Full unit vocab

Scale

The relationship between map distance and real world distance. Example: 1 inch = 100 miles.

Site

The physical characteristics of a place. Example: New York built on a harbor.

Situation

A place's location relative to other places. Example: Chicago between coasts makes it a transport hub.

Absolute location

Exact location using coordinates. Example: 40°N, 74°W.

Relative location

Location described in relation to other places. Example: Texas is south of Oklahoma.

Space

The physical gap between two places. Example: Distance between cities.

Place

A location with human meaning attached to it. Example: Times Square.

Region

An area sharing common traits. Example: The Bible Belt.

Human-environment interaction

How humans and the environment affect each other. Example: Building levees to control flooding.

Spatial perspective

Looking at the world by analyzing why things are where they are. Example: Why are hospitals located where they are?

GIS (Geographic Information System)

A computer system that layers geographic data to analyze patterns. Example: Mapping crime rates by neighborhood.

Remote sensing

Gathering data about Earth from satellites or aircraft without direct contact. Example: Google Earth imagery.

Choropleth map

A map using shading to show data by region. Example: Darker shading = higher population density.

Dot map

A map using dots to show where something is located. Example: Each dot = 1000 people.

Isoline map

A map using lines to connect points of equal value. Example: Weather maps showing temperature.

Mental map

A person's internal perception of a place. Example: Your memory of your neighborhood layout.

Topographic map

A map showing elevation using contour lines. Example: Hiking trail maps.

Map projection

A method of showing the curved Earth on a flat surface, causing distortion. Example: Mercator projection exaggerates polar regions.

Demographic Transition Model (DTM)

A model showing how birth and death rates change as a country develops through 4-5 stages. Example: Stage 1 = high birth and death rates like pre-industrial societies.

Stage 1 DTM

High birth rates, high death rates, low population growth. Example: Pre-industrial societies.

Stage 2 DTM

Death rates drop, birth rates stay high, population explodes. Example: Industrial Revolution era Europe.

Stage 3 DTM

Birth rates start falling, death rates low, growth slows. Example: Mexico in the late 20th century.

Stage 4 DTM

Low birth and death rates, stable population. Example: United States today.

Stage 5 DTM

Death rates exceed birth rates, population declines. Example: Japan and Germany.

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

The average number of children a woman will have in her lifetime. Example: TFR of 2.1 = replacement level.

Population pyramid

A bar graph showing age and sex distribution of a population. Example: Wide base = young, growing population.

Push factor

Something that drives people away from a place. Example: War, famine, poverty.

Pull factor

Something that attracts people to a new place. Example: Jobs, safety, better climate.

Intervening obstacle

A barrier that prevents migration. Example: A mountain range or border wall.

Ravenstein's Laws of Migration

People migrate in steps, mostly short distances, and are driven by economic reasons. Example: Rural to city to bigger city migration pattern.

Chain migration

People follow others from the same region to a new destination. Example: Italians settling in the same U.S. neighborhood.

Internally Displaced Person (IDP)

Someone forced from their home but still within their own country. Example: Someone fleeing a civil war within Syria.

Refugee

Someone forced to flee their country due to persecution or disaster. Example: Syrian refugees in Europe.

Asylum seeker

Someone who requests refugee status in another country. Example: A person fleeing political persecution requesting protection in the U.S.

Transnationalism

Maintaining cultural and economic ties to your home country after migrating. Example: Sending remittances back home.

Remittances

Money sent by immigrants back to their home country. Example: Mexican workers sending money to family in Mexico.

Carrying capacity

The maximum population an environment can sustainably support. Example: A drought reducing how many people a region can feed.

Malthusian theory

Malthus argued population grows faster than food supply, leading to famine and collapse. Example: Warning that overpopulation causes resource shortages.

Overpopulation

When a population exceeds the resources available to support it. Example: Parts of sub-Saharan Africa straining food supply.

Pronatalist policy

Government policy encouraging higher birth rates. Example: France offering financial incentives for having children.

Antinatalist policy

Government policy discouraging high birth rates. Example: China's former one-child policy.

State

A territory with defined borders, a permanent population, and a sovereign government. Example: France.

Nation

A group of people sharing culture, language, and identity. Example: The Kurdish people.

Nation-state

A state whose borders align with a nation's cultural boundaries. Example: Japan — mostly one ethnicity and culture.

Stateless nation

A group with a national identity but no sovereign state. Example: The Kurds or Palestinians.

Sovereignty

A state's right to govern itself without outside interference. Example: The U.S. making its own laws.

Multinational state

A state with multiple nations within its borders. Example: Canada with English and French Canadians.

Multistate nation

A nation that spans across multiple states. Example: The Korean nation split between North and South Korea.

Centripetal force

Something that unites a country. Example: A shared language or national pride.

Centrifugal force

Something that divides a country. Example: Religious conflict or separatist movements.

Devolution

The transfer of power from a central government to regional governments. Example: Scotland gaining more autonomy from the UK.

Balkanization

The fragmentation of a region into smaller, often hostile units. Example: The breakup of Yugoslavia.

Gerrymandering

Manipulating electoral district boundaries to favor one political party. Example: Drawing districts to dilute minority voting power.

Boundary types

Borders defined by physical, cultural, geometric, or historical features. Example: The U.S.-Canada border follows a line of latitude (geometric).

Antecedent boundary

A boundary drawn before an area was heavily settled. Example: U.S.-Canada border along the 49th parallel.

Subsequent boundary

A boundary drawn after settlement that reflects cultural or ethnic divisions. Example: The border between India and Pakistan.

Superimposed boundary

A boundary drawn by outside powers ignoring existing cultures. Example: African borders drawn by European colonizers.

Relic boundary

A former boundary that no longer functions but left cultural marks. Example: The Berlin Wall's former path still visible in Berlin.

Territorial morphology

The shape of a country and how it affects governance. Example: A fragmented country like Indonesia faces communication challenges.

Compact state

A state with a roughly circular shape, easy to govern. Example: Poland.

Elongated state

A long, narrow state with communication challenges. Example: Chile.

Prorupted state

A mostly compact state with one large extension. Example: Thailand.

Perforated state

A state that completely surrounds another. Example: South Africa surrounding Lesotho.

Fragmented state

A state made of separate pieces. Example: Indonesia or the Philippines.

Landlocked state

A state with no access to the ocean. Example: Bolivia.

Enclave

A territory surrounded by another country. Example: Lesotho inside South Africa.

Exclave

A piece of a country separated from the main territory. Example: Alaska separated from the contiguous U.S.

Organic theory

Ratzel's idea that states are like living organisms that need to grow to survive. Example: Used to justify imperialism and expansion.

Heartland theory

Mackinder's idea that controlling Central Asia means controlling the world. Example: Cold War strategy focused on containing the Soviet heartland.

First Agricultural Revolution

The transition from hunting and gathering to farming around 10,000 BCE. Example: Early humans domesticating wheat in the Fertile Crescent.

Second Agricultural Revolution

Improved farming techniques in 1700s-1800s increasing productivity. Example: Crop rotation and new tools feeding growing industrial populations.

Green Revolution

The mid-20th century spread of high-yield crops, fertilizers, and irrigation to developing countries. Example: Increased rice and wheat yields in India and Mexico.

Third Agricultural Revolution

Current era of biotechnology, GMOs, and precision agriculture. Example: Genetically modified drought-resistant crops.

Subsistence agriculture

Farming only enough food to feed yourself and your family. Example: Small family farms in rural Africa.

Commercial agriculture

Large-scale farming for profit and sale. Example: Corporate wheat farms in Kansas.

Intensive agriculture

Using lots of labor or inputs on a small area of land. Example: Rice paddies in Southeast Asia.

Extensive agriculture

Using large areas of land with less labor input. Example: Ranching in the American West.

Shifting cultivation

Clearing land to farm, then moving on when soil is depleted. Example: Slash and burn farming in the Amazon.

Pastoral nomadism

Moving livestock seasonally to find fresh pasture. Example: Herders in Central Asia moving with their flocks.

Plantation agriculture

Large-scale monoculture farming using cheap labor, often in tropical areas. Example: Banana or sugar plantations in Latin America.

Mediterranean agriculture

Farming suited to hot, dry summers including olives, grapes, and citrus. Example: Wine production in southern France.

Mixed crop and livestock

Combining crop farming with animal raising on the same farm. Example: Corn and pig farming in the Midwest.

Von Thünen Model

A model showing how land use is organized in rings around a central market based on transportation costs. Example: Perishable goods like dairy produced closest to the city.

Agribusiness

Large corporations controlling all aspects of food production from farm to store. Example: Companies owning farms, processing plants, and distribution.

GMO (Genetically Modified Organism)

An organism whose DNA has been altered for desired traits. Example: Bt corn engineered to resist pests.

Bid rent theory

Land value and intensity of use decrease as distance from the city center increases. Example: Skyscrapers downtown, suburbs further out.

Urban sprawl

The uncontrolled expansion of urban areas into surrounding rural land. Example: Phoenix expanding outward with endless suburbs.

Suburbanization

The movement of people from cities to surrounding suburbs. Example: Post-WWII American families moving to Levittown.

Gentrification

Wealthier residents moving into a low-income area, raising property values and displacing original residents. Example: Brooklyn neighborhoods transforming as rent rises.

Burgess Concentric Zone Model

A city grows outward in rings from a central CBD. Example: Chicago used as the basis for this model.

Hoyt Sector Model

Cities grow in wedge-shaped sectors along transportation routes. Example: Industrial zones following rail lines outward from the CBD.

Harris and Ullman Multiple Nuclei Model

Cities have multiple centers of activity, not just one CBD. Example: Los Angeles with many distinct activity centers.

Latin American City Model

A city with a spine of development, a CBD, and a disamenity zone of poverty on the edge. Example: Cities like Mexico City or Lima.

Central Place Theory

Christaller's theory that cities exist to provide services to surrounding areas, with larger cities offering more specialized services. Example: Small towns selling groceries, big cities selling luxury goods.

Primate city

A city that dominates a country's economy and culture, disproportionately large compared to others. Example: Paris in France, Bangkok in Thailand.

Rank size rule

The second largest city is half the size of the largest, third is a third, and so on. Example: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago following this pattern roughly.

CBD (Central Business District)

The commercial and business core of a city. Example: Midtown Manhattan.

Edge city

A large suburban area that has developed its own commercial and business activity. Example: Tysons Corner outside Washington D.C.

Megalopolis

A chain of connected metropolitan areas forming one massive urban region. Example: BosWash corridor from Boston to Washington D.C.

Squatter settlement (informal settlement)

Illegal, makeshift housing on the edge of cities in developing countries. Example: Favelas in Brazil.