The Western World Daily Readings on Geography Chapter 17 Pacific Realm Political Geography I

CHAPTER 17 Pacific Realm Political Geography I Why is Hawaii in ?

Created by Noun 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 . So , what is ?

The Pacific Realm includes Australia , New Zealand , and many other islands . Most ofthose other islands are quite small . If you consider surface area , then is the largest of the Pacific Realm , with its surface area overwhelmingly being water . 81 82 Cleaned by Olena from Noun JOEL QUAM AND SCOTT CAMPBELL In Greek language , poly means many while refers to islands . So , refers to the many islands . These many islands , simplified , are located east of and . Some of these islands are volcanic Hawaii is , while many are low islands . Even so , mainly is a region that commonly featured matrilineal societies . Their languages fall in the language family , but are in a distinct from and . Skilled navigation using outrigger canoes propelled natives throughout islands in the vast ocean spaces of . Following the arrival of Christian missionaries in 1820 , Christianity spread quickly and widely throughout the region . Cartography by . The native presence on Hawaii extends back at least to , perhaps longer . European arrival was initially chronicled with the landing of British ships led by Captain James Cook in 1778 . King I ruled from 1782 to 1819 and succeeded in unifying the islands . After a controversial coup overthrowing the Hawaiian Queen in 1893 , the United States annexed Hawaii by treaty in 1898 . It remained a territory of the United States , until joining the union as the state on August 21 , 1959 . Obviously , in political terms this means that Hawaii is in the region of North America , as it politically is part of the United States . This inclusion of Hawaii in North America is plausibly , for nothing but ocean exists between the American mainland and the Hawaiian Islands .

PACIFIC REALM POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY I 83 Although there are many volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean , Hawaii formation is unusual , being the hot spot . A weakness in the Earth mantle , a hot spot , releases molten rock material from the ocean floor . This volcanic material accumulates as long as the hot spot remains open . If that time frame is long enough , the hot spot constructs a volcanic island . Additionally , continental drift keeps happening . The hot spot builds an island , but eventually seals off . Continental drift moves the island along . Staying in the original location , the hot spot reopens and builds another island . And so on , over long geologic time frames . Thus , Hawaii is a string of volcanic islands of different ages . For a handful of European colonial powers , it is difficult to accept that their far distant holdings are part of Europe . For instance , French remains a part of overseas France , but lies on the mainland of South America . It would seem geographically unacceptable to include French as part of Europe , even as the European Space Agency launch site is located there . Similarly , the islands of French are part of France , but are halfway around the world from Europe . As well , could the Islands of the coast of Argentina be considered in Europe , because they belong to Britain ?

Or Island in ?

Like Hawaii , Easter Island in also possesses a dual identity that is geographically palatable . Easter Island , famous for its stone statues moai is located in the far southeastern corner of , fitting the usual elements of this region . However , the island was annexed by Chile in 1888 , though the Chilean mainland is over 2000 miles away over unblocked Pacific waters ( similar to Hawaii and the American mainland ) The United States has additional territories among Pacific islands . For instance , and the Northern Mariana Islands are US territories therefore , they are like Hawaii with dual identities . Bathymetric map of Hawaii . Public Domain . Did You Know ?

What other places might be considered to have dual identities ?

With plausible regional inclusion ?

is an autonomous piece of Denmark and thus Europe , while sometimes being considered part of North America due to its physical landscape location . Ecuador Islands are over 500 miles west of the mainland , but are not considered part of . The Canary Islands of Spain are directly west of Morocco and thus are in North Africa , but politically belong in Europe , being part of Spain . Alaska clearly is separate from the main portion of the United States , thus lacking contiguity . However , by bordering Canada as part of the continental land mass , Alaska clearly is part of North America . It simply is an exclave ofthe United States .

84 JOEL QUAM AND SCOTT CAMPBELL CITED AND ADDITIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY . 2014 . Wikipedia . Creative Commons Alike .