AP Human Geography: Regional Analysis and Place

Vocabulary flashcards covering core geographic concepts of place, regions, ecumene, and regional analysis from the lecture transcript.

Total Land Area of Earth

The total land surface area of Earth, which measures more than $57\text{ million square miles}$.

Theme of Place

The geographic theme used to answer the question 'What is it like?' by examining the features and characteristics that set a location apart.

Types of Regions

Categories identified by geographers to group places with unifying characteristics or activity patterns, including formal, functional, and perceptual/vernacular regions.

Regional Boundaries

Geographic boundaries defining regions that are transitional, often contested, and overlapping.

Scales of Regional Analysis

The three levels at which geographers apply regional analysis: local, national, and global scales.

Language Regions

Regional divisions of a country based on accents and dialects, used by geographers to compare how history and other factors affect speech patterns.

Creoles

People in New Orleans who may be of pure French or Spanish ancestry, or of mixed European and African heritage, and who share a unique French-based language.

Place

The combination of physical and human characteristics of a specific location on Earth.

Ecumene

Areas with permanent human settlements.

Non-ecumene

Areas that are inhospitable to permanent settlements.

Hurricane Katrina

A $2005$ hurricane event in New Orleans where levee failure left $80\%$ of the city under water, causing the deaths of more than $1{,}000$ people and the displacement of more than $60{,}000$.

Incas

A population in the Andes Mountains that successfully learned to adapt to high elevation, cold climate, and less arable land to support a growing population.