Geography Nature and Perspectives

A set of flashcards covering key concepts, terminology, and definitions from the lecture notes on geography, globalization, and cultural diversity.

Globalization

The process of increasing interactions, interdependence, and relationships across borders.

Local Diversity

The desire to express and keep cultural, political, and economic attributes that make us unique.

Density

The frequency that something occurs in a given space.

Arithmetic Density

Total number of people divided by the total land area.

Physiological Density

Number of people per unit of arable land.

Agricultural Density

Ratio of the number of farmers to the total amount of arable land.

Concentration

Changes in distribution; how close together things are, whether they are dispersed or clustered.

Pattern

The arrangement of the distribution of features in a given space.

Reference Maps

Maps that show locations of places and geographic features.

Thematic Maps

Maps that tell a story and require interpretation of specific information.

Cartogram

A thematic map that distorts size to show the intensity of a mapped variable.

Isoline Maps

A thematic map that uses lines to express movement, such as migration or wind currents.

Choropleth Maps

Thematic maps that use shading patterns or colors to depict a variable.

Proportional Symbol Map

A thematic map in which the size of symbols varies in proportion to the intensity of the mapped variable.

Dot Map

A thematic map where a dot represents some frequency of the mapped variable.

Mental Maps

Maps we carry in our minds of places we have been and heard of.

Remote Sensing

Using geo-spatial technology to take pictures of the Earth's surface.

Geographic Information System (GIS)

A computer system for capturing, storing, checking, and displaying data related to positions on Earth's surface.

Geographic Positioning System (GPS)

A network of satellites and receiving devices used to determine the location of something on Earth.

Cultural Convergence

When the global world meets the locally diverse world, often leading to the loss of local diversity.

Acculturation

When immigrant populations adopt enough of the new culture to function but retain aspects of their original culture.

Environmental Determinism

The theory that environment strongly shapes human behavior.

Possibilism

The theory that humans can actively alter their environment to make it more habitable.

Sequent Occupance

Layers of cultural landscape that exist where multiple cultures have inhabited.

Functional Regions

Regions organized around a particular service or network.

Perceptual Regions

Regions defined by people's perceptions and understandings.

Cultural Diffusion

The spread of cultural traits from one place to another.

Distance Decay

The principle stating that the interaction between two locales declines as the distance between them increases.