Human Geography - final exam vocabulary review

absolute location

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

relative location

The location of a place in relation to another place (for example Irondale is north of the railroad tracks, but south of the movie theater).

Region

an area defined by one or more natural or cultural characteristics that set it apart from other areas

Geographic Information System (GIS)

a computer system that can capture, store, query, analyze, and display geographic data

Cartogram Map

A map in which the shape or size is distorted in order to demonstrate a variable such as travel, population or economic production

Choropleth Map

a map that uses differences in shading, coloring, or the placing of symbols within predefined areas to indicate the average values or quantity in those areas.

Geographic Positioning System (GPS)

A system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations, and receivers.

remote sensing

A method of collecting data or information through the use of instruments and satellites that are physically distant from the area or object of study.

Natural Increase Rate (NIR)

Tells us how quickly a population is increasing or decreasing every year. Measured by subtracting CDR from CBR.

The Crude Birth Rate (CBR)

The number of live births per every 1000 people every year.

The Crude Death Rate (CDR)

The number of deaths per every 1000 people every year.

Net Migration Rate (NMR)

The number of people coming into or leaving the country every year. Measured by scratching the number of emigrants from the number of immigrants.

Population Pyramids

Population data is broken down into different age groups and by gender, then displayed in a pyramid graph.

Population density

The number of people in a given area (square mile or square kilometer usually).

Life Expectancy

the average period that a person may expect to live

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

the average number of children that a woman will have in her lifetime

Infant Mortality Rate

The number of babies, out of every 1000 babies born, that die within their first year of life.

Demographic Transition Model Stage 1

Hunter gatherer stage, high birth rate and high death rate

Demographic Transition Model Stage 2

Agricultural Stage, declining death rates, high births

Demographic Transition Model Stage 3

Industrial Stage, declining death rates and declining birth rates

Demographic Transition Model Stage 4

Tertiary Stage, stable population (equal births and deaths)

Demographic Transition Model Stage 5

Declining Stage, decreased birth rate, high death rate (more deaths than births)

Migration

A semi permanent move to a new place

Immigration

A permanent move to a new country

Emigration

When someone permanently moves out of a country

Internal migration

A semi permanent move within a country

International migration

A semi permanent move from one country to another

Refugees

A person who is forced to move because of war, persecution or natural disasters

Push Factors

Anything that causes a person to migrate away from a place.

Pull Factors

Anything that encourages someone to move to a place.

Human Development Index (HDI)

HDI - measures development (GDP, Years of Schooling and Life expectancy)

More Developed Countries (MDCs)

has progressed further along the UN HDI continuum (.8-1.0)

Less Developed Countries (LDCs)

has made some progress along the UN HDI continuum but its progress is less compared to developed nations (0.4-.6)

Urbanization

The process in which people move from rural areas to those with higher population densities

Central Business District (CBD)

Symbolic center of a city for business and entertainment. Can be found by its tall and modern buildings

Megacity

a city that has more than 10 million (10,000,000) people in it

World Cities

Cities that have an influence on culture or finance that is more important than their population size

New Urbanism

a planning and development approach based on the principles of: walkable blocks and streets, housing and shopping in close proximity, and accessible public spaces.

Urban renewal

When the government Takes old parts of a city and tears them down to build new, modern buildings (could be residential/housing) or for businesses.

Gentrification

When private individuals or businesses take low income parts of a city and rebuild them to try to attract more high income residents.

Sprawl

When suburbs keep growing further and further from city centers they take up more and more rural land

Smart Growth

city planners pass laws to design and plan for sustainable city growth

Zoning Laws

Laws that specify what kind of development is allowed where (ex. residential, commercial, industrial)

Green spaces

undeveloped sections within a city or on its outskirts where people can enjoy nature and relaxation

Grid organization

Streets are arranged on a grid (usually North/South

First Agricultural Revolution

the change from hunter gathers to settling in comunnities to farm for the first time

Hearth

where something begins, area of origin

Second Agricultural Revolution

increased production of food as a result of changes in selective breeding and the application of new tools and mechanized labor

Selective breeding

The use of observation and experiments to naturally breed animals and plants for desirable traits.

Third Agricultural Revolution

the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides on farms to allow commercial farmers to grow more food with less labor

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

an organism whose genetic material has been altered through genetic engineering by scientists in a laboratory

Green Revolution

the spread of Western style agricultural practices to the rest of the world

Commercial Agriculture

farming done for the purpose of selling products

Subsistence Agriculture

when farmers primarily produce food for their own family to eat

Pastoral nomadism

a form of subsistence agriculture in which farmers graze herds of grass eating animals, moving from one location to another.

Shifting cultivation/ slash and burn

where farmers cut down forests and burn the trees to provide nutrients to the soil

Intensive Subsistence, wet rice dominant

rice plants are grown in nurseries and then transplanted to flooded rice paddies, most of the work is done by people

Intensive Subsistence

wet rice not dominant

Factory farms

large enclosures for feeding livestock with the goal of producing as many animals as fast as possible

Free range farming

livestock production where animals are allowed space to roam

Commercial grain

wheat and other grain crops are grown for sale at market using large scale farming practices

Commercial Gardening

production of fruits and vegetables using modern machines and chemicals for sale in markets often far from farms

Culture

the shared set of beliefs values and customs of a group of people

Beliefs

a person’s religious, academic and philosophical thought processes (how you think about things)

Values

core understanding that influence how people act. (how you act towards others)

Customs

the shared activities, celebrations and traditions of a group of people.

Cultural Relativism

the idea that cultures should be examined by themselves rather than by comparing them to another culture.

Popular Culture

culture that has spread to many areas of the world through diffusion (common in many places at the same time).

Folk Culture

culture practiced by a small group of people that are relatively isolated from other groups. (specific to a particular group of people).

Isogloss

the border between language families

Cultural Hearth

the place where a cultural trait begins

Contagious Diffusion

cultural traits that are spread by means of personal interaction (person to person)

Hierarchical Diffusion

cultural traits that are spread from places or by people of power and influence

Stimulus diffusion

as a cultural trait spreads it changes to adapt to local conditions

Relocation Diffusion

cultural traits are spread by the migration of people

Globalization

the increasing cultural, economic and political connectedness of the planet

Ethnocentrism

the belief that one’s own culture and ethnicity is superior to another

Racism

power combined with prejudice, designed to maintain a system of social and economic advantage for the group that holds power

Xenophobia

the fear or dislike of foreigners

Unitary State

A country in which one central government has most of the power over smaller local governments.

Federal State/Confederation

A country in which Power is shared between the national government and smaller regional governments.

Sovereignty

the power a government has to control its own affairs without interference from anyone else

Nation

a group of people with a shared identity, culture, and history

Antecedent Border

put into place before large numbers of people lived in an area

Superimposed Borders

boundaries that are established by more powerful countries in areas that already have human landscapes

Subsequent Borders

created once people are settled in order to keep ethnic and cultural groups together

Relict Border

borders that once existed but do not any longer

Patriotism

the combined love of feelings of pride one feels for their country

Ethnic Cleansing

the act of removing (either by deportation or killing) all the people from a particular cultural group from existence in an area

Genocide

an attempt to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in whole or in part

Supranational organizations

Different groups that work with three or more countries to promote economic, political or cultural unity

Economic union

Promote increased economic cooperation between member states by limiting trade barriers like tariffs (taxes), quotas, and laws that limit the movement of people and goods or the operation of businesses across national borders.

Collective security unions

member countries join together for collective defense