AP Human Geography (Units 1-7) Key Terms and Concepts

These flashcards cover key vocabulary terms and concepts integral to AP Human Geography Units 1-7, providing definitions and context for effective exam preparation.

Population Distribution

The way in which people are spread across a given area.

Demographic Transition Model

A model that describes the stages a country goes through as it transitions from high birth and death rates to lower birth and death rates.

Postmodern Architecture

A late 20th-century style that reacted against the “sterile” minimalism of Modernism by reintroducing former decoration to places. Making places “less a bore”.

Cultural Landscape

The visible imprint of human activity on the landscape. (Ex. Religious cathedrals in Europe, or mosques in Southwest Asia, highlighting the dominant belief system.)

Urbanization

The process of making an area more urban, characterized by the increasing population in cities and towns.

Gentrification

The process of renovating and improving a house or district so that it conforms to middle-class taste.

Creolization

The blending of two or more distinct cultures into a new, unique culture or aspect of one. Often from colonization or migration. (Ex. Language Haitian Creole, blending French with West African linguistics.)

Lingua Franca

A common-ground language used for trade, business, or communication by people who speak different languages. It is a shared second language. (Ex. English is the current global lingua franca)

Colonialism

A country conquering a foreign territory, moving its own people there, taking DIRECT political/economic control. (Ex. The British establishing the 13 colonies in North America)

Imperialism

A stronger nation extending its power and influence FROM AFAR over a weaker nation through authority/politics, military force, or economic control. (Ex. Controlling the landlord, but not living there. or the Scramble for Africa)

Acculturation

The process of adopting the cultural traits or social patterns of another group.

Cultural Convergence

The process of cultures becoming more similar due to interaction, popular culture, and globalization. (Ex. English as a global language.)

Cultural Divergence

The process by which cultures become less alike or different over time usually as a deliberate effort to keep local traditions alive often through isolation. (Ex. the Amish in the United States)

Cultural Hearth

A center where cultures developed and from which ideas and traditions spread.

Ecosystem Services

The benefits provided by ecosystems that contribute to making human life both possible and worth living.

Exurb

A district outside a city, especially a prosperous area beyond the suburbs.

Language Family

The largest, broadest grouping of related languages that all come from a single common ancestor before recorded history. They show language change and diffusion. (Ex. Afro-Asiatic in North Africa/Southwest Asia such as Arabic or Hebrew)

Language Dialect

A regional of social variation of a language using distinct vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation. Speakers can understand each other. (Ex. South American English)

Dependency Theory

A theory that suggests that resources flow from peripheral (poor) countries to core (wealthy) countries, enriching the latter at the expense of the former.

Environmental Determinism

Theory that the physical environement (climate, terrain) causes and determines human culture, behavior, and societal development. Nature controls human actions, no human adaptation.

Ecumene

Portion of the earth’s surface that is permanently inhabited by humans. This is where people live, farm, and build cities.

Reference Map

A map that shows WHERE things are. (ex. a road map)

Thematic Map

Spatial distribution of a specific topic, theme or variable. (ex. Choropleth map)

Cultural Relativism

The practice of understanding and respecting a culture, belief, or practice instead of judging it. It is the opposite of ethnocentrism. (Ex. thinking, insects are a common source of protein here. Even though I wouldn’t eat them, I understand they are a normal and nutritious part of this culture.)

Sequent Occupancy

Is the idea that a single place is settled and changed by a succession of different cultural groups over time, with each group leaving a lasting mark on the cultural landscape. (Ex. Layering a cake, one culture puts down a layer, then another adding another layer, but the old one is still a little visible)

Self-determination

The right of a nation or ethnic group to govern themselves, choose their own political status, and control their own future.

Independence movement

Is an organized effort by a group of people within a region to gain political sovereignty, self-determination, and freedom from a controlling state. (Ex. Indian independence movement, led by Mahatma Gandhi using nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience to end British colonial rule.)

Territorial sea

A 12-nautical-mile belt of ocean from a country’s coast to completely control the water, seabed, and airspace. (Ex. In the US our territorial sea is used to allow the Coastal Guard to enforce customs, immigration, and fishing laws within the area.)

Delimited

A line drawn on a map to show the agreed-upon limits of a territory.

Exclusive Economic Zone

Area stretching 200-nautical miles or less from a country’s coast where the nation has rights to explore, exploit and manage all resources.

Ethnic Separatism

When a specific ethnic group seeks to break away and gain its own autonomy and state. It is a strong centrifugal force and can lead to balkinization.

Democratization

The process of a country transitioning from an authoritarian to a more democratic system involving establishing regular, free, and fair elections, expanding voting rights, and protecting civil liberties.

Economies of Scale

The cost per unit that decreases as a company increases its volume of production. The more you make, the cheaper it gets per item. Bulk-purchasing. (Ex. Walmart/Costco)

Cultural Cohesion

Is the solidarity, shared values, and common traditions that bind a group of people together creating a strong sense of community and shared identity. (Ex. the Amish in the US that maintain a high cultural cohesion by limiting contact with modern technology and sharing a common religion, language and clothing.)

Ethnonationalism

Where the “nation” is defined by a shared heritage, common ancestry, language, religion, or culture. It is the belief that a state should belong to one specific ethnic group.

Distance Decay

The idea that interaction between two places decreases as distance increases.