Recommendation_ Choi Jae-cheon (Professor Emeritus, Department of Eco-Science, Ewha Womans University, Chairman of the Biodiversity Foundation)
Recommendation_ Oh Seong-min (Travel Producer)
Prologue: When you let go of prejudice and misunderstanding, a vibrant tropical landscape unfolds before your eyes.

Part 1: How much do we know about the tropics?

Chapter 1: Are the Tropics a Land of Uncivilization or a Paradise? - Our Image of the Tropics
The prejudice that all tropical people are barbaric and poor｜European colonial rule that plunged the tropics into chaos｜Another image of the tropics, paradise on earth｜European artists who yearned for pure primitiveness｜‘Tropicality’ created by fragmentary experiences and imagination｜Seeing things as they are, putting away prejudice and imagination

Chapter 2: Tropical Nature is Not Simple - Unusual Natural Phenomena in Tropical Regions
The equatorial region where the sun truly rises at its zenith｜The tidal and sunshine hours that create the climatic diversity of the tropics｜The diverse climates of the tropics distinguished by their rain characteristics

Chapter 3: What's the Same and What's Different About the World's Tropics? - The World's Tropics
Tropical Asia | Tropical Oceania | Tropical America | Tropical Africa

Appendix 1_ When is the best time to go on a tropical trip?

Part 2: Tropical nature is beautiful and abundant.

Chapter 1: Intoxicated by the Deep Beauty of the Tropical Rainforest, a Treasure Trove of Life - Borneo
The closest rainforest to Korea | Mangroves seen from a boat | Borneo's rainforest seen from the sky | Mysterious life in the 'green hell' | The unique terrain that creates Borneo's rainforest | A joyful and sorrowful encounter with orangutans | The rainforest disappearing into smoke

Chapter 2: Captivated by the Precious Things the Great River Holds - Amazon
Two Paths to the Amazon Rainforest | Manaus, a Forward Base for Amazon Rainforest Development | Strange Life Encountered in the Amazon Rainforest | Cassava, the Amazon's Food That Spreads Around the World | People Whose Occupation is 'Indigenous People' | Even the Rivers of the Amazon Are Amazing

Chapter 3: Beyond the East African Rift Valley to the Lake of Life - Lake Victoria
Villages of the East African Rift Valley and Basin | Crossing the Border to Lake Victoria | A Unique Way to Travel East Africa: Savannah Train Travel | Train Window Geography of the Kenyan Savannah and Kibera

Chapter 4: The Savannah Is Brimming with Life - Serengeti and Ngorongoro
Take a truck ride into the ecstasy of the Serengeti | Safari tour, peaceful coexistence of carnivores and herbivores | Trophy hunting, animals sacrificed to pesky humans | Masai, the indigenous people of the savannah | The volcano that swallowed everything became the home of life

Chapter 5: There Are Temperate and Cool Places Even in the Tropics - Tropical Highlands
Low-latitude tropical highlands brimming with spring energy all year round | Mount Kilimanjaro and the highlands of Africa | Mount Chimborazo and the highlands of America | Mount Kinabalu and the highlands of Southeast Asia | Hill stations, how colonial powers utilized highlands | Dalat, Vietnam, the hill station of French colonial powers

Chapter 6: The Mystery of the Caribbean and Mayan Ruins in Harmony - Tropical Seaside Resorts
Why are so many world-class resorts located in the tropics? | The beautiful natural landscapes of the Caribbean and Cancun | The Caribbean and Mediterranean, the best cruise destinations | The karst topography of the Yucatan Peninsula, bearing traces of the Mayan era | A vacation spot for travelers, a home for residents

Appendix 2_ Preparing for Tropical Infectious Diseases

Part 3: Seeing Tropical Life from Their Perspective

Chapter 1: Are the Tropics a Land of Empty Darkness? A Land of Primordial Abundance? - Tropical Africa: The Origin of Humanity
Africa, the birthplace of humanity | How did the four major civilizations spread? | Why didn't civilization develop in tropical regions? | Is a happy life only possible with the enjoyment of advanced civilization? | An African rural village where people share what they have and don't reject differences.

Chapter 2: Cultures, Races, and Religions Meet and Mix on Ocean Currents and Monsoons - Tropical Regions Before the Age of Discovery
Tropical regions depicted on medieval Arab maps | Arabs who roamed the tropical seas from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean | Geographic conditions that gave rise to active cultural exchange between the Indian and Pacific Oceans | Indian Ocean cultural sphere before the arrival of European powers | Madagascar's cultural characteristics, quite different from those of the African mainland | The great voyages of purification that stirred the Indian and Pacific Oceans

Chapter 3: European Exploration Brings Tragedy to the Tropics - The Tropics After the Age of Discovery
The End of the Old Continent: The Age of Exploration Led by Portugal | Portuguese Exploration Becomes the First European to Enter the Tropical Zone | The Strait of Malacca: The World's Busiest Sea Route | Portugal's Occupation of the Spice Islands Sparks the Scuffle for Colonies

Chapter 4: The Interplay of Different Cultures and the Birth of a New Culture - Cultural Mixing in Tropical Regions
How did tropical culture change after colonial rule? People of different religions and cultures live peacefully together. Mombasa, a place of harmonious living spread across diverse religions.

Chapter 5: Overcoming the Limits of the Natural Environment with Ingenious Imagination - Singapore, a Tropical Global City
The Tropical Climate That Led to Singapore's Green City | How the Tropical Environment Became a Part of Singapore's Daily Life | Gardens by the Bay, a Man-Made Rainforest Created with Cutting-Edge Technology | Strategies for Maximizing Space Utilization: Reclamation, Undergrounding, and High-Rise Buildings | Government-Led Green Policies

Chapter 6: Where the Tropics Meet East Asia - The Tropics in Our History
Cultural Exchange between the Ancient Korean Peninsula and Tropical Regions | Byeokrando, an International Trade Port in the Goryeo Dynasty | Joseon Dynasty Foreign Exchanges That Could Not Be Stopped Even with Locks 322 | Hong-eo, the "First World Traveler Under Heaven" and a Relay Merchant, Moon Soon-deuk

Appendix 3_ The biggest challenge of tropical travel is not nature, but people.

Epilogue_ Towards a world where everyone can enjoy the happiness of life that the tropics provide.
Americas
References

From Caribbean resorts to the life-giving Amazon rainforest,
Discover the true colors of the tropical world, hidden behind stereotypes of barbarism and paradise!

There are no 'good' or 'bad' places in the world.
There are just 'different' places, each with its own unique characteristics.

“Can people live in tropical regions?”
People living in temperate zones with warm climates year-round find it difficult to imagine life in hot tropical or extremely cold temperate regions.
Sometimes we conclude that only living in temperate regions is a 'good' life, and that living in 'bad' places like tropical or frigid regions will be difficult and painful.
Why have these misunderstandings and prejudices become so ingrained in our minds as if they were natural truths? Historically, one reason is likely the widespread, Western-centric perspective that has prevailed since European colonial rule.
Fundamentally, this is because we make assumptions about climates other than the temperate climate that we are comfortable and familiar with without proper knowledge.


『A Geographer's Tropical Humanities Journey』 is the new work of Professor Lee Young-min, author of 『A Geographer's Humanities Journey』, which was praised as "a travel guidebook with a new concept that has never existed before."
If the previous book was a theoretical book that examined why travel is necessary for our lives and how to travel in a meaningful way from the perspective of a geographer who is also a travel expert, this book is a practical version.
As a geographer's journey, it focuses on climate, one of the most important geographical information, rather than a specific city or continent, and travels to tropical regions around the world, from Caribbean resorts to the Amazon rainforest, a treasure trove of life.
Climate refers to the average conditions of temperature, rain, snow, wind, etc. that occur in a certain area over several years.
It plays a key role in creating the unique natural environments of each region of the world and the diverse human lives and cultures that are formed accordingly.
So there can be no 'bad' or 'good' places on this earth.
There are only 'different' places.


A place where poor and barbaric people live? A beautiful paradise on earth?
How much do we know about the tropics?
The most detailed and comprehensive book on tropical regions around the world!

What do the tropics mean to a geographer? The author says, "The tropics are a treasure trove, brimming with stories I'd love to share, so much so that I'm worried I might not be able to capture them all in a single book."
For us, the tropics are a place that is both unfamiliar and familiar, a place that evokes fantasy and stimulates curiosity, but is also dangerous and uncomfortable.
The author sought to dispel misunderstandings and prejudices in this book and capture the tropics as they are, alive and breathing with their vibrant diversity.

When we think of the tropics, various scenes come to mind.
The beautiful resorts of the Caribbean, the deep, deep rainforests called the green hell, the poor and savage people, the communities where various races and religions live in harmony, the Amazon, a treasure trove of life overflowing with rare things, the Serengeti with its vast plains…
Surprisingly, all of these scenes are tropical.
In this book, you can see all the colorful tropical landscapes.


From Caribbean resorts to the life-giving Amazon rainforest,
Journey through the exotic natural environment, lifestyle, and culture of a tropical climate.

Before embarking on a full-fledged journey, Part 1 examines the natural environment and unique geographical phenomena of tropical regions, the characteristics of each tropical climate zone (tropical rainforest climate, tropical monsoon climate, tropical savanna climate), and compares the characteristics of each continent in the tropical regions of Asia, Oceania, America, and Africa.
We also examine various prejudices against the tropics and the backgrounds behind these prejudices.
The idea that 'all people in tropical regions are poor, lazy, and barbaric' has been deeply ingrained in people's minds since European colonialism.
However, the cause of negative situations such as poverty and civil war in the tropics is not the 'environment', but rather the advanced Western countries that have thrown the lives of the people there into chaos.
The author says that only by first understanding this historical context can we put aside our discriminatory views of the tropics and begin to see new things that were previously invisible.


If you have acquired basic geographical information about the tropics, Part 2 will begin your tropical journey in earnest.
We will focus on six regions that exhibit the most typical tropical climate characteristics: Borneo, the Amazon, Lake Victoria, the Serengeti and Ngorongoro, the tropical highlands, and the tropical sea resorts.
It may seem like the tropics are always hot and humid, but in reality, the nature of the tropics is not that simple.
It is true that the temperature is the highest compared to other climate zones because it receives the most solar energy.
However, each region has a unique climate based on its unique geographical characteristics, and as a result, the beautiful and abundant tropical nature reveals its own charm, such as the terrifying tropical jungle where not even sunlight penetrates, the highlands brimming with the energy of spring all year round, and the resorts where the blue sea and white sandy beaches harmonize with the mystery of Mayan ruins.

Part 3 focuses on the culture and history of tropical regions.
From the Western perspective, the tropics were an empty, dark land until the Age of Exploration.
Because they did not interact with them, they erased it from history as if nothing had happened there.
However, even before the arrival of Europeans, people lived here and cultural, racial, and religious exchanges took place.
This book traces the cultural exchange between the tropics and other regions, dividing the period before and after the European Age of Exploration. It also explores Singapore, the only developed country in the tropics, and how it overcame the limitations of its natural environment to grow into a global city.


The best travel tips recommended by geographers,
Look at things as they are from the perspective of "difference" rather than "superiority"

This book began with a scene from the entertainment program “Welcome, First Time in Korea.”
Young people from Rwanda, a tropical African country, visited our country in the middle of winter, and upon seeing the bare trees in winter, they were amazed and asked, “Why are there no leaves on the trees?”
It was a rare sight to see in their living space, which was lush with green leaves all year round.
The author, watching that scene, felt compelled to convey to his readers this obvious but easily forgotten realization: just as our ordinary lives are unfamiliar travel destinations to them, so too are our novel and interesting travel destinations the scenes of intense life for the people who live there.
“Travel is a time to experience what is different and what is the same, not a time to judge what is better or worse.
“The most excellent way to enhance the enjoyment of travel is to simply appreciate things that approach us as unfamiliar from the perspective of ‘difference.’” This is the author’s best travel technique that he imparts to readers.


There is one more enlightenment that books give us.
The tropics may seem like a completely different world from us, but the truth is that life there is deeply connected to ours.
Palm oil, extracted from palm trees that have taken over the rainforests that are the habitat of tropical animals, is consumed around the world, and the beautiful tropical trees of Borneo are exported as logs to be used as raw materials for furniture products.
Destruction of the Amazon rainforest due to development is accelerating global warming.
Can we blame tropical people for this? Ultimately, it's people in developed countries who benefit more from the bounty of the tropics.


The journey of a geographer who studies the relationships between places, people, and cultures extends beyond the superficial.
Find joy and meaning in the unfamiliar, and discover newness in the familiar.
This book vividly conveys the joy of knowledge and experience that geographical travel can offer us through the most unfamiliar tropical regions.
If readers can learn to travel through the eyes of a geographer, they too will be able to experience more diverse places, in more meaningful ways.