APHG Final Study Guide - Semester 1

What is spatial pattern?

An analytical tool to measure the distance between two or more physical locations or items

What are different kinds of spatial pattern?

• Clustered (things in an area are clumped in one big group)

• Peripheral (things in a group form a loose shape)

• Grid (things in a group are organized in neat rows

• Linear (things in a group are in one straight line)

• Radial (things in a group are connected at one center point)

• Scattered (things in a group are randomly dispersed in an area)

What is the scale of analysis?

The relative size of the map or lens we choose to observe geographical phenomena

What are the kinds of scale of analysis? Examples?

• Global (data taken from the entire world)

• Regional (data taken from different regions in the world)

• National (data taken from an entire country)

• Sub-national (data taken from sections of a country like states or provinces)

• Local (data taken from small places inside a country, like counties)

What does MR. HELP stand for?

Movement — relocation in response to a perceived opportunity

Region — any area differentiated from surrounding areas by at least one characteristic

Human-Environment — the effect that humans have on their environment and the effect that the environment has on humans

Location — the position of something on earth’s surface

Place — a specific point on earth with human and physical characteristics that distinguish it from other places

What are the three kinds of regions?

• Formal or uniform

• Functional or nodal

• Vernacular

What is a formal (or uniform) region?

A formal region is an area where everyone shares one or more distinctive characteristics; could be a language, production of a particular font, or an environmental property like the climate

What is a functional (or nodal) region?

A functional region is an area that is organized around a node or focal point; often used to display information about economic areas; a shop could be a region’s node

What is a vernacular (or perpetual) region?

A vernacular region is an area that people believes exists as part of their cultural identity; they come about from a person’s informal sense of place rather than actual geographic models; an example would be the American South

What is environmental determinism?

Nineteenth century German geographers Alexander von Humboldt and Carl Ritter believed that human geographers should apply laws from the natural sciences to understanding relationships between the physical environment and human actions

What is environmental possibilism?

The physical environment may limit some human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to their environment

What is the cultural landscape?

The fashioning of a natural landscape by a cultural group

What are examples of the cultural landscape?

• The Netherlands creating polders and dikes to drain the land and keep the North Sea from flooding onto it

• US Army Corps of Egineers building a levee around Lake Okeechobee (South Florida) to drain the lake so there would be more farming area; this would lead to consequences for the environment like polluting the water

What is diffusion?

The process by which a characteristic spreads across space from one place to another over time

What are the kinds of diffusion?

• Relocation

• Expansion

  • Hierarchical

  • Contagious

  • Stimulus

What is relocation diffusion?

• The spread of a feature or trend through bodily movement of people from one place to another

• Migration (immigration and emigration)

  • Christianity spread when people brought it to new places

What is expansion diffusion?

• The spread or trend among people from one area to another in an additive process

• Islam has spread throughout the world, but is strongest in the Middle East, which is where it was created

What is hierarchical diffusion?

• The spread of a feature or trend from one key person or node of authority or power to other persons or places

• High-end fashion trends often start in global fashion capitals like Paris and Milan, then spread to smaller cities and towns

What is contagious diffusion?

• The rapid, widespread diffusion of a feature or trend throughout a population

• The spread of the internet or the spread of diseases

What is stimulus diffusion?

• The spread of an underlying principle even though a specific characteristic is rejected

• McDonald’s spread throughout the world, but when it got to India, chicken was used in the burgers instead of beef

GIS

• Geographic Information System

• A computer system that stores organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data

• Used to create maps and are a lot more accurate than hand-drawn ones

• Information can be stored in different layers, which can then be used to compare with each other; geographers have to calculate if this is coincidence or significant

  • Recently built houses to steep slopes

  • Rates of cancer (high and low) to incomes and ethnicities

  • Location of factories to location of mountains and valleys

GPS

• Global Positioning System

• A system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations, and receivers

• Phones with GPS allows for locations to be shared with others

• Motorists can use GPS to call for help

• GPS devices enable private individuals to contribute to the production of accurate digital maps

What is globalization?

• Actions or processes that involve the entire world and result in making something worldwide in scope

  • Globalization of economy

  • Globalization of culture

Globalization of economy

• 2008 recession

  • Started in the US and Europe, then spread to the rest of the world

• Led by transnational corporations

  • They conduct research, operate factories, and sell products in many countries, not just where it’s headquarters and principal shareholders are located

Globalization of culture

• Requires a form of common communication

  • The English language is an example of this

• As more people try to possess global culture, more local cultural beliefs are threatened with extinction

  • This isn’t the case everywhere; sometimes different cultures can flourish together

What is the Industrial Revolution?

• A conjunction of major improvements in manufacturing goods and delivering them to market in Europe and North America after 1750

  • This led to unprecedented wealth, some of which was used to make areas healthier to live in

• Led Europe and North America to enter Stage 2 of the Demographic Transition

What is space-time compression?

• The set of processes that cause the relative distances between places to contract, effectively making such places grow “closer”

  • Letters (from horseback to email) and travel (ships to airplanes)

What is a hearth?

The region from which innovative ideas originate; relates to the important concept of the spreading of ideas from one area to another (diffusion)

What is location?

The place where a particular point or object exists; more precise than place

What is absolute location?

A place’s exact place on Earth, often given in terms of latitude and longitude

What is a site?

The exact location of a city

What is situation?

The location of a place relative to other places

What is projection?

A system used to transfer location from Earth’s surface to a flat map

What are the four types of distortion?

1. The shape of an area can be distorted, so that it appears more elongated or squat than in reality

2. The distance between two points may become increased or decreased

3. The relative size of different areas may be altered, so that one area may appear larger than another on a map but is in reality smaller

4. The direction from one place to another can be distorted

Mercator projection

• Good at navigation because it preserves angles

• Size and distance are distorted at high latitudes

Goode Homolosine projection

• All of the continents are the correct size and in proportion to each other

• The distance and direction are not accurate

Robinson projection

• Doesn’t eliminate any distortion; it keeps all levels relatively low over most of the map

What is sustainability?

• The use of Earth’s renewable and nonrenewable natural resources in ways that do not constrain resource use in the future

• Three pillars

  • Environment

  • Economic

  • Social

Environment Pillar

• Sustainable use and management of Earth’s natural resources to meet human needs such as food, medicine, and recreation (conservation)

• Maintenance of resources in their present condition, with as little human impact as possible (preservation)

Economical Pillar

• Natural resources gain a monetary value through exchange in a marketplace

• The price of a resource depends on a society’s technological ability to obtain it and to adapt it to that society’s purposes

  • Earth has many substances that we don’t use because we lack the means to extract them or knowledge of how to use them

  • There are a lot of things that are potential resources

Society Pillar

• Using resources to meet the needs of shelter, food, and clothing

• Consumer choices can support sustainability when people embrace it as a value

  • Society’s values are the basis for choosing which resources to use

HDI

• Human development index

  • Summary composite measure of a country’s average achievements in three basic aspects of human development: life expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators

• Very high human development (0.8-1.0)

• High human development (0.7-0.79)

• Medium human development (0.55-0.70)

• Low human development (below 0.55)

What are the types of population density?

• Arithmetic

• Physiological

• Agricultural

Arithmetic density

• Total number of objects in an area

• Most frequently used

• To find it, divide the population by the land area

• Allows geographers to compare the number of people trying to live on a given piece of land in different regions of the world

• Answers the question of “where”

Physiological density

• Number of people supported by a unit area of arable land

• Comparing physiological and arithmetic helps geographers understand the capacity of the land to yield enough food for the needs of the people

Agricultural density

• Two countries can have similar physiological densities, but very different amounts of food due to different economic conditions

• The ratio of the number of farmers to the amount of arable land

• Helps account for economic differences

• Developed countries have lower agricultural density because technology and finance allow a few people to farm extensive land areas and feed many people

ZPG

• Zero Population Growth

• A decline of the total fertility rate to the point where the natural increase rate equals zero

• Often applied to Stage 4 countries

IMR

• Infant Mortality Rate

• The total number of death in a year among infants under one year of age for every 1000 live births in a society

• An important indicator of a country’s health

TFR

• Total Fertility Rate

• Compares figures for the average number of children that would be born per woman if all women lived to the end of their childbearing years and bore children according to a given fertility rate at each age

• This can go down due to birth control or a woman’s desire to pursue a career or education

CBR

• Crude Birth Rate

• The total number of live births in a year for every 1000 people alive in a society

CDR

• Crude Death Rate

• The total number of deaths in a year for every 1000 people alive in a society

NIR

• Natural Increase Rate

• The percentage of growth in a population in a year

• CBR minus CDR

Endemic

Belonging or native to a particular people or country

Epidemic

An outbreak of disease that spreads quickly and affects many individuals at the same time

Pandemic

A widespread occurrence of an infectious disease over a whole country or the world at a particular time

Infectious disease

Illnesses caused by germs (such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi) that enter the body, multiply, and can cause infection

Degenerative disease

The result of a continuous process based on degenerative cell changes, affecting tissues or organs, which will increasingly deteriorate over time

Population policies

• A set of measures taken by a State to modify the way its population is changing, either by promoting large families or immigration to increase its size, or by encouraging limitation of births to decrease it

  • Higher taxation of married couples that have no, or too few, children

  • Politicians imploring the populace to have bigger families

  • Tax breaks and subsidies for families with children

Demographic transition

• Process of a change in a society’s population from high CBR and CDR and low rate of natural increase to a condition of low CBR and CDR, low rate of natural increase, and higher total population

• Has four stages (and a possible fifth)

Stage 1 of the DT

• Low growth

  • Very high birth and death rates produce virtually no long-term natural increase

• Most of human history spent there, but no country is there today

Stage 2 of the DT

• High growth

  • Rapidly declining death rates and very high birth rates produce very high natural increase

• Europe and North America entered this stage in 1750, but Africa, Asia, and Latin America didn’t until 1950

• Improved medical practices have helped countries move to this stage

Stage 3 of the DT

• Decreasing growth

  • Birth rates rapidly decline, death rates continue to decline, and natural increase rates begin to moderate

• People living in Stage 3 societies are more likely to live in cities than the countryside

• Europe and North America moved to Stage 3 in the first half of the twentieth century, but many countries in Asia and Latin America took until the second half of the twentieth century

• Economic changes might lead people to not want to have as many kids

Stage 4 of the DT

• Low growth

  • Very low birth and death rates produce virtually no long-term natural increase and possibly a decrease

• Also called Zero Population Growth (ZPG)

• Places might enter Stage 4 as social customs change, like women being allowed to be in the work force

• Denmark is a country that has reached this stage (as well as most other European countries)

(Potential) Stage 5 of the DT

• Decline

  • Very low CBR, an increasing CDR, which leads to a negative NIR

• Several European countries already have negative NIRs, like Russia and other former Communist countries

• This will lead to most a country’s future population being old

Economic causes of migration

• Financial issues can hinder a migrant’s journey

• Obstacles

  • Migrants run out of money to complete journey

  • Prohibitive costs to complete journey

• Opportunities

  • Jobs available in closer location

  • Situation improves at or near place of origin

Social/Cultural causes of migration

• Includes issues like religion, race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, health, or education

• Obstacles

  • Quotas on immigration from certain places

  • Migrants face discriminatory practices that prohibit migration

• Opportunities

  • Healthcare or education being made available closer to home

  • Laws being passed so it’s safer to stay closer to home

Political causes of migration

• Things relating to government or politics

• Obstacles

  • Missing paperwork

  • Inability to get passport or visa

  • Limitations on migration from receiving country

  • War/political instability

• Opportunities

  • Asylum offered in a closer location

  • Political situation in original destinations calms down before migrant can make final step

Environmental causes of migration

• Natural world

• Obstacles

  • Having to cross the ocean

  • Crossing a river using a ford

  • Encountering a large mountain range

• Opportunities

  • Favorable land available closer to place of origin

Forced migration

• The movement that refugees, IDPs, and some migrants make — both within their home country and between countries — due to forces beyond their control

  • African slave trade

Voluntary migration

• Occurs when someone chooses to leave home

  • Immigrants coming to America for better opportunities

Transnational migration (Voluntary)

• Leave country of origin and enter another country

• Maintain connection to country of origin

• Often settle in similar areas of migrants

• Leave mark on cultural landscape

Transhumance migration (Voluntary)

• Livestock led to highlands in summer, lowlands in winter

• Cyclical movement

• Migration routes also connected to trade routes

Internal migration (Voluntary)

• Permanent move in a country

• Economics: job relocation/opportunity

• Culture: live near those who share the same cultural traits

Chain migration (Voluntary)

• Migration where there’s type of a relationship with a previous migrant

• Often familial

• Can ease the burden of migration

Step migration (Voluntary)

• Series of starts and stops

• Can involve intervening obstacles and/or intervening opportunities

Guest workers and remittance migration (Voluntary)

• Temporary migrants who often have legal permission to migrate for work or education related reasons

• Work in medicine, education, construction, and finance

• Often send money back to home country in the form of remittance

Rural to urban migration (Voluntary)

• People from rural to urban cities

• Often drawn by economics and housing services

Intraregional migration

The movement within the same region of the country

Interregional migration

The movement from one region of a country to another

Political effects of migration

• Historical

  • Forced migration

    • Removal of Native Americans, leading to many deaths and reduction of their land

• Current

  • Today migrants seeking political safety are asylum seekers

Economic effects of migration

• Migrants often take important jobs that the native population can’t or choose not to

• Migrants might migrate seasonally or temporarily if unable to do so permanently

• Often send home remittances

• Doctors, scientists, and computer programmers may migrate to make more money

  • Known as brain drain

Cultural effects of migration

• Some countries place quotas on number of immigrants admitted from certain countries

• US created diversity lottery for people coming from countries that historically sent few people to the US

• Policies created impact on cultural diversity of US

• Migrants may be blamed for social ills and may face persecution because of their ethnicity or nationality

• Anti-immigrant sentiment comes from fear that migrants will change cultural (religious, lingual, culinary, etc.) traditions

IDP

• Internally Displaced Person

  • Persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence to avoid the effects of armed conflict and situations of violence

Gravity model

A model used to estimate the amount of interaction between two cities

Distance decay

• The theory that states that as the distance between two places increases, the interaction between those two places decreases

  • Example: If you live in a rural area, it’s unlikely that you travel to a bigger city 100 miles even if it offers bigger and better goods and services

Folk culture

Culture traditionally practiced by a small, homogeneous, rural group living in relative isolation from other groups

Popular culture

Culture found in a large, heterogeneous society that shares certain habits despite differences in other personal characteristics

Material culture

The physical objects, resources, and spaces that people use to define their culture (neighborhoods, cities, schools, churches, offices, etc.)

Identity

How people make sense of themselves and how they see themselves at different scales

Assimilation

• The process through which people lose originally differentiating traits, such as dress, speech particularities or mannerisms, when they come into contact with another society or culture

  • Example: moving to a new country and no longer speaking your native language or carrying on your traditional customs

Appropriation

• A situation where a dominant social or cultural group takes an expression, idea, or product from an oppressed cultural group and uses it for its own benefit

  • Example: Using a Native American tribal name as an American sports team (Redskins, Blackhawks, etc.)

Reterritorialization

• When people within a place start to produce an aspect of popular culture themselves, doing so in the context of their local culture and making it their own

  • Indonesian hip hop

Origin and diffusion of English

• Modern English evolved from the language that three tribes called the Angles, Jutes, and Saxons spoke

  • The Angles came from a corner of Germany, which influenced the language

• When Vikings invaded England, their language got added to English

• England was invaded by the Normans in 1066, which caused French to mix with English

• English diffused to other countries when the British started making colonies

  • The US has also helped to bring English to the Philippines

Origin and diffusion of romance languages

• Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, and Romanian

• All came from the Latin spoken during the Roman Empire

  • A lot of words came from Vulgar Latin, which is what the commoners spoke

• After the Roman Empire fell, people migrated and that led to the eventual split and diffusion of all the different languages

Origin and diffusion of Indo-European

• Germanic, Romance, Balto-Slavic, and Indo-Iranian

• All of these languages have common roots for some words

• Proto-Indo-Europeans are our ancestors

• Nomadic Warrior Hypothesis

  • Created by Marija Gimbutas

  • Protos believed to be Kurgans that lived in between Russia and Kazakhastan

  • Kurgans were nomadic herders, so it would explain how the language diffused to Europe, Siberia, Iran, and South Asia

• Sedentary Farmer Hypothesis

  • Colin Renfrew argues that Protos lived before the Kurgans in Turkey

  • Said they would have gone to Greece, then to Italy, Sicily, Corsica, the Mediterranean coast of France, Spain, and Portugal

    • From the Mediterranean coast, to the British Isles

  • Also would have gone north towards Romania and east to Ukraine

Religion diffusion

Religions have diffused from cultural hearths to other regions of the world due to exploration, persecution, and migration

Ethnicity

• The identity with a group of people who share a common identity with a specific homeland or hearth

  • Hispanic-Americans

  • Polish-Americans

Race

• The identity with a group of people who share a biological ancestor

  • Black

  • White

Ethnocentrism

• When someone uses their own culture as the center and evaluates other cultures based on it

  • Most of the western world believes eating bugs to be disgusting, but in some cultures it’s normal and good

Genocide

• Deliberate extermination of a racial or cultural group

  • The Holocaust

  • The Rwandan Genocide