1. General introduction. Plate tectonics and large climatic features

2. North America. General features; geomorphology, landscapes and population; extensive metropolis vs. large empty spaces

2.1. Canada. The great north. A country searching its own identity: Quebec, the indigenous nations and the new immigration

2.2. United States. Approach to American political, economic and social model. Foundational myths, the federal system, the melting pot.

3. Central America and the Caribbean. General features; geomorphology, landscapes and population.

3.1. Mexico and Guatemala: Pre-Columbian legacy and colonial legacy. Countries under the threat of organized crime

3.2. The countries of the isthmus. Panama: the history of a channel. Costa Rica, ecotourism model

3.3. The Antilles. The myth of the tropical paradise. Cuba. The Afro-Caribbean culture. Tourism models in the tropics (Dominican Republic, Jamaica ...)

4. South America. General features; geomorphology, landscapes and population. The Amazon: ecology, agriculture, deforestation and global responsibility

4.1. Andes region. The never solved indigenous problem (Bolivia and Peru). Colombia: Coca and the substitution of crops. Venezuela; visions of Latin American populism

4.2. Brazil, the emerging power? The big Brazilian metropolises; Rio and Sao Paulo. Brasilia, the invented capital

4.3. The southern cone: Argentina, Chile and Uruguay

5. North Africa General features; geomorphology, landscapes and population of the entire continent. Approach to Islamic culture and the Arabic world

5.1. The Maghreb: Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, between internal reforms and emigration

5.2. Egypt, the legacy of the past. Archeology and tourism on the banks of the Nile

5.3. The drama of the Sahel. Desertification and war. Reflections on cooperation and NGOs

6. Rest of Africa. Failed states and perpetuation of arbitrary borders

6.1. Ethno-tribal conflicts: Clans and warlords, the impossibility of structuring modern states and the struggle for mineral resources (Rwanda, Burundi, Zaire, Somalia, Liberia, Nigeria)

6.2. Kenya and Tanzania: The African savannah, wildlife, conservation and tourism development

6.3. South Africa. The dramatic history of the only regional power

7. Central Asia and the Middle East. General features; geomorphology, landscapes and population of an area shaken by conflicts

7.1. Old routes and ancient empires. A region of mythical cities: Samarkand, Baghdad, Persepolis, Petra, Palmira, Babylon. The current Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan

7.2. Arabia and the monarchies of the Persian Gulf. The geopolitics of oil. The mirage of skyscrapers in the desert: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha ...

7.3. The eternal conflict not resolved: Israel and Palestine. Zionism, pan-Arabism and other considerations

8. The Indian subcontinent and Indochina. General features; geomorphology, landscapes and population. Two forces: The rice and the monsoon. Approach to oriental cultures: Hinduism and Buddhism

8.1. The curious Indian economy: between the Neolithic and the microchip. The caste society. India and Pakistan, a history of a conflictive neighborhood. What is Bollywood? The Himalayas: Nepal.

8.2. Indochina and Indonesia. The new economically emerging countries. Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam ... After the steps of China?

9. Far East. General features; geomorphology, landscapes and population. Approach to the megalopolis of the east; The factories of the world: Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taipei, Seoul

9.1. China. A thousand-year-old culture: language, alphabet and national unity, philosophy and religion. The economic model: "one country two systems". The Yangtze, the domestication of the great river

9.2. The Japan Historical roots of an economic and social model. From feudalism to the industrial revolution. Weaknesses and strengths of a country shaken by natural forces

9.3. A legacy of the cold war: the existence of two Koreas

10. Oceania. General features; geomorphology, landscapes and population of the continent that is not a real continent

10.1. Polynesia and Micronesia: Colonial domains and micro-states. The French possessions and the presence of the United States in the Pacific. The threat of global warming

10.2. Australia and New Zealand. The indissoluble link with the Anglo-Saxon West. The Commonwealth

11. Russia. General features; geomorphology, landscapes and population. Russia, the uncertain giant, the largest country in the world. How the Empire was built, the mythical Trans-Siberian train. What was the USSR?