Crossing the Line GIS Activity

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     The country that could potentially split is Australia. The Murrawarri nation, straddling the border of sub-states New South Wales and Queensland, would become a separate enclaved country in the eastern part of the continent. The Arabian Gulf Union could form with the joining of several countries in the Middle East including Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, as well as parts of Iraq and Syria.

     I believe Murrawarri will split from Australia because it is clear the nation wants its own country. In 2013, the "republic" declared independence from Australia and claimed a small segment of territory. However, the government ignored this declaration and Murrawarri's independence is not recognized. At first, the nation interpreted the lack of response as the green light to start a country; they began setting up a government and went to the United Nations for recognition. Murrawarri has yet to achieve state status, but are determined to make it happen. I think the Arabian Gulf Union will form because of cultural similarities. Not only do the countries practice the same religion, but they speak similar languages. Additionally, the countries are unified through a common threat from Iran.

     The Murrawarri Republic has both physical and cultural boundaries. The nations borders are largely based on where the majority of the nation lives and the territory they claimed. However, to draw the boundaries, the Darling and Balonne Rivers were used as criteria. The boundaries of the Arabian Gulf Union are cultural. They were drawn in accordance with the Indo-European/ Afro-Asiatic language family border.
   
     Murrawarri will be satisfied with statehood but in the beginning, their economy, government, and military won't be very strong, and may not ever be. This is because of the small size of the nation and the probable unwillingness of other countries to invest in such a tiny chunk of land. Another disadvantage is being landlocked, the nation won't be able to make money importing and exporting goods by sea. Independence is good for the nation because it will be unified; not only will the Murrawarri Republic be a nation-state, they will be linked through their extensive efforts to gain sovereignty. Murrawarri could likely stimulate other nations in Australia to split, and the continent might eventually look similar to Africa. The Arabian Gulf Union will create security because the new, more powerful country will be able to defend itself against Iran. Plus, simply having more territory can make a state stronger economically. Combining states could possibly cause internal conflicts because of the nature of people resisting change.
   
   
   
     

Cultural Geography Photo Collage

Census Data Mapper Map and Analysis - October 2013

LINK to this map on Google Drive

The topic of this map is average family size. Bigger families are clustered in the Western and Southwestern United States. Also, family sizes tend to be high around major cities such as Minneapolis, Philadelphia, or Los Angeles. Almost all of Puerto Rico, Alaska, and Hawaii are shaded as having bigger families. As far as small families go, many parts of the Midwest have a light shading for small families. Additionally, much of the Northern U.S. has a small average family size and families in mountainous regions typically aren’t very big.

The reason for large family sizes in the South might be that immigrants from Mexico tend to have many children. City populations tend to be higher than rural so it would make sense that  large families reside in the city. In the West, the cost of living is pretty low so people can afford to have more kids. Also, many families live on ranches/farms so it would be good to have more kids for help. It is a part of Puerto Rican, Hawaiian and Alaskan Native culture to have large families. In the Midwest, most people enjoy hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, ski/snowboarding, etc. and it would be inconvenient and expensive to have a large party to haul around. It might be that a lot of people who live in the mountains are ski bums and because they are so busy skiing there isn’t time for family - or maybe people want to preserve the peace of the landscape by not introducing children, who can often be rambunctious.

In areas with larger families when it has become a part of the culture, most people will have many children and the population will increase. More children means more money needed for day care, schools, school activities, and various youth programs. Drawbacks such as overflowing classes, multiple sports teams/cutting kids, and probably high taxes would be in effect. Also, with bigger families bigger homes are needed so more money will be spent on housing. Socially, kids will most likely have more friends because they will be exposed to more people their age. To gain votes, political candidates will have to target campaigns towards improving/expanding services for young people. In areas with small families, classrooms would be more open and kids would hopefully get more attention. Taxes would be relatively low because enormous sums of money wouldn’t be spent on youth. Plus, homes would be smaller and more people could live comfortably in a given neighborhood. Without many kids, schools will be underused, not as many friendships would exist, and there might not be enough people for sports teams.

Activity Space Map - September 2013

https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zPmCWSib8gMw.k32hOv_UvKT8