ap human geo 2

Acculturation

Definition: The process where an immigrant or minority group adopts some cultural traits of a dominant host culture while still maintaining distinct elements of their original culture.

Example: A Japanese family moving to the US, learning English and celebrating Thanksgiving, but still speaking Japanese at home and cooking traditional meals.

Assimilation

Definition: The complete absorption of a minority culture into a dominant host culture, losing original cultural traits over generations.

Example: Native American children being forced into government boarding schools in the 19th/20th centuries to adopt Western language, dress, and religion.

Syncretism

Definition: The blending and combining of traits from two or more distinct cultures to form an entirely new cultural phenomenon.

Example: Santería in the Caribbean, which blends traditional West African Yoruba beliefs with Roman Catholicism.

Centripetal Force

Definition: An attitude, belief, or structural factor that unifies people and enhances support for a state.

Example: A shared national language, a victorious national sports team, or a strong post-attack national response (e.g., 9/11 in the US).

Centrifugal Force

Definition: A force or issue that divides a state's population and threatens to tear a country apart.

Example: Sharp religious or ethnic divisions, such as the conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.

Devolution

Definition: The transfer of political power from a central government down to regional or local governments within a state.

Example: The United Kingdom granting regional parliaments and decision-making power to Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Supranationalism

Definition: An alliance of three or more countries formed for mutual economic, political, or military benefit, requiring member states to give up a degree of sovereignty.

Example: The European Union (EU), which allows free trade and movement across European borders.

Gerrymandering

Definition: The redrawing of voting district boundaries to favor one specific political party or social group over another.

Example: Packing opposition voters into a single district so their influence is diluted across neighboring districts.

Green Revolution

Definition: The mid-20th-century development and spread of high-yielding crop varieties, synthetic fertilizers, and advanced irrigation in developing nations.

Example: Norman Borlaug developing high-yield dwarf wheat in Mexico, which drastically reduced famine risk in India and Pakistan during the 1960s.

Von Thünen Model

Definition: A spatial model showing how commercial agricultural activities are arranged in concentric rings around a central market city based on transportation costs and land value.

Example: Dairy farms located in the ring closest to a major city because milk spoils quickly and costs more to transport.

Intensive Agriculture

Definition: Farming methods requiring high inputs of labor and capital per unit of land to maximize yield.

Example: Wet rice terracing on steep hillsides in Southeast Asia.

Extensive Agriculture

Definition: Farming methods requiring low inputs of labor and capital relative to large areas of land used.

Example: Nomadic herding in dry regions like the Sahel, or large-scale cattle ranching in the Australian Outback.

Gentrification

Definition: The renovation and urban renewal of deteriorated inner-city neighborhoods by middle- and upper-class residents, often displacing original lower-income residents due to rising land values.

Example: The redevelopment of historic warehouses into luxury lofts and high-end cafes in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Christaller's Central Place Theory

Definition: A spatial theory explaining how urban settlements, markets, and services are distributed hierarchically based on threshold and range.

Example: A small village having only a gas station and corner store (low threshold), while a major city features specialized heart surgery hospitals and international airports (high threshold).

Primate City

Definition: A country's leading city that is more than twice as large as the second-largest city and disproportionately dominant in culture and economy.

Example: Paris, France, or Bangkok, Thailand.

Rank-Size Rule

Definition: A pattern of urban settlement where the nth largest city is 1/n the size of the largest city in a country.

Example: In a country following rank-size rule, if the largest city has 1,000,000 people, the second-largest city has 500,000 (1/2), and the fourth-largest has 250,000 (1/4).

Wallerstein's World Systems Theory

Definition: A economic model dividing the global economy into Core (wealthy/developed), Semi-Periphery (industrializing), and Periphery (developing/resource-exporting) countries.

Example: The US and Western Europe operating as the Core, manufacturing nations like China and Brazil as the Semi-Periphery, and sub-Saharan raw material exporters as the Periphery.

Rostow's Stages of Growth

Definition: A 5-stage modernization model proposing that all countries pass through economic development from a "Traditional Society" up to "High Mass Consumption."

Example: The United States reaching Stage 5 (High Mass Consumption) in the 1950s post-WWII boo

Term: Absolute Location

Definition: The precise, fixed point of a place on Earth's surface, typically expressed using latitude and longitude or a specific street address.

Example: The absolute location of the Empire State Building in New York City is 40.7484° N, 73.9857° W.

​Vernacular Regions

Definition: An area defined by people's informal perceptions, cultural identities, and mental maps rather than strict, official boundaries.

Example: "The American South" or "The Middle East," which vary in exact boundaries depending on who you ask.

Distance Decay

Definition: The principle that the interaction, contact, or influence between two places decreases as the physical distance between them increases.

Example: A local news channel's viewership dropping significantly as you drive further away from its broadcasting tower into another state.

Central Place, or Node

Definition: The focal point or hub of a functional region where economic, social, or transportation activities are concentrated to serve surrounding hinterlands.

Example: Downtown Atlanta acting as the major economic and transit hub for the surrounding suburban communities in Georgia.

​Functional Region