ap human geo midterm

Crude Population Density

measures how crowded a place is by dividing the total population by the total land area, showing people per unit of land but ignoring uninhabitable areas or distribution

Agricultural Density

Measures the number of farmers per unit of arable land (land suitable for farming)

Physiological Density

Measures the number of people per unit of arable land (land suitable for farming)

Human Geography

The study of human activities, cultures, societies, and economies, and how how they interact with places and the environment, focusing on spatial patterns like population, migration and political structures.

Space-Time Compression

The concept that technological advancements reduce the perceived distance and travel time between places, making the world feel smaller and more interconnected

Human-Environment Interaction

Explores the dynamic, two-way relationship between people and their natural surroundings, focusing on how humans adapt to, modify, and depend on the enviornment

Possibilism

The theory that the environment offers many possibilities for human development, but human culture and technology determine what society does with them

Map Scale

The crucial relationship between map distance and real-world distance shown as a ratio, fraction, or bar

Scale of analysis

Refers to the different geographic levels (local, regional, national, global) at which data is examined, revealing different patterns and stories, distinct from map scale

Types of diffusion

Relocation diffusion (people move)

Expansion Diffusion (spread from a hearth)

Types of Expansion Diffusion

Contagious (person-to-person, like a virus)

Hierarchical (from powerful to less powerful)

Stimulus (idea adapted/modified)

Globalization

The interconnectedness of economies, cultures, and populations worldwide, driven by technology, trade, and communication, leading to flow of goods, ideas and people

Carrying capacity

The maximum population an environment can sustain long-term without depleting resources like food, water, and energy

Economic consequences of net in migration

expanding the labor force, increasing consumer demand, and fostering innovation, leading to job creation and business growth, but it can also strain resources, increase competition for jobs, and put downward pressure on wages for low-skilled workers

Population Pyramids

Graphs showing a region's age and sex distribution, revealing development, birth/death rates, and migration patterns through its shape

Total Fertility Rate

the crucial measure of the average number of children a woman will have in her lifetime

Pro-natalist policies: Who? How?

government strategies to increase birthrates, often used by countries facing aging populations and labor shortages (like Japan, Russia, Singapore) by offering financial aid, paid parental leave, childcare support, or using media campaigns to encourage families to have more children

Anti-natalist policies: Who? How?

government strategies to reduce birth rates and slow population growth, often in countries facing overpopulation (Egypt, China) using incentives like Egypt's "Two is Enough" or China's One-Child Policy, with fines/forced procedures.

Family planning and the TFR

Family planning directly lowers the total fertility rate (TFR) by giving women control over family size, timing, and contraception, leading to smaller families as seen in developed nations

Education of women

Crucial for understanding demographic shifts, as increased female schooling often leads to lower TFR due to delayed marrige/childbirth, better family health, economic opportunities, and empowerment to make informed reproductive choices.

Doubling time

the period for a population to double at a constant growth rate, calculated by dividing 70 by the annual natural increase rate (NIR)

Epidemiological transition model

explains how a population's primary causes of death shift from infectious diseases (like plague, cholera).

ETM Stage 1

Pestilence & Famine: High death rates

ETM Stage 2

Receding Pandemics: Rapidly Declining Death Rates

ETM Stage 3

Degenerative Diseases: Moderately Declining Death Rates

ETM Stage 4

Delayed Degenerative Diseases: Low Death Rates

ETM Stage 5

Reemergence of Infectious Diseases: Increasing Death Rates Possible

Demographic transition model

explains how a country's population shifts through stages, as it develops economically, moving from high birth/death rates (stage 1) to low birth/death rates (stages 4/5)

Thomas Malthus

Proposed that population grows exponentially while food production grows arithmetically, inevitable leading to resource scarcity, famine, disease, and war

Negative population growth

When a country's population is shrinking because deaths (and emigration) exceed births (and immigration)

Forced Migration in the US

Forced migration in the US involves involuntary moment due to extreme push factors like slavery, conflict, persecution, or natural disasters.

Immigration waves to the US

Colonial (British Isles/Africa) Mid-19th Century (Northern/Western Europe like Irish/German) Late 19th/Early 20th Century (Southern/Eastern Europe) and post-1965 (Latin America/Asia)

Intervening obstacles

Barriers that hinder or prevent migration from one place to another, affecting the decision-making process for potential migrants

Pull and Push factors

Push factors are negative conditions that drive people away from a location (war, famine, lack of jobs) while pull factors are positive conditions that attract people to a new place (better jobs, freedom, good schools)

Social media and culture

Social media acts as a powerful engine for cultural diffusion, rapidly spreading popular culture globally and influencing local cultures through instant, borderless connections, challenging traditional folk cultures while also increasing access to diverse practices

Acculturation

the process where a group or individual adopts cultural traits from another, often dominant, culture due to prolonged contact, but crucially retains significant aspects of their original culture, creating a blend rather than full replacement, unlike assimilation

Taboos

a strong social custom or prohibition against certain behaviors, practices, or discussions deemed unacceptable

Cultural Landscape

the visible imprint of human activity on the natural enviornment, showing how cultures shape, modify, and adapt to their surroundings

Universalizing Religion

a faith that seeks to appeal to all people globally, regardless of culture or location, actively spreading its beliefs through missionaries and outreach

Ethnic Religion

a belief system tied to a specific cultural or ethnic group, deeply rooted in their traditions, history, and geography, and it does not actively seek converts

Language Dialects

a regional or social variation of a language, differing in vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar, reflecting unique cultural identity, history, and geographic roots

Lingua Franca

a common language adopted for communication between people who speak different native languages, often emerging for trade, diplomacy, or cultural exchange