Unit 5,6 and 7

Agriculture

The deliberate modification of Earth’s surface through the cultivation of plants and rearing of animals for food or economic gain.

Subsistence Agriculture

Agriculture designed primarily to provide food for the farmer and their family.

Commercial Agriculture

Agriculture undertaken primarily to generate products for sale off the farm.

Intensive Agriculture

A form of agriculture that requires large inputs of labor and capital relative to the size of the land.

Extensive Agriculture

An agricultural system that uses small inputs of labor, fertilizers, and capital relative to the land area being farmed.

Shifting Cultivation

A form of subsistence farming where farmers clear land, grow crops, and then leave the land to regenerate.

Pastoral Nomadism

A form of subsistence agriculture based on the herding of domesticated animals.

Plantation Agriculture

A large-scale farming operation focused on the production of a single cash crop, often for export.

Mixed Crop and Livestock Farming

A farming system where crops and livestock are integrated.

Mediterranean Agriculture

Specialized farming that occurs only in areas where the dry-summer Mediterranean climate prevails.

Market Gardening

Small-scale production of fruits, vegetables, and flowers as cash crops sold directly to local consumers.

Transhumance

Seasonal migration of livestock between mountains and lowland pastures.

First Agricultural Revolution

Also known as the Neolithic Revolution; marked the transition from hunting and gathering to farming.

Columbian Exchange

The transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, and technology between the Americas and the Old World after 1492.

Second Agricultural Revolution

Improved agricultural techniques and technology during the Industrial Revolution.

Green Revolution

A set of research and development efforts that increased agricultural production worldwide using high-yield seeds, fertilizers, and irrigation.

Von Thünen Model

A model that explains the location of agricultural activities in a commercial, profit-making economy.

Bid-Rent Theory

The closer land is to the market, the more expensive it is and the more intensive the land use.

Agribusiness

Agriculture conducted on commercial principles, especially using advanced technology and corporate ownership.

Food Desert

An area where it is difficult to buy affordable or good-quality fresh food.

Global Supply Chain

Worldwide network to produce, handle, and distribute goods including agricultural products.

Desertification

The process by which fertile land becomes desert, typically as a result of drought, deforestation, or inappropriate agriculture.

Soil Salinization

Accumulation of salts in soil that can eventually make the soil unable to support plant growth.

Sustainable Agriculture

Farming practices that preserve environmental quality and resource base.

Organic Agriculture

A method of farming that avoids the use of synthetic chemicals and GMOs.

Fair Trade

A movement that aims to help producers in developing countries achieve better trading conditions and promote sustainability.

Rural Settlement Patterns

The arrangement of homes and buildings in the countryside—includes clustered, dispersed, and linear patterns.

Metes and Bounds

A land survey system using natural features to mark irregular parcels.

Township and Range

A land survey method dividing land into square plots, used mostly in the U.S. Midwest.

Long Lot System

Divides land into narrow parcels stretching back from rivers, roads, or canals.

Women in Agriculture

Women's roles in agriculture vary by region and culture, including labor, ownership, and decision-making, but they often face gender-based barriers.

Urbanization

The process of making an area more urban by increasing population density and infrastructure development.

Urban Hearth

The origin point of early cities (e.g., Mesopotamia, Indus Valley, Nile Valley).

First Urban Revolution

The innovation of cities that occurred independently in multiple hearths.

Site

The physical characteristics of a place (e.g., climate, water sources, elevation).

Situation

The location of a place relative to other places or networks.

Megacity

A city with over 10 million people.

Metacity

A city with more than 20 million people.

World City (Global City)

A city considered a global center for finance, trade, culture, and politics (e.g., New York, London, Tokyo).

Primate City

A city that is disproportionately larger than any others in a country and dominates politically and economically.

Rank-Size Rule

A country's nth-largest settlement is 1/n the population of the largest settlement.

Central Place Theory

Explains the distribution of services, based on settlements serving as centers for market areas.

Threshold

The minimum number of people needed to support a service.

Range

The maximum distance people are willing to travel to use a service.

Gravity Model

Predicts interaction between two places based on their population and distance.

Concentric Zone Model

A model of urban land use in which cities grow in rings around a central business district (CBD).

Sector Model

A model suggesting cities develop in sectors or wedges around the CBD, not rings.

Multiple Nuclei Model

A model where cities grow around multiple centers (nodes) of activity, not just the CBD.

Latin American City Model

Combines elements of Latin American culture with concentric zones and sectors.

Sub-Saharan African City Model

Has three CBDs (colonial, traditional, and market) with ethnic neighborhoods and mining areas.

Southeast Asian City Model

Features a port zone, no formal CBD, and elements influenced by colonial powers.

Edge City

A large urban area on the outskirts of a city, typically near major roads and with extensive office and retail space.

Urban Sprawl

The uncontrolled expansion of urban areas into the surrounding rural land.

Greenbelt

A ring of land maintained as parks, agriculture, or open space to limit urban sprawl.

Smart Growth

Planned urban development that aims to reduce sprawl, preserve open space, and promote sustainable communities.

New Urbanism

A movement to design neighborhoods that promote walkability, mixed-use development, and community cohesion.

Gentrification

The process by which wealthier people move into, renovate, and revitalize traditionally less affluent neighborhoods.

Urban Renewal

Programs to redevelop urban areas, often resulting in displacement of lower-income residents.

Infrastructure

The basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society (e.g., roads, power, water).

Squatter Settlement

Residential developments on land that is neither owned nor rented by its occupants.

Informal Economy

Economic activities that are not regulated by the government (e.g., street vending).

Zoning Ordinances

Laws that regulate land use in urban areas (e.g., residential, commercial, industrial).

Redlining

A discriminatory practice where services (e.g., banking, insurance) are denied to residents of certain areas based on race or ethnicity.

Blockbusting

A process where real estate agents convince white property owners to sell their homes at low prices out of fear that racial minorities will move in.

Filtering

When housing passes from one social group to another, often resulting in the decline of neighborhood quality.

Urban Sustainability

Policies and practices aimed at creating environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable cities.

Urban Heat Island Effect

Cities experience higher temperatures than surrounding areas due to human activities and infrastructure.

Industrial Revolution

A period of major industrialization during the 18th–19th centuries that began in Great Britain and spread to other parts of the world, leading to mass production and urbanization.

Primary Sector

Jobs focused on extracting resources directly from the Earth (e.g., farming, fishing, mining).

Secondary Sector

Jobs involved in processing raw materials into finished goods (e.g., manufacturing, factory work).

Tertiary Sector

Jobs that provide services rather than goods (e.g., retail, education, healthcare).

Quaternary Sector

Knowledge-based services like information technology, research, and development.

Quinary Sector

High-level decision-making roles in organizations (e.g., executives, government officials).

Deindustrialization

The decline of industrial activity in a region or economy, often replaced by service-based jobs.

Outsourcing

Contracting work to external organizations, often in other countries, to reduce costs.

Offshoring

Moving part of a company’s operations to another country, usually for cost-saving purposes.

Fordism

Mass production of standardized goods using assembly-line techniques.

Post-Fordism

Modern industrial production characterized by flexible work rules, innovation, and customized products.

Growth Pole

A region of economic development that spurs growth in surrounding areas.

Agglomeration

The clustering of industries for mutual benefit, such as sharing services or infrastructure.

Deglomeration

When companies leave crowded urban areas due to the drawbacks of agglomeration, like high rents or competition.

Export Processing Zone (EPZ)

Special zones where countries offer favorable trade conditions to attract foreign investment.

Free Trade Zone (FTZ)

Areas where goods can be imported, handled, and re-exported without direct intervention from customs.

Special Economic Zone (SEZ)

Specific areas in countries that possess special economic regulations different from other areas in the same country (e.g., Shenzhen in China).

Just-in-Time Delivery

An inventory strategy where goods arrive exactly when needed for production or scale.

Complementarity

When two regions can satisfy each other’s demands through trade (e.g., one produces oil, the other needs oil).

Comparative Advantage

The ability of a country or region to produce a good more efficiently than others.

Global Supply Chain

The worldwide network used to produce and distribute goods and services.

Multiplier Effect

The expansion of economic activity caused by the growth or introduction of another activity.

Rostow’s Stages of Economic Growth

A model that explains countries’ development in five stages from traditional society to high mass consumption.

Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory

A model dividing the world into core, semi-periphery, and periphery countries based on economic and political power.

Core Countries

Industrialized, wealthy countries with strong governments and global influence.

Semi-Periphery Countries

Countries that are industrializing and have characteristics of both core and periphery nations.

Periphery Countries

Less developed countries with lower education, wages, and technology.

Human Development Index (HDI)

A measure of a country’s social and economic development based on income, education, and life expectancy.

Gender Inequality Index (GII)

A measure of gender disparity in reproductive health, empowerment, and labor participation.

Microfinance

Small loans and financial services provided to individuals in developing countries to start businesses.

Fair Trade

A movement promoting better trading conditions and sustainability for producers in developing countries.

Sustainable Development

Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising future generations.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

17 global goals set by the UN to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all by 2030.