What is the axis orientation of a continent?

What is the axis orientation of a continent?

One hypothesis, striking in its simplicity if you’ve ever looked at a world map, is the significant contribution of the general orientation of the major continents. The Americas are largely lined up North–South, while Europe and Asia (Eurasia) are largely lined up East-West.

What is Diamond’s explanation for the significance of the continental axis in the spread of food production in some continents and not in others?

The foremost reason for the rapid spread of crops in Eurasia, according to Diamond, is that the Eurasian continent has an east-west axis—the bulk of the land mass stretches east to west rather than north to south.

What is the significance of the shape of the continents?

Continents that are spread out in an east-west direction, such as Eurasia, had a developmental advantage because of the ease with which crops, animals, ideas and technologies could spread between areas of similar latitude.

What does east-west axis mean?

Diamond defines the different shapes and sizes of the continents using the word “axis.” He writes that Eurasia has a longer east–west axis, while the Americas have a longer north–south axis. This means that Eurasia stretches to a greater extent from east to west, while the Americas stretch more from north to south.

What is Jared Diamond’s thesis?

Jared Diamond, a professor of geography at the University of California, Los Angeles, wrote a thesis which attempts to describe why European or Eurasian countries seemed to dominate in the 17th century. His Thesis tries to describe why Eurasian civilizations have stayed afloat and conquered over other countries.

What are Jared Diamond’s theories?

Backgrounder for Teachers: Jared Diamond’s basic theory is that some countries developed more rapidly than others and were able to expand and conquer much of the world because of geographic luck.

What’s the biggest continent?

Asia
Continent/Biggest
Asia, the largest continent, stretches from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the western Pacific Ocean. There are more than 40 countries in Asia. Some are among the most-populated countries in the world, including China, India, and Indonesia. Sixty percent of Earth’s population lives in Asia.

What does Jared Diamond mean by geographic luck?

Jared Diamond’s theory that some regions developed more rapidly and expanded because the natural resources available to them, climate, and geography gave them an early advantage into agriculture before people in other places. …

What is Jared Diamonds explanation for why the Spanish had advanced to steel swords while Incas were still making tools and weapons from bronze?

2. What is Jared Diamond’s explanation for why the Spanish had advanced to steel swords while Inca’s were still making tools and weapons from bronze? Answer: Because Europe was geographically close to the Fertile Crescent, they inherited the 7,000 years of metal technology that had been developed there.

What is Diamond’s main argument?

Diamond’s overall argument in this book is that some societies come to dominate others because of geographical luck. The book is meant as an answer to Yali’s question. It is meant to explain why some societies became powerful and others did not.

What is the main ideas of Jared Diamond’s thesis in Guns Germs and Steel?

Jared Diamond’s basic theory is that some countries developed more rapidly than others and were able to expand and conquer much of the world because of geographic luck.

What is the Continental axis theory in geography?

Answer Wiki. Continental Axis Theory is the brain-child of Jared Diamond & it hypothesizes that continents with wide E/W axes, as opposed to N/S axes, are advantageous to indigenous human genotypes. This is because they have relatively less variation in climatic conditions than continents that are oriented N/S, & therefore…

What is the Continental orientation hypothesis?

Also known as the ‘continental orientation hypothesis’, this refers to a hypothesis on why certain regions of the world throughout history experienced more economic development than others.

Which scientist most associated with the theory of continental drift?

The theory of continental drift is most associated with the scientist Alfred Wegener. In the early 20th century, Wegener published a paper explaining his theory that the continental landmass es were “drifting” across the Earth, sometimes plowing through oceans and into each other. He called this movement continental drift.

What was Wegener’s theory of the origin of the continents?

Wegener was convinced that all of Earth’s continents were once part of an enormous, single landmass called Pangaea . Wegener, trained as an astronomer, used biology, botany, and geology describe Pangaea and continental drift. For example, fossil s of the ancient reptile mesosaurus are only found in southern Africa and South America.