6th Geography Vocabulary

Hemisphere

Half of the earth

International Date Line

an imaginary line on the surface of the Earth, that runs from the north to the south pole and separates one calendar day from the next

Continent

A large body of land

Political Map

A map that shows human-made boundaries and names

Physical Map

A map that shows the physical environment of a place

Historical Map

• A map that shows the way a place used to look

Elevation Map

a map that shows the height of land above sea level

Cartographer

A map maker

Map Legend (Key)

key on the map that gives us information

Symbol

• Something that stands for something else on the map

Locator

a small map that shows where the subject area of a main map is located

scale

a unit of measure on a map, such as an inch, that is used to represent a distance on Earth

absolute location

the longitude and latitude of a place

relative location

the location of a place in relation to another place

Cardinal directions

North, South, East, West

Intermediate directions

Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, Northwest 

latitude

imaginary lines that run east and west but measure north and south

longitude

imaginary lines that run north and south and measure east and west

Prime Meridian

0 degrees. The starting point for longitude

Equator

0 degrees. The starting point for latitude