A Geographic Love Affair: 31
• Millions of Maps: 32
• Mercators Famous Projection: 33
• Sorting Through the Symbols: 34
• Now Where Was I?: 35
• Absolute Location: 36
• Sizing Up Scale and Distance: 38
• What Are Those Numbers at the Bottom of the Map?: 39
• The Rise and Fall of Elevation and Relief: 40
• Contour Lines and Topo Maps: 41
• Setting Off in the Right Direction: 42
• Magnetic Attraction: 43
• Technical Directional: 44
• Here We Go A World of Many Regions: 47
• Half a World Away: 48
• The Seven Continents or Maybe Its Five? or Four?: 49
• The EuropeAsiaEurasia Dilemma: 50
• Okay So Whats a Region?: 52
• Highlighting the Essentials: 54
• A Regional Look The Developed World: 55
• Northern America Land of Opportunity: 57
• The New World That Isnt: 58
• Two Countries One Region: 59
• A Look at the Provinces and Territories of the Great White North: 60
• What Are the Lower 48?: 61
• The Mighty Miss: 62
• Water Water Everywhere: 63
• Weathering the Climate: 64
• Black Gold: 65
• Profiling the People: 66
• The Urban Landscape: 67
• Roots of the People: 68
• Finding the Faith: 69
• The British Isles: 71
• Celts Romans Angles Saxons Vikings and Normans: 73
• The Empire: 74
• The Recent Past: 75
• Cool Britannia: 77
• The Bonnie Land of Scots and Lochs: 78
• The Green Land: 79
• From Scottish Highlands to Peat Bogs: 80
• From the Gulf Stream to the English Channel: 82
• The People and Their Languages: 84
• West Europe The Heart of the Continent: 87
• West Europes Turbulent Past: 88
• Countries in the Crossroads of Europe: 89
• The Alpine States: 91
• The Low Countries: 92
• The US of E? The European Union Today: 93
• West Europes Natural Side: 94
• From Polders to Alps: 95
• Creating Land from Water: 96
• A Place of Wondrous Cities: 98
• The People: 99
• Protestants and Catholics: 100
• Northern Europe Land of the Midnight Sun: 103
• Northern Raiders and Resisters: 104
• The Land of the North: 105
• The Fjords of Norway: 106
• The Swedish Core: 107
• Icelands Heat from Below: 108
• The Descendants of the Vikings: 109
• Living the Good Life: 110
• Bridging the Ore Sund: 111
• Southern Europe Embracing the Mediterranean: 113
• The Legacy of the Greeks and Romans: 114
• The Countries of Southern Europe: 115
• Spain Land of Toros and Tradition: 116
• Greece and the Aegean: 117
• The Microstates: 118
• Mother Natures Chosen One: 119
• Islands Everywhere: 120
• The Mediterranean Sun: 121
• The Historic Cities: 122
• The Peoples of the South: 124
• Illegal Immigration: 125
• Japan The Pacific Dragon: 127
• Song of the Samurai: 128
• Emulating Colonialism: 130
• An Economic Giant Reborn from the Ashes: 131
• Land of the Rising Sun: 133
• The Waters and the Islands: 134
• Japans Temperate Climate: 135
• Japans Future: 136
• East Asias Economic Tigers: 137
• Tracking the Tigers: 138
• Complex Intertwined Histories: 139
• Taiwan: 140
• Hong Kong: 141
• Singapore: 142
• South Korea: 143
• Hong Kong: 144
• The Lay of the Land: 145
• Hong Kong: 146
• The Ethnic and Religious Mix: 147
• Australia and New Zealand Looking Down Under: 149
• New Zealand: 150
• The Maoris: 151
• Trembling Land: 152
• Unsteady Ground on North Island: 153
• The Alpine South: 154
• The Maori: 155
• New Zealands Cities: 156
• Australias Land: 157
• The Great Barrier Reef: 159
• People of the Southern Continent: 160
• The Aborigines: 161
• A Regional Look Nations in Transition: 163
• The New Eastern Europe: 165
• A History of Turmoil: 166
• Nations Reborn: 168
• The New and Future EU States: 169
• Lithuania: 170
• The Czech Republic: 171
• Hungary: 172
• Romania: 173
• Belarus Ukraine and Moldova: 174
• Ukraine: 175
• Moldova: 176
• An Overview: 178
• Chinese Ties and Isolationism: 179
• The Great Waters: 181
• Russia in Transition: 183
• Tsars Communists and Free Markets: 184
• The Age of Communism: 185
• The Loss of the Former Republics: 186
• An Unforgiving Climate: 188
• By Land or by Sea: 189
• Frozen Waters: 191
• Russia in the TwentyFirst Century: 192
• Chechnya: 193
• China The Awakened Giant: 195
• The Peoples Republic of China: 196
• The Southern Section: 198
• Northeastern and Northwestern China: 200
• Chinas Reluctant Southwest: 201
• The Birth of Modern China: 203
• The First HalfCentury: 204
• The Challenges: 205
• A Quick Look at Chinas People: 206
• The Forgotten Republic of Mongolia: 207
• The Democratic Peoples Republic of North Korea: 208
• The North Korean Nuclear Threat: 209
• A Regional Look The Developing World: 211
• Middle America Bridging Two Continents: 213
• Empires of the Past: 214
• The Mighty Aztecs: 215
• The Spanish Empire in North America: 216
• The Geography of Middle Americas Mainland: 217
• The Nations of Central America: 219
• Guatemala: 220
• Nicaragua: 221
• Americas Caribbean Island Paradises: 222
• The Big Islands: 224
• The Small Island Arc: 228
• Middle America Looks North: 229
• South America The Iberian Legacy: 231
• Peopling the Continent: 232
• The Coming of the Conquistadors: 234
• A Tidal Wave of Independence: 235
• The South American Countries and their Major Cities: 236
• Peru: 237
• Chile: 238
• Paraguay: 239
• Physical Facts: 240
• The High Andes: 242
• The Waters: 243
• A Look at South Americas Weather: 244
• South America in the Global Economy: 245
• Saharan Africa The Sands of Time: 247
• From Pharaohs to Sultans: 248
• The Arrival of Islam: 250
• The Maghreb: 251
• Morocco: 252
• Tunisia: 253
• The Land the River and the People: 254
• The Sahel or Transition Zone Countries: 255
• Mauritania: 256
• Niger: 257
• The Horn of Africa: 259
• Ethiopia: 260
• Djibouti: 261
• EthiopiaBirthplace of Modern Humans?: 262
• SubSaharan Africa Cradle of Humankind: 263
• Ancient Roots: 264
• Europe in Africa: 265
• The European Takeover: 266
• Instability and Turmoil: 267
• An Overview of SubSaharan Africa: 268
• Central Africa: 270
• Eastern Africa: 272
• Southern Africa and Madagascar: 274
• Challenges in the PostApartheid Era: 276
• Africas Health Crises: 278
• The Middle East and Central Asia Crucible of Faiths: 279
• Crossroads of Three Continents: 280
• Land of Faith Oil and Conflict: 282
• The Arabian Peninsula: 284
• The Middle East Core: 285
• The Lay of the Holy Land: 286
• Israel the Palestinian Territories and Jordan: 287
• Lebanon and Syria: 288
• Iraq: 289
• Ottoman and Persian Domains: 291
• The Rugged and Populous Subregion: 292
• Turkey: 293
• Cyprus: 294
• Transcaucasia: 295
• Afghanistan and the stans: 296
• Mountains and Deserts: 297
• The Ethnic Web: 298
• The Five stans: 299
• Whats Next?: 300
• South Asia The Mighty Subcontinent: 301
• The Very Long Road to the Present: 302
• Independence and Partition: 304
• From the Bay of Bengal to the Top of the World: 305
• India: 306
• India After Independence: 307
• Born and Bred in Conflict: 308
• PostPartition Pakistan: 309
• The Kashmir Conflict: 310
• Mountain Monarchies and Island Nations: 312
• Bhutan: 313
• Sri Lanka: 314
• The Maldives: 315
• Pakistans Northwest Frontier Province: 316
• Southeast Asia Spice Islands and Golden Pagodas: 317
• Whats in a Place Name?: 318
• Ancient Kingdoms: 319
• European Colonization: 321
• Thailand: 322
• Laos: 323
• Cambodia: 324
• Vietnam: 325
• Malaysia: 326
• Indonesia: 327
• Brunei: 328
• East Timor: 329
• Physical Facts: 330
• The Waters: 331
• The Islands: 332
• The Mix of Peoples: 333
• Indonesia New Terrorist Haven?: 334
• The Vast Pacific: 335
• The Worlds Oceans: 336
• The NotSoPeaceful Giant: 337
• Island Origins: 338
• Countries in an Endless Ocean: 340
• Micronesia: 342
• Polynesia: 344
• Miscellaneous Islands: 347
• Rising Sea Levels: 348
• The Frozen Poles: 349
• Defining the Polar Regions: 350
• Making National Claims: 352
• Looking at Polar Similarities and Differences: 353
• Taking a Closer Look at the Poles: 354
• Which One Is Land?: 355
• Where Are the Polar Bears Seals and Penguins?: 356
• Night and Day: 357
• A Global Overview: 359
• Coping with Population: 361
• A Little About Demographics: 362
• Six Billion and Counting: 363
• More People Less Food: 364
• The Green Revolution: 365
• Disease Rats and Superbugs: 366
• The Demographic Transition: 367
• Stage I: 368
• Stage III: 369
• Healing the Atmosphere: 371
• Anatomy of the Atmosphere: 372
• Global Warming: 373
• The Greenhouse Effect: 374
• Consequences of Global Warming: 375
• Is Global Warming Fact or Fiction?: 376
• Ozone Depletion or Pass the Sunblock: 377
• Acid Rain: 378
• Nuclear Fallout: 379
• Energy for the TwentyFirst Century: 381
• Here Today Gone Tomorrow: 382
• The Nuclear Card?: 383
• Here Today Here Again Tomorrow: 384
• Harnessing the Wind: 386
• The Dawning of the Hydrogen Economy: 387
• Fuel Cells: 388
• Working to Save the Earth: 389
• Taxing the Worlds Oceans: 390
• Water Water Everywhere and Not a Drop to Drink: 391
• Quenching the Worlds Thirst: 392
• The Causes and Consequences of Deforestation: 393
• The Vegetarian Variation: 394
• Country Statistics: 397
• Index: 405

About the author

Joseph Gonzalez has more than 25 years of experience as a reference book editor and writer. He spent 15 years on the editorial staff at Reader's Digest, and is the co-owner of an Internet antique map dealership, www.fairmaps.com.Michael D. Smith is a geographic information systems (GIS) analyst with the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources in Baton Rouge. Smith holds a Bachelor's degree in geography from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, and is currently finishing his Master's degree in physical geography. He is a member of the American Geographers and the Canadian Association of Geographers.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Geography; Complete idiot's guide
• Authors: Joseph Gonzalez, Thomas E. Sherer
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Penguin, 2004
• ISBN: 1592571883, 9781592571888
• Length: 422 pages
• Subjects: Science / Earth Sciences / Geology