AP Human Geography Unit 1 Vocabulary

Flashcards for vocabulary terms from Unit 1, based on provided notes.

Reference Maps

Maps that show locations of places and geographic features.

Thematic Maps

Maps that show specific types of data or information.

Choropleth Map

A thematic map that uses tones or colors to represent spatial data as average values per unit area.

Dot Density Map

A thematic map that uses dots to represent the frequency of a variable in a given area.

Cartogram

A thematic map that depicts the sizes of areas proportionally to the statistical variable being measured.

Isoline Map

A thematic map with lines that connect points of equal value.

Graduated / Proportional Symbol Map

A thematic map that uses the size of symbols to represent the value of a variable.

Absolute Distance

The physical gap or interval between two objects.

Relative Distance

The measure of the social, cultural and/or economic connectivity between places.

Absolute Direction

Cardinal directions such as North, South, East and West.

Relative Direction

Directions such as left, right, forward, backward, up, and down based on perception.

Clustering

Objects that are closely arranged together.

Dispersal

Objects that are relatively far apart.

Elevation

The height of a location above sea level.

Map Projections

A way to flatten a globe's surface into a plane.

Map Distortion

The change in shape, area, distance, or direction of geographic data when it is projected onto a flat surface.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

A computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data.

Satellite Navigation Systems

A system of computer hardware and software used to determine precise locations and navigate.

Remote Sensing

The scanning of the earth by satellite or high-flying aircraft in order to obtain information about it.

Census

A complete enumeration of a population.

Absolute Location

Exact location of a place on the earth described by global coordinates.

Relative Location

Location in relation to other places.

Distance Decay

The declining degree of acceptance of an idea or innovation with increasing time and distance from its origin.

Time Space Compression

The reduction in the time it takes to diffuse something to a distant place, as a result of improved communications and transportation systems.

Toponym

The name given to a portion of the Earth's surface.

Sense of Place

State of mind derived through the infusion of a place with meaning and emotion by remembering important events that occurred in that place or by labeling a place with a certain character.

Placelessness

The loss of uniqueness of place in the cultural landscape so that one place looks like the next.

Sustainability

The use of Earth's renewable and nonrenewable natural resources in ways that do not constrain resource use in the future.

Natural Resources

Materials or substances such as minerals, forests, water, and fertile land that occur in nature and can be used for economic gain.

Land Use

Various ways humans use the land such as agricultural, industrial, residential, or recreational uses.

Human Environment Interaction

The effect of a reciprocal relationship between humans and the natural environment.

Carrying Capacity

The largest number of individuals of a population that an environment can support.

Theory of Environmental Determinism

The theory that the physical environment caused social development.

Theory of Possibilism

The theory that the physical environment may limit some human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to their environment.

Scale of Analysis

The level of geographic resolution at which data is collected or analyzed.

Formal Region

An area in which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristics.

Functional Region

An area organized around a node or focal point.

Perceptual (Vernacular) Region

A region that only exists as a conceptualization or an idea and not as a physically demarcated entity.

Relocation Diffusion

The spread of an idea through physical movement of people from one place to another.

Expansion Diffusion

The spread of an idea from persons or nodes of authority or power to other persons or places.

Contagious Diffusion

The rapid, widespread diffusion of a characteristic throughout the population.

Hierarchical Diffusion

The spread of an idea from persons or nodes of authority or power to other persons or places.

Stimulus Diffusion

The spread of an underlying principle, even though a specific characteristic is rejected.