APHG Unit 2 Terms

Physical Geography

The study of natural processes and the distribution of features in the environment.

Human Geography

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

Spatial Perspective

Where something occurs.

Ecological Perspective

The relationships between living things and their environments.

Location

The position that a point or object occupies on Earth.

Absolute Location

The exact location of an object.

Longitude

The set of imaginary lines that run north and south.

Latitude

The set of imaginary lines that run east and west.

Relative Location

A description of where a place is in relation to other places or features.

Place

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

Mental Maps

Internalized representations of portions of Earth’s surface.

Site

A place’s absolute location, as well as its physical characteristics, such as landforms, climate, and resources.

Situation

A place's location in relation to other places or its surrounding features.

Space

The area between two or more things on Earth’s surface.

Distributed

Arranged within a given space.

Density

The number of things – people, animals, or objects – within a specific area.

Pattern

How things are arranged in a particular space.

Flow

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

Environmental Determinism

The idea that human behavior is strongly affected, controlled, or determined by the physical environment.

Distance Decay

A principle stating that the farther away one thing is from another, the less interaction the two things will have.

Time-space Compression

A key geographic principle that describes the ways in which modern transportation and communication technology have allowed humans to travel and communicate over long distances more quickly and easily.

Possibilism

Theory of human-environment interaction that states that humans have the ability to adapt the physical environment to their needs.

Sustainability

The use of Earth’s land and natural resources in ways that ensure they will continue to be available in the future.

Scale

The area of the world being studied.

Region

An area of Earth’s surface with certain characteristics that make it cohesive yet distinct from other areas.

Formal Region

An area that has one or more shared traits; also called a uniform region.

Functional Region

An area organized by its function around a focal point or the center of an interest or activity.

Node

The focal point of a functional region.

Suburbs

Less densely populated residential and commercial areas surrounding a city.

Perceptual Region/Vernacular Region

A type of region that reflects people’s feelings and attitudes about a place.

Globalization

The expansion of economic, cultural and political processes on a worldwide scale.

Theory

A system of ideas intended to explain certain phenomena.

World System Theory

A theory describing the spatial and functional relationships between countries in the world economy; categorizes countries as part of a hierarchy consisting of core, periphery and semi-periphery.

Core

Classification of a country or region that has wealth, higher education levels, more advanced technologies, many resources, strong militaries, and powerful allies.

Periphery

Classification of a country or region that has less wealth, lower education levels, and less sophisticated technologies and also tends to have an unstable government and poor healthcare.

Semi-periphery

Classification of a country or region that has qualities of both core and peripheral areas and is often in the process of industrializing.

Sustainable Development

Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Quantitative

Involving data that can be measured by numbers.

Qualitative

Involving data that is descriptive of a research subject and is often based on people’s opinions.

Census

An official count of the number of people in a defined area, such as a state.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

A computer system that allows for the collection, organization, and display of geographic data for analysis.

Topography

The representation of Earth’s surface to show natural and human-made features, especially their relative positions and elevations.

Remote Sensing

Collecting or analyzing data from a location without making physical contact.

Global Positioning System (GPS)

A network of satellites that orbit Earth and transmit location data to receivers.

Absolute Distance

Distance that can be measured using a standard unit of length.

Relative Distance

Distance that is measured in terms such as time or money.

Absolute Direction

The cardinal directions (north, south, east, and west).

Relative Direction

Left, right, up, down, front, or behind based on people’s perceptions.

Map Scale

Mathematical relationship between the size of a map and the part of the real world it shows.

Reference Maps

Generalized sources of geographic data that focus on location.

Thematic Maps

Maps that have a theme or specific purpose and focus on the relationship among geographic data.