AP HUG Unit 1 Vocab

Absolute direction

The precise measure of the direction you are walking

Absolute Location

The exact coordinate of a location

Absolute Distance

The precise measure of distance from one place to another (think miles, kilometers etc)

Cartographers

People who make maps

Census

A survey that records the amount of people in an area and information about them

Core

Places where people with lots of wealth, power and economic status settle

Density

The amount of things that have congregated in one area

Distance Decay

The further apart two things are, the less they will be connected

Ecological perspective

Conceptual framework to analyze human-environment interaction in

Environmental Determinism

The idea that human behavior is dictated by the environment

Flow

How people move from point a to point b, the amount of pathways to these places dictates the flow

Formal region

A region that is linked by common traits such as language, religion or economic prosperity. Also called a uniform or homogenous region.

Friction of distance

As distance between places increases, the interactions between those two places lessen due to there being more effort that is needed to connect

Functional Region

A region that is defined by a particular set of activities or interactions occuring within. The theater district in NYC is a region due to the shared node that is the theaters employing the people around it. Also called a nodal region.

Geographic Information System (GIS)

Creates layers of multiple different maps, can layer thematic and physical maps

Global positioning map (GPS)

Exact location found through satellites, shows absolute location

Globalization

Expansion of economic, political and cultural processes connecting the world at a global scale

Map Scale

Ratio of distance on a map to the actual distance on the ground

Mental Maps

A map created in your head through relative locations/distance

Node

The focal point of a functional region, where everything else stems off from

Pattern

Observable arrangement of places, people and locations on earth

Perceptual Region

Personal region characterized in ones mind by their knowledge of a place and its culture

Periphery

Nation at bottom of economic status, less developed regions

Physical Geography

Physical environment

Possiblism

The idea that society lives despite nature and works with/around it

Reference Maps

Shows absolute location of places and geographic features

Relative direction

Relative relationships, flow and patterns

Relative location

Thinking of one location in relation to another

Remote Sensing

Use of cameras and sensors to take images of earth, not as great quality as GPS, used in weather

Topography

Study of the surface of the earth