New nations seem to pop up with alarming regularity. At the start of the 20th century, there were only a few dozen independent sovereign states on the planet; today, there are nearly 200!
Via Seth Dixon
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Lydia Tsao's curator insight,
March 24, 2015 1:23 AM
It is interesting to see the demographic transition model in real life effect. As time passes, underdeveloped countries will enter stage 3 of the demographic transition model and see a decline in birth rate and death rate remains relatively low. Most developing countries now will enter the very end of stage 3 and even stage 4 as birth rates balance of death rates. The real question is whether or not Earth will be able to sustain 11 billion people. It is scary to see the world in a rapid population boom. This population growth relates to the agricultural unit in that the use of GMO's is to accommodate the rapidly growing populations in the world.
Aaron Burnette's curator insight,
September 8, 2015 9:25 AM
The population was originally predicted to level off in the next half century, but this is not the case by a long-shot, as predicted by the UN.
AHS Model UN's curator insight,
November 19, 2015 2:12 PM
These articles from the Guardian and National Geographic were the first I'd heard of the new population projections for the future. For many years it was assumed that the global population would level out at around 9 billion; while that is still within the range of possibilities but these new projections indicate that it is much more likely that the total global population will be much higher than that. The geographic implications of this are far reaching.
Tag: population, demographic transition model, unit 2 population.
Seth Dixon's curator insight,
August 23, 2016 2:05 PM
This is a stunning example of uneven development and regional differences within countries. Too often we discuss countries as if the situation inside the borders of one country is the same throughout it, even if the geographic contexts can be wildly different.
Questions to Ponder: Why are the fertility rates in so different in northern and southern India? How does this regional imbalance impact the country? What are other examples of major differences within a country?
Tags: regions, population, demographic transition model, declining population, models, unit 2 population, India, South Asia.
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Jordyn Reeves's curator insight,
January 11, 2017 3:44 PM
This relates to our topic by showing that our population is growing rapidly. By the time 2025 there will be more than 11 billion people on the Earth. But we have enough resources to last us.
Lorraine Chaffer's curator insight,
June 20, 2017 10:34 PM
Preliminary HSc - Global challenges: Population
Deanna Wiist's curator insight,
September 12, 2017 9:01 PM
The article headline is quite click-baity, but there is some real substance to this article. The graphs are especially useful to teach concepts such as population momentum and the age-dependency ratio. These were the key parts of the article that caught my eye:
Tags: culture, gender, labor, population, migration, Japan, East Asia.
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Jacob Crowell's curator insight,
October 15, 2014 1:14 PM
There was once an episode of Family Guy where Peter Griffin establishes his own country when his house is left of a map of Quahog. This story reminds me of that episode, but also raises some questions as to what it takes to be a sovereign nation. Jeremiah Heaton has long term goals of creating an agricultural production center, has been living in area and is willing to put in the work to establish a political identity. Also an extreme example it does show how some nations come to be globally recognized and also how many forces are against new nations being established and recognized.
Nicole Kearsch's curator insight,
November 3, 2014 12:33 PM
This man decided to give his daughter a piece of unclaimed territory in Africa for her seventh birthday so that she could be a princess. Now he wants his country to be recognized by surrounding countries as well as the UN. Everyone is saying that this is not allowed for various reasons. He does not have people living there, he is not himself inhabiting the area, other countries are not recognizing his claim, and one cannot simply put a flag in the ground and say that it is theirs. If this were the case there would be seven billion flags around the world. He is claiming that he has hopes for this area, turning it into an agricultural center where he can help with food supply issues in the surrounding area. I see that he has hopes and dreams for the area, but as far as calling it his own country I don't see that going as well as he thinks.
Jake Red Dorman's curator insight,
November 13, 2014 10:32 AM
Having read through most of the article, I find it funny how he actually believes that he can just step foot on soil and claim it as his own country. The description, “members of the occupying nation must have lived on the land for several years,” and, “it must also demonstrate that it has occupied the space, not that it just physically stepped foot there,” are the best ways to describe why it would never work for him. You have to make use of the space that is provided. Even though he claims that he will, turn the country into an agricultural production center that will tackle food security issues in the region, it hasn’t been done yet, and even if it was he wouldn’t occupy nearly enough of the space. Egypt and Sudan are officially negotiating over the land.
Seth Dixon's curator insight,
December 14, 2015 2:14 PM
I use this classic xkcd image every semester that I teach world regional geography. The explanation of this image is helpful if the students fail to understand the context or the point of this comic strip. The very idea of 'western' and 'eastern' is very much an idea that comes from 'the west' (Greek and Roman civilizations anciently, and a broadly European more recently). The Euro-centric view of the world from a single 'starting point' is one reason some geographers don't like the term 'Middle East,' but prefer Southwest Asia and North Africa. The Middle East implies a European starting point as does the Far East.
Tags: regions, perspective. |
Seth Dixon's curator insight,
June 23, 2015 3:01 PM
It is never a bad time to hear from Hans Rosling. In this TED talk he shares data that shows how popular myths about the less developed world (especially fertility rates and life expectancy) have radically changed in the last 40 years. Tags: gapminder, development, TED. ![]()
Deanna Metz's curator insight,
March 1, 2016 8:04 PM
It is never a bad time to hear from Hans Rosling. In this TED talk he shares data that shows how popular myths about the less developed world (especially fertility rates and life expectancy) have radically changed in the last 40 years. Tags: gapminder, development, TED.
Seth Dixon's curator insight,
October 6, 2016 9:53 AM
The ideas of Thomas Malthus have always loomed large; the scope includes some of the biggest issues facing humanity's continued existence on this planet. His controversial ideas have been debated and inspired some policies that were especially damaging. This anti-Malthusian op-ed was written by the Publisher of Skeptic Magazine; I typically pair this with the neo-Malthusian op-ed written by the President of the Canada's Population institute. Comparing and contrasting the merits of these articles provides a way to get student to assess the strengths of an argument and to identify the bias/perspective of the author.
Questions to Ponder: What did Malthus get right? What did he get wrong?
Tags: op-ed, demographics, population, APHG, unit 2 population.
Alex Smiga's curator insight,
August 6, 2017 8:05 AM
What did Malthus get right? and what did he get wrong?
Seth Dixon's curator insight,
February 14, 2017 4:15 PM
This is a succinct summary of Malthusian ideas on population. What do you think of his ideas? Any specific parts of his theory that you agree with? Do you disagree with some of his ideas? What did history have to say about it?
Tags: Demographics, population, models, APHG, unit 2 population.
Seth Dixon's curator insight,
April 18, 2017 3:14 PM
The World Economic Forum noted that some spatial research that was originally published in Nature, shows how geneticists took DNA samples from people of different cultures in different parts of the world to track their dispersal throughout the globe. The video uses climatic data, combined with the genetic data, to create a model showing how the human race spread across the globe over a 125,000 year period.
Tags: diffusion, demographics, mapping, migration, population, historical, video, visualization.
Ruth Reynolds's curator insight,
May 18, 2017 12:11 AM
Some interesting modelling based on climate change. I wonder what it would look like based on something different? Cultural differences? What came first culture or climate?
Deanna Wiist's curator insight,
September 12, 2017 9:02 PM
The World Economic Forum noted that some spatial research that was originally published in Nature, shows how geneticists took DNA samples from people of different cultures in different parts of the world to track their dispersal throughout the globe. The video uses climatic data, combined with the genetic data, to create a model showing how the human race spread across the globe over a 125,000 year period.
Tags: diffusion, demographics, mapping, migration, population, historical, video, visualization.
Seth Dixon's curator insight,
December 10, 2015 8:28 AM
Alexander von Humboldt has been described as the last great ancient geographer concerned with understanding an eclectic cosmography as well as the first modern geographer. He is honored far and wide throughout Europe and especially Latin America for his explorations, but given that people are confused as how to categorize him and classify his contributions, today he is under-appreciated. Geographers need to reclaim his memory and call his extensive, globetrotting work on a wide range of subjects ‘geography.’ Here is another article and TED-ED video on the most influential scientist that you might not have heard of (at least until today).
Tags: historical, biogeography.
Tony Burton's curator insight,
January 29, 2016 11:32 AM
An interesting biography, but, strangely, Ms Wulf almost completely ignores Humboldt's time in Mexico. In some ways, his time in Mexico was more pivotal in terms of geography than his time in South America. Claiming that Humboldt is a virtual unknown in Europe is a gross distortion of the facts; there have been numerous books about Humboldt over the last thirty to forty years, let alone before that time!.
Pieter de Paauw's curator insight,
February 15, 2016 6:25 AM
De nieuwe methode van de onderbouw: (Alexander von) Humboldt
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Mark Hathaway's curator insight,
October 9, 2015 6:57 AM
Immigration is a major source of tension within Europe. The influx of immigrants into Europe has led to a nativist backlash in many nations. The free movement of people is a bedrock principle of the European Union. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the leaders of Europe hoped that the open borders policy would prevent another costly war by allowing people to move to were there were jobs were located. The mixing of cultures would also prevent war. People would develop an understanding of other cultures, which would make the possibility of war more remote. The leaders did not account for the strong nativist strand that often runs through many nations. The UK is threating to withdraw from the EU over this immigration issue. While immigration on the United States gets much of the attention, a more serous crises is actually occurring in Europe.
Seth Dixon's curator insight,
December 29, 2015 6:02 PM
India is a country with amazing economic potential, but hampered but uneven levels of social development. The so-called 'digital divide' can exacebate problems for the poor and their ability to join the emerging industries. In this situation Facebook is offering free (partial) internet access to India's poor and the discussions about net neutrality and the potential ulterior motives are underway.
Questions to Ponder: Do you favor Zuckerberg's proposal or do you think that India should reject this offer?
Tags: development, India, South Asia, infrastructure, technology.
Richard Aitchison's curator insight,
March 23, 1:20 PM
This was a very interesting read and a problem that will probably continue as we move forward. It is hard to believe that one billion people could not have internet access! That India wants to grow as a nation and continue to connect in this global world this would seem quite backwards. In this scenario CEO and founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg is offering free although limited internet access in India. However, its the limited access that has made net neutrality voices heard. They believe this will make it a walled off area in which the limited access will cause the Indian people only be able to see certain views and the companies chosen to be on the server will be the "winners" in India. One would figure India would have figured out a way to address this issue. In the world that we live in it is of utter most importance to have internet access. It is a major tool in everyday life, but also in education. If India wants to continue to grow in this global world then they must do something, if its not Mark Zuckerberg's idea then they must come up with an alternative. Its great to just say you do not like an idea, but can you come up with an idea yourself that will work? This will be interesting to view going forward.
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Mark Hathaway's curator insight,
October 9, 2015 6:57 AM
Immigration is a major source of tension within Europe. The influx of immigrants into Europe has led to a nativist backlash in many nations. The free movement of people is a bedrock principle of the European Union. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the leaders of Europe hoped that the open borders policy would prevent another costly war by allowing people to move to were there were jobs were located. The mixing of cultures would also prevent war. People would develop an understanding of other cultures, which would make the possibility of war more remote. The leaders did not account for the strong nativist strand that often runs through many nations. The UK is threating to withdraw from the EU over this immigration issue. While immigration on the United States gets much of the attention, a more serous crises is actually occurring in Europe. |
Amazing to see many of the countries and empires that are no longer around. Also with the dissoution of many of the empires it lead's to many of the issues that were are dealiing with today. Splitting the Austro-Hugaraian Empire after WWI along ethnic lines didn't really work and helped to lead to WWII. The Germans in the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia fro example. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sudetendeutsche_gebiete.svg
for the area of German population.
10 countries that have become nonexistent in the 20th century include Tibet, East Germany and Yugoslavia. These countries have died off because of ethic, religious and cultural falls that were quickly taken over by bigger and more powerful countries.
Essentially this article boils down to the issues of religion, ethnicity and nationalism. People who are diverse and have different ideas generally cannot all live together under one rule and agree on everything, hence nations split and new ones form to cater to their own beliefs and similarities.