World Geography — Chapter 4 Study Guide: Human Geography

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the core concepts of Human Geography: culture, population, political systems, urban patterns, and economic geography.

Culture

The shared knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors passed on by members of a group, acting as a shared "blueprint for life."

Society

A broad group that shares a geographic region, a sense of identity, and a culture.

Ethnic Group

A specific group that shares characteristics such as language, customs, and a common heritage.

Innovation

A new idea, behavior, or way of meeting a need.

Cultural Hearth

The place where a cultural innovation begins.

Diffusion

The spread of an idea or behavior to other people or places.

Acculturation

Changes that occur in a society after it adopts an outside cultural trait.

Population Distribution

The geographic pattern describing where people are spread across an area.

Population Density

A measure of how crowded an area is on average, calculated as population divided by land area.

Rate of Natural Increase

The rate at which a population grows, calculated by subtracting the mortality rate from the birthrate.

Population Pyramid

A graphic device that shows the age and sex distribution of a population to help identify growth trends.

Push Factor

A factor that drives people away from a place, such as drought, conflict, crop failure, or loss of income.

Pull Factor

A factor that attracts people to another place, such as jobs, safety, relatives, or better opportunities.

Carrying Capacity

The number of organisms or people a piece of land can support, which can be increased by technological advances like irrigation or fertilizer.

State

An independent political unit with a defined territory, a government, and control of its internal and external affairs.

Nation

A group of people who share a common culture and a strong sense of unity or identity.

Nation-State

A political unit that exists when a nation and a political state occupy the same territory.

Stateless Nation

A cultural nation that does not possess its own independent political state.

Natural Boundary

A boundary based on physical features of the land, such as rivers, lakes, or mountain ranges.

Artificial Boundary

A human-created border line, often based on latitude and longitude coordinates or a formal treaty agreement.

Urbanization

The dramatic rise in the number of cities and the changes in lifestyle that result.

Metropolitan Area

A functional area formed when a central city, its surrounding suburbs, and outer exurbs link together economically and socially.

Central Business District (CBD)

The core commercial area of a city where high land values encourage the construction of tall buildings to maximize floor space.

Concentric Zone Model

An urban model in which land use is arranged in a series of rings expanding outward from the central business district.

Sector Model

An urban model where activities expand outward from the city center in wedge-shaped corridors, often along transportation routes.

Multiple Nuclei Model

An urban model in which a city contains several separate centers of activity rather than a single focal point.

Traditional Economy

An economic system in which customs, habits, and established practices guide production, often relying on barter.

Command Economy

An economic system in which a central government makes all major decisions regarding the production of goods and services.

Market Economy

An economic system in which production decisions are guided by consumer demand and private businesses.

Mixed Economy

An economic system that combines elements of a market economy with government regulation, services, and oversight.

Primary Economic Activity

The sector of an economy that involves the extraction or harvesting of raw materials, exemplified by farming, mining, or fishing.

Secondary Economic Activity

The sector of an economy that involves manufacturing and processing raw materials into finished goods, exemplified by factory work.

Tertiary Economic Activity

The sector of an economy that provides business, professional, or personal services, exemplified by teaching or retail.

Quaternary Economic Activity

The sector of an economy focused on intellectual activities, research, and information management, exemplified by data analysis.

Renewable Resources

Natural resources that can be regenerated or replaced through ongoing natural processes over time.

Nonrenewable Resources

Natural resources that cannot be replaced on a human time scale once they are extracted and consumed.

Inexhaustible Resources

Energy resources that are effectively unlimited in supply, such as solar power, wind, tides, or geothermal heat.

Infrastructure

The basic physical and organizational structures and support systems needed for an economy to operate, such as power, transportation, and water.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

The total market value of all final goods and services produced within the borders of a country during a specified time period.