The Western World Daily Readings on Geography Chapter 12 Pacific Realm Regional Example

CHAPTER 12 Pacific Realm Regional Example Regional geography studies the people and places of a cohesive region . A region is defined to be an area with multiple shared characteristics over a range of categories , including both physical and human geographic characteristics . The secret of creating a region , which is a human construct not a naturally begotten unit , is to cluster together as many similarities as possible , while excluding geographic differences . Cartography by . So , what is ?

The Pacific Realm includes Australia , New Zealand , and many other islands . Most of those other islands are quite small , with a noteworthy exception of New Guinea . However , only the eastern half ( a bit more than 50 ofthe land ) of the island New Guinea is in the Pacific Realm . The western portion is the Indonesian region of Irian . has some of the largest lands among the Pacific Islands , not counting Australia ( continent ) and New Zealand ( separate ) The country New Guinea , the eastern side of the island New Guinea , is larger than all of New Zealand and bigger than any other Pacific island . as a whole totals one million square kilometers of land area . Of the remaining islands of the Pacific Realm , does have most of the largest islands . New , the Solomon Islands , and are substantial each is larger than the big island of Hawaii ( Tonga is similarly sized , a bit smaller , more like in Hawaii , but usually is considered as part of , though some maps place it in . Nevertheless , the main reason for naming as a of the Pacific Realm is not land size . An examination ofthe landscapes of Melanesian islands shows mountainous regions with thick tropical forests . 4341 feet in elevation New Mont 5344 feet New Guinea Mount Wilhelm 14793 feet New Ireland ( separate island of New Guinea ) 7805 Solomon Islands Mount 7651 feet Mount 6165 feet . New Guinea features long stretches of mountains , along with extensive valleys between them . The prominent islands of are not the low coral islands that are common elsewhere in the Pacific Ocean . As 61

62 JOEL QUAM AND SCOTT CAMPBELL understand that the physical landscape affects , but does not determine , human behavior , certainly the landscapes of Melanesian islands influenced the cultures of . Perhaps the naming of was a bit prompted by the darkness of forested mountains . In Greek language , or mela means dark or black , while refers to islands . So , refers to the dark or black islands . Again , this might have some reference to the physical landscape however , predominantly the natives of these islands possess very dark skin and hair . Thus , the understood connection of the place name is with the physical appearance of the native peoples . Of course , skin tone does not suggest a single culture . Instead , the cultures of are diverse and numerous . One of the most striking features of is the vast number of different languages spoken there . New Guinea alone holds over 800 different languages , causing it to be Earth most linguistically diverse location . Perhaps an ideal setting for use of a lingua franca , New Guinea has Tok , an Creole language , as its most common tongue . Certainly , the diversity of language there is related to the mountainous physical barriers that separated valley or coastal peoples from other valley or coastal peoples . Historically and without modern transportation and communication , that separation over centuries caused languages to develop and evolve independently of one another . The relative isolation of the Pacific Realm , in particular in regard to European exploration and settlement , led to belated understanding and discovery of the peoples of New Guinea . Basically , it was an unknown land until 1840 . In sum , is composed of relatively large islands north of Australia . Commonly , these islands are mountainous . The separation of these mainly natives historically created a plethora of languages and cultures . Did You Know ?

Given that refers to islands , for the other island groups of the Pacific , means the small islands , while means many islands . One of the key locations for observation and analysis in the bestselling Guns , Germs , and Steel Diamond is New Guinea . Where would Germany rank among colonial powers ?

Certainly ( not in ranked order ) behind Britain , France , Spain , Portugal , and the Netherlands . Nevertheless , by 1884 Germany did share New Guinea as colonial territory with Britain . Germany lost that territory due World War I , but some of the effects of those years of control still remain today . Germany Lutheran missionary work was successful , so that today the Evangelical Lutheran Church of New Guinea holds nearly a million baptized members , cited as 18 of the citizen population of the country , second only to Catholicism . CITED AND ADDITIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY . 2014 . Wikipedia . Creative Commons Alike .