AP Human Geography — Chapter 1

Geography, Its Nature & Perspectives: maps, regions, spatial patterns, diffusion, globalization, and sustainability.

Absolute location

The exact position of a place, usually identified with latitude and longitude.

Relative location

The position of a place compared with or connected to other places.

Place

A specific point on Earth distinguished by its physical and human characteristics.

Human-environment interaction

The ways people interact with, depend on, and modify their environment.

Movement

The mobility of people, goods, and ideas, including the accessibility and connectivity of places.

Region

An area defined by one or more distinctive characteristics.

Physical geography

The study of natural features and processes such as topography, climate, plants, animals, and soil.

Human geography

The study of people and their activities, including culture, population, economics, politics, cities, and agriculture.

Geography

The study of where things are found on Earth's surface and why they are located there.

Two basic questions of human geography

Where are people and activities found on Earth, and why are they found there?

Eratosthenes and geography

Ancient Greek scholar who invented the word geography; geo means Earth and graphy means to write.

Map

A two-dimensional, scaled model or abstract representation of all or part of Earth's surface.

Cartography

The science of mapmaking.

Two major purposes of maps

Reference tools for locating features and communication tools for showing spatial distributions.

Reference map purpose

Identifies the absolute or relative location of an object.

Map as a communication tool

Shows the distribution of human activities or physical features and helps compare spatial patterns.

Early maps

Primarily simple reference and navigation tools that helped travelers move from one point to another.

Eratosthenes's map contribution

He prepared the first known world map around 276–194 B.C.

Ptolemy's map contribution

He improved the early world map after Eratosthenes.

Cartography after Ptolemy

Major advances occurred mainly in the Chinese and Islamic worlds before European mapmaking revived during the Age of Exploration.

Al-Idrisi

Islamic cartographer who built upon Ptolemy's map in 1154.

Ortelius

Cartographer who created a 1571 map showing the extent of the Western Hemisphere and Antarctica.

Contemporary mapping

Maps now communicate complex geographic phenomena as well as provide location references.

Map scale

The relationship between a feature's size on a map and its actual size on Earth.

Ratio or fraction scale

A scale such as 1:24,000 in which one map unit equals 24,000 of the same units on Earth.

Written scale

A scale stated in different units, such as 1 inch equals 1 mile.

Graphic scale

A bar marked with real-world distances that can be used to measure distance on a map.

Small-scale map

Shows a large area with less detail and more distortion; it has a small fraction such as 1:1,000,000.

Large-scale map

Shows a small area with more detail; it has a larger fraction such as 1:1,000.

Map scale detail rule

The smaller the area shown, the more detail a map can display.

Common map symbols

Dots can show cities, larger dots larger cities, stars capitals, red lines roads, black lines railroads, and colors or patterns land uses.

Projection

A scientific method of transferring locations from Earth's spherical surface onto a flat map.

Four kinds of projection distortion

Shape, distance, relative size, and direction.

Why all flat maps distort

Earth is spherical, so its surface cannot be flattened without changing some geographic properties.

Why maps do not always tell the complete truth

Projection, scale, selected data, and omitted information can change what a map appears to show.

Mercator, North Polar, Equal-Area, and Robinson

Examples of map projections that preserve or distort geographic properties differently.

Isoline map

A thematic map that uses lines connecting points of equal value, such as temperature or barometric pressure.

Contour map

A type of isoline map whose lines connect places with the same elevation above sea level.

Contour-line spacing

Lines close together show steep terrain; lines far apart show flat or gently sloping terrain.

Choropleth map

A thematic map that uses shading patterns or colors to represent values in areas.

Scale and choropleth maps

A pattern such as population density can look different when data are mapped at national, county, or neighborhood scales.

Graduated symbol map

A map in which symbol size changes in proportion to the intensity or value being mapped.

Dot map

A map in which each dot represents a specified frequency or amount of a variable.

Cartogram

A map that changes the relative size of political units to represent a particular value.

Physical map

A map showing natural features such as mountains, rivers, and deserts.

Political map

A map showing political units such as cities, states, and countries.

Geographic grid

A system of imaginary latitude and longitude arcs drawn across Earth's surface.

Meridians

Arcs connecting the North and South Poles that measure longitude.

Longitude

Distance east or west of the Prime Meridian, ranging from 0 degrees to 180 degrees east or west.

Prime Meridian

The line of 0 degrees longitude that passes through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England.

Parallels

Arcs parallel to the equator and at right angles to meridians that measure latitude.

Latitude

Distance north or south of the equator, ranging from 0 degrees to 90 degrees north or south.

Equator

The line of 0 degrees latitude.

Latitude versus longitude

Latitude measures north or south of the equator; longitude measures east or west of the Prime Meridian.

Latitude-longitude intersection

The way an absolute location is communicated, such as Denver at about 40 degrees N, 105 degrees W.

Degrees, minutes, and seconds

One degree equals 60 minutes, and one minute equals 60 seconds.

Time-zone calculation

Earth has 360 degrees of longitude and 24 time zones, so each standard zone is about 15 degrees wide and differs by one hour.

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)

The master reference time at the Prime Meridian, 0 degrees longitude.

International Date Line

A line near 180 degrees longitude where the calendar date changes; it bends to accommodate nearby countries.

Crossing the International Date Line

According to the class slides, eastward toward America means moving the clock back 24 hours; westward toward Asia means moving it ahead 24 hours.

Eastern Time Zone

Near 75 degrees W and about 5 hours earlier than GMT.

Central Time Zone

Near 90 degrees W and about 6 hours earlier than GMT.

Mountain Time Zone

Near 105 degrees W and about 7 hours earlier than GMT.

Pacific Time Zone

Near 120 degrees W and about 8 hours earlier than GMT.

Alaska and Hawaii-Aleutian time zones

Alaska is near 135 degrees W and 9 hours earlier than GMT; Hawaii-Aleutian is near 150 degrees W and 10 hours earlier.

Atlantic and Newfoundland time zones

Atlantic is about 4 hours earlier than GMT; Newfoundland is about 3.5 hours earlier.

Geographic Information Science (GIScience)

The development and analysis of Earth data collected through satellites and other electronic technologies.

Remote sensing

The acquisition of data about Earth's surface from satellites or other long-distance methods.

Remote-sensing process

Sensors scan Earth, transmit pixels to a station, and a computer assembles the pixels into an image.

Pixel in remote sensing

A cell in a row-and-column grid representing radiation reflected from Earth's surface at one point.

Global Positioning System (GPS)

A system that uses satellites to determine a precise absolute location with latitude and longitude.

Three elements of GPS

Satellites in predetermined orbits, tracking stations, and a receiver that locates at least four satellites.

Why GPS needs at least four satellites

The receiver measures its distance from at least four satellites to calculate its precise position.

GPS applications

Turn-by-turn directions, aircraft and ship navigation, and smartphone location services.

Geographic Information System (GIS)

A computer system that captures, stores, queries, analyzes, and displays geographic data.

GIS layers

Separate sets of geographic information, such as roads, rivers, schools, or planning zones, that can be compared and overlaid.

Mashup

The overlay of geographic data from different sources within a GIS.

Vector data

GIS data made of points, such as cities, and lines, such as highways.

Raster data

GIS data represented as grid cells or areas, such as landforms.

GIS versus GPS versus remote sensing

GIS stores and analyzes layers, GPS finds exact location, and remote sensing collects information from a distance.

Toponym

The name given to a place, often based on people, religion, physical features, or settler origins.

Site

The physical character of a place, including climate, water, topography, soil, vegetation, latitude, and elevation.

Situation

A place's location relative to other places and its connections, such as nearby highways or rivers.

Site versus situation

Site describes what is physically at a location; situation describes what is around it and how it is connected.

Cultural landscape

The combination of cultural, religious, and physical features that gives a region its unified character.

Carl Sauer's cultural landscape idea

Culture is the agent, the natural area is the medium, and the cultural landscape is the result.

Formal region

An area where a shared characteristic such as government, language, economic activity, or climate is predominant.

Other names for a formal region

Uniform region or homogeneous region.

Functional region

An area organized around a node or focal point; its influence is strongest at the center and weakens outward.

Other name for a functional region

Nodal region.

Functional region examples

A newspaper circulation area, television service area, banking network, Amazon River Basin, or I-80 corridor.

Technology and functional regions

The internet and satellite television weaken traditional boundaries by reaching people far from the central node.

Perceptual region

An area people believe exists because of feelings, attitudes, perceptions, and cultural identity.

Other name for a perceptual region

Vernacular region.

Perceptual region examples

The American South, Midwest, Dixie, Sun Belt, and Husker Nation.

Mental map

A person's internal representation of part of Earth's surface as they perceive it.

Wilbur Zelinsky

Geographer who identified 12 overlapping perceptual regions in North America.

Region classification practice

Nebraska, Lancaster County, and Brazil are formal; Amazon Basin and I-80 Corridor are functional; Dixie, Sun Belt, and Husker Nation are perceptual.

Culture

The customary beliefs, material traits, and social forms that constitute a group's distinct tradition.

Origin of the word culture

It comes from the Latin cultus, meaning to care for.