Ap Human Geography 6.1 Vocab pages 1-2

Ap Human Geography Terms From Amsco Advanced Placement Textbook

Ecumene

Is a variety of community types with a range of population densities

Rural

(Farms and Villages) with low concentrations of people

Urban

(Cities) with high concentrations of people

Suburbs

(Residential) Primarily residential areas near cities

Settlement

A place with a permanent human population

Factors Driving Urbanization

A food surplus became available as irrigation,farming, and domestication of animals and plants developed. These changes enabled increasing numbers of people to live in the same location. A ruling class emerged to control the products that were accumulated and the people living in the community. Because not everyone was needed to produce food, some people specialized as accountants or religious leaders-the first members of a service sector. As a result, cities developed as economic centers of services, manufacturing, and trade.

Urbanization

The process of developing towns and cities (an ongoing process that does not end once a city is formed)

Percent Urban

A common statistic associated with regions, countries, and even continents-an indicator of the proportion of the population that lives in cities and towns as compared to those that live in rural areas.

Site

The characteristics at the immediate location-for example, physical features, climate, labor force, and human structures

Situation

Refers to the location of a place relative to its surroundings and its connectivity to other places. Examples would include near a gold mine, on the coast, or by the railroad.

City-State

An urban center and its surrounding territory and agricultural villages. Has its own political system and functions independently from its own kind.

Urban Hearth

Early city-states emerged in several locations around the globe. An area generally associated with defensible sites and river valleys in which seasonal floods and fertile soils allowed for an agricultural surplus. Ex: The Tigris-Euphrates Valley, Nile River Valley, Indus River Valley, and Huang-He floodplain.