AP Human Geography Study Flashcards

A collection of flashcards designed to help students review key concepts in AP Human Geography.

Geography

The description of the Earth’s surface and the people and processes that shape those landscapes.

Diffusion

The spread or movement of a principle or idea.

Formal Region

Regions where anything and everything inside has the same characteristic or phenomena.

Function Region

Regions defined around a certain point or node that lose characteristics as distance increases.

Perceptual Region

Regions that exist primarily in an individual's perception or feelings.

Environmental Determinism

A philosophy of geography stating that human behaviors are a direct result of the surrounding environment.

Possibilist

An approach suggesting humans can alter their environment to meet their needs.

Scale

The relationship of the size of the map to the area it represents on the planet.

GPS (Global Positioning Systems)

Technology used to determine exact locations using Earth's latitude and longitude.

GIS (Geographic Information Systems)

A system that layers geographic information into a new map to show specific types of geographic data.

Satellite Imagery

Images of the Earth taken from artificial satellites orbiting the planet.

Remote Sensing

Studying an object without making physical contact with it.

Population Density

The number of people per unit area, often used to assess how populated a region is.

Carrying Capacity

The ability of land to sustain a certain number of people.

Ecumene

The term for habitable land.

Underpopulation

The surplus of necessary resources to meet the needs of a population.

Overpopulation

The lack of necessary resources to meet the needs of a population.

Demographic Transition Model

A model that categorizes countries' population growth rates based on birth and death rates.

Push Factor

Negative perceptions about a location that induce people to move away.

Pull Factor

Positive perceptions about a location that induce people to move there.

Folk Culture

Practiced by relatively small, homogeneous populations in particular areas.

Popular Culture

Rapidly diffused culture among heterogeneous societies, often through mass communication.

Language Family

Groups of languages organized by their common ancestry.

Monolingual Country

A country where one official language is used for all government business.

Multilingual Country

A country with more than one official language.

Centripetal Force

An attitude or force that unifies people and increases support for a state.

Centrifugal Force

An attitude or force that pulls people apart, creating dissimilarity.

Urbanization

The process by which people live and are employed in a city.

Primate City

A city with at least twice the population of the next largest city in the country.

Gentrification

The process where wealthier individuals move into inner-city neighborhoods, often displacing existing residents.

Sustainable Development

Development that meets current needs without compromising future generations.

Globalization

The process of increasing interconnection and interdependence among countries.

Industrial Revolution

A period of rapid industrial development that began in Great Britain in the late eighteenth century.

Agribusiness

The mass production of agricultural products on a large scale.

Outsourcing

Shifting tasks or processes to another country to reduce costs or improve efficiency.

Community Development

The process of improving the economic, social, and environmental well-being of a community.

Neocolonialism

The continued influence of former colonial powers over their former territories.

Environmental Modification

Human-driven changes to the physical environment that sometimes have drastic effects.