GG102 Midterm Review: Key Concepts and Themes

Controversial toponyms

Place names that may be considered offensive due to cultural changes in word usage.

Displacement

The forced removal of individuals or communities from their homes or neighborhoods, often due to economic pressures or urban development.

Red line

A term related to the practice of marking areas on maps to denote neighborhoods where banks would not lend money, often leading to systemic discrimination.

Toponym

The common name given to a location; a place name that can evolve based on cultural or historical significance.

Physical features toponyms

Place names that recognize a physical attribute of the landscape, like Grand Prairie, Alberta.

Plant or animal toponyms

Place names that reflect local flora or fauna, such as Red Cedar Lake, Ontario.

Event related toponyms

Place names associated with historically or culturally significant events, such as Battle Harbour, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Socially constructed

Given different meanings by different groups for different purposes, reflecting diverse perspectives.

Sense of place

The feelings evoked by, or deep attachments to, specific locations resulting from individual experiences.

Sacred place

A location with particular significance to an individual or group, often for religious reasons.

Eco gentrification

A process that relates to the displacement of residents due to the influx of wealthier individuals into a neighborhood, often linked to environmental or economic changes.

Highland

A geographical area characterized by elevated terrain, which can be significant in discussions of land use and environmental impacts.

Place

A location that has acquired particular meaning or significance, which can change over time.

Personal toponyms

Place names associated with individuals of local or cultural significance, such as Hamilton, Ontario, named after George Hamilton.

Imported toponyms

Place names that have been brought from a settlers' homeland, like London, Ontario, named after London, UK.

Indigenous toponyms

Place names that reflect or recognize Indigenous ancestry, such as Canada, named for 'kanata', meaning 'village' in Huron-Iroquois.

Religious toponyms

Place names associated with faith or belief, such as Saint John, New Brunswick.

Economic toponyms

Place names descriptive of historical or contemporary economic activities, like Silicon Valley, California.

Optimistic/pessimistic toponyms

Place names that comprise words of hope or despair, like Heart's Delight, Ontario, and Death River, Alberta.

Turtle Island

The name used by Indigenous people in Canada and the United States, symbolizing their cultural heritage.

Social relations

Patterns of interaction among family members and between genders in various social contexts.

Perception

The process by which humans acquire information about physical and social environments, interpreting lived experiences.

Space

The areal extent of something, used in both absolute and relative forms.

Absolute space

Defined as the amount of space that can be objectively measured with definable boundaries.

Relative space

Subjective space based on a person's perception, which is subject to continuous change.

Spatial

Refers to space on the earth's surface; synonymous with geographic.

Mental (perceptual) maps

An image or spatial representation of how space is organized, influenced by an individual's knowledge.

Geographic scale

The territorial extent or level of analysis, such as local, regional, and global.

Location

A particular position in space; a specific part of the earth's surface.

Absolute location

A system of reference points to identify a precise location in space, typically using a global grid system like longitude and latitude.

Relative location

The location of one place or site using other locations as a reference point.

Sacred places

A location with particular significance to an individual or a group, usually for religious reasons.

Placelessness

The nature of locations that lack uniqueness or individual character; used for homogeneous and standardized landscapes.

Region

A part of the earth's surface that displays internal homogeneity and is relatively distinct from surrounding areas according to certain criteria.

Regionalization

The process of classifying locations or areas of the earth's surface into various regions.

Formal (or uniform) region

An area that possesses a certain degree of uniformity with respect to one or more physical or cultural traits.

Functional (or nodal) region

An area organized around a node or focal point and unified by specific economic, political, or social activity.

Vernacular (or perceptual) region

An area identified on the basis of the perceptions held by people inside or outside the region or both.

Landscape

The characteristics, or overall appearance, of a particular area or location, comprising a combination of natural and human influences.

Cultural landscapes

The characteristics or overall appearance of a particular area or location, resulting from human modification of the natural environment.

Distance

A measure of the amount of space between two or more locations; can be measured in both absolute terms and relative terms.

Distribution

The spatial arrangement of geographic phenomena within an area; includes density, concentration, and pattern.

Density

A measure of the relationship between the number of geographic phenomena and a unit of area; typically expressed as a ratio.

Concentration

The spread of geographic phenomena over a given area.

Clustered (agglomerated)

Occurs when the distance between geographic phenomena is small; clustering occurs when geographic phenomena move closer together.

Dispersed (deglomerated)

Occurs when the distance between geographic phenomena is large; dispersion occurs when geographic phenomena move apart from one another.

Pattern

The geometric, regular, or other spatial arrangement of geographic phenomena in a given area.

Diffusion

The process of geographic phenomena spreading over space and through time.

Hearth

The area where a particular cultural trait originates.

Cultural diffusion

The process of cultural phenomena spreading over space and through time.

Relocation diffusion

A basic form of diffusion in which the geographic phenomena are physically moved from one area to another.

Spatial interaction

The nature and extent of the relationship or linkages between locations.

Distance decay

The effects of distance on spatial interaction; generally, intensity of interaction declines with increasing distance.

Friction of distance

A measure of the restraining effect of distance on human interaction and movement.

Accessibility

A variable quality of a location, expressing the opportunity for interaction with other locations.

Connectivity

The direct and indirect linkages between two or more locations.

Cartography

The art and science of making maps.

Latitude

The angular distance of a point on the surface of the earth, measured in degrees, north and south of the equator.

Longitude

The angular distance of a point on the surface of the earth, measured in degrees, east and west of the prime meridian.

Time zones

A region of the earth that observes a uniform standard time.

Map scale

The relationship between the size of a geographic feature on a map and the corresponding actual size of the feature on the earth's surface.

Projection

A process to transform the spherical earth's surface onto a two-dimensional map.

Reference maps

A map portraying the absolute locations of places and geographic phenomena using a standard frame of reference.

Thematic map

An analytical tool to illustrate and emphasize the spatial variation of a particular theme or attribute.

Dot maps

A thematic map where dots represent geographic phenomena.

Choropleth maps

A thematic map using colour or shading to indicate intensity of geographic phenomena in a given area.

Isopleth maps

A thematic map using lines to connect locations of equal value with respect to a geographic phenomenon.

Cartograms

A thematic map where the size and shape of spatial areas are intentionally distorted based on the magnitude of the geographic phenomena.

Remote sensing

A series of techniques used for collecting spatial data through instruments that are physically distant from the object of study.

Global positioning system (GPS)

A satellite-based system for determining the absolute location of geographic phenomena.

Geographic information system (GIS)

A system of computer hardware and software that facilitates the collection, storage, analysis, and display of spatially referenced data.

Fieldwork

A means of collecting data and insight into geographic issues outside a laboratory, library, or workplace setting.

Culture

The way of life of a society's members, including belief systems, norms, and material practices; typically refers to language, religion, clothing, foods, forms of settlement, social practices, & so on that differentiate one group from another.

Cultural Diffusion

The process of cultural phenomena (e.g. ideas, innovations, trends, languages) spreading over space & through time.

Territorialization

To organize on a territorial basis.

Territoriality

The persistent attachment of individuals or peoples to a specific location or territory.

Ethology

The scientific study of the formation and evolution of human customs and beliefs.

Proxemics

The study of the social and cultural meanings that people give to personal space.

Eruv

A ritual space used by Orthodox Jews during observance with Sabbath, from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday.

Eruvin

Spatial constructs designed to alleviate difficulties adhering to the rules of the Sabbath.

Cultural Regions

Areas having a degree of homogeneity in cultural characteristics; areas with similar cultural landscapes.

First Effective Settlement

A concept based on the likely importance of the initial occupancy of an area in determining later landscapes.

Homeland

A cultural region especially closely associated with a particular cultural group; the term usually suggests a strong emotional attachment to place.

Topophilia

The affective ties that people have with particular places and landscapes; literally, a love of place.

Topophobia

The feelings of dislike, anxiety, fear, or suffering associated with particular places and landscapes.

Cultural Adaptation

Changes in technology, organization, and ideology that permit sound relationships to develop between humans and their physical environment.

Gemeinschaft

A form of human association based on loyalty, informality, and personal contact; assumed to be characteristic of traditional rural village communities.

Gesellschaft

A form of human association based on rationality, formality, depersonalization, and anonymity; assumed to be characteristic of people in urban communities.

Language

A system of communication that has mutually agreed-upon spoken and (usually) written forms.

Language Families

A group of closely related languages derived from a common but distant ancestor.

Nationalism

The expression of belonging to and self-identifying with a nation (a cultural group); goes along with a belief that a nation has the right to determine its own affairs.

Multilingual States

A country in which more than one language is spoken, in either official or popular use.

Minority Languages

A language spoken by a minority group in a country in which the majority of the population speaks another language; may or may not be an official language.

Lingua Franca

An existing language that is used as a common means of communication between different language groups.

Pidgin

A composite language, consisting of vocabulary from two or more languages, designed to facilitate communication and commerce between different language groups; typically has a limited vocabulary.

Creole

A pidgin language that assumes the status of a native language (mother tongue) for a group.

Exonyms

A name given to a place (or group of people) by a group other than the people to whom the name refers.

Religion

A social system involving a set of beliefs and practices through which people make sense of the universe and their place within it.

Universalizing Religions

A religion of broad geographic scope that expands and diffuses through the active conversion of new members (via proselytizing); examples include Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism.

Ethnic Religions

A religion, usually of narrow geographic scope, that is tied to a particular ethnic or tribal group and does not actively seek converts; examples include Hinduism, Judaism, Shinto, Taoism, and Confucianism.