AP Human Geography Vocabulary Unit 1: Thinking Geographically

World Systems Theory

Wallerstein’s theory which classifies all countries into three categories: core, semi-periphery, periphery. (United States is core, India is semi-periphery, Nigeria is periphery)

Dependency Model

A model of the world in which countries rely on each other, ultimately causing all countries of the world to be dependent on each other. (Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory, periphery countries are reliant on core countries, causing there to not be development within the periphery countries)

Commodity Dependency

When a country heavily depends on one or few raw materials to make money for its economy. (A country mostly relying on exporting coffee is commodity dependent)

Primary Sector

Extraction of raw materials from the Earth. (Mining, fishing, agriculture)

Secondary Sector

Processing and manufacturing raw materials into a finished product. (Factories, manufacturing)

Tertiary Sector

Moving, selling, and trading products from primary and secondary sectors. (Retail, marketing, design)

Quaternary Sector

Research and information creation and transfer. (Real estate, college professor, software engineer)

Quinary Sector

Highest levels of decision making: top officials in government and business. (Congress, CEOs)

Gross National Product (GNP)

Total value of goods and services by the citizens and corporations of a country as well as foreign investments in a given year. (Domestic + international goods + services = GNP)

Gross National Income (GNI)

Most accurate measure of wealth, because it accounts for the impacts of trade. (GDP + (exports-imports) = GNI)

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Total value of officially recorded goods and services by the citizens and corporations within a country’s borders in a given year. (Goods + services = GDP)

Gini Coefficient

Measure of distribution of income within a population.

Life Expectancy

The average number of years a person is expected to live based on current mortality rates.

Literacy Rate

The percentage of people in a country that can read and write.

Gender Inequality Index (GII)

A measure of gender inequality using several factors such as reproductive health (maternal mortality and adolescent fertility rates), empowerment (government statistics and secondary education among different genders), and labor market participation (labor force participation rate among males and females).

Gender Gap

This is when there are different privileges afforded to males and females. These privileges include educational opportunities, employment options, voting rights, political empowerment, and more.

Remittances

When a migrant worker sends money to his/her family back in their home country.

Formal Sector

Portion of the economy that is monitored by the government, so people follow it in regulations and pay taxes.

Informal Sector

Portion of the economy that is NOT monitored by the government. (Activities done without pay, babysitting/dog walking, illegal activities like drug dealing)

Human Development Index (HDI)

Measure of development combining one economic measure (GNI per capita), with three social measures (life expectancy, expected years of schooling, and average years of schooling). Range between 0-1, with high values representing more development.

Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)

Measure of what similar goods cost in different countries.

Physical Geography

The study of spatial characteristics of various elements of the physical environment. (Topics include landforms, bodies of water, etc.)

Human Geography

The study of spatial characteristics of humans and human activities. (Topics include population, culture, etc.)

Reference Map

Designed for people to refer to for general information about places. (Political, physical, road, plat)

Thematic Map

Shows spatial aspects of information or of a phenomenon. (Choropleth, Dot Distribution, Graduated Symbol, Isoline, Topographic, Cartogram)

Choropleth Map

Use various colors, shades of one color, or patterns to show the location and distribution of spatial data. (Rates, Quantitative Data)

Dot Distribution Map

Show the specific location and distribution of something across a map. Each dot represents a specified quantity.

Graduated Symbol Map

Use different sizes to indicate different amounts of something. Smaller sizes indicate less of something while larger sizes indicate more.

Isoline Map

Use lines that connect points of equal value to depict variations in the data across space. Where lines are close together, the map depicts rapid change, and where lines are further away, the phenomenon is relatively the same. (AKA isometric maps).

Topographic Map

Points of equal elevation are connected on these maps, creating contours that depict surface features. (For hikers mainly)

Cartogram

The sizes of countries are shown according to some specific characteristic. (Population can be shown through this; ex. India is larger than the US due to a higher population)

Cartographic Scale

Refers to the way the map communicates the ratio of its size to the size it represents. (1 in : 100 miles, so 100,000 miles is 1,000 inches)

Small - Scale Maps

Show a large amount of area with less detail: global scale Earth at night is an example.

Large - Scale Maps

Show a smaller amount of area with a greater amount of detail: North America at night is an example.

Absolute Location

The precise spot where something is according to a system. (Latitude, longitude, address, etc.)

Relative Location

Description of where something is in relation to other things. (My house is next to the woods.)

Field Observations

Used to refer to the act of physically visiting a location, place, or region and recording, firsthand, information there.

Remote Sensing

The use of cameras or other sensors mounted on aircraft or satellites to collect digitsl images or videos of the Earth’s surface.

Global Positioning System (GPS)

GPS recievers on Earth’s surface use the locations of multiple satellites to determine and record a reciever’s exact location. (Locating borders, navigation, mapping lines or points)

Geographic Information System (GIS)

Computer systems that can store, analyze, and display information from multiple digital maps or geospatial data sets. (Analyzing crime data, monitoring effects of pollution, analyzing transportation/travel time, planning urban area)

Space

The area between two or more phenomena or things.

Location

Identifies where specific phenomena are located either on a grid system or relative to another location.

Place

Refers to the specific human and physical characteristics of a location.

Site

Described as the characteristics at the immediate location. (Soil type, climate, labor force, human structures)

Situation

Refers to the location of a place relative to its surroundings and ts connectivity to other places.

Sense of Place

Humans tend to perceive the characteristics of places in different ways based on their personal beliefs. If someone has a sense of place, they may feel strong emotional ties to a place. (Rome, Italy, is probably described differently by residents compared to visitors.)

Toponyms

Place name. (Coast of Florida has cities with the word ‘beach’ in them. Georgia is named after King George.)

Time - Space Compression

The shrinking “time - distance”, or relative distance, between locations because of improved methods of transportation and communication. (New York City and London are far apart, but with improved technology (airplanes), the relative distance decreased, even though the absolute distance is the same.)

Friction of Distance

Indicates that when things are farther apart, they tend to be less connected.

Distance Decay

The inverse relationship between distance and connection. (As distance increases, strength of interaction decreases.)

Pattern

Refers to the general arrangement of things being studied, and geographers must be able to describe patterns accurately with precision.

Human Environment Interaction

The connection and exchange between humans and the natural world.

Sustainability

Relates to trying to use resources now in ways that allow their use in the future while minimizing negative impacts on the environment. (Attempt to solve problems like natural resource depletion, mass consumption, effects of pollution, etc.)

Land Use

The study of how land is utilized, modified, and organized by people. (Environment and built environment)

Built Environment

The physical artifacts that humans have created and that form part of the landscape. (Buildings, roads, signs, fences, etc.)

Cultural Landscape

Anything built by humans is a part of this and is in the realm of land use.

Environmental Determinism

The belief that landforms and climate are the most powerful forces shaping human behavior and societal development while ignoring the influence of culture. (Belief that people from hotter places are less intellectually gifted.)

Possiblism

A view that acknowledges limits on the effects of the natural environment and focuses more on the role that human culture plays. (Palm Islands, Hoover Dam, terrace farming)

Global Scale

The entire world. (Earth at night image, world population density map)

World Regional Scale

Multiple countries of the world. (North America, South Asia)

National Scale

One country. (USA, India, Thailand)

Regional Scale (National Regional, according to the AMSCO)

A portion of a country or a region within a country. (The Midwest, Eastern China)

Local Scale

A province, state, city, county, or neighborhood. (Tennessee, Moscow)

Region

Have boundaries, unifying characteristics, cover space, and are created by people.

Formal Region

These are sometimes called uniform regions, or homogeneous regions, and are united by one or more traits. (Political: Brazil, Physical: Sahara, Cultural: Yoruba language area, in southwestern Nigeria, and Economic: Gold Coast of Africa, Ghana, which exports a lot of gold)

Functional Region

These regions are organized around a focal point and are defined by an activity, usually political, social, or economic, that occurs across the region. Nodal regions are united by networks of communication, transportation, and other interactions. (Pizza delivery areas: pizza shop is the node, capital city is the political node of the state, airport is a node, with the locations that flights connect that form this kind of region.)

Vernacular Region

They are defined by the informal sense of place that ascribe to them. The boundaries of these regions vary widely because people have a different sense of what defines and unites these regions. (The South)