On a scale of 1 to 10, how well do you know scale? Is it the scale of fish? the scales of music? or the scale to measure weight? In geography, there are two different types of scales, the map scale, which is the distance on a map compared to the actual distance on Earth, and the scale of analysis, which is the spatial extent of a variable. Different scales of analysis can drastically change your perception of an area.
For example, Brazil, one of the richest countries in the world, ranks 7th on the global scale in terms of GDP, with a GDP of 2,243,854 (Wikipedia: List of Countries by GDP, March 20, 2015). Within it’s South American region however, it is placed first, bringing close to 50% of South America’s GDP (Wikipedia: List of South American countries by GDP, March 22, 2015). Brazil’s richest city, São Paulo, bringing 721,036 USD, a third of Brazil’s GDP, and is also one of the richest cities in the world and the South American region (List of Brazilian federative units by gross domestic, March 21, 2015). Now, lets bring in GDP per capita, Brazil is ranked 76th in the world globally, losing to Palau and Botswana, and 4th regionally, losing to Argentina, Venezuela, and Chile (List of South American countries by GDP (PPP) per capita, March 22, 2015).
This choropleth map shows the GDP per Capita worldwide.
At the national scale, there is a huge difference in GDP per capita between the states in Brazil. The state, Distrito Federal, has a GDP per capita of 64,653, placing it first within Brazil. Then, there are much poorer states such as Piauí, with a GDP per capita of 8,138, and Maranhão, with a GDP per capita of 8,760 (Wikipedia: List of South American countries by GDP, March 22, 2015) . From the global scale to the regional scale, there is a significant change from a relatively mediocre GDP per capita in the global scale, to a moderately high GDP per capita within the South American Region. From the regional scale to the national scale, there’s another huge change. The difference between the state with the highest GDP per capita, Distrito Federal, and the poorest state, has a difference in GDP per capita close to 58,000! That’s a tremendous and colossal change!
This map shows the GDP per capita of Brazil’s states.
Lets look at another example, the infant mortality rate in Brazil. Globally, Brazil’s infant mortality rate is ranked 101st, with 23.47 out of 1000 infants dying ( List of countries by infant mortality rate, March 22, 2015). Now, regionally, Brazil is placed 7th, behind countries like Chile and Uruguay (Infant mortality rate by country – Thematic Map – South America, March 22, 2015). From this change in scale from globally to regionally, we can already notice a change in perception of Brazil’s infant mortality rate. On the global scale, Brazil is placed towards the lower end, with an extremely high rank of 101, but within the South American region, it is placed 7th, which is around the middle.
This map shows the infant mortality rates within the South American region.
Now, within Brazil, it’s state with the lowest mortality rate is Saint Catarina, with 2.2 out of 1000 infants dying. Brazil’s city with the highest infant mortality rate, Alagolas, has an infant mortality rate of 25.2 out of 1000, showing a huge difference of infant mortality rates between the states (List of Brazilian states by infant mortality, March 22, 2015). This is extremely low, close to Singapore, and totally changes the perception of Brazil. Now, we’ve seen a huge switch from high mortality rates to low mortality rates. If we were to compare Brazil globally, it has a relatively high infant mortality rate ranking 101st. If we were to compare Brazil regionally, it’s within the middle zone ranking seventh. If we were to compare Brazil’s city, Saint Catarina, it has one of the lowest worldwide, and there’s a huge difference in infant mortality rates between states within Brazil. Changing the scale can greatly alter how we perceive countries to a great degree.b
Scales of analysis can change our perception of an area by a great deal. When we compared GDP per capita, changing the scale from globally to regionally, gave a totally different result, changing our perception of Brazil from around the middle in a global scale, to a relatively high rank within the region. The infant mortality rate also greatly altered our perception of Brazil when we changed the scale from a regional scale, to a national scale. Placing 7th in the regional scale, and then having a huge change within the national scale with infant mortality rates ranging between 2.2 out of 1000 infants dying, to 25.2 out of 1000. From these examples, the importance of scales of analysis has been pointed out because it can change how we see things to a great degree. Is it the scales of a fish? or the F Major scale? No! It’s the spatial extent of a certain variable, which can drastically change how we perceive places.
Work Cited:
Website Title: Wikipedia Article Title: List of South American countries by GDP (PPP) per capita Publisher: Wikimedia Foundation Date Accessed: March 22, 2015 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_South_American_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP%29_per_capita
Website Title: Brazil Article Title: Brazil – Mortality rate Date Accessed: March 22, 2015
http://www.indexmundi.com/facts/brazil/mortality-rate
Website Title: Wikipedia Article Title: List of Brazilian states by infant mortality Publisher: Wikimedia Foundation Date Accessed: March 22, 2015
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Brazilian_states_by_infant_mortality
Website Title: Wikipedia Article Title: List of countries by infant mortality rate Publisher: Wikimedia Foundation Date Accessed: March 22, 2015 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mortality_rate
Website Title: Infant mortality rate by country – Thematic Map – South America Article Title: Infant mortality rate by country – Thematic Map – South America Date Accessed: March 22, 2015
http://www.indexmundi.com/map/?v=29&r=sa&l=en
Website Title: Wikipedia Article Title: List of countries by GDP (nominal) Publisher: Wikimedia Foundation Date Accessed: March 20, 2015
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28nominal%29
Website Title: Wikipedia Article Title: List of South American countries by GDP (PPP) Publisher: Wikimedia Foundation Date Accessed: March 22, 2015
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_South_American_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP%29
Website Title: Wikipedia Article Title: List of Brazilian federative units by gross domestic product Publisher: Wikimedia Foundation Date Accessed: March 21, 2015
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Brazilian_federative_units_by_gross_domestic_product
Geography of Brazil 