2.5 - Where in the World is Pennsylvania?!

In the previous blog post I said, "I will begin to churn out the atlas in these final weeks. Perhaps I will also write supplementary blog posts including these components of my atlas to prove I've been making progress." 

If you recall the outline of my atlas, below is the first introductory section.  I originally planned for it to be just one page, but it will probably take up more than one (each map will probably use one whole page, and then there's the text).

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The world is a big place, and geography is our attempt to gain knowledge about it.  There is so much to learn about that it is impossible to know everything, and you will die before you do.  Most people shy away from geography because trying to learn it is always futile.  That's why I applaud you for opening this atlas.  Geography can be a mindlessly boring subject, but it can also be very fun and interesting.  As this is a "Buffoon's Guide", I will assume that you have little knowledge about the topic this book will address (Pennsylvania) and I will not bother you with endless facts and words.  Contained in this book is everything you'll need to know about Pennsylvania so you will no longer be a buffoon when it comes to the geography of this state.  And if you want to come across as a smart person to your friends, there's also other information contained for you to learn.  Although it is impossible to fully learn geography (or any subject for that matter), every bit you know will make you a better citizen of the world.

THIS IS THE WORLD

Above is a map of the world.  I apologise for it being a little sloppy, but it is recognisable as Earth.  If you didn't know that was a map of the world, slap yourself now.  Even those who do not actively seek to learn geography should know that, and if you didn't know that was the world, you must have been actively trying to avoid exposing yourself to geography.  But anyway, that is the world, and if you knew that already, good for you.

In order to make sense of the world, we break it into smaller pieces.  The largest piece used that's smaller than the world is generally a continent.  Different parts of the world say there are different numbers of continents, but for the sake of simplicity, we'll say there are seven.  Antarctica, the southernmost continent, is not shown in this map, but it exists.

North America is seen at the top left while South America is on the bottom left.  Both continents are sometimes simply called America.  Africa is in the central bottom and Europe is in the central top.  Australia, the smallest continent, is on the bottom right; Asia, the largest, is on the top right.  The division between Europe and Asia is unique in that it is not by water like the others, but by land.  The line between these two continents is not shown in this map, but it is the Ural Mountains in Russia (north of the Caspian Sea).  Many simply refer to both Europe and Asia and Eurasia.

Above we talked about the largest land divisions, the continents.  The largest sea divisions are the oceans.  Once again, the number of oceans the world has is debatable.  Notice that there are no solid divisions between the oceans, which is why many just say that Earth has one large ocean. 

Generally, there are five oceans used:
The ARCTIC Ocean spans the top of the map and is the northernmost ocean.
The ATLANTIC Ocean is between both Americas and Africa/Europe.
The SOUTHERN Ocean is the opposite of the Arctic Ocean and spans the bottom of the map (it is north of the unseen continent of Antarctica, which is the southernmost part).
The INDIAN ocean is south of Asia and is also bound by Eastern Africa and Western Australia.
The PACIFIC ocean is the largest of the oceans by far and is seen on the left and rightmost parts of the map, between Asia and the Americas.

This is all stuff you should probably know, but if you don't, I won't chastise you.  Knowing this will allow you the most basic level of understanding a world map.  Of course, this atlas talks about Pennsylvania, not the world.  Pennsylvania is not directly shown in this world map, but you might have noticed that something is shaded.

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

On the world map, what is shaded is the country that Pennsylvania is part of, which is the United States of America.  The other map of the USA (again, apologies for it not being completely accurate) below shows a more detailed look at the country.  It also includes the states of the USA, with Pennsylvania being shaded.  On the corners of the map are the states of Alaska (you saw AK on the world map as disconnected).  Hawaii was not in the world map because it is a small island chain in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  Puerto Rico is not a state, but at territory of the USA and is to the southeast of Florida, the USA's southeasternmost state. 

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MORE FRUITS OF MY LABOUR

Taking advantage of the snow day today, I have also created two more maps that will be used in later sections of the atlas.  The first one is, of course, Pennsylvania.  The second one is Pennsylvania with counties.