5 Themes of Geography and Population Dynamics Review

These flashcards cover the key concepts from the lecture on the 5 themes of geography and population dynamics.

Place

A unique location of a feature on Earth, characterized by its specific physical and human attributes.

Region

Areas of unique shared characteristics, which can be formal, functional, or perceptual.

Scale

The relationship between the size of a feature on a map and its actual size on the ground, ranging from local to global.

Toponym

The name given to a place on Earth, which can be a name or a number.

Site

The physical character of a place, including elements like climate, water sources, and topography.

Situation

The location of a place relative to other places, which helps to understand its significance.

Formal Region

An area within which everyone shares one or more distinctive characteristics uniformly, such as language.

Functional Region

An area organized around a node or focal point, like a metropolitan area.

Perceptual Region

A place that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity, but is difficult to define precisely.

Density

The frequency with which something occurs in space.

Concentration

The extent of a feature's spread over space.

Cyclic Movement

Movement that has a closed route, often relating to daily or seasonal routines.

Push Factors

Negative conditions that drive people away from a location.

Pull Factors

Positive conditions that attract people to a new location.

Demographic Transition Model (DTM)

A model that describes the stages a country's population goes through over time, from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates.

Dependency Ratio

A measure comparing the working-age population to the non-working-age population (under 15 and over 64).

Ravenstein's Laws of Migration

Principles that explain patterns of migration, such as that migrants tend to move short distances and are often young adults.

Migration Patterns

Trends or movements of people from one region or country to another.

Cultural Landscape

The visible imprint of human activity on the landscape; how culture shapes the environment.

Migration Policies

Regulations and laws governing the movement of people across borders.

Globalization

The process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide, often accelerated by advances in transport and communication.

Urbanization

The process by which an increasing percentage of a population lives in cities and suburbs.

Gentrification

A process where wealthier individuals move into lower-income neighborhoods, leading to displacement of long-time residents.

Neo-Malthusianism

A modern adaptation of Malthus's theories, warning about the potential for resource depletion due to population growth.

Human Geography

The study of human activities and their relationships with each other and their environments.

Economic Inequality

The unequal distribution of income and opportunity between different groups in society.

Cultural Superiority

The belief that one's own culture is superior to others, often rooted in historical contexts.

Intervening Obstacles

Factors that hinder migration, such as laws, environmental challenges, and cultural barriers.

Carrying Capacity

The maximum population size that an environment can sustain indefinitely without causing ecological degradation.

Spatial Interaction

The flow of goods, services, people, or information between locations.