APHG Unit 1 Vocabulary

Vocab for Unit 1 of Advanced Placement Human Geography.

Absolute Location

The exact position of a place on the Earth's surface, often expressed in coordinates.

Cartogram

A map in which the sizes of countries or regions are distorted to convey information about a particular variable.

Cartography

The art and science of map-making.

Choropleth Map

A thematic map where areas are shaded or patterned in proportion to the value of a variable.

Concentration

The spread of something over a given area.

Contagious Diffusion

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

Cultural Ecology

The study of how human society interacts with the environment.

Cultural Landscape

The visible imprint of human activity on the landscape.

Density

The frequency with which something occurs in space.

Diffusion

The process by which a feature spreads from one place to another over time.

Distance Decay

The diminishing in importance and eventual disappearance of a phenomenon with increasing distance from its origin.

Distribution

The arrangement of a feature in space.

Dot distribution map

A map that uses dots to represent the presence of a feature or phenomenon.

Environmental Determinism

The belief that the physical environment predisposes human social development.

Expansion diffusion

The spread of a feature or trend among people from one area to another in an additive process.

Formal/Uniform region

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

Functional/Nodal region

An area organized around a node or focal point.

Geographic Information System (GIS)

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

Geotagging

The process of adding geographical identification metadata to various media.

Global Positioning System (GPS)

A satellite-based navigation system that allows a GPS receiver to determine its exact location.

Globalization

The process by which businesses or other organizations develop international influence.

Graduated symbol map

A map that uses symbols of different sizes to represent data associated with different areas.

Hearth

The region from which innovative ideas originate.

Hierarchical diffusion

The spread of a feature or trend from one key person or node of authority to other persons or places.

Reverse Hierarchical diffusion

The spread of a feature or trend from a lower to a higher social class.

Isoline map

A map that uses lines to connect points of equal value.

Location

The position of something on the Earth's surface.

Longitude

The geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface.

Map Scale

The relationship between distance on a map and the corresponding distance on the ground.

Mental map

An internal representation of a portion of Earth's surface.

Non-renewable resource

A resource that cannot be replaced once it is used.

Pattern

The geometric arrangement of objects in space.

Possibilism

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

Preservation

The maintenance of resources in their present condition.

Prime meridian

The meridian, designated at 0° longitude, that passes through Greenwich, England.

Projection

The system used to transfer locations from the three-dimensional globe to a two-dimensional map.

Region

An area defined by one or more natural or cultural characteristics.

Relocation diffusion

The spread of a feature or trend through the physical movement of people from one place to another.

Remote sensing

The acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making physical contact.

Renewable resource

A resource that can be replenished naturally over time.

Scale

The ratio of a distance on the map to the corresponding distance on the ground.

Site

The physical character of a place.

Situation/relative location

The location of a place relative to other places.

Space-time compression

The reduction in the time it takes for something to reach another place.

Spatial association

The relationship between the distribution of one feature and the distribution of another feature.

Stimulus diffusion

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

Sustainability

The ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level.

Toponym

The name given to a place.

Transnational corporation

A company that operates in multiple countries.

Uneven development

The unequal distribution of resources and wealth across the world.

Vernacular/perceptual region

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

Agricultural Density

The ratio of the number of farmers to the amount of arable land.

Arithmetic Density

The total number of people divided by the total land area.

Physiological density

The number of people per unit area of arable land.

Satellite Navigation

A system that uses satellites to provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning.

Geospatial

Data that is associated with a particular location.

Scale of Analysis

The level of detail considered in a study.

Sense of Place

The feelings and perceptions people associate with a particular location.

Census

An official count or survey of a population.

Quantitative Data

Data that can be quantified and verified.

Qualitative Data

Data that can be observed but not measured.

Reference Map

A map that shows the location of the geographic areas for which statistical data are being shown.

Thematic Map

A map that emphasizes a particular theme or subject area.

World Systems Theory

A theory that views the world as a complex system of interrelated parts.

Core Country

A country that is economically dominant in the world system.

Semi-Periphery Country

A country that is not as economically dominant as core countries but is not as underdeveloped as peripheral countries.

Periphery Country

A country that is economically disadvantaged and often dependent on core countries.