AP Human Geography: Maps and Spatial Patterns

Complete set of vocabulary flashcards covering geographic spatial patterns, map types, and map projections from the AP Human Geography lecture notes.

Spatial Patterns

The way geographic features are arranged on the Earth's surface, focusing on how and where they occur.

Absolute Distance

A distance that can be measured in standard units, such as feet, kilometers, or the $954\,miles$ between Yosemite and Rocky Mountain National Parks.

Relative Distance

A measure of social, cultural, or political differences or similarities between two locations, regardless of their physical proximity.

Absolute Direction

Direction based on cardinal points: North, South, East, and West.

Relative Direction

A description of one location's position in reference to another, such as saying "take a left out of my room."

Clustering

A spatial pattern where phenomena are grouped close together, such as apartment buildings in New York City.

Dispersal

A spatial pattern where phenomena are spread far apart, such as farms in the Midwest.

Elevation

The measurement of the height of geographic features relative to sea level.

Map Scale

A feature that shows the relationship between distance on a map and distance in the real world, often represented as a ratio or a bar.

Compass Rose

A map feature used to reckon direction, typically indicating cardinal directions and sometimes intermediate directions.

Large Scale Map

A map that zooms into a particular area, showing it in great detail but covering less of the world.

Small Scale Map

A map that zooms out to a national or global level, showing less detail but covering a larger portion of the world.

Reference Maps

A category of maps that display specific geographic locations, including road maps and political maps showing boundaries.

Thematic Maps

A category of maps specialized in displaying geographic information rather than just specific locations.

Choropleth Map

A thematic map that uses different colors or shades to visualize data within specific geographic regions.

Cartogram

A thematic map that distorts the size of geographic shapes, such as countries or landmasses, to represent differences in data.

Graduated Symbol Map

Also called a proportional map, this thematic map uses symbols that grow in size in proportion to the data they represent.

Dot Distribution Map

A thematic map that uses dots to show the specific location of data points, famously used by Jon Snow to track cholera infections in London.

Isoline Map

A thematic map that uses lines to depict changes in data, such as elevation, where close lines indicate rapid change.

Mercator Projection

A map projection with latitude and longitude lines meeting at right angles; it is useful for direction but distorts landmass size near the poles, making Greenland appear much larger.

Peters Projection

A map projection created to challenge eurocentrism by depicting the true size of landmasses, though it distorts their actual shapes.

Goode Homolosine Projection

A map projection that accurately represents the shapes of landmasses but must break up the oceans to achieve this accuracy.

Polar Projection

A map projection viewing the world from the North or South Pole, where directions are true and shapes are accurate at the center but distort as you move outward.

Robinson Projection

A compromise map projection that distributes distortion across the entire map to minimize it in any one area, often preferred by modern geographers.