AP Human Geography Unit 1

Human Geography

is the study of the spatial analysis of human population, its cultures, activities, and landscapes

Reference Maps

designed for people to refer to for general information that show absolute locations as well as geographic features. Examples below:
- political maps: boundaries, cities, capitals etc
- physical maps: natural features such as mountains, rivers, deserts etc
- road maps: highways, streets
- plat maps: property lines/land ownership

Thematic Maps

show spatial aspects of information or of a phenomenon

Choropleth Map

a thematic map that uses various colors, shades of one color, or patterns to show distribution of spatial data

Cartogram Map

thematic map that distorts the size based on specific data (more used for visual)

Dot Map

a thematic map in which a dot represents some frequency of the mapped variable

Graduated Symbol (Proportional Symbol) Map

thematic map that uses symbols of different sizes to indicate amounts of something. Refer to the map legend to understand symbol data.

Isoline Map

A thematic map with lines that connect points of equal value to depict variations in data across space

Flow Line Map

Lines show direction of movement of phenomena. Thickness of lines show amount of what is being measured

Absolute Location

Exact location of a place on the earth described by global coordinates (latitude & longitude)

Latitude

Imaginary line running parallel to the equator that is used to measure distance north or south of the equator

Longitude

An imaginary line circling the Earth running pole to pole that is used to measure east to west from the Prime Meridian

International Date Line

An arc that for the most part follows 180° longitude, although it deviates in several places to avoid dividing land areas. When you cross the International Date Line heading east (toward America), the clock moves back 24 hours, or one entire day. When you go west (toward Asia), the calendar moves ahead one day.

Prime Meridian

The meridian, designated at 0° longitude, which passes through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England.

Relative Location

The situation of a place in relation to another place. Distance, accessibility, & connectivity affect this

Map Projection Distortions

taking a 3D object and making it 2D will inevitably distort spatial relationships in shape, area, distance, and direction.

Goode's Interrupted Projection

Map that has an equal-area projection where both the shapes and the sizes of landmasses are represented with a large amount of accuracy.

Mercator Projection

A true conformal cylindrical map projection, is particularly useful for navigation because it maintains accurate direction. Distortion occurs in the poles (makes landmasses appear large)

Robinson Projection

No major distortions (area, shape, size, direction all slightly distorted) map is visually appealing

Azimuthal Projection

Preserves both distance and direction from the central point. Projected onto a flat surface from any point on the globe. Depicted most commonly is the polar aspect

Gall-Peters Projection

shows the relative sizes of the earth's continents accurately (equal area). However, it distorts shape especially near the poles

GIS (Geographic Information Systems)

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

GPS (Global Positioning System)

Geospatial Technology - receivers on Earth's surface use the locations of multiple satellites to determine and record a receivers exact location

Remote Sensing

Geospatial Technology - the use of cameras or other sensors mounted on aircraft, satellites etc to collect digital images of earth's surface

Census

a count of the population...
- in the US this occurs every 10 years
- in the US it determines each states number of House representatives through reapportionment & used to determine state/federal spending

Distance Decay

decline of activity or function with increasing distance from its point of origin.... less interaction the further away you get

Time-Space Compression

the shrinking "time distance" between locations because of improved methods of transportation and communication technologies.... the world appears small

Friction of Distance

A cause of decay or weakening due to the lack of resources, money, transportation (this leads to distance decay)

Sustainability

Using Earth's resources while not causing permanent damage to the environment.....meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

Environmental Determinism

The view that the natural environment has a controlling influence over various aspects of human life, including cultural & societal development.

Possiblism

A response to determinism - that holds human decision making, not the environment, is a crucial factor in cultural development...People have the ability to adjust to the physical environment and choose a course of action from many alternatives.

Scale

The relationship of the size of a map to the amount of area it represents on earth

Small Scale (less detail \= zoomed out on image) vs Large Scale (more detail \= zoomed in on image)

Scale of Analysis

the level at which data is displayed.

Local, National, Regional, Global

Formal (uniform) Region

homogenous regions, An area in which shares in one common or more distinctive characteristics

Functional (nodal) region

Area organized around a node or focal point/place where there is a central focus that diminishes in importance outward. Regions often united by networks of communication & transportation

Perceptual (vernacular) Region

defined by the informal sense of place that people ascribe to them (region boundaries depend on the person who is defining them & their experiences/knowledge)

Built Landscape

Physical artifacts that humans have created and that form part of the landscape such as buildings, roads, bridges, signs etc

Cultural Landscape

the visible imprint of human activity and culture on the landscape (think about the different architectural styles around the world, differences occur because of the physical landscape, cultural values/beliefs etc)

Toponym

the name given to a place

Sequence Occupancy

the notion that successive societies leave their cultural imprints on a place, each contributing to the cumulative cultural landscape.

MDC (more developed country)

a country with higher levels of per capita income, industrialization and modernization

LDC (less developed country)

A country that has lower levels of per capita income, industrialization and modernization and often high levels of population growth

Emerging economy

Nations with social or business activity in the process of rapid growth and industrialization and is transitioning into a developed economy

Globalization

expansion of economic, political, & cultural processes that they become global in scale & impact
- intensified geographical movements across national borders of commodities, people, money, capital investment, knowledge, cultural values, technology, businesses, governments, and environmental pollutants
- usually refers to the increased integration of the world economy since the 1970s

Interdependence

A relationship between countries/people in which they rely on one another for resources, goods, or services

World system Theory (dependency theory)

Theory originated by Immanuel Wallerstein and illuminated by his three-tier structure, proposing that social change in the developing world is inextricably linked to the economic activities of the developed world.
- Countries are labeled as Core, Periphery, & Semi-Periphery
- does not suggest that all countries can reach highest level of development

Rostow's Stages of Economic Growth

A model of economic development that describes a country's progression which occurs in five stages transforming them from least-developed to most-developed countries.
- assumes all countries want to modernize but occurs at different speeds
1. Traditional Society
2. Preconditions to Take-Off
3. Take-Off
4. Drive to Maturity
5. High Mass Consumption

Expansion Diffusion

the spread of an innovation/idea through a population in an area in such a way that the number of those influenced continues to grow larger.
- This occurs in many ways: contagious, hierarchical, stimulus diffusion

Heirarchical Diffusion

the spread of cultural outward from most interconnected places, centers of wealth & importance, from people of power/influence to other people, smaller cities, social classes, or LDC.
- leapfrogging can occur over areas

Stimulus Diffusion

occurs when people in a culture adopt an underlying idea or process from another culture but modify it because they reject one trait of it.

Ex: McDonalds Menu is different in other countries based on what people there eat

Contagious Diffusion

cultural trait spreads continuously outward from its heath through contact among people. Happens rapidly

Relocation Diffusion

the spread of a cultural trait by people who migrate and carry their cultural traits with them

Hearth

The original location of a new idea, innovation, or characteristic

Site

Characteristics at the immediate (absolute) location - soil type, climate, labor force, human structures...

Situation

Location of a place relative to its surroundings and other places

Spatial Information

focuses on things such as location, distance, direction, patterns, interconnection,
- movement or people/things
- changes in places over time
- human perceptions of space

Qualitative Data

Data not usually represented by numbers, and is collected as interviews, document archives, descriptions, visual observations. This data is harder to analyze as people's perceptions, opinions, & reasoning can distort data. But this type of data are important parts of human geography

Quantitate Data

information that can be measured and recorded using numbers.

Density

The frequency with which something exists within a given unit of area

Pattern

the geometric arrangement of objects in space