Studied by 30 people
Human Geography
The branch of geography that studies how human activity affects or is influenced by Earth’s surface.
Globalization
The process by which businesses and other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale
Sustainability
The group of practices that meet the needs of the present without compromising future generations’ ability to meet their needs.
Gender
A general term for the ways in which society defines the differences between males and females.
Global Citizen
A person who is aware of an understands the wider world and his or her place in it.
Geographical literacy
Having a general understanding of geographic forces at work in the world.
Population
The number of people living in a given area.
Culture
The shared practices, technologies, attitudes and behaviours that a society transmits from one generation to the next.
Cultural landscapes
The human imprint on the physical environment and the associated human patterns that represent culture.
Diffusion
The spread of people, things, ideas and cultural practices.
The Green Revolution
The third revolution in agriculture where scientists have been working to create technologies to produce more food in countries such as India and Mexico that have struggled to feed their people.
Urbanization
The development and movement of people to cities and the surroundign areas.
Infrastructure
The basic physical and organizational structures and facilities (such as buildings, roads and public utilities) needed for the operation of a society.
Data Aggregation
The process of collecting and organizing large amounts of information.
Spatial
Relating to space
Spatial perspective
A geographic perspective that seeks to identify and explain the uses of space.
Spacial Patterns
The placement or arrangement of objects on Earth’s surface; also includes the space between those objects.
Clustered
Objects are clumped together.
Dispersed
Objects are spread out in some organized fashion.
Random
Objects are either clustered or dispersed, thus lacking any organization.
Time-distance Decay
Also known as the “first law of geography”; the idea that near things are more related than distant things, and interaction between two places decreases the farther apart they are.
Map Symbols
Graphic elements that help organize the information in a map, such as (but not limited to) dots, stars, arrows, squares and dotted lines.
Legend
A key to the meaning of the symbols and colours on a map.
Compass rose
A drawing, usually found on the edge of a map, showing the four cardinal directions (north, east, south, and west) and the map’s orientation.
Absolute direction
Corresponds to the direction on a compass: north, east, south, west, and combinations such as northeast and southwest.
Map scale
The distance on a map in relation to distance in actual space; for example, 2cm on a map might indicate a distance of 100km
Scale
The territorial extant of an idea or object → the larger the scale, the more zoomed in a map is
Absolute distance
The distance that can be measured with a standard unit of length, such as a centimetre, metre, or kilometre.
Relative distance
A measurement of the level of social, cultural, or economic similarity between places despite their absolute distance from each other.
Relative direction
A direction that can be described as position, such as in front of or behind, to the left or to the right.
Elevation
The distance above sea level.
Contour Lines
Lines usually on an elevation map that connect points with the same elevation and by using lighter or darker colours.
Isoline
On a map, a line that connects or links different places that share a common or equal value, such as elevation.
Topographic map
A graphic representation of the three-dimensional configuration of Earth’s surface. (aka topo)
Reference maps
A map that shows geographic locations on Earth’s surface, such as the locations of cities or oceans.
Thematic maps
A map that emphasizes the spatial patterns of geographic statistics of attributes, and sometimes the relationships between them.
Chloropleth map
A thematic map that shows data aggregated for a specific geographic area, often using different colours or shades to represent different values.
Cartogram
A map that distorts the geographic shape of an area in order to show the size of a specific variable; he larger the area on a cartogram, the larger the value of the underlying variable.
Proportional or graduated circle map
A map that uses symbols (such as circles or dots) of different sizes to represent numerical values.
Dot density/Dot distribution map
A map that uses dots to represent objects or counts; the dot can represent an object (a one-to-one dot density map) or it can represent a number of objects (a one-to-many dot density map).
Map projection
A method for representing the surface of Earth or a celestial sphere on a plane (two dimensional) surface; all map projections distort some aspect of Earth’s surface.
Mercator Projection
A map projection that is useful for navigation because the lines connecting points on the map represent the true compass directions; however, landmasses become increasingly distorted the farther away they are from the equator.
Peters Projection
A map projection that shows all landmasses with their true areas but distorts their shapes.
Goode Homolosine Projection
A map projection that avoids shape distortion and the restrictions of a rectangular map by creating “interruptions”in the map’s continuity; in each section, map projection regions are shown “equally,” like an orange peel being laid out on a flat surface.
Polar projection
A map projection that looks down at Earth from the perspective of one of the poles (North Pole or South Pole).
Robinson Projection
A map projection that attempts to create the most visually appealing representation of Earth by keeping all types of distortion relatively low over most of the map.
Geographic data/Geospatial data/Geographic information
The location of features on Earth’s surface.
Census
An official count or survey of a population, typically recording various details about individuals, such as age, sex, and race.
Geospatial technologies
The equipment and software that are used to measure and analyze Earth’s land and features.
Fieldwork
Learning and doing research involving first-hand experience, which takes place outside the classroom setting.
Datum vs. data
Data is plural, datum is singular
Absolute location
A precise position of Earth’s surface.
Latitude (lines)
The (invisible) horizontal lines circling the Earth parallel to the equator; latitude is the degree of distance north or south from the equator, which is at 0 degrees, as far as the poles, which are at 90 degrees. (aka parallels) Minutes and seconds refer to smaller portions of an angle, not time. The latitude 40°57’26” reads 40 degrees, 57 minutes, 26 seconds. goes from 0 to 90 degrees.
Longitude (lines)
The (invisible) vertical lines on Earth’s surface that mark imaginary circles connecting the North Pole with the South Pole. Goes from 0 to 180 degrees.
Prime meridian
The zero-degree longitude line that runs through Greenwich, England; also known as the Greenwich Meridian.
GPS
Global Positioning System: A system of 24 satellites that orbit Earth twice daily and transmit radio signals earthward; the basis for many map-based apps that provide directions on how to get from one place to another.
GIS
Global Information System: A software application for capturing, storing, checking, and displaying data related to positions on Earth’s surface; allows the rapid manipulation of geospatial data for problem-solving and research.
Remote Sensing
The scanning of Earth by satellite or high-flying aircraft in order to obtain information about it.
Aerial Photography
Remote-sensing photography that produces fine-grained, highly detailed images.
Satellite imagery
Images of Earth’s surface gathered from sensors mounted on orbiting satellites; these sensors record in both the visible and non-visible portions of the electromagnetic spectrum, allowing humans to view patterns and processes that are both visible and invisible to the naked eye.
Relative location
The position of one place (or person) in relation to the position of another place (or person)
Space
The areas we occupy as humans; it has no value until the people who occupy it make it their own.
Place
How we modify space based on who we are as a group of people.
Cultural landscape
The built forms that cultural groups create in inhabiting Earth – farm fields, cities, houses, and so on – and the meaning, values, representations, and experiences associated with those forms
Time-space compression
The decreasing distance between places, as measured by travel time or cost; often summarized by the phrase, “the world is shrinking”
Interdependace
The ties established between regions and countries that over time collectively create a global economic system that is not necessarily based on equality
Geographic processes
The physical and human forces that work together to form and transform the world.
Diffusion
The pattern by which a phenomenon such as the movement of people, or their ideas, technologies, or preferences, spreads from a particular location through space and time.
Independant invention
Occurs when the same or very similar innovation is developed at the same time in different places or by different people working independently.
Expansion diffusion
Occurs when ideas or practices spread throughout a population, from area to area, in a snowballing process, so that the total number of knowers and users and the areas of occurrence increase.
Hierarchical diffusion
Occurs when ideas leapfrog from one important person, community, or city to another, bypassing other persons, communities, or rural areas - is a form of expansion diffusion
Reverse hierarchical diffusion
Occurs when ideas leapfrog from a lower level of a hierarchy to a higher level - is a form of expansion diffusion
Contagious diffusion
The wavelike spread of ideas in the manner of a contagious disease or forest fire, moving throughout space without regard for hierarchy - is a form of expansion diffusion
Stimulus diffusion
Occurs when a specific trait is rejected, but the underlying idea is accepted - is a form of expansion distribution. Ex. Sesame street is popular worldwide but in some countries, there are slight modifications like language and practices.
Relocation diffusion
Occurs when individuals or groups with a particular idea or practice migrate from one location to another, thereby bringing the idea or practice to their new homeland.
Friction of distance
The inhibiting effect of distance on the intensity and volume of most forms of human interaction; time-space compression diminishes friction of distance.
Ecology
A biological science concerned with studying the complex relationships among living organisms and their physical environment.
Cultural ecology
The study of interactions between societies and their local environments
Ecosystem
A territorially bounded system consisting of the interaction between humans and the environment.
Environmental perception
The mental images that comprise humans’ perception of nature; environmental perception may be accurate or inaccurate.
Natural hazard
A physical danger present in the environment, such as a flood, hurricane, volcanic eruption, and earthquake.
Tsunami
A huge ocean wave produced by the displacement of a large volume of water, often caused by an earthquake.
Natural resources
Materials or substances that occur in nature and can be used for economic gain.
Nonrenewable resources
Natural resources that are available on Earth in finite quantities and will eventually be used up.
Renewable resources
Natural resources that Earth will naturally replenish over time.
Greenhouse gasses
Compounds in the atmosphere from fossil-fuel combustion, such as carbon dioxide, that absorb and trap heat energy close to Earth’s surface.
Greenhouse effect
The global warming trend caused by rising levels of carbon dioxide.
Environmental determinism
The belief that the physical environment is the dominant force shaping cultures and that humanity is a passive products of its physical surroundings.
Possibilism
The belief that any physical environment offers a number of possible ways for a society to develop and that humans can find ways to overcome environmental challenges.
Global Scale
Geographic scale that looks at geographic phenomena across the entire world.
Regional scale analysis
Geographic scale that identifies and analyzes geographic phenomena within a particular region.
National scale analysis
Geographic scale that identifies and analyzes geographic phenomena within a specific country.
Local scale analysis
Geographic scale that identifies and analyses geographic phenomena within a state or province, a city or town, or neighbourhood.
Glocal Perspective
Geographic perspective that acknowledges the two-way relationship between local communities and global patterns, emphasizing that the forces of globalization need to take into account local-scale cultural, economic and environmental conditions.
Region
A geographical unit based on one or more common characteristics or functions.
Formal/Uniform region
A geographical area inhabited by people who have one or more traits in common. (eg place with a common religion/crop)
The formal region depends on the characteristics the geographer choses to select → there are infinite possibilities
Must have borders (but they may be less sharp)
Border zone
A region where cultural markers overlap and blend into a recognizable border culture (eg us-mexico border)
Functional/Nodal region
A geographic area that has been organized to function politically, socially, culturally or economically as one unit → spreads out from a central node (eg city, county, trade area)
Nodes
Central points where the functions of a functional region are coordinated and directed. (eg, city halls, government office, bank, capital)
Metropolitan area
An area composed of a heavily populated urban core and its less populated surrounding areas
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