FIGURE 1.2 Biogeographical biomes of the world a Distribution of broadly ‘friendly’ environments from the viewpoint of bioclimatic resources b Environments in which extremely dry, cold and/or rugged conditions restrict cultivation, natural pasture and forest. Antarctica is not shown

As this chapter has already stressed, humans have ‘taken over’ the planet. Virtually all of the earth’s land surface is already recognised as ‘belonging’ to some sovereign state, while some is disputed. Much of the sea and the ocean adjacent to the land areas is also claimed as economically under the control of given sovereign states. Throughout the rest of the book the word ‘country’ is generally used as a convenient umbrella term to include both sovereign states and colonial units (which are not sovereign). The word country also avoids confusion with the use of ‘state’ for the internal divisions in many countries (e.g. the USA, Brazil). Subdivisions or regions have been mapped out on land and sea to serve as areas of administration or for economic activities. The management of territory or space, a commonly used concept in French regional planning for several decades, is now recognised as a concern of many governments.