AP Human Geography Units 1.1–1.2 Vocabulary

A set of vocabulary flashcards defining core terms, map types, map projections, data sources, and geospatial tools from AP Human Geography Units 1.1 and 1.2.

Spatial perspective

The perspective that studies where things are located and the relationships among places, people, and environments.

Absolute location

The exact position of something on Earth, such as specific coordinates.

Relative location

The position of something on Earth described in relation to another place.

Place

The physical and human characteristics that make a location distinctive.

Pattern

The arrangement of features in space, which can be clustered, dispersed, linear, or random.

Process

An action or change that produces a spatial pattern.

Scale of analysis

The geographic level used to examine a pattern, such as global, national, regional, or local.

Reference map

A map that shows locations of many physical or human features to answer 'Where is it?'.

Thematic map

A map that shows the spatial pattern of one topic or variable to answer 'What pattern?'.

Political map

A map showing borders, countries, states, cities, and capitals.

Physical map

A map showing landforms, elevation, rivers, and other natural features.

Road map

A map showing transportation routes and named places.

Choropleth map

A thematic map where areas are shaded by a value, rate, or percentage.

Dot-density map

A thematic map where each dot represents a stated number of occurrences.

Proportional symbol map

A thematic map where symbol size changes with the quantity represented.

Isoline map

A map where lines connect points with the same value.

Cartogram

A map in which area size is distorted to represent a statistic.

Flow-line map

A map using lines and arrows to show movement, where line width may indicate volume.

Mercator projection

A map projection that preserves direction and local shape but greatly enlarges high latitudes.

Gall-Peters projection

A map projection that preserves relative area but stretches shapes.

Robinson projection

A compromise map projection that balances several distortions for a visually useful world map without preserving any property perfectly.

Azimuthal / polar projection

A map projection centered on a flat plane that can preserve direction or distance from the center.

Map scale

Shows the relationship between distance on the map and distance on Earth, indicating how zoomed in or out a map is.

Quantitative data

Numerical information that can be measured or counted.

Qualitative data

Descriptive information about characteristics, meanings, or experiences.

Primary data

Geographic data collected firsthand by the researcher.

Secondary data

Geographic data previously gathered by another person or organization.

Census

An official count and description of a population, usually collected by a government.

Field observation

Directly viewing, recording, or measuring geographic features at a location.

Landscape analysis

Interpreting the visible features of an area to understand human and environmental processes.

GPS

Global Positioning System; uses satellites and receivers to calculate an exact location on Earth.

GIS

Geographic Information System; a computer system that stores, layers, analyzes, and maps spatial data.

Remote sensing

The collection of information from a distance using satellites, aircraft, or drones.

Satellite imagery

A remotely sensed image of Earth's surface.