Write a research paper with the title “Overview of the Geographical Project Plan Assignment Instructions.”
Start by describing and analyzing the significance of location. Is the problem unique to a specific
location or region? Why or why not? Describing the location of a low income rural town relative
to regions of industry or agriculture can be revealing. Is the location a conurbation, technopole,
forward capital, or primate city?
Follow with a regional analysis that might include physiography (climate, terrain, bodies of
water, flora and fauna), culture, population data (demographics), the economy, political
geography, urban development, industrialization, and agriculture. How would you characterize
the people, i.e., their culture, lifestyle and beliefs? How do language, gender, religion, and
cultural traditions and values affect the project? Are the people part of a shatterbelt? Think about
the sectors of the economy and development. Is the area you are addressing a periphery, semi-
periphery, or core state, and how does that help or hinder the solution to the problem? Are the
people subsistence farmers? Describe the population. Analyze the population distribution and
density. Is it a floating population? Look at demographics like the birth rate, infant mortality rate,
overall longevity, ratio of physicians to population, per capita income, average years of
education or illiteracy, and the dependency ratio. What do those statistics indicate regarding the
problem to be solved?
Movement, or connectivity, is often a key component in any geographic analysis. Will you move
people, goods, or information? How will you do that? What are the challenges of movement?
Can you hand out brochures or a Bible if the people receiving them are illiterate? Do they have
access to the internet? Is there adequate transportation infrastructure to move people and goods?
Are roads improved or unimproved? Is there access to public transportation? Analyze
physiography as it relates to movement. Think about transferability of goods, distance decay, or
the movement of people through immigration or emigration.
Study the cultural landscape and develop a sense of place. This can add insight to the culture and
the economy. Can the type of places of worship indicate cultural or ethnic diversity in a location?
Where is the nearest hospital or college? Do most people live in single-family homes, or do most
residents rent? Can the number of traffic lights in a town indicate size?
Consider the cause and effect of human interaction with the natural environment as it relates to
your project. It may be as simple as studying the general climate and the seasonal effect on
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activities and services. Do the people contend with devastating drought, earthquakes, tsunamis,
or hurricanes? Have people permanently altered the natural landscape through deforestation or
the construction of dams, levees, or canals?
Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism tool.
