APHUG Units 4-8

culture

the learned beliefs and practices of a group of people

cultural diffusion

the spread of a cultural trait

expansion diffusion

 traits diffuse outward from the hearth

relocation diffusion

traits are brought to a new location via human migration

cultural landscape (built environment)

the visible traces of a culture on the land

sacred site

a place with religious significance

ethnicity (nation)

A group of people with shared culture and history

ethnic enclave

a neighborhood with a high concentration of immigrants from the same country [Chinatown, Little Italy]

nation state

an ethnically ~homogeneous country  

balkanization

the division of a multiethnic state into smaller, ethnically homogeneous countries 

race

a group of people with shared physical characteristics (phenotypes) → genetic 

ethnic cleansing

the forced removal of one ethnic group by another in order to create an ethnically homogeneous region

segregation

the enforced separation of races

redlining

 banks’ refusal to grant loans to people of a certain race

white flight

movement of whites from cities to suburbs

block-busting

exploiting fears of integration to get white homeowners to sell their homes at low prices

restrictive covenant

an agreement forbidding the sale of a home to members of a certain race

 language family

a group of languages that share a distant ancestor

 lingua franca

a language used for trade or commerce by speakers of different languages

dialect

a regional variation of a language

 state (country)

an area of land with fixed boundaries that is under the control of a certain government

sovereignty (territoriality)

the right of a government to make laws within a state

shatterbelt

a region of instability at the intersection of rival powers

unitary state

a country where all power is held by the central government; everyone follows the same laws

federal state

a country where power is shared by the central govt. and regional govts; different regions have different laws

forward capital

a symbolically relocated capital

stateless nation

an ethnicity that does not control a state

electoral geography

the division of a country into voting districts

the Neolithic Revolution (the First Agricultural Revolution)

the transition from nomadic hunting and gathering to sedentary farming (~8,000 BCE)

subsistence agriculture

growing crops for personal consumption

extensive

requires a lot of land

shifting cultivation

a form of subsistence agriculture in which plots of land are cultivated for a few years, then abandoned until fertility is restored

slash-and-burn cultivation

a form of shifting cultivation in which soil is prepared by cutting and burning vegetation

pastoral nomadism

a form of subsistence agriculture based on the herding of animals

the British Agricultural Revolution (the Second Agricultural Revolution)

a huge increase in food production in England (~1700)

commercial farming

growing crops for sale

intensive

requires a lot of labor and capital

plantation agriculture

 a form of commercial agriculture based on the production of  cash crops

 model

a prediction of how a process occurs

→ not always correct

von Thunen model of land use

a model describing the relationship between land use and the distance from a market/town

factory farming

a system of raising livestock meant to maximize production and profits

food desert

an area where residents have limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables 

→ nearest grocery store is > 1 mile away

the Green Revolution (the Third Agricultural Revolution)

a huge increase in food production in LDCs, beginning in the 1950s.

sustainability (sustainable development)

ways of meeting people’s needs that do not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

human development index (HDI)

a measurement of health, wealth, and education in a country

the demographic transition model

predicts that specific demographic changes will occur as a country industrializes and develops economically

transnational corporation (TNC)

a company that does business in many countries

island of development 

AKA maquiladora / 

special economic 

zone (SEZ) / export processing zone (EPZ)

a place built up by a country’s government to attract foreign direct investment

Wallerstein’s world system theory

a way of explaining development by focusing on economic relationships among states

dependency theory

the idea that core countries develop at the expense of the periphery

neocolonialism

economic and political policies that allow countries to continue to dominate their former colonies

site

the physical characteristics of a place

friction of distance

as distance increases, the cost of movement increases

Weber’s least-cost theory of industrial location

the idea that an industry will choose a location for a factory that minimizes production costs.

agglomeration

the clustering of similar businesses for easier access to skilled workers and capital

labor intensive industry

an industry in which workers’ wages are a high percentage of total production costs → textiles

the new international division of labor

the mass production of goods in LDCs, with corporate HQ, research, and development in MDCs

 right to work laws

laws that prevent labor unions from requiring all workers in a business to pay union dues

multiplier effect

the ability of one basic industry job to create several non-basic jobs 

threshold

the minimum # of people (customers) needed to support a service.

range

the maximum distance consumers are willing to travel to obtain a service.

Christaller’s central place theory

a model that predicts the number, size, and location of settlements in a country.

rank-size rule

the nth-largest city in a country will be ABOUT 1/n the size of the largest city

primate city

a city with more than twice the population of a country’s next largest city → does NOT follow rank-size rule

megalopolis

a chain of connected cities

edge city / exurb / boomburb

a commercial center outside of the traditional central business district; “suburban city

urban decay (urban blight)

the loss of basic services in a city due to a lack of investment

urban sprawl

low-density, single-purpose, auto-dependent development

brownfield

abandoned, formerly industrial areas that are contaminated by hazardous pollution or toxic waste

new urbanism (smart growth)

development that promotes walkable neighborhoods and a diversity of housing and jobs

central business district (CBD)

the commercial center of a city

informal settlement / squatter settlement / slum / favela

a residential area whose residents have no legal claim to the land

gentrification

the transition of an area’s population from majority low-income residents to majority high-income residents