Climate, landforms, vegetation ○ Human geography
Where and why human activities are located where they are
Miles on each side ■ North-south lines = principal meridians ■ East-west lines = baselines ○ Range ○ Sections
Townships are divided into 36 sections 1 mile by 1 mile
■ ● Functional (nodal) regions ○ Example
the circulation area of a newspaper/ ■ Nodal center point is also called hearth
○ ● Vernacular (cultural) regions ○ Example
the American South
Relative Location
Location from a certain place (place from a supermarket)
Absolute Location
Exact location (addresses, latitude/longitude)
Space
Distance between two objects
Density
Number of objects within an area
Physiological Density
Number of people per amount of arable land
Agricultural Density
Number of farmers per amount of arable land
Pop Culture
Heterogeneous, rapidly changes, diffuses rapidly, spreads over a large area
Local Culture
Done locally, only in small area
Folk Culture
Culture in tribes, Native Americans
Place
A specific point on the earth distinguished by a particular characteristic
Region
Area of Earth distinguished by a distinctive combination of cultural and physical features
Scale
Relationship between the portion of Earth being studied and Earth as a whole
Space
Gap or interval between two objects
Connections
relationships among people and objects across the barrier of space
Meridians
lines of longitude / prime meridian
Parallels
lines of latitude / equator
Environmental determinism
The belief that the physical environment sets limits on human social environment
Possibilism
Modern geographers generally reject environmental determinism in favor of possibilism
Climate
Long term average weather condition at a particular location
Vegetation
Plant life covers almost the entire land surface of earth
Arithmetic
total # of objects in an area
Physiological
Agricultural
Hearth
source area for innovations
Hierarchical Diffusion
Spread of an idea from persons or nodes of authority or power to other persons or places
Contagious Diffusion
Rapid widespread diffusion of a characteristic throughout the population
Stimulus Diffusion
Spread of an underlying principle even though a characteristic itself apparently fails to diffuse