AP HuG Basic Vocab

Human Geography

the study of the spatial characteristics of humans and human activities

Physical Geography

the study of the spatial characteristics of various elements of the physical environment

Map

an image designed for people to refer to for general information about places

Cartography

the art, science, and technology of making maps and studying maps

Hinterland

the remote, rural land behind a coast, river, or major city

Place

refers to the specific human and physical characteristics of a location

Region

a group of places in the same area that share a characteristic

Scale

the ratio between the size of things in the real world and the size of those same things on a map

Space

the area between two or more phenomenon or things

Map Scale

refers to the way the map communicates the ratio of its size to the size of what it represents

Ratio or Fraction Scale

the map communicates the ratio of its size to the size of what it represents using a fraction or ratio (e.g. 1/200,000)

Written Scale

the map communicates the ratio of its size to the size of what it represents using words (e.g. 1 in. equals 10 miles)

Graphic Scale

the map communicates the ratio of its size to the size of what it represents by indicating the distance represented with a line

Projection

the process of showing a curved surface on a flat surface

Types of Distortion Created by Projections

a) shape distortion

b)area/size distortion

c)distance distortion

d) direction distortion

Literacy Rate

the percentage of a country’s population that can read and write

Base Line

a primary east-west reference line to form base coordinates for property and land organization

Section

an area unit of one square mile

Township

geographic areas that are smaller than counties and are controlled by local governments

Principal Meridian

a primary north-south line reference line to form base coordinates for property and land organization

Global Positioning System (GPS)

a geospatial technology that uses satellites and receivers to record exact locations

Remote Sensing

a geospatial technology that uses cameras or other sensors on aircraft or satellites to take digital images or videos of the earth

Geographic Information System (GIS)

a geospatial technology that uses a computer system to store, analyze, and display information from multiple digital maps or geospatial data sets

Location

identifies where specific phenomena are located either on a grid system or relative to another location

Toponym

place names that can provide insights about the physical geography, history, or culture of a location, which can be deceiving

Site

the characteristics at the immediate location

Situation/Relative Location

refers to the location of a place relative to its surroundings and its connectivity to other places

Mathematical/Absolute Location

the precise spot where something is according to a system

Longitude

the distance east or west of the prime meridian

Meridian

an imaginary north-south line connecting the North Pole to the South Pole

Prime Meridian

an imaginary line that runs from the North Pole to the South Pole through Greenwich, England that is designated as 0 degrees

Parallel

an imaginary east-west line that circles the earth parallel to the equator

Latitude

the distance north or south of the equator

Cultural Landscape

anything built by humans

Regional Studies/Cultural Landscape Approach

the study of how distinct cultural landscapes emerge

Formal/Uniform/Homogenous Region

the region is united by political, physical, cultural, and/or economic traits

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)

the average solar time at the prime meridian and serves as the baseline for the global time-zones system

International Date Line

roughly follows the prime meridian but makes deviations to accommodate international boundaries

Functional/Nodal Region

the region is organized around a focal point and is defined by an activity, usually political, social, or economic

Vernacular/Perceptual Region

the region is defined by an informal sense of place that people ascribe to them, which makes the boundaries vary widely based on different human perceptions

Mental/Cognitive Map

a person’s internal, personal picture of the world

Culture

the shared set of behaviors, beliefs, values, technologies, and physical items that group of people pass down from generation to generation

MDCs

more developed countries, nations with an advanced economy, high industrialization, strong infrastructure, and a high standard of living

LDCs

less developed countries, nations with low industrialization, low per capita income, limited access to education and health care

Cultural Ecology/Human Environmental Interaction

the study of how humans adapt to the environment

Environmental Determinism

the belief that landforms and climate are the most powerful forces shaping human behavior and societal development while ignoring the influence of culture

Possibilism

a view that acknowledges limits on the effects of the natural environment and focuses more on the role that human culture plays on shaping human behavior and societal development

Resource/Natural Resource

includes items that occur in the natural environment that people can use

Polder

an artificial, low-lying tract of land reclaimed from a body of water and is enclosed by dykes/dams

Globalization

the expanding scale of people, money, goods, information, and cultural values being integrated into different parts of the world, which leads to the world being more interconnected

Transnational Corporation

a firm that has the power to coordinate and control operations in more than one country

Distribution

the way a phenomenon is spread out over an area

Density

the measure of the number of people living in a specific unit of land area

Arithmetic Density

the total number of people living in a land area divided by the total land area

Physiological Density

the total population of a land area divided by the land suitable for growing crops in the land area

Agricultural Density

the total amount of farmers in a land area divided by the land suitable for growing crops in the land area

Housing Density

the number of residential units located in a land area

Concentration

how phenomena are spread out over an area

Clustered

phenomena are arranged in a group or concentrated area

Dispersed

phenomena are spread out over a large area

Pattern

the general arrangement of things

Space-Time Compression

the shrinking “time-distance”, or relative distance, between locations because of improved methods of transportation and communication

Distance Decay

the farther away you get from the source of something the less influence and connection it has

Diffusion

the spatial spread of a cultural trait, idea, innovation, disease, or technology from its point of origin

Hearth

the point of origin from the diffusion of a cultural trait, idea, innovation, disease, or technology

Relocation Diffusion

the spatial spread of a cultural trait, idea, innovation, disease, or technology through the migration of people

Expansion Diffusion

the spatial spread of a cultural trait, idea, innovation, disease, or technology where the number of people that have/use ot grow slowly over time

Hierarchical Diffusion

the spatial spread of a cultural trait, idea, innovation, disease, or technology when it comes from a political, economic, or social power

Contagious Diffusion

the spatial spread of a cultural trait, idea, innovation, disease, or technology through rapid, widespread, person-to-person contact

Stimulus Diffusion

the spatial spread of a cultural trait, idea, innovation, disease, or technology but the original concept might change to fit a new local culture

Core Regions

the wealthiest, most politically powerful, and economically developed areas

Periphery Regions

outlying areas that have less wealth, power, and development than dominant core regions

Uneven Development

the unequal distribution of wealth, resource, and living standards across different places

Non-Government Organization (NGO)

a non-profit, voluntary group operating independently of state governments

Sense of Place

the perception of the characteristics of places in different ways based on a person’s personal beliefs

Spatial Association

matching patterns of distribution; indicates that two or more phenomena may be related or associated with one another

Geographic Scale

refers to the area of the world being studied

Scale of Data/Analysis

the level or scope of geographic focus used to study data and spatial patterns

Reference Map

designed for people to refer to for general information about places

Political Map

shows and labels human-created boundaries and designations, such as countries, states, cities, and capitals

Physical Map

shows and labels natural features, such as mountains, rivers, and deserts

Thematic Map

shows spatial aspects of informations or of a phenomenon

Choropleth Map

use various colors, shades of one color, or patterns to show the location and distribution of spatial data; often show rates or other quantitive data in defined areas

Dot Distribution Map

are used to show the specific location and distribution of something across a map, and each dot represents a specific quantity

Graduated/Proportional Symbol Map

uses symbols of different sizes to indicate different amounts of something

Isoline Map

uses lines that connect points of equal value to depict variations in the data across space

Topographic map

points of equal elevation are connected on these maps, creating contours that depict surface features

Cartogram

the sizes of countries, states, counties, or other areas are shown according to some specific statistic on a map

Mercator Projection

a map projection thats used for navigation, its strengths are that directions are shown accurately and latitude and longitude lines meet at right angles, but its weaknesses are that the distance between longitude and latitude lines look constant and land masses near the poles look larger than reality

Peters Projection

a map projection that used for understanding spatial distributions related to area, its strength is that the sizes of land masses are accurate, but its weakness is that land mass shapes are inaccurate, especially near the poles

Conic Projection

a map projection used for general use in midlatitude countries, and its strengths are that longitude lines converge, latitude lines are curved, and land size and shape are close to reality, but its weaknesses are that direction is not constant and longitude lines only converge at one pole

Robinson Projection

a map projection use for general use, its strengths are that there’s no major distortion and its oval shape looks more like a globe, but its weakness is that area, shape, size, and direction are all slightly distorted

World Regions

large areas of earth grouped together because they share common human traits or patterns

Fieldwork

observing and recording information on location, or in the field

Quantitive Data

any information that can be measured and recorded using numbers

any information that cannot be measured or recorded using numbers, and is collected from interviews, photos, satellite images, descriptions, and/or cartoons