ap hug unit 2 vocab

population distribution

The pattern in which humans are spread out on Earth’s surface

Eurasia

A massive piece of land on Earth that consists of Europe, with just under 10 percent of the human population, and Asia, which accounts for almost 60 percent of humanity

ecumene

The portion of Earth’s surface with permanent human settlement

population clusters

Heavily populated areas that illustrate the unevenness in global population distribution; geographers have identified four population clusters on Earth: South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Europe

metacities

A city with more than 20 million residents

megacities

A city with more than 10 million residents

developed/industrialized country

A country with an advanced economy and a high standard of living

developing/industrializing countries

A country that is of relatively low income or economically poorer than developed countries

snow belt states

States located in the northern and midwestern parts of the US

sunbelt states

States in coastal areas and the South and Southwest of the US

mean center of population

The balancing point given the distribution of population

population density

The average number of people per unit of land area

arithmetic density

The average number of people per unit of land area (usually per square mile or kilometer)

physiological density

The average number of people per unit area (a square mile or kilometer) of arable land

arable land

Land suitable for cultivation

agricultural density

The number of farmers per unit of arable land

carrying capacity

The number of people a particular environment or Earth as a whole can support on a sustainable basis

human well-being

The state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy

population composition

The makeup of the population by age and sex as well as by ethnic, racial, income, and educational background

age structure

Refers to the breakdown of a population into different age groups or cohorts

dependency ratio

The number of dependents in a population that each 100 working-age people (ages 15 to 64 years) must support

generations

Groups of people who were born around the same time and share some common traits due to the cultural and societal influences they shared as they grew up

sex ratio

The ratio of the number of men to number of women in a population

androcentrism

A phenomenon in which a culture demonstrates a marked preference for males

population pyramid

A very useful graphic device for comparing age and sex structure