The Cherokee Strip
Scot Hoiland's Web Page

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Did you ever wonder why some countries are rich and others poor? Why California landscapes tower so high and plunge so low, while Kansas is flat? Why Paradise gets twice as much rain as Chico? Why cars are made in Detroit, steel in Pittsburgh, and computers in Mountain View? If you have, you have already taken the first step toward becoming a geographer! Because the two most fundamental questions that geographers ask are "Where?" and "Why?" Where is it located? Why is it there and not someplace else? The IT we're talking about could be anything that you can identify and locate: a volcano, a major league baseball franchise, a particular way of seasoning food, or a characteristic religious belief. These Web Pages will assist you as you learn more about your local landscape and the world beyond, using the tools and insights that geographers have developed through the centuries.

The most basic geographic unit is the PLACE. The place can be anywhere on the Globe -- Manhattan or Hamilton City; Bear Hole or Waikiki; Mt. Shasta or your backyard--and each place has its own unique set of characteristics that distinguish it from all other places. You are familiar with many places already, like your high school campus or your home town. As you progress through these classes I will introduce you to many places that are new to you.

I have several goals for all of you budding geographers. The first goal is that you learn to identify those characteristics that set one place apart from another. My second is that you learn to recognize and locate many different places so that you can fill some of the blank spaces in the map you carry around in your head. Finally, my desire is that you come to know some of these places so intimately and understand them so thoroughly that you will grow to love them and work to preserve and enhance them.