Human Geography AP Review Flashcards

Flashcards based on Human Geography AP Review notes, focusing on key vocabulary and concepts.

Globe

A three-dimensional representation of the earth and a scale model that depicts area, distance, and direction accurately.

Reference Maps

Maps that tell us where things are located; examples include political maps, physical maps, city maps, county maps, and road maps.

Political Maps

Maps that provide the boundaries and locations of political units like countries, states, cities, and towns, usually showing human-made features.

Physical Maps

Maps that show bodies of water such as rivers, streams, and lakes, as well as landforms such as mountains, plains, plateaus, and valleys.

Thematic Maps

Maps that tell you information and data about an area; examples include Choropleth, Dot, Graduated Symbol, Isoline, and Cartograms.

Distortion

The problem of distortion is especially severe for maps depicting the entire world. Remember SADD

Shape (Distortion)

The Shape of an area can be distorted, so that it appears more elongated or squat than in reality.

Area (Distortion)

The Area (relative size) of different areas may be altered, so that one area may appear larger than another on a map but is in reality smaller.

Distance (Distortion)

The Distance between two points may become increased or decreased.

Direction (Distortion)

The Direction from one place to another can be distorted.

Mercator Projection

A map projection used to cross the Atlantic from Europe to the Americas; it accurately shows directions and shapes but distorts area (relative size), especially near the poles.

Peters Projection

A map projection that corrects spatial distributions related to the area (sizes) of places, ensuring area sizes of landmasses are correct but distorting shapes, especially near the poles.

Robinson Projection

A general-use map with no major distortion, useful for displaying information across oceans, but with slight distortions in area, shape, size, and direction.

Fuller Projection

A map projection that maintains the accurate shape and size of landmasses but rearranges direction.

Cartographic Scale

Refers specifically to the relationship of a feature’s size on a map to its actual size on Earth.

Small Cartographic Scale

A scale where a small-scale map shows a smaller amount of detail for a larger area.

Large Cartographic Scale

A scale where a large-scale map shows a larger amount of detail for a smaller area.

Scales of Analysis

Go from local to state(national) to regional to global and vice versa. Changing scale of analysis will lead to different data

Remote Sensing

Acquisition of data about the earth’s surface from a satellite orbiting Earth or from other long distance methods; highly accurate images.

Global Information Systems (GIS)

Storage of information to be retrieved later; information can be "layered" and used to analyze data and display information from multiple digital maps or data sets.

Satellite Navigation System (GPS)

Designed as a location device most commonly still used for navigation; provides exact position on the earth using the global grid (latitude and longitude).

Qualitative Data

Data suited for cultural or regional studies, not represented by numbers, and normally collected through interviews or interpretation of texts, maps, or other visual observations.

Quantitative Data

Information that can be measured and recorded using numbers, often used with geographic information systems because of usefulness with formulas and computers.

Space

The extent of an area.

Place

Attributes and values we associate with a location. A place can be seen as a space that has meaning.

Distance

The measurement of how far or how near things are to one another

Time-Space Compression

Shrinking “time distance” between locations because of improved methods of transportation and/or communication. Result: global forces are influencing culture everywhere and reducing local diversity more than ever before.

Distance Decay

The farther away someone is from another, the less likely the two are to interact. This trailing off phenomenon is called distance decay.

Globalization

Interconnectedness of the world and increasing interaction of peoples with both positive and negative effects.

Cultural ecology

the study of how humans adapt to the environment

Environmental determinism

The belief that landforms and climate are the most powerful forces shaping human behavior and societal development

Possibilism

the physical environment may set limits on human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to the physical environment

Cultural Determinism

the only thing that will restrain people is people themselves; there are no environmental restrictions.

Regionalization

Is the process geographers use to divide and categorize space into smaller areal units.

Formal/Uniform Regions

United by one or more distinctive traits; usually measurable with facts. Can be predominant.

Functional/Nodal Region

An area organized around a node or focal point; the characteristic chosen to define this type of region dominates at a central focus or node and diminishes in importance outward.

Perceptual/Vernacular Regions

Regions defined by the informal sense of place that people ascribe to them and vary widely