APHG EMiller

The United Nations General Assembly approved an upgraded U.N. status for the Palestinian Authority, despite U.S. and Israeli opposition.

While this may be primarily symbolic, it is still a highly significant move on the part of the United Nations.  65 years ago, the United Nations called for a two-state system.  This map of the vote that I found on Facebook (can't find another source as of yet) is quite intriguing. 

Questions to Ponder: Why might a country choose to abstain?  Can you think of a specific reason why a particular country abstained?  With this new geopolitical fact, how will Israel and Palestine move forward?   

Interesting map about farming land lending to other countries in Africa. Impossible to find the original source, but is attricuted to the Financial Times. 

Here is a link to the image (in low res) without political content (UN related): http://new.uneca.org/lpi/africanlandrush.aspx ;

Tags: Africa, agriculture, unit 5 agriculture.

Created by Eirik Evjen.  The production of this video was made out of 76,940 single photos.

"Norway has recently reached 5 million inhabitants and the capital is growing rapidly. The city scene in Oslo is steadily thickening with taller buildings, more people and the never-ending construction sites. Being by far the most populated city in Norway with 613 000 inhabitants, most Norwegians look to Oslo as a major capital. However, if one compares Oslo to other international capitals, Oslo only ranks as the 112th largest. Oslo is indeed a major capital, just a small one…"

Tags: art, urban, Europe, landscape, unit 7 cities.

From TD-architects Theo Deutinger Rotterdam.

Rome was the first city with one million residents, with that occuring in 5 BC.  Over a thousand years later, London and Beijing joined that group as industrialization became the impetus for wide-scale urbanization.  Today we are seeing an explosion of "million cities" throughout the world. 

Tags: urban, megacities, unit 7 cities.

Today, a country’s marine economic area is defined by its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), a 200-nautical mile-wide (370 km) strip of sea along the country’s national coast line (hi-res image). This regulation, which was installed by the ‘UN Convention on the Law of the Sea’ in 1982, grants a state special rights to exploit natural (such as oil) and marine (for instance fish) resources, including scientific research and energy production (wind-parks, for example).

Questions to ponder: how does this series of buffer zones around the Earth's land masses impact politics, the environment and local economies?  Where might the EEZs be more important to the success of a country/territory than other regions? 

Tags:  economic, environment, political, resources, water, sovereignty, coastal, environment depend, territoriality, states, conflict, unit 4 political.  

Video. Cartographers at National Geographic discuss how they select an appropriate map projection for the September 2012 magazine map supplement.

There is no one perfect map projection that fits all circumstances and situations. Think a situation in which this map projection would be an ideal way to represent the Earth and another situation where it is an incredibly limited perspective. 

Tags: cartography, K12, geospatial, NationalGeographic, water. 

It is possible in many cities to identify zones with a particular type of land use - eg a residential zone. Often these zones have developed due to a combination of economic and social factors. In some cases planners may have tried to separate out some land uses, eg an airport is separated from a large housing estate.

The concentric and sector models in one news article?  The BBC is showing once again the possibilities available if only the United States taught more geography in the schools. 

Tags: urban, models, unit 7 cities, APHG.

Shaped like a giant pistol sitting on its butt end, Wisconsin's new 22nd state Senate District is Exhibit A in the case against partisan redistricting.

The redistricting process is far from neutral; to be far we should remember that gerrymandering is has happened on all ends of the political spectum.  Which map to you think is the best way to divide these districts?  What is the fairest way to divide them?

This is the short version of the differences between these interrelated places and terms; the long version is much more complicated than this. 

Tags: Europe, political, unit 4 political, states, toponyms.

After making an infographic depicting how much space would be needed to house the entire world’s population based on the densities of various global cities, Tim De Chant of Per Square Mile got to thinking about the land resources it takes to support those same cities.

Tags: consumption, development, resources, energy, density, sustainability.

Projections of urban growth indicate areas where biodiversity is at high risk.

The AAG Smart Brief is a fantastic source of geographic news.  This is what they said about this article:  "Areas such as tropical Africa and eastern China are expected to be hot spots of urbanization during the next several years, according to researchers, who used satellite imagery and other data to project future urban expansion through 2030. 'We're not forecasting population, we're forecasting the expansion of urban space,' said Yale University geographer Karen Seto. Their efforts could be used to assist conservation initiatives, Seto noted."

Tags: AAG, urban, sprawl, land use, urban ecology, biogeography, unit 7 cities, environment.

Tags: gender, development, worldwide, poverty.

Spain's dismal economy has residents of the country's richest region, Catalonia, wondering if they'd be better off going it alone. With their own language and distinct culture, Catalans have long pushed for independence from Spain.

This podcast merges several geographic strands together as economic turmoil in the southern portion of the Euro Zone has fanned the flames of cultural resentment and put discussions for Catalonian independence on the agenda for local politicians. 

Questions to ponder: Will this internal devolution cause greater disintegration in the European Union or Spain?  Would an independent Catalan be a wise move for the Catalonians?  How would their independence impact Spain?    

Tags: political, autonomy, economic, Europe, devolution, sovereignty, unit 4 political.