Geography Study Chart Places and Regions

INTRODUCTION TO GEOGRAPHY (BVC1/C255)
PLACES AND REGIONS STUDY CHART

Studying the World Regions and Places units in your course
Many students find the course content on world regions, countries, and places to be some of the most challenging material to learn. The combination of student unfamiliarity with the world regions and the large volume of information to be learned can be overwhelming. To help you organize your studies, keep in mind WGU’s intention behind this course, which is for competent students to have a strong grasp of the major human and physical geographic conditions that interact to shape our world. When you are studying world region, we want you to emphasize the 1) “big picture” of the geographic conditions in each world region, 2) the major countries of that region, and 3) how that region relates to the rest of the world.

Creating a consistent framework for studying each world region may help you retain the knowledge you need to be successful in this course aspect. We recommend trying to identify the 2-3 most significant / most important physical, cultural, economic, and political characteristics that exist within each world region. We do not guarantee that you are only tested on those features, but the process of identifying the most significant characteristics from the broader range of information about each world region is an excellent study strategy that also will ensure you leave our course with a strong, general knowledge of the major geographic conditions around the world. You are welcome to use the grid, below, to help organize your study material.

World Region | Major physical characteristics | Major cultural characteristics | Major economic characteristics | Major political characteristics | EXAMPLES | The Misty MountainsThe Plains of RohanThe Great River Erendell | Dominant religion: ElvishVery rural with small villagesHigh population growth rate | Agricultural subsistence economyLittle industrial developmentVery low migration | Predominantly monarchies -- (Gondor, Mordor, Rohan, Rivendell)Democratic movements in the Shire | North / South America | North America | | | | | Latin America and the Caribbean | | | | | Europe and Central Asia | Europe | | | | | Northern Eurasia | | | | | Central Asia and Afghanistan | | | | | The Middle East and Africa | The Middle East and North Africa | | | | | Africa South of the Sahara (Sub-Saharan Africa) | | | | | Asia and the Pacific | South Asia | | | | | East Asia | | | | | South-East Asia | | | | | Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands | | | | |