APHUG: Unit 2

Place

A specific point on Earth distinguished by a particular characteristic.

Space

The physical gap or interval between two objects.

Scale

The relationship between the portion of Earth being studied and Earth as a whole.

Spatial interaction

The movement of humans and the goods they create across space.

Cultural landscape

The fashioning of a natural landscape by a cultural group.

Region

An area distinguished by a unique combination of trends or features.

Formal region

An area within which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristics.

Functional region

An area organized around a node or focal point.

Vernacular region

An area that people believe exists as a part of their cultural identity.

Remote sensing

The acquisition of data about Earth's surface from a satellite orbiting the planet.

GIS (Geographic Information Systems)

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

Cartography

The science of map-making.

Population density

The number of people living per unit of an area.

Demographic transition model

A model that describes population change over time in four stages.

Malthusian theory

The theory that population growth will outpace food production, leading to famine and conflict.

Dependency ratio

The ratio of those typically not in the labor force (dependent) to those usually in the labor force.

Census

A complete enumeration of a population.

Crude birth rate (CBR)

The total number of live births in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society.

Crude death rate (CDR)

The total number of deaths in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society.

Net migration

The difference between the number of immigrants and the number of emigrants.

Push factors

Conditions that drive people away from their home country.

Pull factors

Conditions that attract people to a new area.

Urbanization

The process by which cities grow and higher percentages of the population come to live in the urban areas.

Industrial revolution

A period of major industrialization that took place during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Suburbanization

The process of population movement from within towns and cities to the rural-urban fringe.

Urban renewal

The redevelopment of urban areas.

Gentrification

The process of transforming a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents.

Cultural diffusion

The spread of cultural beliefs and social activities from one group to another.

Relocation diffusion

Spread of a cultural trait by people moving from one place to another.

Hierarchical diffusion

The spread of a feature or trend from one key person or node of authority to others.

Contagious diffusion

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

Stimulus diffusion

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

Environmental determinism

The belief that the physical environment predisposes human social development.

Possibilism

The theory that the environment sets certain constraints or limitations, but culture is otherwise determined by social conditions.

Cultural ecology

The study of human adaptations to social and physical environments.

Spatial analysis

A technique used in geography to analyze and reveal patterns of spatial phenomena.

World-systems theory

A theory that aims to explain the dynamics of the capitalist world economy and its effect on societal development.