GEOGRAPHY 



2430 



GEOGRAPHY 



stance; does he know that his province, which 

 is only one-tenth of the Dominion, would 

 contain three times over the islands of the 



to vary the combinations widely.. In making 

 your study, substitute your own province or 

 state for the one here given: 



United Kingdom, that nucleus of the greatest 

 empire in the world? Does the dweller in the 

 so-called "Middle Western" section of the 

 United States, in Illinois for example, realize 

 that he is really an Easterner, since the geo- 

 graphical center of the country is in Kansas? 

 Does it enter his mind that, possibly, his own 

 state, with two others of almost equal size 

 and fully equal resources, like Iowa and Ohio, 

 could be placed in the state of California and 

 that there would still be room to spare? The 

 comparisons of this sort which can be worked 

 out merely with the aid of a table of statistics 

 are innumerable. 



The articles in these volumes on the various 

 states and provinces contain statistics as to 

 area and population. With these as a basis, 

 answer the following questions: 



How does your state or province rank among 

 the divisions of the country as to area? 



How does it rank as to population? 



How many states or provinces have a larger 

 number of people to the square mile? 



Has the largest state Or province the greatest 

 number of inhabitants? 



If the population of the largest state or province 

 were transferred to the smallest, what would be 

 the density per square mile? If the population of 

 the smallest were transferred to the largest? 



Which state or province has the greatest rail- 

 way mileage? 



Which has the greatest in proportion to area? 

 In proportion to population? 



If the most sparsely populated state or province 

 were as thickly settled as the most densely, how 

 many inhabitants would it have? 



If this process were reversed, what would be 

 the population of the one which at present has 

 the greatest density? 



Is the density of population of your state or 

 province greater or less than that of the country 

 as a whole? 



A Wider View. After gaining an idea of the 

 home country it will be interesting to bring 

 into the comparison other countries, and such 

 a chart as the following will prove very help- 

 ful in reaching an understanding as to com- 

 parative areas, populations and other topics. 

 Canada and the United States or one province 

 and one state may be compared; it is possible 



Boundary Lines. Another interesting topic 

 concerns the boundary lines of political divi- 

 sions, whether countries or the minor divisions 

 known as states and provinces. In very many 

 cases, as stated above, these have been purely 

 arbitrary, for this is the man-made phase of 

 geography; but often physical conditions have 

 had a strong determining influence, and it is 

 interesting in the study of history to bear this 

 subject in mind to see whether countries shut 

 in by natural barriers have had any less diffi- 

 culty in holding their frontiers against enemies. 

 Here, too, questions are perhaps more sug- 

 gestive and illuminating than a discussion, but 

 these are to be answered with the aid of maps 

 and not of charts: 



Are the continents political or physical di- 

 visions? 



Which continent is most completely isolated? 

 Which are the least isolated? 



Are there any continents so closely connected 

 that they might almost be classed as one land 

 mass? Is the boundary between them to any ex- 

 tent arbitrary? 



Are North America and Central America sepa- 

 rated by natural or by arbitrary boundary lines? 

 Central America and South America? 



How many countries of Europe have arbitrary 

 boundary lines? 



Would it have been reasonable to have placed 

 the boundary between France and Spain at the 

 Ebro River? Why? 



Is there any apparent physical reason why Bel- 

 gium and the Netherlands could not have been 

 one nation? Germany and Austria-Hungary? 



Is there any more reason why Russia should 

 own Siberia than England, for example? 



What other country has had the same advan- 

 tage as Great Britain in building up a strong 

 empire, reasonably safe from invasion? 



Turning to Canada and the United States, lo- 

 cate several natural boundary lines between Ca- 

 nadian provinces. Locate twenty between the 

 states of the Union. 



Can you find instances where natural boundary 

 lines might have been used, but arbitrary ones 

 were chosen instead? Do you know the reason 

 why, in any of these cases, the natural boundaries 

 were rejected? 



If, in the days of exploration and settlement, 

 one nation had colonized the eastern coast of 

 North America, another the western, would it 

 have been possible for two nations to develop 



