Topic #4-Languages as Maps

This map above shows the distribution of Chinese language across the lower forty-eight states. It looks like more than I anticipated but then it also tells you the over all percentage and it is only .77% of people in the United States. I was surprised by the greater concentration around the Denver area. Granted it was not as highly concentrated as the coasts, but still I originally thought the only area would be on the western coast. Is Denver just a small hub for transport between coasts or is there some other reason that that area has a greater concentration than the rest of the middle of the US.



This map shows the distribution of German spoken in Nebraska. I choose these settings because I was once told that Concordia was originally labeled as a German school, so I wondered how many Germans had remained in the area. The distribution does agree with my knowledge that around Seward there is a higher concentration of German spoken, but overall not much German is spoken anymore. The percentage of German spoken is only .56% in Nebraska.



This map is still using the German language, but this time I looked at Wisconsin. I had anticipated a greater number in this state instead of Nebraska, and I was right with an overall 0.96% of Wisconsin's population speaking German. It seems that the lower half of the state has a greater concentration than the top half. Are there more people concentrated in the lower half to begin with? Or, is this a because of how the Germans migrated and they choose to settle in the lower half of the state.



This shows the Western slope of Colorado's distribution of the Spanish language. I do think that these concentration difference are due to overall population present in those counties because it matches pretty well. Also the areas of lower concentration have less agricultural of oil industries that use Spanish speaking people for work. I am not saying that they do find other work, but typically that is where you see them. The overall percentage of Spanish for this area was 10%.

Tpoic #3

#2. A very interesting website for those interested in maps and world statistics is the Population Reference Bureau.



#3. This Map was taken from www.worldmappers.org and showing the population of physicians around the world. It is interesting when viewed in correlation with the general population map below. You will notice that some sizes of the countries will be smaller in the physician map then in the population indicating that their are fewer physicians per people in that country (like India). Then compare that to the states where our size is bigger in the physicians map than in the population map. This means that we have more physicians for a smaller amount of total people.

#4. These two images below are population pyramids of the countries Costa Rica and Ukraine. Ukraine shows a declining population because of smaller amounts of children compared to adults. Costa Rica shows s classic pyramid shape indicating growth in that population. These statistics agree with what I heard for myself when I visited these amazing countries. Both of these maps were taken from http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idb/pyramids.html.

Topic #2-Distinguishing Regions

Formal Region –

This picture shows the difference in abundance of farms between the years 1997 and 2002. It is interesting because it clearly shows that withing this time frame the number of farms has significantly decreased in higher concentration in the Midwest region of the United States.  But I suppose there would be a greater number of change in that area because there is a greater number of farms to begin with so does that really accurately show where farms have greatly decreased?

Functional Region –

This map is used to divide the city into different region for the housing market.  By creating these regions I image it would be easier to quickly locate different houses on the market and also maybe differentiate between prices or neighborhoods. 

Vernacular Region –

This map gives a nice simple version of the Midwest according to this person or group of people.  But I thought it was interesting that when I searched for maps of the Midwest there was a fair amount of variety in what people called the Midwest.  It generally didn’t divide in the middle of the states, but on one map these groups of states would be included, yet on another maybe a state would be left out or another one was added in.  So these general region of the Midwest is not as narrow as some of the previous examples.

Topic #1-Describing my home town

My hometown is Delta, CO.  Our total population is approximately 8,000 and we sit at about 5,000’ above sea level in the Uncompahgre valley.  No, it is not near Denver, but rather located on the western slope about an hour south and east of Grand Junction.  Delta is named after the confluence of the two rivers: the Uncompahgre and the Gunnison.  It also houses Fort Uncompahgre, which was originally established as a fur trading post in 1828.  Today it is where all little children take a field trip to go observe what life might have been like when it flourished as the commercial center.  Right next to the fort is the traditional Ute Council Tree where the Ute Indians still meet today for their annual pow wow-cultural festival.   It is quite a sight to see the traditional folk culture mixed with today’s trends.  On a more current, urban, note Delta is also home to the unique variety stores, Clubb’s Store Company.  My family has run these stores since my Grandpa opened the original back in Missouri.  As my Grandparents moved so did the store, and it currently resides in the keeping of my father.  Our stores are divided into a general variety store along with a fabric store, and a frame shop and furniture store open to all shoppers Monday through Saturday 9-6 and Sunday 12-5.  These, along with other locally own stores, are interdispersed amidst the delicious multiplying Mexican restaurants to make a small commercial region along our main street.