AP Human Geography Review Packets Units 1-7

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the core concepts of AP Human Geography Units 1-7 as described in the provided lecture notes.

Reference Maps

Maps that show general information about places, such as political maps, physical maps, road maps, and topographic maps.

Thematic Maps

Maps that focus on a specific theme or variable, such as choropleth, dot distribution, and cartograms, to show patterns and relationships.

Choropleth Map

A thematic map that uses colors or shading to show data distributions, such as population density.

Isoline Map

A thematic map that uses lines to connect points of equal value, such as temperature or elevation.

Cartogram

A map that resizes areas according to a specific variable, such as population, rather than physical land area.

Absolute Distance

An exact measurement of the gap between two places, such as "500 miles northeast."

Relative Distance

An estimated or perceived measurement of distance, often expressed in terms of time, such as "about an hour away."

Mercator Projection

A map projection that preserves shape and direction but greatly distorts size near the poles, making it useful for navigation.

Gall-Peters Projection

An equal-area projection that preserves the relative size of landmasses but distorts their shapes, making continents appear stretched.

Robinson Projection

A projection that balances distortions in shape, area, distance, and direction for a visually accurate overall representation.

Goode Homolosine Projection

An interrupted projection that minimizes shape and area distortion by "cutting" the oceans; useful for comparing landmasses.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Computer systems used to capture, store, and analyze layered data tied to specific locations, often for mapping trends like deforestation.

Remote Sensing

The gathering of data from satellites or aircraft to monitor Earth’s surface, such as tracking hurricanes or urban sprawl.

Arithmetic Density

The total population divided by the total land area, showing the overall population per unit of land.

Physiological Density

The total population divided by the amount of arable (farmable) land area, indicating pressure on productive land.

Agricultural Density

The ratio of the number of farmers to the amount of arable land, often used to indicate the level of economic development and mechanization.

Carrying Capacity

The maximum number of people an area can support without degrading the environment.

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

The average number of children a woman is expected to have during her lifetime.

Rate of Natural Increase (RNI)

The percentage by which a population grows each year, calculated as $\text{CBR} - \text{CDR}$ (excluding migration).

Population Doubling Time

The number of years it takes for a population to double in size, calculated using the Rule of 70: $\frac{70}{\text{RNI}}$.

Demographic Transition Model (DTM) Stage 2

The stage characterizing early industrialization where death rates fall rapidly due to improved medicine while birth rates remain high, leading to very high natural increase.

Malthusian Theory

The 1798 theory by Thomas Malthus stating that population grows exponentially while food supply grows arithmetically, leading to eventual famine.

Pro-natalist Policies

Government strategies that encourage population growth and higher birth rates, such as in France and Japan.

Anti-natalist Policies

Government strategies that aim to reduce fertility rates and slow population growth, such as China's former One-Child Policy.

Dependency Ratio

The ratio of dependents (those aged 0–14 and 65+) to the working-age population (aged 15–64).

Distance Decay

The concept that the farther apart two places are, the less likely they are to interact frequently.

Time–Space Compression

The idea that modern transportation and communication technologies have made it faster and easier to connect distant places, making the world feel "smaller."

Intervening Obstacle

Environmental or political barriers that make migration more difficult, such as border controls or dangerous terrain.

Refugees

People forced to flee their home country due to fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, or political opinion.

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)

People forced to move within their own country's borders due to conflict, disaster, or development projects.

Chain Migration

The migration of people to a specific location because relatives or members of the same community previously migrated there.

Step Migration

Migration that occurs in a series of smaller moves toward a final destination, such as moving from a village to a small town and then to a large city.

Transhumance

The seasonal migration of livestock herders between mountain and lowland pastures.

Cultural Relativism

Evaluating a culture by its own standards rather than judging it by the norms of another culture.

Ethnocentrism

Judging another culture by the values of one's own culture, often viewing the other as inferior or strange.

Cultural Landscape

The visible imprint of human activity on the land, reflecting the interaction of culture with the physical environment.

Sequent Occupancy

How different cultural groups leave their mark on a landscape over time, creating layers of blended history.

Relocation Diffusion

The spread of a cultural trait through the physical movement of people from one place to another.

Hierarchical Diffusion

The spread of an idea or trait from persons or nodes of authority or power to other persons or places.

Creolization

The blending of cultures to create new cultural expressions, such as Haitian Creole (French + African languages).

Lingua Franca

A common language used by people whose native languages are different for the purpose of trade or communication, such as English as a global standard.

Universalizing Religion

A religion that seeks to appeal to all people globally and spreads through missionary activity, such as Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism.

Ethnic Religion

A religion tied to a specific location or ethnic group that does not actively seek global followers, such as Hinduism and Judaism.

Acculturation

When one cultural group adopts some traits of another culture while still maintaining aspects of its original culture.

Assimilation

When a cultural group is absorbed into another, losing many of its original traits.

Syncretism

The blending of two or more cultures to form new cultural traits, practices, or beliefs, such as Voodoo or Tex-Mex cuisine.

Centripetal Forces

Forces that unite people and promote stability within a state, such as a common language or national symbols.

Centrifugal Forces

Forces that divide people and create instability or conflict, such as ethnic discrimination or separatist movements.

Sovereignty

A state's full authority over its own internal and external affairs.

Nation-State

A political entity where a culturally unified group (nation) and a state occupy the same territory, such as Japan or Iceland.

Stateless Nation

A culturally unified group that lacks its own independent state, such as the Kurds or Palestinians.

Neocolonialism

Powerful countries indirectly controlling weaker countries through economic, political, or cultural influence rather than direct rule.

Shatterbelt

A region caught between strong external forces experiencing persistent stress and internal fragmentation, such as Eastern Europe during the Cold War.

Choke Point

A narrow geographic feature, like the Strait of Hormuz or the Suez Canal, where movement is easily controlled.

Antecedent Boundary

A boundary drawn before a large population was present, such as the 49th parallel between the U.S. and Canada.

Superimposed Boundary

A boundary imposed by an outside power that ignores existing cultural patterns, such as the boundaries created at the Berlin Conference in Africa.

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)

The maritime area within 200 nautical miles of a state's coast where it has rights to resources but not full sovereignty, according to UNCLOS.

Gerrymandering

The intentional redrawing of voting districts by political parties to benefit their own power, often through cracking or packing.

Unitary State

A state with a centralized government where most political power is held by the national authority, such as France or Japan.

Federal State

A state that divides political power between a national government and regional or local governments, such as the United States or Brazil.

Devolution

The transfer of political power from a central government to regional governments within a state.

Supranationalism

An association of multiple states forming an organization for shared goals, such as the European Union or NATO, which requires giving up some sovereignty.

Intensive Agriculture

Farming that uses high amounts of labor or capital on small amounts of land to maximize output, such as market gardening or rice paddies.

Extensive Agriculture

Farming that uses large areas of land with low labor or capital input per acre, such as ranching or nomadic herding.

Settlement Pattern: Clustered

A rural layout where homes and buildings are grouped together around a central feature like a church or village square.

Survey Method: Metes and Bounds

A system using natural features (trees, rivers) and distance/direction to describe irregularly shaped land parcels, common in the eastern U.S.

Survey Method: Township and Range

A grid-based survey system dividing land into square townships, resulting in an orderly geometric landscape across the U.S. Midwest.

Green Revolution

The mid-20th century advancement involving high-yield variety (HYV) seeds, chemical fertilizers, and mechanization to increase food production.

Bid-Rent Theory

The theory that land value and rent decrease as distance from the central market (city center) increases.

Von Thünen Model Ring 1

The ring closest to the market center reserved for intensive, perishable goods like dairy and vegetables due to high transportation costs.

Commodity Chain

The global sequence of steps connecting agricultural production with consumers, including processing, distribution, and retail.

Economies of Scale

The economic advantage where increasing the size of an operation lowers the cost per unit of production.

Site Factors

The physical characteristics of a place, such as climate, fertile land, or natural harbors, that influence where cities develop.

Situation Factors

The location of a place relative to others, including its proximity to trade routes or other major cities.

Megacity

A city with 10 million or more people.

Metacity

An extremely large urban area with 20 million or more people.

Edge Cities

Urban hubs located on the fringes of major cities characterized by office complexes, malls, and entertainment districts.

Rank-Size Rule

The pattern where the $n$th largest city is $\frac{1}{n}$ the size of the largest city, suggesting balanced regional development.

Primate City

A city that is at least twice as large as the next largest city and dominates the country's economy, culture, and politics.

Central Place Theory

Walter Christaller's theory explaining the distribution of settlements based on range (distance people travel) and threshold (customer count needed).

Burgess Concentric-Zone Model

An urban model where the city grows outward in rings from a central business district (CBD).

Gentrification

The movement of wealthier individuals into low-income neighborhoods, leading to renovated homes but often displacing existing residents.

Redlining

A discriminatory banking practice that denied loans or insurance to people in certain areas, often based on race.

Urban Growth Boundary (UGB)

A legally defined border limiting outward city expansion to protect farmland and natural areas.

Primary Economic Sector

The sector involved in extracting natural resources, such as farming, fishing, and mining.

Secondary Economic Sector

The sector that processes raw materials into manufactured goods, such as factories and food processing.

Tertiary Economic Sector

The sector providing services to people and businesses, such as retail, banking, and transportation.

Quaternary Economic Sector

The knowledge-based sector including technology, research, education, and data analysis.

Least Cost Theory

Alfred Weber’s theory that industries locate where they can minimize transportation and labor costs while maximizing agglomeration.

Human Development Index (HDI)

A composite score ranking countries based on life expectancy, education level, and GNI per capita.

Gender Inequality Index (GII)

An index measuring differences between men and women in reproductive health, empowerment, and labor-market participation.

Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory

A structural theory categorizing nations as Core (wealthy/industrialized), Periphery (export raw materials), or Semiperiphery.

Dependency Theory

The theory that historical and structural factors, like colonialism, keep peripheral nations dependent on core nations for markets and technology.

Special Economic Zone (SEZ)

A specific area within a country that has tax breaks and relaxed regulations to attract foreign investment, such as Shenzhen, China.

Just-in-time (JIT) Delivery

A Post-Fordist production method where materials arrive exactly as needed to reduce storage costs.

Multiplier Effect

The local economic growth triggered when growth in one sector leads to growth in other service or supply sectors.