World Geography Final!

Absolute location

An exact location, often given with latitude and longitude.

Relative location

A location described in relation to another place or landmark.

Equator

0° latitude; divides earth into northern and southern hemispheres.

Prime Meridian

0° longitude; helps divide the eastern and western hemispheres.

Hemisphere

One-half of earth (north, south, east, or west).

Latitude

Imaginary East-West lines; measures how far north or south of the equator.

Longitude

Imaginary north-south lines; measures how far east or west of the prime meridian.

Cartographer

A person who makes maps.

Cartography

The science and practice of creating maps.

Map

A flat representation of locations and features.

Reference map

Helps locate roads, cities, landforms, or borders.

Map projection

A way to show the round Earth on a flat map.

Distortion

Changes in size, shape, distance, or direction caused by flattening Earth.

Map scale

The relationship between distance on a map and distance on earth.

Physical map

Shows natural features such as mountains, lakes, rivers, and elevation.

Political map

Shows borders, countries, states, and often cities.

Climate map

Shows patterns of climate, such as temperatures or rainfall (a kind of thematic map).

Thematic map

Shows one selected topic, such as population, climate, income, or bicycle use.

Political boundary

The border separating land under different governments.

Culture

A group’s shared beliefs, language, values, customs, traditions, and way of life.

Cultural hearth

The place where an idea, practice, or innovation begins.

Folk culture

Local or traditional practices passed down through generations.

Popular culture

Widely shared modern traditions, often spread quickly by media and technology.

Cultural diffusion

The movement of cultural ideas are practices from people or places to others.

Monotheism

Belief in one god.

Polytheism

Belief in more than one god.

Ethnocentrism

Judging another culture according to the standards of your own culture.

Cultural relativism

Trying to understand a practice in its own cultural context.

Physical landscape

Natural things in a place: landforms, water, climate, forests, and vegetation.

Cultural landscape

Human-made features on land: farms, roads, buildings, religious sites, and neighborhoods.

Political geography

Study of countries, borders, and where governments exercise power.

Government

Institutions that make and enforce rules.

Sovereignty

A country‘s power to govern itself.

Natural/physical boundary

A border that follows rivers, mountains, or other natural features.

Cultural/ethnic boundary

A border based on differences in languages, religion, or ethnic identity.

Geometric boundary

A straight-line border, often drawn using latitude or longitude.

Antecedent boundary

Established before an area had a large settled population.

Subsequent boundary

Established after settlement, often to reflect cultural or political differences.

Relic boundary

A former border no longer functioning, but still visible in some way.

Superimposed boundary

Drawn by outsiders, commonly without considering people already living there.

Definitional dispute

Countries disagree over wording or meaning in a border agreement.

Locational dispute

Countries disagree over the exact position of a boundary on the ground.

Operational dispute

Countries disagree over how a border is used or controlled.

Allocational dispute

Countries disagree over ownership or use of resources along/near a boundary.

Defined

Described in words or treaty.

Delimited

Drawn on a map.

Demarcated

Marked on the land.

Administered

Monitored, enforced, or managed.

Migration

Moving from one place to live in another.

Immigrate

Move into a new country to live.

Emigrate

Move out out of your home country to live elsewhere.

Internal migration

Moving to another place within the same country.

Transnational migration

Moving from one country to another.

Forced migration

Leaving because staying is dangerous or not a real choice.

Voluntary migration

Choosing to move, rather than being forced.

Slavery

being held in bondage and forced to work.

Refugee

Person who fled their country to escape danger or persecution.

Asylum seeker

Person requesting protection in another country; claim pending.

Internally displaced person (IDP)

Person forced to flee home without leaving their country.

Chain migration

Moving to join family or friends who moved before you.

Step migration

Moving in stages instead of all at once.

Guestworker

Someone working temporarily in another country.

Transhumance

Seasonal movement of herders and their livestock.

Push factor

Problem that drives people away from a place.

Pull factor

Benefit that attracts people to a place.

intervening obstacles

Barriers that make a planned move difficult.

Intervening opportunities

Closer choices that change someone’s planned destination.