AP Human Geography Unit 1

spatial

relating to space

absolute location

the precise point where a place is located on Earth

cartography

The science of making maps

cultural ecology

Geographic approach that emphasizes human-environment relationships.

relative location

where a place is located in relation to another place

geographic information system (GIS)

a computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data

latitude

Distance north or south of the equator

equator

the imaginary center line of latitude that divides the northern and southern hemispheres.

longitude

Distance east or west of the prime meridian, measured in degrees

prime meridian

Imaginary line drawn from the North Pole through Greenwich, England, to the South Pole

International Date Line

the line of longitude that marks where each new day begins, centered on the 180th meridian

place

specific human and physical characteristics of a location

region

a group of places on Earth with similar human and/or physical features

site

The characteristics of a place (immediate location), Ex: soil type, climate, labor force, human structures

situation

the location of a place relative to other places and its surroundings

toponym

place name

time-space compression

the shrinking of time distance between locations because of improved methods of transportation

distance decay

decline of activity or function with increasing distance from its point of origin

density

number of something in a specifically defined area Ex: population density is the number of people per square mile

human-environment interaction

connection and exchange between humans and the natural world

culture

Beliefs, customs, and traditions of a specific group of people.

environmental determinism

the idea that human behavior is controlled by the physical environment

possibilism

the natural environment constrains human activity, but humans can adapt to some environmental limits by modifying it using technology

scale

the ratio between the size of things in the real world and the size of those same things on a map

projection

The system used to transfer locations from Earth's surface to a flat map.

diffusion

The process of spread of a feature or trend from one place to another over time

formal region

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

GPS

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

location

The position of anything on Earth's surface.

movement

an act of changing physical location or position or of having this changed.

remote sensing

process of gathering data about Earth from instruments far above the planet's surface

spatial analysis

The analysis of geographic data about a certain place.

time zone

any of the 24 longitudinal areas of the world within which the same time is used

physical geography

One of the two major divisions of systematic geography; the spatial analysis of the structure, processes, and location ex: of items studied: climate, soil, plants, animals, and topography.

human geography

One of the two major divisions of Geography; the spatial analysis of human population, its cultures, activities, and landscapes.

connectivity

how well two locations are tied together by roads or other links . This is often used when describing relative location.

sense of place

The feeling that an area has a distinct and meaningful character

friction of distance

as distances increase, it requires more time, effort, and cost for interactions between places to occur; measures the degree to which distance affects the interaction between two places

distribution

The arrangement of something across Earth's surface.

spatial association

connection between phenomena that tend to occur in proximity to each other ex: the distribution of malaria matches the distribution of the mosquito that carries it

landscape analysis

the task of defining and describing landscape

field observation

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

spatial data

data about the size, shape and location of objects and features; information about relationships between them

aerial Photography

professional images captured from planes within the atmosphere

built environment

part of the physical landscape that represents material culture; the landscape created by humans ex: buildings, roads, signs, fences etc.

cultural landscape

the visible imprint of human activity on the landscape

scale (relative scale)

the amount of territory that a map represents ex: global scale means the entire planet

reference maps

Maps designed for people to refer to for general information about places

political map

A map that shows man-made features such as boundaries, countries, and cities.

physical map

a map that shows natural features such as mountains, rivers and deserts

choropleth map (thematic)

uses various colors, shades of one color, or patterns to show the location and distribution of data

thematic map

a map that shows a particular theme, or topic ex: choropleth, dot distribution, graduated symbol, isoline

dot distribution map

A map where dots are used to demonstrate the frequency or intensity of a particular phenomena

isoline map

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

cartogram (thematic)

the sizes of countries are shown to some specific statistic

Mercator projection

a projection of a map of the world onto a cylinder in such a way that all the parallels of latitude have the same length as the equator, EX: used especially for marine charts and certain climatological maps.

conic projection

a map projection that is made by moving the surface features of the globe onto a cone

Peters projection

focuses on keeping landmasses equal in area. As a result, the shapes are distorted, and the map looks unfamiliar to viewers

Robinson projection

Projection that attempts to balance several possible projection errors. It does not maintain completely accurate area, shape, distance, or direction, but it minimizes errors in each.

graduated symbol map

A map with symbols that change in size according to the value of the attribute they represent.

homogenous Region

another name for formal region or uniform region

mental Map

maps that people create in their minds based on their experience and knowledge

placelessness

the loss of uniqueness of place in the cultural landscape so that one place looks like the next ex: Walmart- everyone of them looks the same

quantitative data

numerical data ex: distribution of people based on income

qualitative data

Data associated with a more humanistic approach to geography, often collected through interviews, empirical observations, or the interpretation of texts, artwork, old maps, and other archives.

regionalization

process by which specific regions acquire characteristics that differentiate them from others within the same country; certain economic activities may dominate in particular regions.

topographic map

a map that shows the surface features of Earth

scale of analysis

level at which the data is collected; global, regional, national, local (includes supranational and county)

cartographic scale

the ratio of a distance on Earth compared to the same distance on the map

spatial perspective

the "why" of "where"