What is interesting about Italy is that the region it is in has been around for and has influenced world culture for thousands of years. But Italy as a nation is fairly new as it was only developed into a unified state 150 years ago. What is also interesting about Italy's geography is that many cultural and economic trends differ from the Northern part to the Southern part of the country. For example, a person in Northern Italy is likely to make twice as much income as someone in Southern Italy. Adding to that, as far as culture goes, there is also a division among the different dialects throughout the North and South of Italy as well. As a result of this information, one can see how important it is to not lump an entire nation into one category for it is made up of various elements from the different divisions and opinions among it's people.

This showcases geography because it is an example of how a country can be so divided even though everyone is from the same homeland. However, to Italians, their geographic location in Italy is very important. People take a lot of pride in which region they are from, whether it's between the politics of the north and south Italy or the different dialects spoken between the different regions. The divided is also seen economically as northern Italy is wealthier, and southern Italy is filled with more poverty and unemployment. 

This article provides numerous amounts of information on the the Korean peninsula. The article explores in great detail the many difference between the North and South Koreas. Five major themes are explored: historical context (war history), political leadership, people and society, industry and economy, and current conflicts the Koreas have with one another. What's incredibly interesting is that while the both Koreas have quite a similar heritage, they live completely different lifestyles today. These difference lifestyles may be explained due to historical, economic, and political, and geopolitical difference the countries have. 

It’s hard to see that two groups of people who speak the same language and have the same ethnic backgrounds can live such strikingly different existences.  It seems that the only thing they still have in common is their language and ethnicities.  When I was scrolling through this story, there were a few pieces that really stood out to me.  The first was that the Korean War technically hasn’t been formally concluded, which means that attacks on each other aren’t actually that out of the realm of possibilities.  The next thing was that North Korea’s birth rate is higher than South Korea’s, yet the population of South Korea is two times larger.  This reflects that the life expectancy of South Koreans is significantly longer and that their resources are used more efficiently.  Other statistics that stood out related to GDP.  Up until 1980 both North and South Korea’s GDPs were growing at basically the same rate.  But from that point forward, South Korea’s grew dramatically and North Korea’s actually decreased.  This leads up to today where the GDP of South Korea is $1.934 trillion and North Korea’s is only $40 billion.  Seeing as they are basically working with the same resources, since they share a similar geographic location, in most situations their GDPs would be even a tiny bit similar.  However, the way the economies of both countries are operated have created such a difference in their GDPs.  The infrastructure of the two countries are also wildly different.  The map of the two countries at night show that South Korea uses a lot of electricity, so practically the entire country is lit up.  North Korea is so dark that if I didn’t know that people lived there, I would assume it was uninhabited by any humans.  The statistic regarding the percentages of roads paved vs unpaved in the two countries also shows the stark contrast between their infrastructure.  Only 3% of roads in North Korea are paved!  Whereas 92% of South Korea’s roads are paved.  The most unfortunate part of this whole situation is that there are millions of people who live in North Korea and must suffer with little hope of escaping while their South Korean neighbors generally enjoy a modernized life.  This story map shows that sharing a location does not really mean that two groups of people will live similar lives.

This expertly created set of data points and maps clearly lay out the stark differences between North and South Korea. Also, it shows how both countries have resources the other needs and how cooperation or reunification can benefit everyone. However, this article shows how the dramatic differences between these two countries politically, economically, and socially make that highly unlikely. 

In this article, Roger Crofts explains how in most schools the main subject focus for students is literacy, math, science, and sometimes a foreign language. While social sciences such as geography usually get put on the back burner in the education system. He also makes the argument that geography helps teach imperative skills like literacy and math which is why this subject should have more of an emphasis in school settings. In response to Crofts' article and from my own experience in public schools, his article lines right up with what I was taught when I was younger. When I was in high school, there was a heavy push to learn math, literacy, and science, and also to be tested on these subjects with standardized tests. I feel that there should be a heavy emphasis on these subjects in schools, but there should also still be room for other classes that are creative and help to mold well rounded individuals. Furthermore, I believe this could become possible if standardized tests occurred less and more focus was put on the actual student rather than their standardized test scores.