Ultimate AP Human Geo Vocab Review

All the Vocab from every unit 1-7 (Not finished yet)

Absolute Direction

Corresponds to the direction on a compass: north, south, east, west, and combinations such as northeast and southwest

Absolute Distance

The distance that can be measured with a standard unit length, such as a foot, yard, mile, or kilometer.

Absolute Location

A precise position on Earth's surface

Census Data

an official count or survey of a population, typically recording various details of individuals such as age, sex, and race.

Cultural Landscape

The built forms that cultural groups create inhabiting Earth and the meaning, values, representations, and experiences associated with those forms

A natural land that has been modified by humans, reflecting their cultural beliefs and values

Elevation

distance above or below sea level

Environmental Determinism

The belief that the physical environment is the dominant force shaping cultures and that humanity is a passive product of its physical surroundings

Formal Region

A geographical area inhabited by people who have one or more traits in common

Functional Region

A geographic area that has been organized to function politically, socially, culturally, or economically as one unit

Geographic Information System (GIS)

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

Global Positioning System (GPS)

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

Natural Resources

Materials or substances that occur in nature and can be used for economic gain

Perceptual/Vernacular region

A geographic area that is perceived to exist by its inhabitants, based on the widespread acceptance and use of a unique regional name

Place

A location on Earth that is distinguished by its physical and human characteristics

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

Reference map

A map that shows geographic locations on Earth's surface, such as the locations of cities or oceans

Region

A geographical unit based on one or more common characteristics or functions

Relative Direction

A direction that can be described as position, such as in front of or behind, to the left or to the right

Relative Distance

A measurement of the level of social, cultural, or economic similarity between places despite their absolute distance from each other

Relative Location

The position of one place (or person) in relation to the position of another place (or person)

Remote Sensing

the scanning of the earth by satellite or high-flying aircraft in order to obtain information about it.

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

Scale

The territorial extent of an idea or object

Sense of Place

How a person feels about a particular place and why it's important to him or her

Thematic Map

A map that emphasizes the spatial patterns of geographic statistics or attributes, and sometimes the relationships between them

Distance Decay

Idea that near things are more related than distant things, and interaction between two places decreases the farther apart they are until ultimately the interaction ends or does not exist

Time-Space Compression

The decreasing distance between places, as measured by travel time or cost; often summarized by the phrase "the world is shrinking”

Flow

Movement of people, goods, or information that has economic, social, political, or cultural effects on societies.

Globalization

Increasing interconnection of all parts of the world as the full range of social, cultural, political, and economic processes becomes international in scale and effect. One result of space-time compression: Expansion of economic, cultural, and political processes on a worldwide scale

Human Geography

The study of the processes that have shaped how humans understand, use, and alter Earth

Pattern

The way in which things are arranged in a particular space

Sustainability

The use of Earth's land and natural resources in ways that ensure they will continue to be available in the future; Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

Scale of Analysis

Observation of data at the global, regional, national, or local scale

Clustering

Spatial pattern where people or objects are closely grouped together in specific areas of a population. This suggests that the concentrated regions have a higher density than the surrounding areas

Dispersal

Spatial pattern where objects are spread out from one another

Mercator Projection

- Preserves accurate compass direction, distorts land masses relative to each other

- Landmasses most distorted near the poles (high latitudes)

Peters Projection

An equal-area projection purposely centered on Africa in an attempt to treat all regions of Earth equally

Robinson Projection

- Minimizes the errors in area, shape, distance, and direction - land areas smaller

- Aesthetically pleasing balance - good for displaying information across oceans

Azimuthal Projection

A map projection in which the plane is the most developable surface

Goodes-Homosline Projection

area is fairly accurate but oceans are divided, causing distance to be distorted

Choropleth Map

Use of different colors or tonal shadings to represent categories of data

Cartogram Map

Map that distorts the geographic shape of an area in order to show the size of a specific variable

Graduated Symbol Map

A map with symbols that change in size according to the value of the attribute they represent

Dot Density Map

Use points to show precise locations of specific observations or occurrences

Topographic Map

Include contour (isoline) lines to show the shape and elevation of an area

Flow Line Map

Shows movement with arrows of different size

Mental Map

A map which represents the perceptions and knowledge a person has of an area

Age Structure

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

Aging Population

A population of a country or place that ages as the number or proportion of its elderly people increases

Agricultural Density

The number of farmers per unit of land

Antinatilist Policies

Designed to curtail population growth by reducing fertility rates

Arable Land

land suitable for cultivation

Arithmetic (Crude) density

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

Carrying Capacity

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

Crude Birth Rate (CBR)

The average number of births per 1000 people; the traditional way of measuring birth rates

Crude Death Rate (CDR)

Also known as mortality rate. The number of deaths per 1000 people in a society in a given year

Demographic Transition Model (DTM)

How crude birth rate (CBR) and crude death rate (CDR) as well as the resulting rate of natural increase (RNI) change over time as countries go through industrialization and urbanization

Dependency Ratio

The number of dependents in a population that each 100 working-age people (15-64 y.o.) must support

Doubling Time

The number of years it takes for a population to double in size (Formula is 70 divided by RNI)

Epidemiological Transition Theory

Seeks to explain how changes in health services and living standards affect patterns of disease; A model that describes changes in fertility, mortality, life expectancy, and population age distribution, largely as the result of changes in causes of death

Life Expectancy

the number of years a person can expect to live

Physiological Density

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

Population Pyramid

A very useful graphic device for comparing age ad sex structure

Pronatalist policies

Designed to boost fertility rates and ultimately population growth (Ex: do it for Denmark)

Rate of Natural Increase (RNI)

The difference between the number of births and deaths in a given year, when expressed as a percentage of total population

Sex Ratio

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

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

The average number of children born per women during her reproductive lifetime, considered to be from 15 to 49 years of age (Usually 2.1)

Human Factors - Population Distribution

Culture, economics, history, and politics influence where population settle

Physical Factors - Population Distribution

Climate, landforms, and water bodies influence where population settle

Immigration Policy

Government policies that can promote or discourage population growth by increasing or decreasing migration

Mortality Rate

Number of deaths per 1000 people in a society in a given year

Population Distribution

Pattern where people live (clustered/dispersed, density, and pattern)

Scale of Analysis

Observation of data at the global, regional, national, or local scale

Chain Migration

The process by which some people's migration to a new place leads their family members, friends, and others to move to same place.

Forced Migration

Migration caused by forces out of ones control, such as disasters, social conflicts, or developed states.

Internal Migration (Interregional Migration)

When people move within the borders of a country

Internally Displaced Person (IDP)

Someone who remains within his or her country's borders despite being persecuted by their home country

International (Transnational) Migration

When moves are made across national borders

Intervening Obstacles

A complication that potential migrants will need to overcome to reach their destination.

Intervening Opportunity

A nearby attractive locale where migrants may decide to settle instead of going to the intended destination farther away.

Pull Factors

The attributes of other places that make than appealing to potential migrants

Push Factors

Factors that cause people to be dissatisfied with their present locales and want to move somewhere else.

Refugee

A person who leaves their country because of persecution based on race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, or political opinion.

Step Migration

Migration carried out in a series of stages, usually from nearby to bigger and more distant places; The series of smaller moves to get to the ultimate destination

Transhumance

A phenomenon where herders and their livestock move seasonally between their summer and winter pastures.

Transnational Migration

When migrants move back and forth between their home countries and those to which they have migrated

Voluntary Migration

Migration that is done willingly

Asylum-Seeker

A person who seeks political refuge (asylum) in a country other than their own due to fear harassment, imprisonment, or even death caused by the government.

Guest Worker

A migrant permitted to work in a country other than their homeland due to a temporary labor shortage; Migrants who travel to a new country as temporary laborers

Fertility Rate

Number of babies born per 1000 people in a society in a year

Malthusian Theory

Population grows faster (exponentially-geometrically) than food supply (arithmetically-linear) leading to starvation

Malthusian Crisis

Point in which total population exceeds food supply leading to negative events to reduce population

Mortality Rate

Number of deaths per 1000 people in a society in a year

Ravenstein’s Laws of Migration

Set of rules proposed to explain and predict migration patterns

Rural-To-Urban Migration

People moving from rural (agricultural) areas to urban (cities) areas. Occurs at higher rates during industrialization and development

Centrifugal Force

A force that threatens the cohesion of a neighborhood, society, or country

Pull people apart or drive a wedge between different segments of society

Centripetal Force

A force that brings people together and unifies a neighborhood, society, or country

Contagious Diffusion

The wavelike spread of ideas in the manner of a contagious disease or viral internet idea, moving throughout space without regard for hierarchy

Creole

A combined language that has a fuller vocabulary than a pidgin language and becomes a native language

Language that results from mixing of colonizer’s language with the indigenous language

Cultural Relativism

An approach to understanding other cultures that seeks to understand individuals and cultures from a wider perspective of cultural logic