WORLD

REGIONS
REGIONS

●a group of countries located in the same geographically

specified area or;

●an amalgamation of two regions [or] a combination of

more than two regions
● Regionalization
- regional concentration of economic flows

● Regionalism
- political process characterized by
economic policy cooperation and coordination
among countries
●Regional associations are formed for the
following reasons:

- military defense

- pool resources, get better returns for exports, and expand

leverage against trading partners

- to anticipate economic crisis, and aid a member country

EUROPE
 DISCUSSIONS
● Spain established the first global empire.

● The largest country by landmass is Russia with 40% of the

European continent, and Vatican City is the smallest which fits
entirely within the Italian capital city of Rome and is the center of
the Catholic Church.
●World War I (1914-1918) - began in 1914 after the
assassination of Austria’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand
and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg.

● Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919; it

required Germany to accept the responsibility and its
allies for causing all the loss and damage during the
First World War.
● World War II (1939-1945) started when the Germany
invaded Poland.

● Adolf Hitler - the leader of Germany’s Nazi Party and

one of the most powerful & notorious dictators of the
20th century
● Nazi Party - also called as the National Socialist German
Workers’ Party; promoted German pride and anti-Semitism-
discrimination against Jews

● Holocaust - the mass murder of 6 million European Jews

by the German Nazi Party

● Operation Overlord (D-Day) - a large-scale deception

campaign designed to mislead the Germans about the
intended invasion target
● BREXIT
- shorthand for Britain’s exit from European Union
- main reasons: economic, sovereignty, and political
elitism

● Many refugees from Syria, Libya, Afghanistan and other

war-torn countries near Europe, cross the Mediterranean
Sea hoping for a better future. A lot of refugees die at sea.
NORTH
AMERICA
 DISCUSSIONS

● North America is the prime producer of coal.

● The first Asians to come to the western hemisphere were

Chinese Filipinos who settled in Mexico. Eventually, Filipino
sailors were the first to settle in the U.S. around 1750 in
what would later be Louisiana. Later around 1840, to make
up for the shortage of slaves from Africa, the British and
Spanish brought over slaves or "coolies" from China, India,
and the Philippines to islands in the Caribbean, Peru,
Ecuador, and other countries in South America.
● Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian-born merchant and
explorer who took part in early voyages to the New World
on behalf of Spain around the late 15th century. By that
time, the Vikings had established settlements in present-
day North America as early as 1,000 A.D. and Christopher
Columbus had already “discovered” several Caribbean and
Central American islands.

● In 1507, a German cartographer created a new map,

naming the territory now known as South America in
Vespucci’s honor. For the first time, the word “America” was
in print.
 PEOPLETO REMEMBER

● Pierre Trudeau
 Donald Trump
– Canada’s current Prime
Minister – current United States
President
SOUTH
AMERICA
DISCUSSIONS
● Spanish and Portuguese are the most common
languages found in the continent of South America.

● Spanning 1.7 billion acres, the Amazon rainforest is

widely regarded as “the lungs of the world”. It is
located in the countries of Bolivia, Colombia,
Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela and
Brazil which has the majority of the forest contained
in its borders.
● All South American countries are presidential republics with
the exceptions of Peru, which is a semi-presidential
republic, and Suriname, a parliamentary republic.

● Left Wing Government - supports social equality and

egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy.

● Right Wing Government - holds that certain social orders

and hierarchies are inevitable
● Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of coffee.

● Ecuador is the world’s largest exporter of banana.

● Peru is the largest silver producer.

MIDDLE EAST
 DISCUSSIONS

● In early 1970s, the prices of oil rose sharply as a result of

the OAPEC imposition of an embargo in response to the
decision of the United States and other countries to
resupply the Israeli military with the needed arms during the
Yom Kippur War (The Arab Oil Embargo). Arab countries
used the embargo to stabilize their economies and growth.

● Terrorism has also had a major impact on one of the Middle

East's other most critical industries, oil.
● OFW remittances shape the macroscopic economy of the
Philippines.

● Money transferred by Filipinos from all over the world

accounts for at least 10 percent of the country’s GDP. It is
the second largest source of foreign capital after value
added exports like electronic components, and a major
source of private consumption, which in turn accounts for 75
percent of the GDP.
SOUTH &
SOUTHEAST
ASIA
 DISCUSSIONS

● At the heart of the South China Sea dispute is the “nine-

dash line”, Beijing’s claim that encircles as much as 90 per
cent of the contested waters.

● The line runs as far as 2,000km from the Chinese mainland

to within a few hundred kilometers of the Philippines,
Malaysia and Vietnam. Beijing maintains it owns any land or
features contained within the line, which confers vaguely
defined “historical maritime rights”.
● Spratly Islands
- although these islands are essentially a collection of
rocks and reefs barely visible at high tide, the Philippines,
Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, and China all lay claim, probably
because of the potential of rich oil reserves in the adjacent
waters
CHINA
 DISCUSSIONS

● China is the second largest global economy, the largest

exporter and has the largest exchange reserves in the
world.

● China is the most populated country in the world with the

current population of 1,435,465,243 (as of Sunday, October
20, 2019).

● China’s population is equivalent to 18.59% of the total

world population.
● This year, China hits 70 years of Communist party rule.

● The following are some of the current issues for the

Chinese government:
- US trade war
- unrest in Hong Kong, and growing support for anti-
Beijing politicians in Taiwan,
- rising international concern about the detention of
over a million people in far western Xinjiang region
involving the Uyghurs (mainly Muslims) - one of China's
55 officially recognized ethnic minorities
NORTH KOREA
TERMS
● The Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)
– most militarized border in the world; a strip of
land running across the Korean Peninsula that serves
as a buffer zone between North and South Korea

● Military Demarcation Line

– the actual border between North and South
Korea. The DMZ is a buffer along the north and south
sides of the MDL (2 km into North Korea and 2 km
into South Korea).
DISCUSSIONS

● Almost all property belongs to the state.

● Political system is built upon the principle of

centralization.

● No functioning judiciary exist.

● The ruling Workers’ Party, the Korean People’s Army,

and members of the cabinet run all companies
earning foreign exchange.
SOUTH KOREA
 TERMS
● Chaebol
– family-owned conglomerates

● Miracle of Han River

– the spectacular rise of South Korea from one of the
poorest countries in the world to a developed high income
country in just one generation

● Hallyu
– Korean wave; phenomenal growth of Korean culture
and popular culture encompassing everything from music,
movies, drama to online games and Korean cuisine just to
name a few
 DISCUSSIONS

● South Korea is the world’s largest producer of

semiconductors.

● Beijing journalists first coined the term Hallyu Wave, or

Korean Wave, in the late 1990s as they discussed the
sharp rise in global popularity and interest in Korean culture
and pop-culture. The term encompasses the increased
interest in Korean pop (K-pop), Korean dramas (K-dramas),
and the rising number of Korean brands, like Samsung,
which are becoming players in the global arena.
DISCUSSIONS

● South Korea has a dedicated goal to become the

world’s leading exporter of popular culture. It is a
way for Korea to develop its “soft power”.
● Soft power is a popular term coined in 1990 by
Harvard political scientist Joseph Nye that refers to
the intangible power a country wields through its
image, rather than through hard force.
● Hard force refers to military power or economic
power. An example of soft power in play is how the
US enticed the world to buy its Levi’s jeans, Apple
iPhones, Marlboro cigarettes, Coca-Cola soft drinks
and Hollywood movies, by leveraging on a desirable
image. A unique image of cool.
JAPAN
DISCUSSIONS

● Japan remains the high-tech powerhouse economy

of Asia.
● Demographic statistics for 2018 show that the
number of births in Japan was below 1 million for the
third straight year, dropping to a new low.
● Japan’s declining population has led to their
government’s effort to boost the population through
family policies and programmes in three areas:
childcare services, parental leave schemes, and
monetary assistance.
JAPAN’S DEMOGRAPHICS

2018 estimate 2017 2016

Births 918,397 946,065 976,978

Total fertility rate 1.42 1.43 1.44

Deaths 1,362,482 1,340,397 1,307,748

Natural population
-444,085 -394,332 -330,770
change

Marriages 586,438 606,866 620,531

Divorces 208,333 212,262 216,798

 PEOPLETO REMEMBER

● XI-Jinping  Kim Jong Un

– currently serves as the General
– North Korea’s supreme
Secretary of the Communist
leader since 2011 succeeding
Party in China
the leadership of his father,
Kim Jong IL
 PEOPLETO REMEMBER

● Moon Jae-in  Naruhito

– current president of South
– Emperor of Japan since May
Korea
1, 2019 who succeeded his
father who abdicated
AFRICA
TERMS

● Apartheid – most militarized border in the world; a

strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula
that serves as a buffer zone between North and
South Korea

● Deceleration - reduction of rate in the coming years

 DISCUSSIONS

● Africa is considered as the “Mother continent”.

● The vast African Continent is often divided into five major

geographic regions: North Africa, West Africa, Central Africa,
East Africa, and Southern Africa.

● Russia has the largest diamond reserves – home to half of

the world’s biggest diamond mines. Democratic Republic
of Congo comes second. Many other African countries have
diamond reserves and production.
● South Sudan is the newest nation in the world since its
secession from Sudan in 2011.

● The following are current issues in Africa: illness, famine,

starvation, poaching, poor infrastructure, corruption, and civil
conflicts/ wars.

● HIV/ AIDS is the disease causing the most deaths in Africa.

PEOPLETO REMEMBER

–Nelson Mandela
– served as President of South Africa from 1994 – 1999, the country’s
first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative
democratic election, anti-apartheid revolutionary
 TYPES OF
GOVERNMENT
refer to reporters’
discussions
GOODTO KNOW FORTHE EXAM

● What type/s of government do the following countries have? Be familiar also with
their flags.

Brazil Venezuela China

North Korea South Korea United Kingdom
Japan Iran Saudi Arabia
USA Canada South Africa
Qatar France Germany
Philippines Vietnam India
ORGANIZATIONS
● European Union
- through the Maastricht treaty, the European Union
was officially formed on February 7, 1992. The treaty was
comprised of three principle components: the European
communities, security and foreign policies, and cohesive
domestic affairs and justice standards.
- the union’s purpose is to promote peace, establish a
unified economic and monetary system. It also promotes
inclusion and combat discrimination and encourage
competitive global market and social progress
● The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
● - also called the North Atlantic Alliance; formed during the
Cold War when several Western European countries plus
the United States agreed to protect Europe against the
threat of the Soviet Union

● Warsaw Pact – regional alliance consisting of the Eastern

European countries under Soviet domination
● North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
- an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the
United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North
America

● Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

- an inter-governmental forum for 21 Pacific Rim
member economies that promotes free trade throughout the
Asia-Pacific region
● Regional Interfaith Youth Networks
- comprised of fifteen members representing the
world’s faith traditions from six continents

● Mercosur
- was created in 1991 when Argentina, Brazil,
Paraguay, and Uruguay signed the Treaty of Asuncion;
involves “free movement of goods, services, and factors of
production between countries”
● The Arab League - was formed in 1945 with the mission of
freeing Arab countries under colonial influence and
authority.

● The Gulf Cooperation Council – established in Riyadh,

Saudi Arabia in May, 198; its purpose is to achieve unity
among its members based on their common objectives and
their similar political and cultural identities (Arab and
Islamic cultures).

● National Congress of All-China Federation of Trade

Unions – the world’s largest labor union consisting of 300
million members
- Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL)- also called as
Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or Daesh;
militant organization founded by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
in 2004

 Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries

(OAPEC)
 - concerned with the development and prosperity of the
world petroleum industry by fostering close and fruitful
cooperation among its members
● The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
- a regional intergovernmental organization comprising
ten countries in Southeast Asia, which promotes
intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic,
political, security, military, educational, and sociocultural
integration among its members and other countries in Asia;
its motto - “One vision, one identity, one community”
● Non-Aligned Movement
- created in 1961and called itself non-aligned because
the association refused to side with either the First World
capitalist democracies in Western Europe

● African Union
- organization of 53 African states established in 2002
from similar Organization of African Union that started in
1963