The National Geography Standards
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People around the world congregate in settlements of different sizes, ranging from world cities like London, New York, and Tokyo, to the smallest of rural villages and hamlets. The forms and functions of these settlements are determined by their economic base, their political and military importance, and their symbolic role in the culture. Even within countries like Morocco, there is a wide difference in appearance between settlements in the north and the south of the country. |
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South of the Atlas Mountains, Morocco - The fortified villages of southern Morocco are called ksour. In the Anti-Atlas mountain frontier of Morocco, villages are fortified for defensive purposes. They are the "mud castles" for which southern Morocco is famous. |
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Tetuan, Morroco - Tetuan is an Andalusian city of Morocco's Mediterranean north where many settlements owe their existance to the Spanish expulsion of the "Moors." Cities of the north, such as Tetuan (a refugee settlement of the 15th century), look completely different from the ksour of the south. |
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Central Places in the Cumberland Valley of Pennsylvania - Central place theory is often used to explain the distribution of settlements, or "service centers," in agricultural regions. In the Cumberland Valley of Pennsylvania, the market towns are almost exactly 11 miles apart along "the valley path," now I-81. What accounts for this regular spacing? Source D.J. Zeigler. |
A Sample Question from the National Geography Challenge 1996 (Grades 7-9) which illustrates . . .
STANDARD 12 -- HUMAN SETTLEMENT
In the early 1900s, the geographic form of the cities in the United States was most strongly influenced by: