Answers to Thinking Geographically Questions

Figure 7.1 : Snakes are often dangerous, and they can seem to appear out of nowhere. They are also often found on the ground, in other words, the opposite of high.

Figure 7.2 : Animist religions, like indigenous peoples and their languages, tend to be located in remote places that have not been settled by numerous members of world religions.

Figure 7.3: There has been a series of conflicts in this region, and for a while Israel occupied southern Lebanon. Israeli troops were withdrawn in 2000.

Figure 7.4: Hinduism is the faith of most people of India, the country with the second largest population in the world.

Figure 7.5: The bell panel extends well above the surrounding buildings, and the structure is built of stone.

Figure 7.6: One of the most frequently preserved institutions of an immigrant ethnic group is its religion. An island shows up as a distinctive religious affiliation if it is different from that of the surrounding area.

Figure 7.7: Pilgrims come from all over the world and meet and mingle. They then return to their homes, taking these ideas (and sometimes disease germs) with them.

Figure 7.8: Among the examples are the statue of John Harvard on Harvard University’s campus, where students rub the foot for good luck. At Eastern Kentucky University, students rub the foot of a statue of Daniel Boone.

Figure 7.9: Southwest Asia was Christian for several hundred years after the time of Christ but was then largely converted to Islam. Small pockets of Christianity, however, continue to exist.

Figure 7.10: The immediate source was China; Buddhism spread through Korea to Japan.

Figure 7.11: Among the appeals are a longing for a simpler time, dissatisfaction with organized religions, and a reverence for nature, related to the ecology movement.

Figure 7.12: Native Americans were conquered by Europeans rather than the other way around, and they have not settled in other parts of the world in large numbers.

Figure 7.13: The limit is very closely correlated with the farthest extent of the Roman Empire, even though by a.d. 700, the Roman Empire had fallen. After a.d. 700 until a.d. 1050, Christianity spread to areas well beyond the old Roman lands.

Figure 7.14: In more and more communities, there are mosques and houses of worship for Sikhs, Buddhists, and other Asian groups.

Figure 7.15: Something with strong religious significance becomes even more important than a simple souvenir in the effort to bring a little bit of one’s journey home.

Figure 7.16: By definition, mountains are high, and high things (and places) are important. They are also awe-inspiring in their size and frequently their beauty.

Figure 7.17: A building so oriented would get maximum benefit from solar heating.

Figure 7.18: This is a form of hierarchical diffusion, directed culture change, being introduced from educated, urban advocates.

Figure 7.19: If a developing state or region were to achieve greater economic stability with a growing affluent segment of the population, the production of crops for feeding livestock might increase, as more of the population can afford this less-efficient use of plant energy.

Figure 7.20: “Civic religion,” the beliefs that unite a country, may also have places that are important to its history and belief system. In the United States, these include Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Old North Church in Boston, and the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Figure 7.21: Mormon temples are restricted to members in good standing of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In similar fashion, the inner sanctums of ancient Jewish temples were restricted to priests.

Figure 7.22: This would be contagious diffusion. This church is not part of the establishment.

Figure 7.23: Buddhism has diffused to the United States with the migration of peoples from Asia, largely in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. These migrants tended to settle in larger numbers on the West Coast than in the East, where other migrant groups had already settled in larger numbers during earlier migration waves.

Figure 7.24: The urban areas in central and southern California are heavily populated by people of Hispanic or Latino origin. This population as a group tends to practice a quite traditional form of Roman Catholicism. The Pacific Northwest and the intermountain West have smaller Hispanic and Latino populations in comparison. Further, these regions are populated by many American Indian groups adhering to a variety of traditional belief systems that may not be included in the “participating religious groups” shown on the map.

Figure 7.25: Besides the long-standing antireligious attitude of the French government, many other Europeans, especially Protestants, have found the source of answers to be in science, economic advancement, and other nonreligious ideologies.

Figure 7.26: The Orthodox church displays a belief that the house of God should be suitably luxurious and ornate, as does the Hindu temple. The Protestant church is simply a meeting place; the church is the people.

Figure 7.27: Among the possibilities are cemeteries, especially elaborate grave markers, and displays of photographs in the home. Families and friends of persons killed in motor vehicle accidents often erect shrines at the site along highways.

Figure 7.28: The top of each pile of stones points upward, similar to steeples and to sacred mountains.

Figure 7.29: The two buildings suggest a syncretism of ancient Maori beliefs and Christianity.

Figure 7.30: In a country and a society that practices freedom of religion, each group is free to try to gain as many members as possible, and many have turned to the same tactics as marketers of secular goods in this “marketplace of ideas.”

Figure 7.31: In a desert, such as that where Islam originated, green indicates water, vegetation, and an oasis.

Figure 7.32: In a crowded country where every piece of farmland counts, putting the cemetery on land that cannot be farmed avoids wasting farmland for nonfarming purposes.

Figure 7.33: The Taj Mahal, like the mosque, features a central building with a large dome and four surrounding towers, like the minarets. Its exterior, however, is much more elaborately decorated.

Figure 7.34: Most community cemeteries in the United States and Canada feature a wide range of grave markers and designs, depending mainly on what the family could afford and chose to spend. Some cemeteries have regulations about what kinds of markers can be used, and a few modern ones even insist that all markers are flush with the surface of the ground to make maintenance easier. Some religious groups (for example, the Quakers, the Amish, and the Moravians) traditionally require markers to be small and uniform.

Figure 7.35: To Jews the site is also sacred as the site of their temple. The Western Wall is only a remnant of the supporting wall of the temple, and the temple itself was destroyed in a.d. 70.

Figure 7.36: The border would be north of the present international boundary, south of and parallel to the St. Lawrence River. The international boundary was determined and surveyed by treaty without much regard to the population. The Eastern Townships of Québec Province, between the St. Lawrence Valley and the U.S. border, are still English-speaking.