AP Human Geography Vocabulary Flashcards

Flashcards for Unit 2: Population and Migration, and Economic Development terms from Unit 7. Definitions are from NAT GEO online text and/or Unit 2 in AMSCO.

Aging population

A population with a rising average age, often due to increased life expectancy and decreased birth rates. Example: Japan

Agricultural density

The number of farmers per unit area of arable land. Example: Egypt has a high agricultural density due to limited arable land along the Nile River.

Anti-natalist policies

Government policies that discourage births. Example: China's former one-child policy.

Arithmetic density

The total number of people divided by the total land area. Example: The arithmetic density of the United States is about 36 people per square kilometer.

Asylum seekers

Individuals who have sought international protection and whose claims for refugee status have not yet been determined. Example: People fleeing war-torn Syria seeking asylum in Europe.

Birth Rate

The number of live births per 1,000 people in a population in a given year. Example: Niger has a very high birth rate.

Carrying capacity

The maximum population size of a species that the environment can sustain indefinitely, given the available resources. Example: The carrying capacity of an island for a particular bird species.

Contraception

Methods or devices used to prevent pregnancy. Example: Birth control pills.

Death Rate

The number of deaths per 1,000 people in a population in a given year. Example: Countries with aging populations often have higher death rates.

Demographic Transition Model

A model that describes population change over time as a country develops from a pre-industrial to an industrialized economic system. Example: Stage 1-Low Growth, Stage 2-High Growth, Stage 3-Moderate Growth, Stage 4-Low Growth, Stage 5-Decline

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

The average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime. Example: The TFR in sub-Saharan Africa is generally high.

Dependency ratio

The number of people who are too young or too old to work, compared to the number of people in their productive years. Example: A high dependency ratio can strain a country's social security system.It equals the number of people under age 15 and over age 64 divided by the number of people ages 15 through 64.

Epidemiologic Transition Model

Describes the causes of death in each stage of the demographic transition. Example: Stage 1-pestilence and famine, Stage 2- receding pandemics, Stage 3-degenerative and human created diseases, Stage 4-delayed degenerative diseases, Stage 5-reemergence of infectious and parasitic diseases.

Esther Boserup

An economist who argued that population growth stimulates agricultural intensification, leading to increased food production (the opposite of Malthus's theory). Example: Boserup's theory explains the Green Revolution.

Industrial Revolution

A period of major industrialization that took place during the late 1700s and early 1800s. Example: The rise of factories in England during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)

The number of deaths of infants under one year old per 1,000 live births. Example: Countries with poor healthcare systems have high IMRs.

Life expectancy

The average number of years a person is expected to live. Example: Japan has one of the highest life expectancies in the world.

Malthusian Theory

The theory proposed by Thomas Malthus that population growth will eventually outstrip food production, leading to famine and misery. Example: Malthus predicted widespread famine in the 19th century.

Medical Revolution

The diffusion of medical technology from developed countries to less developed countries. Example: The widespread use of antibiotics and vaccines.

Mortality

The state of being subject to death. Example: High mortality rates are often associated with poverty and disease.

Neo-Malthusian

People who believe that Malthus's theory is still relevant today and that population growth is a major threat to the environment and resources. Example: Concerns about resource depletion and climate change.

Physiological density

The number of people per unit area of arable land. Example: Egypt has a very high physiological density because most of its land is desert.

Population-doubling time

The time it takes for a population to double in size, assuming a constant rate of natural increase. Example: A population growing at 1% per year will double in about 70 years.

Economic Sectors

Different types of jobs throughout the economy: A. primary (extraction of raw materials), B. secondary (manufacturing), C. tertiary (services), D. quaternary (knowledge/information), E. quinary (high-level decision making). Example: Farming (primary), Car Manufacturing (secondary), Teaching (tertiary), Scientific Research (quaternary), Government (quinary).

Population pyramid

A bar graph that shows the distribution of a population by age and sex. Example: A population pyramid can indicate whether a country is growing rapidly, slowly, or declining.

Gender Inequality Index (GII)

A measure of gender inequality based on reproductive health, empowerment, and labor market participation. Example: Countries with higher GII values have greater gender inequality.

Pronatalist policies

Government policies that encourage births. Example: France offers financial incentives to families with multiple children.

Human Development Index (HDI)

A composite measure of development based on life expectancy, education, and income. Example: Norway has a very high HDI.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

The total value of goods and services produced within a country in a year. Example: The GDP of the United States is the largest in the world.

Gross National Product (GNP)

The total value of goods and services produced by a country's citizens, both domestically and abroad. Example: GNP includes income earned by citizens working overseas.

Gross National Income (GNI) per capita

The average income per person in a country, calculated by dividing the GNI by the population. Example: GNI per capita is often used as a measure of a country's standard of living.

Rate of Natural Increase

The percentage growth of a population in a year, excluding migration. It is calculated as the birth rate minus the death rate, divided by 10. Example: A country with a birth rate of 20 per 1,000 and a death rate of 5 per 1,000 has a natural increase rate of 1.5%.

Dependency Ratio

The ratio of the number of people under 15 or over 64 to the number in the labor force. Example: A high dependency ratio can strain a country's social security system.

Formal Economy

The part of the economy that is officially recognized, regulated, and taxed by the government. Includes activities that generate a declared income. Example: Registered retail businesses, manufacturing industries, and government jobs.

Informal Economy

The part of the economy that is neither taxed nor monitored by the government. Includes activities that generate an undeclared income. Example: Street vendors, day laborers, and unregistered home-based businesses.

Chain migration

The social process by which migrants from a particular town follow others from that town to a particular destination. Example: A neighborhood in New York City populated primarily by immigrants from the same village in the Dominican Republic.

Forced migration

Migration in which people are compelled to leave their homes by violence, persecution, or other threats. Example: The Trail of Tears, in which Native Americans were forced to relocate.

Guest worker

A foreign worker who is permitted to work in a country on a temporary basis. Example: Farm laborers from Mexico working in the United States.

Immigration policies

Government regulations that control the entry of people into a country. Example: Quotas on the number of immigrants allowed each year.

Internal migration

Migration within a country. Example: Moving from New York to Florida.

Internally displaced persons

People who have been forced to leave their homes but remain within their country's borders. Example: People displaced by Hurricane Katrina who remained in the United States.

Intervening Opportunities

The presence of a nearer opportunity that greatly diminishes the attractiveness of sites farther away. Example: Migrating from a rural area to a nearby city instead of a more distant one.

Intervening Obstacles

An environmental or cultural feature that hinders migration. Example: Mountains, deserts, or restrictive immigration laws.

Pull factors

Factors that induce people to move to a new location. Example: Job opportunities, better schools, or a more desirable climate.

Push factors

Factors that induce people to leave their current location. Example: Poverty, political instability, or environmental disasters.

Ravenstein's Laws of Migration

A set of generalizations developed by Ernst Ravenstein about migration patterns. Example: Most migrants move only a short distance, and migrants moving long distances tend to move to urban areas.

Refugees

People who have been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster. Example: Syrian refugees fleeing the civil war.

Rural-to-urban migration

The movement of people from rural areas to urban areas. Example: The urbanization of China.

Zelinsky’s Migration Transition

A model that describes how migration patterns change as countries develop. Example: In stage 1, most migration is local; in stage 4, most migration is international.

Step migration

Migration to a distant destination that occurs in stages. Example: Moving from a farm to a village, then to a town, and finally to a city.

Transhumance

The seasonal migration of livestock between mountains and lowland pastures. Example: Herders in the Alps moving their sheep to higher pastures in the summer.

Transnational migration

Migration across national borders in which people maintain ties to their home country. Example: Sending remittances to family members back home.

Voluntary migration

Migration in which people choose to move to a new location. Example: Moving to a new city for a job.

Brain Drain

The emigration of highly skilled or educated people from a country. Example: Doctors leaving a developing country to work in a developed country.

Remittances

Money sent by migrants to their family or friends in their home country. Example: A migrant worker sending money home to support their family.