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As I looked down, I saw a large river meandering slowly along for miles, passing from one country to another without stopping. I also saw huge forests, extending along several borders. And I watched the extent of one ocean touch the shores of separate continents. Two words leaped to mind as I looked down on all this: commonality and interdependence. We are one world.
— Dr. John-David Bartoe
NASA Research Manager, International Space Station |
The first day or so we all pointed to our countries. The third or fourth day we were pointing to our continents. By the fifth day, we were aware of only one Earth.
— Sultan bin Salman Al-Saud
Royal Saudi Air Force Officer and Astronaut |
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Macrogeography (Macro- = Large/Big + Geo- = Earth + Graphy = Draw) involves viewing the world as a whole in order to detect broader patterns. Think of it as observing the Earth from space or adopting a bird's-eye view.
In order to better understand the significance of altering scale, visit the following web sites: |
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| One World. As this projection illuminates, the Earth's landmasses are relatively close to one another. A common misconception is that the various World Zones (The Americas, Afro-Eurasia, Australia, and Oceania) developed in total isolation prior to the voyages of Christopher Columbus. However, evidence indicates that contacts, albeit small scale and irregular, were occurring between the World Zones in the centuries, and in some cases millenniums, before 1492. |
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Large Downloadable World Map. By downloading and printing the following six PDF files, you will be able to assemble a world map that fits on six sheets (8-1/2 by 11) of regular print paper. |
Alternative Source: Mega Maps |
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Adopting a Bird's-Eye View: Searching for broader patterns
- Mountain Chains and Passes [the High Mountains of Central Eurasia form a significant barrier to east-west movement and the Rockies-Andes essentially belong to a single mountain chain]
- Grasslands [the Eurasian Steppe functioned as an early highway running east and west across Eurasia and the Americas have a discontinuous belt of grasslands running north and south along the rain shadow of the Rockies-Andies Mountain Chain] and Deserts [in the northern and southern hemispheres between 15° and 40°, one can see broader patterns of aridity. The largest stretch being the Great Arid Belt of Afro-Eurasia that extends from North Africa (the Sahara) to Eastern Central Eurasia (the Gobi); however, due to its relatively flat terrain and a fairly even distribution of oases, people with specialized knowledge of the area and pack animals well-suited for the dry conditions have been able to move rapidly throughout this belt.
- Forests: Tropical Rainforests (a discontinuous belt of tropical rainforest runs globally along the Equator. Although evidence suggests that regular contact between people living in the Andes and the Amazon Basin occurred, this region faced unique challenges due to the extreme differences in altitude. Also, despite its discontinuous nature, the people inhabiting the tropical monsoonal lands of South and Southeast Asia shared similar ecological and cultural life ways. In addition, Andrew Watson referred to a path of biological exchange that ran through southern Arabia to connect Tropical Africa and Tropical Southern Asia as the 'Sabean Lane.') Coniferous and Deciduous Forests (a thick belt of forest runs in an east-west direction along the northerly latitudes of the Americas and Afro-Eurasia.)
- Islands and Peninsulas
- Internal Bodies of Water: River Systems, Large Lakes, and Land-locked Seas
- External Bodies of Water: Inland Seas, Straits, and Semi-closed Bodies of Water
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each world zone. |
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