aphg super ultra mega vocab

units 1-7

Map Scale

The level of detail and the amount of area shown on a map. Presented either as a representative fraction or as a graphic image... aka cartographic scale

Meridian

An arc drawn between the North and South poles

Longitude

A numbering system that identifies the location of each meridian east or west of the Prime Meridian

Prime Meridian

0 degrees longitude, passes through Greenwich, England

Parallel

A circle drawn around the globe and at right angles to meridians

Latitude

The numbering system used to locate each parallel north or south of the Equator

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)

The master reference time for all points on earth.

International Date Line

Lies between Auckland and Honolulu. For the most part follows 180 longitude. You move the clock back 24 hours if heading eastward toward America. You turn it ahead if you're heading westward toward Asia.

GPS

The system that accurately determines the precise position, or absolute location, of something on Earth

Geographic Information System

A computer system that captures, stores, queries, analyzes, and displays layered geospatial data.

Absolute Location

The exact position of an object or place, measured within the spatial coordinates of a grid system.

Site

The physical characteristics of a place

Situation

The location of a place relative to other places

Region

An area defined by one or more distinctive characteristics or activities

Cultural Landscape

A combination of visible features such as language and religion, economic features such as agriculture and industry, and physical features such as climate and vegetation that geographers can "read" to gain a sense of place... aka built environment

Formal region

An area within which there is one or more distinctive shared characteristics in common... aka uniform

Functional Region

An area organized around a node or focal point... aka nodal

Vernacular region

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

Mental Map

An internalized representation of an area or place

Culture

The body of customary beliefs, material traits, and social forms that together constitute the distinct tradition of a group of people.

Globalization

A force or process that involves the entire world and results In making something worldwide in scope, whether cultural or economic

Scale of Analysis

The area on a map for which geospatial data is being presented and studied

Space

The physical gap or interval between two objects

Density

The frequency of a spatial phenomenon in a given space (mass/volume)

Distribution

The arrangement of a spatial phenomenon across space

remote sensing

The acquisition of data about earth's surface from a satellite orbiting earth or from other long distance methods such as aerial photography or drone imagery

Mercator Projection

compromise projection that preserves accurate compass direction, but distorts the shapes of landmasses, especially at the poles, and often used by pilots and ships captains for navigational purposes

Robinson projection

compromise projection that is an attempt to balance projection by minimizing errors and shows the entire earth with nearly the true sizes and shapes of the continents and oceans, but shapes of the landforms near the poles appear flat (commonly used in textbooks)

Goode's Homolosine projection

compromise projection that shows the accurate shapes and sizes of land, but distorts compass direction (also called an interrupted map)

Isoline map

thematic map with continuous lines joining points of the same values (e.g. temperature, or elevation on a topographic map)

Choropleth (density) map

thematic map that uses shading or coloring to show statistical data e.g. population of states

Dot (distribution) map

thematic map that uses dots to indicate a feature or occurrence e.g. urban population

Cartogram

pictorial presentation resembling a map

Regionalism

how a group perceives its identification with a particular region and classifications geographers use

Distance decay

how distance affects interactions, usually far distances interact less than near ones

Environmental determinism

the thinking that the natural env. has a controlling influence over the development of culture

Possibilism

the thinking that human decision making, not the env. is crucial for culture development

Time-space convergence

the speeding up of the movement of goods, information, and ideas due to advances in technology-transportation, communication

Patterns

The observable arrangement of a spatial phenomenon in an area of study. (The "where" question)

Processes

the economic, social-cultural, political and environmental forces that shape patterns. (The "why there" question)

Reference Maps

Regular maps showing cities, boundaries, mountains, or roads.

Thematic Maps

Maps that tell stories, typically showing the degree of some attribute or movement of a geographic phenomenon.

Proportional Symbol Map

Type of map that uses a symbol in varying sizes to show the magnitude of a characteristic... aka graduated symbol map

Quantitative data

Data associated with mathematical models and statistical techniques used to analyze spatial location and association.

Qualitative data

Data associated with a more humanistic approach to geography, often collected through interviews, empirical observations, or the interpretation of texts, artwork, old maps, and other archives.

Fieldwork

the study of geographic phenomena by visiting places and observing how people interact with and thereby change those places.

Connectivity

The degree of economic, social, cultural, or political interaction between two places.

Accessibility

the opportunity for contact or interaction from a given point or location, in relation to other locations.

Relative location

The position of a place in relation to another place.

Spatial Perspective

A way of looking at the human and physical patterns on Earth and their relationships to one another.

Regionalism

how a group perceives its identification with a particular region and classifications geographers use

Emigration

leaving an area as part of a permanent move (in common language, this word has blended into immigration which includes both)

Environmental degradation

deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as air, water and soil and habitat destruction

Immigration

coming into an area as part of a permanent move (in common language this combines the terms immigration and emigration)

Population distribution

the pattern of where people live

Industrial Revolution

economic and social changes resulting from technology changes that started in England in 1760 - moving away from hand tools to power-driven machines

Agricultural density

the ratio of the number of farmers to the amount of arable land

Arable land

land that can be farmed

Arithmetic density

the total number of people divided by the total land area

Ecumene

the permanently inhabited portion of the earth as distinguished from the uninhabited or temporarily inhabited area

Intervening obstacle

a difficulty that prevents people from completing a planned migration

Intervening opportunity

a favorable circumstance that causes people to stop a planned migration to take advantage of the prospect

Physiological density

the number of people per unit of area of arable land

Pull factor

a motivator that draws people into an area

Push factor

a force that motivates people to leave an area

Carrying capacity

the maximum population size of the species that the environment can sustain

Overpopulation

when there are not enough resources in an area to support a population

Replacement-fertility level

when a population is neither growing or shrinking but staying about the same (an NIR of 0 or TFR of 2.1)

Age/sex ratio

comparison of the numbers of males and females of different ages

Population pyramid

a graph of the population of an area by age and sex - when a population is growing it takes a pyramid shape, hence the name

Zero population growth (ZPG)

when a country reaches replacement level fertility

Crude Birth Rate (CBR)

the number of live births per one thousand people in the population

Crude Death Rate (CDR)

the number of deaths per one thousand people in the population

Demography

the study of population

Doubling time

the time period it takes for a population to double in size

Fertility

The number of live births occurring in a population

Infant mortality rate

the number of children who don't survive their first year of life per 1000 live births in a country

Medical Revolution

leap forward in medical technology and practices that have enabled people to live longer

Mortality

the number of deaths occurring in a population

Rate of Natural Increase (RNI) (also known as NIR)

(birth rate - death rate)/10 - a positive NIR means a population is growing and a negative NIR means a population is shrinking

Total fertility rate (TFR)

the average number of children a woman is predicted to have in her child bearing (fecund) years

Demographic Transition Model (DTM)

a model that helps explain how countries throughout the world tend to proceed through a similar process in term of CBR, CDR, and population

Malthusian Theory

Starvation is the inevitable result of population growth, because the population increases at a geometric rate while food supply can only increase arithmetically

.Neo-Malthusian Theory

group who built on Malthus' original theory and suggested that people wouldn't just starve for lack of food, but would have conflict over water, energy and other scarce resources

Epidemiologic Transition

distinctive causes of death in each stage of the demographic transition

Antinatalist policies

when a country provides incentives for people to have fewer children (sometimes including punishments)

.Pronatalist policies

when a country provides incentives for people to have more children

Contraception

methods of preventing pregnancy

Dependency ratio

the ratio of the number of people not in the work force (dependents) and those who are in the work force (producers) - useful for understanding the pressure on the producers

Graying population

a shift in population where older people (gray hair!) become a bigger portion, usually as a result of declining birth rates

Life expectancy

the average number of years a person born in a country might expect to live

Asylum seeker

a person seeking residence in a country outside of their own because they fleeing persecution

.Chain migration

a series of migrations within a group that begins with one person who through contact with the group, pulls people to migrate to the same area.

Forced migration

when people migrate not because the want to but because they have no other choice

Guest worker

a legal immigrant who is allowed into the country to work, usually for a relatively short time period

Internally displaced persons

a person forced to flee their home who remains in their home country

Refugee

a person who flees their home country and is not able to return

Step-migration

migration to a far away place that takes place in stages

Transhumance

moving herds of animals to the highlands in the summer and into the low lands in the winter

Transnational migration

moving across a border into another country