• Title/Summary/Keyword: American geography

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Agricultural Geography of Rice Culture in California (미국 캘리포니아주(州)의 벼농사에 관한 농업지리학적 연구)

  • Lee, Jeon;Huh, Moo-Yul
    • Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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    • v.2 no.1
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    • pp.51-67
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    • 1996
  • There are three main rice-growing regions in the United States: the prairie region along the Mississippi River Valley in eastern Arkansas; the Gulf Coast prairie region in southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas; and the Central Valley of California. The Central Valley of California is producing about 23% of the US rice(Fig. 1). In California. most of the crop has been produced in the Colusa, Sutter, Butte, Glenn Counties of the Sacramento Valley since 1912, when rice was commercially grown for the first time in the state(Fig. 2). Roughly speaking, the average annual area sown to rice in California is about 300,000 acres to 400,000 acres during the last forty years(Fig. 3). California rice is grown under a Mediterranean climate characterized by warm, dry, clear days, and a long growing season favorable to high photosynthetic rates and high rice yields. The average rice yield per acre is probably higher in California than in any other rice-growing regions of the world(Fig. 4). A dependable supply of irrigation water must be available for a successful rice culture. Most of the irrigation water for California rice comes from the winter rain and snow-fed reservoir of the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges. Less than 10 percent of rice irrigation water is pumped from wells in areas where surface water is not sufficient. It is also essential to have good surface drainage if maximum yields are to be produced. Rice production in California is highly mechanized, requiring only about four hours of labor per acre. Mechanization of rice culture in California includes laser-leveler technology, large tractors, self-propelled combines for harvesting, and aircraft for seeding, pest control, and some fertilization. The principal varieties grown in California are medium-grain japonica types with origins from the cooler rice climates of the northern latitudes (Table 1). Long-grain varieties grown in the American South are not well adapted to California's cooler environment. Nearly all the rice grown recently in California are improved into semidwarf varieties. Choice of variety depends on environment, planting date, quality desired, marketing, and harvesting scheduling. The Rice Experiment Station at Biggs is owned, financed, and administered by the rice industry. The station was established in 1912, as a direct result of the foresight and effort of Charles Edward Chambliss of the United States Department of Agriculture. Now, The station's major effort is the development of improved rice varieties for California.

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The History and Characteristics of Korean Traditional Ondol(Gudle) studied through Document Analysis (문헌에 의해 분석된 한국 전통 온돌(구들)의 역사와 특성)

  • Kim, June Bong;Jeong, Sang Kyu
    • KIEAE Journal
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    • v.8 no.6
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    • pp.3-10
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    • 2008
  • Since fire was founded in the world, human races have invented various heating methods. Ondol is traditional heating method in Korea. It is very the important work to trace the history and characteristics of Ondol which originated and was developed in the Korean peninsula. Especially, the study on Ondol will contribute to improving the present heating methods and predicting future ones. In this paper, we shall study through the analysis of documents such as oriental documents, the document of Choseon dynasty, European documents and American documents. In order to discover the origins of Ondol as one of the excellent heating method all over the world, This study aims at identifying the history and characteristics of Ondol in the Korean peninsula, through document analysis. Results of this study are as follows. 1) The first document about Ondol is Sookyongjoo(水經注), Chinese ancient geography book. Contents recorded in the book include the description related to Ondol at Kwankyesa temple which was located at the border land between Gogooryo(ancient Korea) and the northeast of China. 2) Ondol was popular heating method in Gogooryo(ancient Korea) and it was used in not only Gogooryo but also Silla Kingdom and Beakje Kingdom. Thereafter, it was also used widely in Goryo dynasty and Choseon dynasty. Thereby we know that Ondol has been used as a heating method for a long time in the Korean peninsula. 3) Ondol was covered with a floor paper since the beginning of Choseon dynasty. the paper made room clean and impacted on Korean life style. Because the floor was clean and warm, Koreans thus took off shoes and sat on the floor. 4) Ondol was spreaded to Jeju island in Korea before 16th century but wasn't used widely there. The reason was that Ondol was rare high class heating system and the weather was warm in Jeju island. 5) The overspreading of Ondol caused that poor people built roughly Ondol in the last of Choseon dynasty. So, the quality of Ondol gradually became lower and lower. 6) A westerner was impressed by the novelty of Ondol and Frank Lloyd Wright had played an important role to update and spread Ondol widely all over the world. Hailing Ondol as the ideal heating system, Frank Lloyd Wright began incorporating it in his buildings back in the U.S. and even invented a modified ondol system, using hot water running through pipes instead of the hot exhaust through flues.

Coastal Zone Management in the United States of America (미국의 해안관리 -New Jerseyization의 반성과 연방정부 연안역관리 프로그램의 확산-)

  • Yu, Keun-Bae
    • Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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    • v.44 no.4
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    • pp.481-496
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    • 2009
  • Every coastal area exhibits its own unique landscape owing to the combination of the natural and cultural processes. Coastal barrier islands well show the cultural aspects of American coastal landscapes. Some 47% of barrier island area was occupied by urban and built-up area in New Jersey, while some 5% in Georgia. Tourism-related development is back to in the mid 19C. in N.J. due to the closeness to heavily populated areas such as New York and Philadelphia. Developments without proper understanding the nature of coastal processes caused New Jerseyization, the destruction of the beauty or naturalness. It was mainly due to the lack of growth-control policies and the foresight for the future coast in the processes of legislation. North Carolina's islands experienced an increase of 269% in urbanized acreage between 1956 and 1976. However, N.C. exercised her wisdom to recover the naturalness of the coastal environs: all engineering structures are banned on the beaches. Nine out of 13 barrier islands in Georgia exist in the wilderness condition owing to her unique history. The remaining islands still experienced the least development. After the Civil War most of Georgian islands were owned by rich families and maintained as wilderness. In the 1970s most of the uninhabited islands were sold or donated to research institutes or governmental agencies.

Spatial Characteristics of Korean Residential Distribution and Occupational Composition in China, United States, and Japan (재중.재미.재일동포의 거주지 분포와 직업구성의 공간적 특성)

  • Han, Ju-Seong
    • Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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    • v.4 no.2
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    • pp.219-234
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    • 1998
  • This study examines spatial characteristics of residential distribution and occupational composition of Korean emmigrants who live in China, United States, and Japan. The data used are The Conditions of Korean Emmigrants published by Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1995. Analysis method used this data are as follows: 1) to clarify the tendency and spatial distribution of Korean emmigrants in each nation. 2) to grasp the residential distribution of Korean emmigrants in China, United States, and Japan where many Koreans have lived. 3) to analyze the occupational composition and its spatial characteristics of Korean emmigrants. The main findindgs obtained are summarized as follows: Farmer, forester, stock farmer, and fishery occupy over 50% of the employees of Korean emmigrants in China; traders and other employees occupy about three-fourths of the employees of Korean emmigrants in United States; and other employees occupy about 80% of the employees of Korean emmigrants in Japan. Therefore, the ratio of occupational composition of Korean emmigrants was influenced by emmigration motive, level of economic development of emmigration nation, restrictive condition for ethnic minority, and social status before emmigration etc. Specialized occupational composition in region where many Korean emmigrants in each nation lived was that the highest specialized occupation in region including primary city in population scale is trader; the highest specialized occupation in region including secondary city is manufacturing employee, and the highest specialized occupation in region including third city has transitional characteristics of each region including primary and secondary city. And professional occupation such as lawyer, doctor, religionist and educator appeared to the region including primary city. Finally, Korean emmigrants in United States and Japan contributed to the revitalization of inner city areas. And potential ethnic organization can be seen in church, mass media, and enterprise association in United States, but it can be seen in community shopping association in Japan, Because American society is based on Christianity but Japanese society is not.

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Morphological Landscape of Patagonia and Atacama in the Andes based on Geotourism (지오투어리즘 관점에서 본 안데스 파타고니아와 아타카마의 지형경관)

  • PARK, Jongkwan
    • Journal of The Geomorphological Association of Korea
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    • v.20 no.4
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    • pp.15-28
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    • 2013
  • This paper was made on the basis of geotourism to explain morphological characteristics of Patagonia and Atacama region in the Andes through 10-day fieldwork. The Patagonian landscape was focused on the Torres del Paine National Park, Chile and the Los Glacier National Park, Argentina; on the other hand, the Atacama morphological landscape was investigated around the San Pedro de Atacama. Many geomorphological features such as uplift, semiarid and glacier landscapes can be found in Patagonia, so it is strongly recommended to have an opportunity to enjoy these landforms by geotourism. Massive intrusive rock bodies of granite can be shown in those two National Parks declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. And, the Atacama Desert located on the forearc depression in the Andes, Chile has also many geomorphological destinations of arid and volcanic landforms; badland, pediplain, pediment, salt lake and geyser. Especially, huge pediplain is one of the greatest view points in the Atacama Desert. Patagonia and Atacama are the best geographical tourism sites to know diverse tectonic landforms made by the conflict between South American and Pacific plates.

A comparative study between Korea and the USA on the development process in retail trade & its changing locations (소매업의 발달과정과 입지 변화에 관한 한.미 비교 연구)

  • Jeon, Kyung-Sook
    • Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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    • v.6 no.2
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    • pp.21-40
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    • 2000
  • The retail trades in many countries have changed recently according to the high quality, diversification, and marked individuality of consumer needs. Under the continually competing system of the WTO agreement, corporations based in the USA and the EU try to raise their market share in other countries so it is inevitable for Korean retail enterprises to compete with them. This paper is aimed at contributing to the efficient growth for Korean retail trade from the analysis of the development process in retail trade and its changing locations comparing Korea and the USA. Retailers in the USA have practiced diversified marketing strategies considerably in order to survive in a rapidly changing retailing environment. American retailing, which has the most advanced marketing system in the world, has been of growing concern to marketing strategies in Korea. The following is a brief summary of this study. 1. Speedy and higher quality consumption is needed in accordance with the great increase in the single-family household and the female labor force participation both in Korea and in the USA. Senior citizens have become a new consumer group due to the aging population. In the future the retail trade will switch over to diversified retail formats and internet shopping as countries are transformed into information and communication societies. 2. In Korea, the former retail system characterized by markets and department stores has been greatly changed since the late 1980s with emphasis on high quality and convenience in consumption behaviors, with large domestic enterprises and foreign distribution corporations participating in Korean retailing. In the USA, retailing mergers and takeovers by major retails, bankruptcies, and extra-large shopping centers have emerged since the late 1980s. Recently, the USA retailing formats have been changed from the lower price-oriented discount types to the large scale theme parks. Much emphasis was put on entertainment, resorts, and convention centers. On the other hand, non-store types, such as the internet shopping, the CATV shopping, as well as catalog and mail-order sales are drastically increasing, although the proportion of their sales is low up to now. 3. In Korea, most of the retail facilities are concentrated in Seoul and the Metropolitan Region, and the distribution ratio of facilities came to 52% in 1997. The periodic markets, traditional markets which open on a periodic basis, are located mainly in Chollanam-do and Kyungsangbuk-do. The large-sized discount stores have expanded their locations to the over-crowded apartment complexes in new towns, located in the Metropolitan Region, and the large provincial cities, unlike the suburban locations in the USA. Therefore we needed to give attention to the locational relations in retail facilities between Seoul & the Metropolitan Region and rural settlement areas. In the USA, urban areas grew quickly with the development of the automobile in the 1920s, and the location of stores changed from a dispersed style centering around rural areas to a centralized one in urban areas. There is an accelerated growth for suburban areas, which have grown rapidly since 1950. As the membership warehouse clubs were introduced in the 1970s, the decentralization of location was more intensified. On the other hand, inner cities were revitalized by rearranging existing facilities to cope with suburban areas. And the location-free virtual retailing & TV shopping are also growing every year. 4. In view of the above, the continuous and desirable development devices in Korean retail trade are summarized as follows: First, the countermeasures against economies of scale, increase in retailing sales, and rise of a employment percentage in retailing are in need. Second, a scheme of lowering the proportion of food retail sales, and increasing a ratio of durable goods sales need to be worked out. Third, the original ideas are needed to apply positively information, communication and technology to retailing, to graft the traditional types on modem ones based on the social culture. Fourth, strategies are needed to strengthen the competitiveness of our retail trade through cooperation and chains of smaller retailers, the large enterprises participating in the distribution industry. Fifth, in order to realize the above, the retail industry, the administration, and the academic world should support the retail segment with concern and a practical strategy plan.

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