Geography Vocabulary

Flashcards for vocabulary terms from lecture notes.

Absolute Distance

A measure of the physical space between two locations.

Absolute Location

Description of the position of a place in a way that never changes, such as geographic coordinates of latitude and longitude.

Acculturation

The process of changes in culture that result from the meeting of two groups, each of which retains distinct cultural features.

Administered Boundary

The enforcement and maintaining of a boundary by a government; individual governments decide how strict border crossings will be.

Affordability

Ease of accessibility to services.

African Union

An organization of African states aimed at encouraging economic development and political stability through increased cooperation between members.

Aging Population

A population in which the percentage of people that are age 65 or older is increasing relative to other age groups, especially the working age population.

Agglomeration

Grouping of many firms from the same industry in a single area for cooperative use of infrastructure and sharing of labor.

Agricultural Population Density

The ratio of the number of farmers to the total amount of arable land (land suitable for agriculture).

Agricultural Practices

The ways in which crops and livestock are grown and managed on a farm or ranch.

Agricultural Revolution

The process that began when human beings first domesticated plants and animals and no longer relied entirely on hunting and gathering.

Agricultural Sector

The portion of the economy which is concerned with growing food for human consumption.

Antecedent Boundary

A boundary between two states that is created before the area is populated by humans.

Antinatalist

Government policy that supports lower birth rates.

Aquaculture

The cultivation of seafood under controlled conditions.

Architecture

The building and design styles and techniques that are characteristic of a society or region in a certain time period.

Arctic Council

Intergovernmental organization promoting cooperation and interaction among the Arctic States.

Arithmetic Population Density

The total number of people divided by the total land area.

Assimilation

The process by which a group's cultural features are altered to resemble those of another group.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

Organization which promotes cultural, economic, and political development in Southeast Asia.

Asylum Seeker

Someone who has migrated to another country in the hope of being recognized as a refugee.

Attitude

Opinion toward a certain topic, largely maintained by an entire cultural group.

Autonomous Region

An area of a country that has freedom from an external authority, including the government of that country.

Balance of Power

A condition of roughly equal strength between opposing countries or alliances of countries.

Behavior

Observable actions or responses of humans or animals.

Berlin Conference

Meeting of European powers in 1884 to regulate European colonization and trade in Africa; established political boundaries within Africa.

Bid-Rent Theory

Refers to how the price and demand for real estate change as the distance from the central business district increases.

Biodiversity

The variety of organisms in a location.

Biotechnology

Uses living organisms, usually genes, to modify products, to make/modify plants and animals, or to create other microorganisms.

Birth Rate

The number of live births in a year per every 1,000 people in the population in a given year.

Blockbusting

A process by which real estate agents convince white property owners to sell their houses at low prices because of fear that persons of color will soon move into the neighborhood.

Boomburb

A large, rapidly growing city that is suburban in character but resembles population totals or large urban cores.

Break-of-Bulk Point

A location where transfer is possible from one mode of transportation to another.

Brownfields

Real property which is difficult to redevelop or reuse due to the presence of a hazardous substance or pollutant.

Buddhism

Religion founded on the teachings of Buddha which says that life is full of suffering caused by desire, and enlightenment can be achieved by being released from desire.

Built Landscape

An area of land represented by its features and patterns of human occupation and use of natural resources.

Burgess Concentric Zone Model

A model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are spatially arranged in a series of rings.

Carrying Capacity

The population size of a species that the environment can sustain indefinitely, given the available resources.

Causal Factors

Reason why something happens.

Census

Population count of a nation, state, or other region; includes demographic information.

Census Data

Information collected from a census that is used by planners of understand the social, economic, and demographic conditions locally and nationally.

Central America

Land bridge connecting North and South America, not officially a continent on its own.

Centralized Governance

The power in a country lies in one central body.

Centrifugal Force

A cultural value that tends to pull people apart.

Centripetal Force

A cultural value that tends to unify people.

Chain Migration

Migration to a specific location because relatives or members of the same nationality previously migrated there.

Changing Diets

Increased desire for meat in diets over the last fifty years

Chemicals

Substances used to increase crop yield by killing pests or increasing the growth of the plant.

Choke Points

A place where physical geography creates obstacles to the easy passage of people and goods from one place to another.

Christaller's Central Place Theory

A theory that explains the distribution of services based on the fact that settlements serve as centers of market areas for services; larger settlements are fewer and farther apart than smaller settlements and provide services for a larger number of people who are willing to travel farther.

Christianity

Religion based on the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as well as the Old Testament, emphasizing Jesus as savior.

Climate Change

Change in the earth's climate, especially due to the change in the atmospheric pressure.

Climatic Condition

Climate of an area.

Clustered Settlement

A rural settlement in which the houses and farm buildings of each family are situated close to each other, with fields surrounding the settlement.

Clustering

A pattern in which objects in an area are close together.

Colonialism

An attempt by one country to establish settlements and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles in another territory.

Columbian Exchange

The transfer of plants and animals, as well as people, culture, and technology, between the Western Hemisphere and Europe, as a result of European colonialization and trade.

Commercial Farming

Agriculture undertaken primarily to generate products for sale off the farm.

Commodity Dependence

When peripheral economies rely too heavily on the export of raw materials, leaving them vulnerable to economic collapse.

Communication Technologies

Internet, phones.

Community-Supported Agriculture

A community of Individuals who pledge support to a farm operation so the farmland becomes the "community's farm" rather than only taken care of by the farmer.

Comparative Advantage

The ability of a country, firm, or individual to produce a good or service at a lower opportunity cost than other producers.

Complementarity

The actual or potential relationship between two places.

Complex Commodity Chain

Interconnected networks of production, distribution, and consumption that are involved in bringing a product from its raw materials stage to the final consumer.

Consequent Boundary

Boundary between opposing ethnic groups that was established to settle disputes, end wars, and establish a clear separation between groups.