AP Human Geography Unit 1 Vocabulary Review

A comprehensive vocabulary review for AP Human Geography Unit 1.

Cultural Landscape

The visible imprint of human activity and culture on the landscape.

Satellite Navigation System

A portable device that uses GPS to plot the user's position.

Region

An area distinguished by a unique combination of trends or features.

Mental Map

An internal representation of a portion of Earth's surface based on an individual's knowledge.

Projection

The system used to transfer locations from Earth's surface to a flat map.

Thematic Map

A map that shows a particular theme or topic.

Hearth

The region from which innovative ideas originate.

Cultural Ecology

The geographic study of human-environment relationships.

Absolute Location

Exact location of a place on the earth described by global coordinates.

Relative Location

The position of a place in relation to another place.

Absolute Distance

Exact measurement of the physical space between two places.

Relative Distance

Approximate measurement of physical space between two places that reflects social or economic connections.

Site

A physical character of a place, including climate, water sources, and topography.

Place

The uniqueness of a location.

Absolute Direction

A compass direction such as north or south.

Relative Direction

Directions based on people's perception of places.

Geographic Information System (GIS)

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

Geographic Positioning System (GPS)

A system that determines precise positions on Earth through satellites.

Map Scale

The relationship between the size of an object on a map and its actual size.

Qualitative

Data in the form of recorded descriptions rather than numerical measurements.

Quantitative

Data that is in numbers.

Contagious Diffusion

The rapid, widespread diffusion of a feature or trend throughout a population.

Hierarchical Diffusion

The spread of a feature or trend from one key person or node of authority to other places.

Stimulus Diffusion

The spread of an underlying principle even though a specific characteristic is rejected.

Relocation Diffusion

The spread of a feature through bodily movement of people.

Globalization

Actions or processes that involve the entire world and make something worldwide.

Toponym

The name given to a place on Earth.

Critical Distance

The distance beyond which costs and effort influence our willingness to travel.

Formal Region

An area where everyone shares one or more distinctive characteristics.

Perceptual Region (Vernacular)

An area that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity.

Functional Region

A node or central place and the surrounding territory linked to it.

Remote Sensing

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

Conservation

The sustainable management of a natural resource.

Possibilism

The theory that the physical environment constrains human actions but people can adapt.

Environmental Determinism

A theory that argues the physical environment causes human activities.

Space

The physical gap or distance between two objects.

Sustainability

The use of natural resources in ways that do not constrain future resource use.

Time-Space Compression

The rapid innovation of communication and transportation technology affecting perceptions of space and time.

Distance Decay

The diminishing importance of a phenomenon with increasing distance from its origin.

Spatial Analysis

Examines characteristics and relationships between places to explain human behavior patterns.

Preservation

The maintenance of resources in their present condition with minimal human impact.

Wallerstein's World Systems Theory

Describes the interconnectedness between countries and the world economy.

Core Countries

Most advanced industrial nations that are politically and economically dominant.

Periphery Countries

Countries that usually have less development and are poorer.

Semi-Periphery Countries

Industrializing countries positioned between periphery and core countries.

Situation

The location of a place relative to other places.