AP Human Geography Exam Review (Presser)

absolute location

The precise position of a place on Earth, typically given in coordinates of latitude and longitude or a street address.

acculturation

The process by which individuals or groups adopt elements of another culture, often as a result of prolonged contact, while still retaining aspects of their original culture.

agglomeration effects

The cost advantages (external economies) for an individual company gained by locating near similar industries or companies

agribusiness

The system of commercial agriculture that integrates various steps of food production and distribution—including farming, processing, packaging, and marketing—usually controlled by large corporations.

agricultural density

The number of farmers per unit of arable (farmable) land, used to indicate how intensively land is being used for agriculture.

antecedent boundary

A boundary placed before the cultural landscape was developed

artifact

Tangible pieces of material culture

assimilation

The process by which individuals or groups adopt the cultural traits of a dominant society, often losing aspects of their original culture in the process.

bid-rent curve

A geographic model that shows how land value and demand decrease as distance from the Central Business District (CBD) increases, with different land users (like commercial, industrial, and residential) willing to pay more or less depending on proximity to the center.

built environment

The material culture of an environment

carrying capacity

The number of people an area can support on a sustained basis

central business district (CBD)

The geographic heart of a city, where offices, retail stores, and cultural institutions are concentrated; land values are typically the highest.

central place theory

A theory developed by Walter Christaller that explains how and where cities and towns are spatially distributed based on their function of offering goods and services to surrounding areas.

centrifugal force

A cultural, political, or economic factor that divides or weakens the unity of a state, such as ethnic conflict, language barriers, or economic inequality.

centripetal force

A factor that unifies and stabilizes a state or society, such as a shared language, strong national identity, or effective government institutions.

chain migration

A migration process in which people follow others from their community or family to a new location, often leading to the formation of ethnic enclaves.

colonialism

A system in which a country declares control over a territory or people outside its own boundaries, usually for economic purposes

commodity chain

A sequence of steps involved in the production and distribution of a product, from raw materials to the final consumer, often spanning multiple countries.

concentric zone model

An urban model proposed by Burgess that describes a city as growing outward in a series of rings, with the Central Business District (CBD) at the center, surrounded by zones of transition, working-class housing, better residences, and commuters.

consequent boundary

A type of subsequent boundary that is drawn to accommodate existing linguistic, cultural, or religious boundaries

creole

A fully developed language that originates from the blending of two or more languages, typically forming when a pidgin becomes the native language of a community.

crude birth rate (CBR)

The number of babies born per 1000 people per year

crude death rate (CDR)

The number of deaths per 1000 people per year

cultural diffusion

The process in which culture is spread from one region to another

cultural landscape

The visible imprint of human activity on the physical environment, including buildings, roads, farms, and other land uses that reflect cultural values and practices.

culture

The shared beliefs, practices, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that characterize a group of people and are passed down from generation to generation.

culture region

A portion of the Earth's surface occupied by populations sharing recognizable and distinctive cultural characteristics

culture hearth

A place where innovations and new ideas originate and spread outward (diffuse) to other regions

culture trait

A single feature of a culture, such as religion or language

decolonization

The process by which colonies gained independence from colonial powers, often through political movements, negotiations, or armed struggle, especially after World War II.

deindustrialization

The reduction in manufacturing activity that results from economic structuring, offshoring and an overall decline in the manufacturing workforce.

demographic transition model

A model that explains population change over time through five stages, based on shifts in birth rates, death rates, and overall population growth as a country develops economically.

demography

The study of the characteristics of a human population

density

The number of an item within a unit of area

dependency ratio

The ratio of people under age 15 and those 65 and older to those age 15 to 65

dependency theory

A theory that argues developing countries remain poor and dependent on wealthier nations due to historical exploitation, unequal trade relationships, and economic structures that favor the global core.

desertification

The process by which fertile land becomes increasingly arid and unproductive, typically due to overgrazing, deforestation, drought, or poor land management.

developed countries (MDCs)

Countries such as the United States, Germany, and Australia who have the highest levels of economic development

devolution

The transfer of political power from a central government to lower levels of government, such as regional or local authorities, often to accommodate demands for autonomy or cultural identity.

distance decay

The principle that interaction between two places decreases as the distance between them increases.

doubling time

The length of time it takes for a country's population to double in size if the growth rate stays the same

dialect

A regional or social variation of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary.

ecumene

The portion of Earth's surface that is permanently inhabited and used by humans for settlement, agriculture, and industry

edge city

A large center of business, shopping, and entertainment that develops on the outskirts of a traditional urban area, often near major highways and designed for car access rather than walkability.

environmental determinism

A now-discredited theory that claims human behavior and societal development are shaped primarily or solely by the physical environment, especially climate and geography.

ethnic enclave

A neighborhood or area within a city where a distinct ethnic group lives in high concentration, maintaining cultural traditions and a sense of community.

ethnic religion

A religion that is part of a particular ethnic or political group (Judaism, for example)

ethnocentrism

The belief that one's own culture or ethnic group is superior to others, often leading to misjudgment or discrimination against different cultural practices.

exclusive economic zone (EEZ)

An expanse of water up to 200 natural nautical miles off a country's coast that is designated for that country's natural resource exploration and exploitation

federal state

A type of government that gives local political units such as states or provinces within a country a measure of power

First Agricultural Revolution

The domestication of plants and animals and the resulting start of a sedentary society (also called the Neolithic Agricultural Revolution)

folk culture

A homogenous group of people with a strong family structure who follow a simple, traditional lifestyle of self-sufficiency and independence from the society's cultural mainstream

Fordism

The process (named after its founder) of using assembly-line techniques and scientific management in manufacturing

formal region

An area defined by officially recognized boundaries and a shared characteristic, such as language, climate, or political system, that is uniform throughout the region.

functional region

A region with a node, or center hub surrounded by interconnecting linkages. Usually connections relate to trade, communication, transportation, etc.

gentrification

The process of renovating an older, run-down neighborhood near the center city by middle-class and high-income families

geographic information system (GIS)

A computer-based tool that collects, stores, analyzes, and displays spatial or geographic data to help visualize patterns, relationships, and trends on maps.

gerrymandering

The manipulation of electoral district boundaries to favor a particular political party or group, often resulting in oddly shaped districts that give one side an unfair advantage.

globalization

The increasing interconnection of all regions in the world through politics, communication, transportation, marketing, manufacturing, and social and cultural processes

GMO (genetically modified organisms)

An organism that is created when scientists take one or more specific genes from one organism and introduce them into another organism thus creating a new version (NOT a part of the Green Revolution)

gravity model

A law of spatial interaction that states that larger places attract people, ideas, and goods more strongly that smaller places

Green Revolution

The development and transfer from the developed world to the developing world, of higher-yield and fast-growing crops through new and improved technology, pesticides, and fertilizers, for the purpose of alleviating world hunger

gross domestic product (GDP)

The approximate value of all final goods and services produced in a country per year

gross national product (GNP)

The gross domestic product (GDP) plus the value of income from abroad such as earnings from a US company based abroad

growth pole

An urban center deliberately placed by a country's government to stimulate economic growth in the hinterland

hierarchial diffusion

A type of cultural diffusion where ideas or trends spread from larger or more influential places or people (like political leaders or major cities) to smaller or less influential ones.

Industrial Revolution

The movement from homebased cottage industries to factory industries with several workers under one roof that the use of machines facilitates in England in the late 1700s

intensive subsistence agriculture

A form of agriculture heavily depends on heavy inputs of fertilized and human labor on a small piece of land for substantial crop yield

internally displaced person

A person who is forced out of the home region due to war, political or social unrest, environmental problems, etc., but who does not cross any international boundary

intervening opportunity

A favorable circumstance or alternative that causes a migrant to stop or settle before reaching their original destination.

irredentism

A political or nationalist claim to territory based on shared ethnicity, culture, or historical ownership, often involving efforts to annex land from a neighboring country.

language family

A group of languages that are related and derived from a single, earlier language

least-cost theory

A theory developed by Alfred Weber that explains the location of manufacturing based on minimizing three costs: transportation, labor, and agglomeration (clustering of industries).

less-developed countries (LDCs)

States with low levels of income, industrialization, infrastructure, and human development, often characterized by high poverty rates and limited access to education and healthcare.

lingua franca

A common language used for communication between people who speak different native languages, often for trade, diplomacy, or business.

long-lots system of land survey

A (French) land division system in which properties are long and narrow, stretching back from a river, road, or canal, giving each lot access to transportation routes.

maquiladora

A foreign-owned assembly company located in the United States-Mexico border region in order to take advantage of cheaper labor, favorable tax breaks, and lax environmental regulations

material culture

The artifacts (tangible things) of a culture such as tools, weapons, and furniture

mediterranean agriculture

A form of specialized agriculture in which crops grown in a Mediterranean climate of warm year-round temperatures and sunny summers (grapes, olives, figs, dates, citrus fruits, etc.) are grown

megacity

A metropolitan area with a total population of over 10 million people according to the United Nations

megalopolis

A group of supercities that have merged together into one large urban area

mentifact

Nonmaterial parts of a culture such as language, religion, artistic pursuits, folk stories, myths, etc.

mental map

A person's internalized perception of the layout and characteristics of places, shaped by experience, knowledge, and cultural background.

metes-and-bounds land survey system

A method of land description that uses natural landmarks, distances, and compass directions along with fixed boundaries to define property lines, often resulting in irregularly shaped plots.

migration

The movement of humans from one place to another

monoculture

The production of a single crop for commercial markets (corn, wheat, rice, etc.)

monotheism

A religion that worships one God

multiple-nuclei model

An urban land use model that suggests cities develop with multiple centers for different activities—like industry, retail, and housing—rather than growing outward from a single central business district.

nation

A unified group of people with a common culture

nationalism

A political and cultural belief that a group of people with shared identity—such as language, culture, or history—should have loyalty to and sovereignty within their own nation-state.

nation-state

A sovereign state whose population shares a common national identity, often defined by language, culture, and history.

neo-colonialism

The periphery's continued exploitation by, and dependency on, the core in modern times even though they are no longer colonies

New Urbanism

An urban planning movement that promotes walkable neighborhoods, mixed-use development, accessible public spaces, and reduced dependence on cars to create more sustainable and community-oriented cities.

nonmaterial culture

Mentifacts (language, religion, artistic purposes, folk stories, myths, etc.) and sociofacts (educational and political institutions, religious organizations, family structure, etc.) that comprise a culture

organic farming

The process of producing good naturally without the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and other inputs

outsourcing

The business practice of hiring external firms or workers, (often in other countries), to perform services or produce goods that were traditionally done in-house, usually to reduce costs.

pastoralism

A form of subsistence agriculture in which people domesticate and herd animals for food, labor, and trade, often practiced in arid or semi-arid regions.

pidgin

A simplified language that develops as a means of communication between speakers of different native languages, typically for trade or work, and has limited vocabulary and grammar.

perceptual region

An area defined by people's feelings, attitudes, and cultural identity rather than by official boundaries or physical features.

physiologic density

The number of people per unit of arable (farmable) land, used to measure population pressure on productive land.