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Location
A specific point that is mathematically defined with coordinates.
The location of Metea Valley is roughly 41°47’N 88°14’W.
Place
A specific area that has distinguishing physical characteristics.
The Midwest is a place defined by its flat landscape.
Formal/Uniform Region
A region defined by a single physical characteristic.
The Midwest can be considered a formal region as it one of its defining characteristics is its corn production throughout the region.
Functional/Nodal Region
A region that is based around interactions in a central node.
The Chicagoland area can be considered a functional region, with Chicago being the node and the many people commuting to and from Chicago being the interactions.
Perceptual/Vernacular Region
A region that is defined by people’s perceptions of it.
The South can be considered a perceptual region doesn’t have clear boundaries and is just bounded by how people think of it.
Assimilation
The process in which an old culture is abandoned and only a new culture is practiced.
An immigrant moving to America may be forced to assimilate in order to not be seen as an outsider to native American people.
Acculturation
The process in which an old culture and a new culture are both practiced and survive in harmony.
Families living in a different country than their heritage may acculturate, practicing the country they live in’s values outside and practicing their original values in their homes.
Syncretism
The process in which an old culture and a new culture combine to form an entirely new third culture.
People from around the world lived in New Orleans and were forced to use syncretism in order to communicate with each other as they couldn’t understand each other previously, creating the language Creole.
Cultural Landscape
The physical effect that a culture has on the environment around it.
Neighborhoods can be an example of cultural landscape as they physically change the land around them.
Hearth
The region in which a novel idea originates.
Though Christianity has spread throughout the globe, Jerusalem is the hearth of Christianity and where it was founded.
Expansion Diffusion
The process in which a feature spreads while still continuing to stay prevalent in its original location.
Islam went through expansion diffusion since it has spread all over the world while still staying strong in its founding location, the Middle East.
Relocation Diffusion
The process in which a feature spreads due to a physical movement of people while not staying prevalent in its original location.
While the Amish people originated in Europe, they went through relocation diffusion as they physically migrated more to the United States and left Europe entirely.
Hierarchical Diffusion
The spread of an idea from a person or a node of power.
A video game can be a form of hierarchical diffusion, where an original node such as a popular content creator can play it, to which their fans specifically will also play it and spread the word, slowly spreading it to more and more people.
Contagious Diffusion
The process in which a feature spreads rapidly and large-scale.
A viral video is a form of contagious diffusion, as it spreads quickly and to everyone instead of a specific demographic.
Stimulus Diffusion
The spread of an underlying principle over an actual characteristic.
McDonald’s can be a form of stimulus diffusion, because in different countries they all have slightly different menus, layouts, and exteriors to better fit in with the environment it is in, while the main idea of the McDonald’s is kept the same.
Possibilism
The belief that humans can overcome any environmental challenge that a place has.
Though humans can’t naturally live on the moon due to its physical conditions, possibilism believes that humans can overcome it and colonize the moon.
Environmental Determinism
The belief that the environmental characteristics of a place dictate the culture and development of the society that live there.
Because humans can’t naturally live on the moon due to its physical conditions, environmental determinism says that it shouldn’t be possible for humans to colonize the moon.
Scale
The scope of something being studied in comparison to the entire world.
A small-scale issue could be a high amount of traffic on Eola Road, while a large-scale issue could be a global power outage.
Projection
The method of translating locations on Earth’s surface to a flat map.
Cartographers need to use projection to make flat 2D maps of the spherical 3D globe.
Distortion
The consequential warping of shape, distance, relative size, or direction between locations on a map because of projection.
The Mercator projection has a drawback of an extreme distortion of relative size at the poles, making Greenland and Africa look roughly the same size when Greenland is actually 1/14 of Africa’s size.
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