AP Human Unit 1 Vocab

A complete list of vocabulary terms and definitions from AP Human Geography Unit 1.

Accessibility

How quickly and easily people in one location can interact with people in another location

Built environment

Refers to the physical artifacts that humans have created and that form part of the landscape.

Connectivity

How well two locations are tied together by roads or other links

Cultural Landscapes

Anything built by humans which is unique to their specific culture

Density

The number of items in a given area

Direction

Used to describe where things are in relation to each other.

Absolute Distance

How near or far things are apart in measured terms such as feet, miles, meters, or kilometers

Relative Distance

Indicates the degree of nearness based on time or money

Distance decay

The inverse relationship between distance and connection, the further away, the less connected

Distortion

The alteration of a shape or other physical characteristic of an object

Distribution

The way a phenomenon is spread out over an area

Patterns

The general arrangement of things in the distribution of phenomena

Clustered/Agglomerated

Phenomena are arranged in a group or concentrated together ex. restaurants in a food court or cities along an international boarder

Linear Phenomena

a straight line ex towns along a railroad line

Dispersed Phenomena

are spread out over a large area examples airports in a metro area

Circular Phenomena

are equally spaced from a central point, forming a circle ex home of people who shop at a particular store

Geometric Phenomena

are in a regular arrangement ex squares or blocks formed by roads in a city

Random Phenomena

appear to have no order to their position ex the distribution of pet owners in a city

Elevation

The distance of features above sea level, usually measured in feet or meters

Environmental determinism

The belief that landforms and climate are the most powerful forces controlling human behavior and societal development while ignoring the influence of culture

Environmental Possibilism

A view that acknowledges limits on the effects of the natural environment and focuses more on the role that human culture plays

Field observation

The act of physically visiting a location, place, or region and recording, firsthand, information there.

Four-Level Analysis

Comprehension, identification, explanation, prediction

Friction of distance

The further apart things are, the less connected they tend to be

Geospatial data

Data that is quantitative or qualitative and may be gathered by organizations or individuals

Ghost towns

Cities that have been abandoned, particularly in the western US

GIS

Computer system that can store, analyze, and display information from multiple digital maps or geospatial data sets

Globalization

(Unit 3) The increased integration of the world economy since the 1970s

Global Positioning System (GPS)

Receivers on the earth's surface (like your phone) use the location of multiple satellites (a minimum of 4) to determine and record a receiver's exact location

Hemisphere

A half of the earth. Separated into North and South and East and West

Human-environmental interaction

The relationship between humans and the natural world, the connection and exchange between them.

Human geography

How humans have understood, used, and changed the surface of the earth

Landscape Analysis

The task of defining and describing landscapes

Latitude

The distance north or south of the equator given in degrees also called parallels

Tropic of Cancer

23.4394 degrees north of the Equator. Most northerly latitude at which the sun can appear directly overhead at noon

Tropic of Capricorn

23.4394 degrees south of the Equator. Most southerly latitude at which the sun can appear directly overhead at noon

Equator 0 degrees

a line equally distant (equidistant) from the north and south poles, divides the earth into northern and southern hemispheres.

Longitude

The set of curving imaginary lines that run north-south and come together at the poles.

Meridians

A circle of constant longitude that pass through both poles.

Prime Meridian

The meridian designated as 0 degrees longitude, passes through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England, divides earth into eastern and western hemispheres.

International Date Line (not a meridian)

The internationally recognized boundary at which each calendar day starts.

Absolute location

The precise spot where something is, according to a system. Typically given in longitude and latitude coordinates.

Relative location

A description of where something is in relation to other things. West Forsyth High School is west of Central Forsyth High School

Map Projections

The process of showing a curved surface on a flat surface

Conic

Purpose is for general use in midlatitude countries. Strengths lines of longitude converge, lines of latitude are curved, shape and size are close to reality Distortions: Direction is not constant on a world map, longitude and latitude appear constant, land masses near poles (Greenland) appear large

Mercator

Used in navigation. Strengths- Directions shown accurately, lines of longitude and latitude meet at right angles Distortions: distance between lines of longitude and latitude appear constant, land masses near the poles (Greenland) appear much larger than they are, land masses near the equator (Africa) appear much smaller than they are

Peters

Used to depict special distributions related to an area. Strengths Sizes of land masses are accurate Distortions: Shapes of land masses are inaccurate, especially near the poles

Robinson

General usage. Strengths no major distortions, oval shape appears more like a globe than they would with a rectangular map Distortions: Area, shape, size, and directions area all slightly distorted

Mental map

a personal visualization of spatial information, or a map of information in the human mind

Reference maps

Designed for people to refer to for general information about places

Political

Show and label human-created boundaries and designations, such as countries, states, cities, and capitals

Physical

Show and label features, such as mountains, rivers, and deserts

Road

Show and label highways, streets, and alleys

Plat

Show and label property lines and details of ownership

Scale

The ratio between the size of things in the real world and the size of those same things on the map.

Cartographic Scale

The way the map communicates the ratio of its size to the size of what it represents

Small scale Map

A LARGE amount of area. The map shows less detail (ex: Earth at night)

Large Scale Map

A SMALL amount of area. The map shows a great amount of detail (ex: walking map of New York City)

Scale of Analysis of a map

Defined by the type of boundaries shown on the map

Local

Scale of Analysis City or local level (ex. map of Cumming, GA)

Regional Scale of Analysis

An area of a state, a country, or continent (ex. Middle Georgia, Africa)

National

Scale of Analysis At the Country Level (ex. the different countries in Europe)

Global

The entire world with no country or continental boundaries shown

Thematic maps

Show spatial aspects of information or of a phenomenon

Choropleth

Use various colors, shades of one color, or patterns to show the location and distribution of spatial data

Dot distribution

Used to show the specific location and distribution of something across a map

Graduated symbol

Uses symbols of different sizes to indicate different amounts of something

Isoline (Isometric)

Uses lines that connect points of equal value to depict variations in the data across space (ex. elevation)

Topographic

Maps that use isolines to represent constant elevations

Cartogram

The sizes (ex. country or state) are shown according to a specific statistic

Networks

A set of interconnected entities, sometimes called nodes

Regionalization

describing an area in terms of its individual characteristics, such as a shared language or cultural identity, that make that place unique

Region

A group of places in the same area that share a characteristic

Perceptual/Vernacular

Region Defined by the informal sense of the place that people ascribe to it

Formal/Uniform/Homogenous

Region United by one or more traits such as political, physical, cultural, or economic

Functional/Nodal Region

Organized around a focal point and defined by an activity (political, social, or economic) that occurs across the region

Wallerstein's Classifications (Covered in full later in the course)

is a framework used to categorize countries based on their economic and political relationships in the world system. It typically divides nations into core, periphery, and semi-periphery categories.

Core

Highly industrialized and wealthy, first world, most developed

Semiperiphery

Those in the process of developing industry, less developed, newly industrialized

Periphery

More reliant on producing raw materials than on industry, third world, least developed

Place

The specific human and physical characteristics of a location

Physical geography

The study of the spatial characteristics of carious elements of the physical environment ex: landforms, bodies of water, climate, ecosystems, and erosion

Physical site characteristics

Topography, soil, water sources, vegetation, and elevation

Processes

The method or action used in order to reach a specific pattern

Proximity

Nearness in space, time, or relationship

Qualitative data

Not usually represented by numbers ex: interviews, photographs, remote satellite images, descriptions, or cartoons

Quantitative data

Any information that can be measured and recorded using numbers

Remote sensing

Use of cameras or other systems mounted on aircraft or satellites to collect digital images or video of the earth's surface

Sense of place

How humans perceive the characteristics of places in different ways

Site

The characteristics, such as soil type, climate, and labor force, at an immediate location

Situation

The location of a place relative to its surroundings ex Denver is at a higher location than Eastern Colorado

Space

The area between two or more phenomena or things

Spatial patterns

The general arrangement of things being studied and the repeated sequences of events, or processes that create them.

Spatial Approach

Considers the arrangement of the phenomenon being studied across the surface of the earth

Spatial Interaction

The increasing connection between places

Sustainability

Using resources in a way that allows their use in the future while minimizing negative impacts on the environment

Time-Space compression

The shrinking time-distance or relative distance between two locations because of improved methods of transportation and communication

Topography

Elevation and changes in elevation

Toponym

Place or geographic names

U.S. Census Bureau

The US agency tasked with taking a census, a count of a population, every 10 years