APHG Vocabulary

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

A computer system that collects, stores, analyzes, and displays geographic data (remote sensing)

Satellite Navigation Systems

Technologies that use satellites to determine the precise location of a person or object on Earth and provide navigational information

Place

A locations’ unique physical and cultural characteristics

Placemaking

A process in which a community or cultural groups gets together to plan a public space

Sense of place

The personal attachment and emotional connection individuals feel toward a place

Distance Decay

The farther away one place is from another the less interaction those two places will have with one another

Time Space Connection

The reduction of time it takes for something to get from one place to another

Functional Region

Defined based on activities and interactions within the region

Perceptual Region

Defined based on subjective perceptions of a region or place

Formal Region

Refers to an area with a unifying characteristic

Sustainability

Actions that provide immediate benefits whilst also preserving resources for future use

Natural Resources

Items produced in nature that can be used by humans

Land Use

Changing the Earth’s surface for a specific purpose

Environmental Determinism

The early 20th-century theory that the physical environment (climate, landforms, and geography) solely shapes human behaviors, culture, and society’s development

Possibilism

The natural environment is still a factor shaping our way of life, however humans have choices and can harness technologies to overcome environmental limitations

Scales of Anyalsis

-Global scale: world-wide patterns

-Regional scale: specific world region or part of a country

-National: single country

-Local: small areas, cities or neighborhoods

Arithmetic Density

The number of people per unit of land, population/total land area

Physiological Density

The number of people per unit of arable land, population/total arable land

Agricultural Density

The number of farmers per unit of arable land, # of farmers/total arable land

Carrying Capacity

Relationship between a population size and the amount of resources

Crude Birth Rate (CBR)

The total number of live births in an area for every 1,000 people alive

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

Refers to the average number of children a woman will have in her childbearing years

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)

Refers to how many babies under the age of one die each year compared to live births

Crude Death Rate

The total number of deaths in one year per 1,000 people

Rate of Natural Increase (RNI)

The percentage by which a population grows in a year

Demographic Transition Model

Stage 1:

-High CBR: lack of contraceptives, cultural preferences

-High CDR: lack of sanitation, medicine, war, and famine

-Very low RNI

Stage 2:

-High CBR: industrial revolution leads to food security

-Falling CDR: increased sanitation, medicine, increased life expectancy, falling IMR

-Very high RNI

Stage 3:

-Falling CBR: women enter workforce, women seek educational opportunities

-Falling CDR: further advances in medicine, increased life expectancy, still falling IMR

-Moderate RNI

Stage 4:

-Very low CBR: women delay marriage, women seek educational opportunities, increased contraceptives used

-Low CDR: higher incomes lead to better health outcomes

-No RNI = zero population growth or falling

Stage 5:

-Very low CBR: couples choosing not to have kids, birth rates are falling below death rates

-Rising CDR: increased urbanization, anti-biotic resistant bacteria

-Negative population growth

Epidemiological Transition Model

Stage 1:

-Pestilence and famine

Stage 2:

-Receding pandemics

Stage 3:

-Degenerative diseases

Stage 4:

-Delayed degenerative and lifestyle diseases

Stage 5:

-Re-emergence of infectious disease

Basics of Malthusian Theory

Thomas Malthus warned that population would outpace food supply because population grows geometrically while food supply grows arithmetically

Pro-natalist Policies

Policies promoting births

Anti-natalist Policies

Policies seeking to restrict birth

Transnational Migration

Migrants leave their country of origin and enter another country

Transhumance Migration

Migration where livestock are led to highlands in summer months and lowland areas in winter months

Internal Migration

Permanent move within a country

Chain Migration

Migration where there is some type of relationship with a previous migrant, often familial

Step Migration

There is a series of starts and stops

Guest Workers and Remittances

Temporary migrants who often have legal permission to migrate for work or education

Rural to Urban Migration

Movement of people from rural areas to cities

Cultural Relativism

Evaluating a culture by its own standards can humanize a cultural group, rather than judging them against the criteria of another

Ethoncentrism

Evaluating another culture through the lens of one’s own culture, can lead to thoughts of cultural superiority

Relocation Diffusion

Ideas spread through people physically moving and bringing cultural phenomena, innovation, diseases, religion etc.

Contagious Diffusion

The cultural phenomenon spreads rapidly to almost everyone (ex. internet memes)

Hierarchical Diffusion

Starting with someone of power in society and spreading down the social hierarchy to some people (ex. clothing trends)

Reverse Hierarchical Diffusion

Starting with someone of low power and spreading up the social hierarchy to some people (ex. walmart)

Stimulus Diffusion

The full idea does not spread, but the main underlying idea spreads (ex. Mcdonalds)

Diffusion of Religions

Creolization

The process of mixing cultural traits, primarily languages (ex. Patois)

Lingua Franca

Language mutually understood by the members of society

Pidgin

A pidgin is a simplified, temporary, non-native "bridge" language created for basic communication between speakers of different tongues

Acculturation

Adopting elements of a different culture, usually the prominent one (ex. people wearing jeans all over the world)

Assimilation

When a minority group eventually adopts the prominent culture, sometimes forced (ex. natives forced to learn English)

Syncretism

Blending and merging of different cultures together (ex. religions elemnts)

Multiculturalism

Cultural diversity within a society, often because of immigration (ex. USA)

Nation

A group with a shared similar culture, a historical attachment to an area or homeland

Nation-state

A state where the borders of a national group’s homeland coincides with the borders of the state (ex. Japan, Ireland)

Stateless Nation

National group is spread out over several different sites (ex. Kurds, Palestinians)

Multi-National State

Country with several national groups within their borders (ex. Canada, UK, and Russia)

Multi-State Nation

National groups homeland has a state of its own and also spreads across its borders into other countries (ex. Germans, Koreans)

Semi-Autonomous Regions

Have a moderate degree of self-government and freedom to govern themselves (ex. Hong Kong, Macau)

Autonomous Region

Have a high degree of self-government and freedom to govern themselves (ex. Native American reservations)

Sovereignty

The right of a state to rule over itself

Self-Determination

People have a right to govern themselves, often a nation or ethnicity that wants to have its own state (ex. Balkans)

Imperialism

A larger idea of creating an empire by exerting force to control other nations often from afar

Colonialism

The actual practice of claiming territories and settling there to exert economic and social control

Independence Movements

Group of people in a particular part of an area advocating for separation from larger political entity on basis

Devolution

Breaking up of a state into smaller units or the passing of power from central to lower governments (ex. Yugoslavia)

Territoriality

The connection of people, their culture, and their economic system to the land

Neocolonialism

Developed countries exert economic power over developing countries

-Transnational companies based in the former mother countries often control the extraction of natural resources and the labor in former colonies

Shatterbelts

Areas where larger regional or global political or cultural divisions collide and cause conflict at a local scale (ex. Cold War political conflicts created shatterbelts in Korea, Europe, and Vietnam)

Chokepoints

Areas where the physical geography creates a narrow opening, like a strait, that makes it difficult for trade or other travel between the two points (ex. Strait of Hormuz)

Relic Boundary

Former boundary that no longer exists but still holds some kind of significance (ex. Berlin Wall, Great Wall of China)

Superimposed Boundary

Boundaries that are drawn by outside powers and tend to ignore existing boundaries of social, cultural, or ethnic differences (ex. Africa after 1885)

Antecedent Boundary

Boundaries drawn before many people live in an area and establish a cultural landscape

Geometric Boundary

Boundary that follows a straight line, often latitude or longitude lines, they can also be superimposed (ex, USA, parts of Canada)

Subsequent Boundary

Boundaries drawn where people have already settled with cultures already established (ex. Much of Europe)

Consequent Boundary

A kind of subsequent boundary that is drawn to accommodate existing differences among people such as ethnicity, language, religion and more (ex. Balkans after Yugoslavia).

Redistricting

Internal political boundaries are redrawn after a census, which determines voting districts for legislatures

Gerrymandering

The majority party in power of the state legislature redraws the destrict to give them a partisan advantage

Cracking

Spreading out the opposition party voters throughout many districts

Packing

Making a district of the opposition party voters

Unitary State

Unitary government hold almost all authority, very little power is given to the local governments

Federal State

Federal governments share political power with lower levels of government

Ethnic Separatism

When there are many ethnic groups in a country and one ethnic group wants stronger political power

Ethnic Cleansing

The deliberate removing, or killing of a particular ethnic group

Terrorism

Violence organized by a group, that is aimed at civilians in order to incite terror for political reasons

Irredentism

Movement by a nation to unite other parts of its nation that are spread over other borders (ex. Ukraine-Crimea)

Supranationalism

When several countries form an organization to achieve common goals and benefits for all countries (ex, UN, NATO, EU)

Intensive Agriculture

Require large amounts of labor and capital, small plots of land, high yield per acre (ex. Rice and milk)

Extensive Agriculture

Characterized by low capital and labor inputs, uses large plots of land, low yield per acre (ex. Shifting cultivation, livestock ranching)

Plantation Agriculture

Labor intensive agricultural system that exploits cheap labor in former colonies (ex. coffee, cacao, sugar, and other cash crops are raised and sold to developed areas)

Mixed Crop and Livestock

Labor intensive system where farmers grow crops to fatten livestock for slaughter (ex. corn and soybeans)

Market Gardening

Farms that specialize in fresh fruits and vegetables that are transported to markets, labor intensive (ex. grapes, lettuce, potatoes)

Shifting Cultivation

Farmers in tropics control a large area and clear only part of it at a time to farm, rainforest is cleared and burned, and farmers plant many different crops in the field, soil loses its fertility after a few years, so farmers start the process over, extensive agriculture

Nomadic Herding

Nomadic herders graze cattle, sheep, goats, and more in arid and semi-arid climates, extensive agriculture

Ranching

Ranchers own large areas for grazing cattle and sheep to sell on markets, ranchland is unsuitable for farming, so land is less expensive than farmland, extensive agriculture

Metes and Bounds

Metes and bounds is a land surveying system that defines property boundaries using a detailed description of distances and physical, natural, or artificial landmarks

Township and Range

The Township and Range System is a U.S. land survey method that divides land into a grid of 6×6 mile squares

Long Lot

The long-lot survey system is a land division method that creates long, narrow strips of land stretching back from a central resource, usually a river or road

Colombian Exchange

After the Spanish conquered Mesoamerica and South America, they diffused plants and animals to and from the area; maize, squash, potatoes, and other crops were taken to Europe and planted; coffee, sugar, horses, cattle, and other animals were brought to the Americas

Green Revolution

The green revolution was a movement that diffused modern agricultural farming methods to developing countries after the mid 20th century; created higher yields, using hybridization, and GMO; diffused chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers; diffused agricultural machinery and modern agricultural methods

Bid Rent Theory

A geographical and economic theory explaining that land price and demand decrease as distance from the CBD increases