AP Human Geography Exam

AP Human Geography Exam Vocabulary Flashcards

Spatial Perspective

Looking at space to see where things are in relation to each other.

Social

Relating to human society or its organization; how is this trend/event/change affecting the ways in which people interact?

Political

Relating to the government, public affairs, or electoral system of a territory; how is this trend/event/change affecting the ways in which civic affairs are being carried out?

Economic

That which pertains to financial value; how is this trend/event/change affecting the ways in which financial value is produced, earned, shared, or exchanged?

Environmental

Describes the natural world and the impact of human activity on its condition; how is this trend/event/change affecting nature and vice versa?

Demographic

Relating to the structure of human populations; how is this trend/event/change reflected in population increase, decrease, movement, etc.?

Spatial

Describing the relationship or geographic features within a space or between multiple locations; how does the distribution or pattern of a feature change across this region or between place A and place B?

Identify

Indicate or provide information about a specified topic, without elaboration or explanation.

Define

Provide a specific meaning of a word or concept.

Describe

Provide the relevant characteristics of a specified topic.

Explain

Provide information about how or why a relationship, process, pattern, position, or outcome occurs, using evidence and/or reasoning.

Compare

Provide a description or explanation of similarities and/or differences.

Formal Region

Regions that make up the political geographic divisions within a country.

Stimulus diffusion

The process by which a concept or item spreads from one place to another after being adapted or modified by the new users.

Developing countries

Area where most of the world's natural increase is located.

Nation-state

A state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular ethnicity that has been transformed into a nationality

Stateless Nation

A group of people with a common political identity who do not have a territorially defined, sovereign country of their own

Multi-state Nation

exists when national identity transcends national borders

Multi-nation state

A state that contains more than one nation

Devolution

process where regions within a state demand and gain political strength and growing autonomy at the expense of the central government

Irredentism

A policy of cultural extension and potential political expansion by a country aimed at a group of its nationals living in a neighboring country

Unitary State

A state governed as a single power in which the central government is ultimately supreme

Federal State

A political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions under a central (federal) government.

Centrifugal

A concept referring to the forces that divide people and countries.

Centripetal

A concept referring to the forces that unify or bind together a people or a country.

Supranationalism

Political, economic, and/or cultural cooperation among states to promote shared objectives.

Superimposed boundary

A boundary line or border placed over and ignoring an existing cultural pattern