Answers to Thinking Geographically Questions

Figure 3.1: Yes. Northeastern United States also shows higher population density, although the areas of dense settlement are smaller than they are in the other three clusters.

Figure 3.2: There are likely to be variations in the quality of this data due to variations in health statistics reporting from country to country and because in less developed regions, births frequently occur outside of hospital settings and may therefore go unrecorded.

Figure 3.3: Answers will vary, but possible reasons for this differential are that children in developing states often contribute to the family income and care for elderly family members, so having more children is seen as advantageous. In more developed regions, people often choose to have fewer children because the government contributes to care for the elderly, young people typically do not work, and there are educational and lifestyle advantages for families with fewer children.

Figure 3.4: This elevated crude death rate is likely due to the fact that large numbers of senior citizens choose these states as retirement destinations.

Figure 3.5: North Africa has lower rates. These countries are predominantly Muslim, like Southwest Asia, which also has low rates.

Figure 3.6: The projection assumes that birth and death rates will remain stable, neither rising nor falling by very much.

Figure 3.7: The main reason for the rapid growth in the last 200 years or so is the decline in death rates, which has now affected the entire world. Birth rates typically drop later, allowing rapid population growth in the meantime.

Figure 3.8: While it is fairly straightforward to persuade people to take measures to prevent death, the number of children a family wants relates to deeply held values, which are much slower to change.

Figure 3.9: Among the places are Mexico and the United States. Papua New Guinea and Australia have very different rates, although they do not share a land boundary. In the case of Mexico and the United States, the high population growth rates in Mexico add pressure to northward migration.

Figure 3.10: In many societies, women use contraceptives only after having the number of children that their cultural values deem sufficient. Furthermore, the population growth rate also includes rising life expectancy. People are living longer, in addition to adding more children.

Figure 3.11: Physical facilities for the elderly (ramps, assist bars in bathrooms, and the like) are likely to be in place, and services for the elderly are readily available. Recreational facilities are conveniently located. Taxes are low, as they do not have to fund many child-oriented services such as schools. Disadvantages include a restricted diversity in age and frequent deaths of aging residents, which may be psychologically depressing. Life in such communities can seem very artificial.

Figure 3.12: The percentage of persons in the lowest age groups indicates the size of the childbearing population in the next couple of decades.

Figure 3.13: In the 10 to 20 age group, AIDS has not yet developed. The narrowing indicates high mortality among adults as AIDS sets in. The narrower bars in the youngest age groups are a result: AIDS-infected adults die before they have many children, or their AIDS-infected children die young. Many of the children who do survive are orphaned, and the prime workforce of the population is either ill or has died.

Figure 3.14: Infants are completely dependent upon the care of others and are vulnerable to communicable diseases. Therefore, their well-being depends on good nutrition, good medical care, sanitation, caregivers who have sufficient health and strength to give care, and proper temperature and protection from elements and hazards.

Figure 3.15: There are many reasons to migrate, but many migrants leave regions in Africa and Asia in search of better economic opportunities in Europe and to provide better education and health care to their children. They may also follow other family members who have migrated to Europe previously. Immigrants coming to the United States from Canada and Mexico would be able to remain closer to family and friends in their home countries after emigrating than if they had chosen to go to other regions of the world. Further, migrants from these countries would likely feel more familiar with American culture than with cultures in other migration destination regions of the world.

Figure 3.16: Answers will vary, but some factors that could influence migrants’ decisions are economic opportunities in a particular country, the presence of family and/or friends who have migrated to that country earlier, or educational opportunities for themselves or their children.

Figure 3.17: Recent outbreaks of diseases like H1N1 influenza and SARS have led people to avoid travel to certain places where the disease has appeared. Government agencies even encourage such avoidance and may restrict or closely examine travelers who have been to such places. In 2005, for example, airline travelers were asked to fill out questionnaires to reveal possible exposure to SARS.

Figure 3.18: Mapping the incidence of the disease is still the first step, but from there, mapping possible sources of air pollution or releases of toxic airborne substances (instead of water pumps) would be the next step.

Figure 3.19: The locations of the samples are too far apart to be spread by simple contagious diffusion.

Figure 3.20: Fossil fuels are alternatives to burning wood, and synthetic building materials also use less timber. However, burning fossil fuels involves possible environmental destruction in their extraction (oil spills, mountaintop removal strip mining, mine waste), transportation (air pollution), and use (air pollution, production of coal ash).

Figure 3.21: The billboards are only part of the campaign and are reinforced by family planning personnel (medical and lay) who carefully monitor compliance and by enormous social pressure. English, as the language of the West, is regarded as high-status and the mark of modern ideas and prosperity.

Figure 3.22: Villages have the advantage of a greater possibility of mutual aid. From the point of view of an authoritarian government, a clustered village is easier to control. Provision of services can be more efficient. Disadvantages include time consumed in traveling to fields and lack of protection of the fields from thievery and predators.

Figure 3.23: The Tibetan village is carefully placed on land that cannot be used for farming. The land on which the Swiss village sits could be used as farmland.

Figure 3.24: Without building many roads, street villages ensure that everyone has access to the road for transportation.

Figure 3.25: A major attraction of migrating to new lands was the availability of farmland and thus a chance to become one of the elite landowning class.

Figure 3.26: The centrality of their location is meant to show their importance. These institutions were major elements in the power of Spanish rulers.

Figure 3.27: The terms favelas, coloniadas, and barriadas are often used for Latin American shantytowns.

Figure 3.28: Answers will vary, but many American cities have wealthy areas that are fairly close to more impoverished areas.