AP Human Geography Unit 1 Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards derived directly from AP Human Geography Unit 1 lecture notes.

Map

A two dimensional, or at, representation of Earth;s surface or a portion of it.

Global Positioning System (GPS)

A system that determines the precise poisition of something on Earth

Geographic Information Science (GIScience)

An analysis of data about Earth acquired through satellites and other electronic information technologies.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

An system that captures, stores, queries, and displays the geographic data.

Absolute distance

The distance between two points using either miles or kilometers.

Relative distance

The distance between two points using the natural features around you

Direction

The line or course on which something is moving or is aimed to move or along which something is pointing or facing.

Clustering

Objects, people, of building which are closely grouped in the same area

Dispersal

The process or result of the spreading of organisms from one place to another

Elevation

The height to which something is elevated

Distortion

The act of twisting or altering something out of it's true form

Space

A physical gap between or interval between two objects.

Remote sensing

Remote sensing satellites that can scan Earth

Absolute location

The location of something using lattitude and longitude

Relative location

The location of something based off of it's surroundings features.

Site

The place, scene, or point of an event or action

Place

A speci c area or region of the world

Flows

To move, come, and go in one continues direction

Distance decay

Interaction at two places decrease as the distance between them increases.

Time-space compression

the process by which transportation and communication between two places reduces as faster technologies are created.

Pattern

A regular or repeated way in which something is done or happens.

Sustainability

Able to be used without being completely used up or destroyed.

Natural resources

A resource that is found in or created by nature.

Land use

How humans modify the natural landscape and assign in commercial, residential, or industrial purposes.

Environmental determinism

A theory in human geography that the physical environment completely controls and dictates human culture, society, and human behavior.

Possibilism

The geographic theory that states the physical environment will set limits and enforce challenges

Scale

To rise in a graduated series.

Formal region

An area dened by one or more shared characteristics.

Functional region

An area organized by a focal point or central nod.

Perceptual/vernacular region

An area dened by people shared shared feeling, culture, and attitude rather then measurable data and border lines.

Spatial association

The degree which two or more variables match or overlap in a geographic region.

Latitude

A imaginary line that measures the distance between the North and South Pole.

Longitude

Imaginary lines that measures distance east or west of the prime meridian.

Parallel

Used to describe anything that are the same distance apart along their entire length and will never touch.

Meridian

The representation of a circle or half circle numbered for longitude on a map or globe

Prime Meridian

The meridian of 0 degrees longitude

Equator

The circle that splits the Earth into the Northern and Southern hemisphere.

Renewable resource

A natural material or energy source that the Earth naturally replaces over time.

Resource

A supply of something that some has and can use when needed.

Toponym

A speci c name given to something on Earth.