Man is of primary concern in the study of geography. Geographers do not study landscapes and climates in isolation, but only in relation to mankind. Geography is also the study of how men live, how they interact with other men and influence the environment.
People live where they can grow food, or where
food can be transported to them. This is the reason why about two thirds of the world’s population lives on about one tenth of the world’s land. Some lands are infertile because man has misued them by overgrazing, by cutting down trees and by planting the same crops year after year. But as available land has decreased, new farm techniques are being used for the restoration and maintainance of valuable cropland.
Most people live near to where they were born and brought up. However, many others leave their homes in search of a better living, and in search of freedom. During the middle of the twentieth century, many peasants and workers have moved to cities where the growth of industry has created a need for more workers.
Ever since civilization developed, when a food collecting economy became a food producing one, man has been able to change the land and the
environment to meet his own needs. But this is a two way process, for the environment also affects the way man lives. Until the Industrial Revolution, most manufacturing was done at home, most power was provided by animals, and transportation over both land and sea was slow and expensive. Before the Industrial Revolution, only about one tenth of the population lived in cities. Many cities grew up around rivers before the development of modern transportation.
Without money,
factories cannot be built, power cannot be paid for, and workers cannot be hired. Because factories provide both work and money, many more people can buy their products, which in turn creates a need for more factories. Where does the
money come from to build factories? The factories sell their shares to the public, and they borrow money from the banks. Thus, our hard earned savings help to build more and more factories.
From the earliest times, people have been coming into closer and closer contact with other people and unfamiliar cultures. In ancient times, ideas spread by means of trade, travel, wars and colonization. (Today, all one has to do is buy a book from a bookstore.) To keep their own sense of identity, many people and cultures rejected new ideas that would threaten their values, and change their way of life. However, no culture is insular because a change in one part of society affects other parts of society, over a period of time.
trade provides many opportunities for people to improve their standard of living, because it allows them to grow or produce the things they are best suited for. But much of the world’s unrest was also due to trade restrictions and shifting patterns of world trade. In centuries past, the colonial empires provided both a source of raw materials, and a market for finished goods.
The history of the Middle East contains an important lesson for the rest of the world about the dangers of harming nature and not preserving the environment. The rapid rise in the world’s population has added urgency to the task of conservation. More and more forest land has been cleared, but few new trees were planted to replace those that were destroyed. The planting of new trees is called reforestation, and it has met with spectacular progress in many places. Good conservation practices also help in flood control.
Water, or the lack of it, also influences the way people live. People in many parts of the world are facing
Water shortages, and some states are even facing declining water tables. Pollution of air and water supplies is a problem in many densely populated areas, where water is most needed. Much damage had already been done before serious steps aimed at conservation could begin.
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