AP Human Geography Course and Exam Description (Effective Fall 2020)

These flashcards cover key vocabulary and concepts related to the AP Human Geography course.

AP (Advanced Placement)

A program that allows high school students to take college-level courses and exams.

Censorship

The suppression of speech, public communication, or other information.

Indoctrination

The process of teaching a person or group to accept a set of beliefs uncritically.

Ethnicity

A category of people who identify with each other based on shared cultural, linguistic, or ancestral heritage.

Sustainability

The ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level, often relating to environmental health.

Spatial Interaction

The movement of people, goods, or information across space, reflecting relationships between spatially separated places.

Demographic Transition Model (DTM)

A model that describes population change over time through different stages of development.

Centrifugal Forces

Forces that divide a population and create instability in a state.

Centripetal Forces

Forces that unify a state by creating a common sense of identity among its people.

Mitigation

Action taken to reduce the severity, seriousness, or painfulness of something, often related to climate change.

Urbanization

The process by which more of a population becomes concentrated in cities, leading to growth of urban areas.

Globalization

The process by which businesses or other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale.

Core-Periphery Model

A model that describes the spatial structure of an economy as having a core (developed) area surrounded by a periphery (less developed) area.

Gentrification

The process of renovating and improving a house or district so that it conforms to middle-class taste, often leading to displacement of lower-income residents.

Devolution

The transfer of powers and responsibilities from central to local governments.

Environmental Determinism

The theory that the physical environment predisposes human social development towards particular trajectories.

Possibilism

The theory that the environment sets certain constraints or limits, but culture is otherwise determined by social conditions.

Service Sector

The sector of the economy that provides services to consumers and businesses.

Industrialization

The development of industries in a country or region on a wide scale.

Urban Sprawl

The uncontrolled expansion of urban areas.

Food Desert

An area with limited access to affordable and nutritious food.

Megacity

A city with a population of over 10 million.

Political Geography

A field of geography that deals with the spatially uneven outcomes of political processes.

Territoriality

The connection of people, their culture, and their economic systems to the land.

Maps

Visual representations of an area that illustrate relationships between elements.

Statistical Data

Quantitative information collected for analysis.

Cultural Landscape

The visible imprint of human activity on the landscape, shaped by cultural practices.