North America Intro

• North America Includes:• Greenland

• Canada

• USA

• Mexico

• Greater and Lesser Antilles, Caribbean

Why Study North America?• It is very large!

• Canada covers 6.7% of Earth’s land surface

• USA covers 6.4%• Only two governments

control all this land, all of its inhabitants, and all of its resources.

Shared Past

• All North Americans share an aboriginal past and a colonial past.• Native people

• Native people inhabited all of North America before Europeans colonized

• Aboriginal or Indigenous

• Colonialism• European powers controlled

North America

Colonial Past

• It is important to understand the colonial past of a place.

• Understanding the colonial past helps us to understand current politics, socioeconomic structures, and cultures.

Santo Domingo church in San Cristobal, Chiapas

Distinct Differences• USA

• Had a bloody revolution to become independent from England

• Canada• Went through a peaceful separation in 1867 and still has close ties to

England

• Greenland• Was granted home rule, but the queen of Denmark is still the head of

state

• Mexico• Another bloody revolution to become independent from Spain, then

another to become independent from France (Cinco de Mayo)

Native People

Canada and the First Nations• Canada has an

interesting native history• In 1999, gave Nunavut

back to the natives• Called “First Nations” in

Canada

• Only political region populated and governed by indigenous people on the North American continent.

Canada and the US• Most multicultural places on Earth

• Both share aboriginal past• Early settlers mainly from England and France,

followed other Western Europeans• Since WWII many more people from all over the world

• “Terra incognita” to lots of Americans• Yet, Canada is our most important trading

partner and we share common histories and geographies

Canada

• Most Americans know nothing about Canada• Stretches 3730 miles from Newfoundland to

British Columbia• Has prairies, mountains, lakes, rivers (3 of the

world’s 20 longest)• 35 million people, most living within 200 miles

of the border

Greenland• World’s largest

island• Twice as large as the

next largest island• New Guinea 2nd

largest

• 52 times bigger than Denmark

• Most northern country on Earth

Greenland• Today inhabited by people

from all over the world• Majority are either Danish or

Inuit• Impact all over in shops,

language, music, native costumes, and more.

• Connected to the rest of North America by location and politically with Canada because they are fighting over Hans Island.

Mexico

• Vestiges of its Spanish Colonial past• Majority of the population is mixed Spanish

and indigenous people

USA• Second largest

country in North America

• Has 48 conterminous or connected states and 2 disconnected states• A result of

expansionist policies• Dictated by manifest

destiny and quirks of history

Government

• Canada and the USA based loosely on the British system of government

• Canada is more closely modeled on it

• Both place have legal systems that separate power between federal, and state or province (Canada)• Canada still a commonwealth

of England and the Queen is still the head of state

• Elected in-residence head of state is the Prime Minister

Stephen Harper, Canadian PM

Political Complexity

• Canada– Federation of 10 provinces,

3 territories– Chief of State: Queen

Elizabeth II, represented by Governor-General

– Parliamentary government with a Prime Minister (head of party with most seats in House of Commons); also Senate

• United States– Federation of 50 states– Chief of state: elected

President– Congress consisting of

House of Representatives and Senate

Canada

• Canada is a counter-revolutionary nation (adopted Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982).

• Gov. is a British-style parliamentary democracy not U.S.-style democracy.

• Canadians are law-abiding; crime rates much lower than in US.

• No strong national myth; but have a distinctive identity..

• Often feel like victims of two colonial powers: both Britain and the U.S.

Canada• Highest rate of immigration in the world

• Helps new immigrants with relocating and invites them in.

• The world multiculturalism comes from Canada in the 1970’s• From government diversity programs

High Income, High Consumption

• USA and Canada• Annual per capita incomes among the world’s

highest• Disposable incomes generate demand, ensure

massive consumption• Retail establishments ubiquitous• U.S. and Canada (5% of the world’s population)

consume 28% of the world’s oil • Implications of high consumption in a finite

environment?• Presence of poverty

Some definitions…

• Human Geography• The study of human decision making processes

and activities on the surface of the Earth.

• Physical Geography• The science that studies that spatial aspects of

natural environmental components and processes

Some definitions…

• Political Economy• The study of the relationship between a place's

organization of economic systems and issues as they relate to political developments and policies.

• Historical Geography• Geographic study and analysis of the processes shaping

place and space at selected historical time periods.

Regional Geography

• Integrates skills from both human and physical geography with a focus on particular places.

• The study of selected parts of Earth that are defined and identified by a certain unifying characteristic.