Learn: Earth and People

What is Geography?

The analysis of spatial patterns on the earth's surface. Where and why. Spatial interactions.

Spatial interactions

How places, people, and things affect and connect with one another across space.

Human geography

Studies people and human activities, such as population, cities, culture, politics, and economies.

Physical Geography

Studies natural features and processes, such as landforms, climate, weathering, and plate tectonics.

Cartography

Mapmaking

GIS

Geographic Information Systems; analyzing geographic data digitally

Remote sensing

collecting information about Earth from a distance, often using satellites.

Landscape

The visible features of an area, including both natural and human-made features.

Regional approach

Studies a specific geographic region by looking at the different characteristics that make that region unique.

Systematic / topical approach

Studies one geographic topic across many different places.

Region

An area that has some shared characteristics that distinguish it from other areas.

Scale

The level or size at which a geographic phenomenon is examined—for example, local, national, or global.

Reference map

A map designed to show where things are located.

Think: roads, cities, rivers, borders.

Thematic map

A map designed to show one particular theme or subject.

Example: population density.

Choropleth map

A map that uses different shades or colors in geographic areas to show different values.

Example: states shaded according to unemployment rate.

Dot map

A map that uses dots to represent the location or quantity of something.

Example: each dot represents 1,000 people.

Isoline Map

A map containing lines that connect points with equal values.

topographic map

A map showing elevation and landform shape, usually using contour lines.

Contour line

A line on a topographic map connecting locations with the same elevation.

Catrogram

A map in which the size or shape of geographic areas is distorted to represent data.

Latitude

Measures distance north or south of the Equator.

0° = Equator

90° N = North Pole

90° S = South Pole

Memory trick: Latitude = flatitude → horizontal lines.

Longitude

Measures distance east or west of the Prime/Greenwich Meridian.

180° E

180° W

Memory trick: Longitude lines go long from pole to pole.

Parallel

A line of latitude

merdian

A line of longitude.

Greenwich Meridian

The 0° longitude line, used as the starting point for measuring longitude.

International Date Line

Approximately the 180° longitude line, where the calendar date changes.

Degrees, minutes, seconds

Units used to measure geographic coordinates.

1 degree = 60 minutes

1 minute = 60 seconds

map projection

A method for representing Earth's curved surface on a flat map.

Because Earth is curved, some characteristics must be distorted.

The three major things that can be compromised are:

Direction / shape / angles

Size

Distance

Mercator projection

A projection that preserves direction, but increasingly distorts size and distance toward the poles.

Your professor also notes that it is Euro-centric.

Peters projection

A projection designed to represent relative area more accurately, essentially presented as a "reversed" Mercator in your notes.

Legends

The part of a map that explains its symbols and classifications.

Map scale

Shows the relationship between distance on the map and actual distance on Earth.

Large-scale map

Shows a smaller area with more detail.

Example: a city street map.

Small-scale map

Shows a larger area with less detail.

Example: a world map.

Geomorphology

The study of landforms and the processes that create them.

Plate tectonics

The theory that Earth's outer layer is divided into large moving tectonic plates.

tectonic plates

Large pieces of Earth's crust/lithosphere that move relative to one another.

Fault zone

An area where there are fractures or breaks in Earth's crust, often associated with movement and earthquakes.

subduction zone

An area where one tectonic plate moves underneath another.

Associated with:

Volcanoes

Mountain building

Earthquakes

Pacific Ring of Fire

A zone around much of the Pacific Ocean characterized by significant volcanic and earthquake activity, largely associated with plate boundaries and subduction.

Continental drift

The idea that continents have moved over geological time.

Pangaea

The ancient supercontinent in which most of Earth's landmasses were once joined together.

Weathering

The breakdown of rock at or near Earth's surface.

Two major types:

Mechanical weathering: physically breaks rock into smaller pieces.

Chemical weathering: changes the chemical composition of rock.

Erosion

The movement of weathered material from one place to another by water, wind, ice, or gravity.

climate

Long-term patterns of weather in a region.

Orographic precipitation

Precipitation caused when moist air is forced upward by mountains, cools, and produces precipitation.

rain shadow

A dry area on the downwind side of a mountain because much of the moisture falls on the windward side.

Frontal precipitation

Precipitation produced when different air masses meet, causing air to rise and cool.

Monsoon

A seasonal wind pattern that can produce major seasonal changes in precipitation.

Köppen climate classification

A climate classification system primarily based on temperature and precipitation.

More Developed Country

a country with a relatively high level of economic development.

Less Developed Country

a country with a relatively lower level of economic development.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

The value of goods and services produced within a country.

Gross National Income (GNI)

a measure of income associated with a country's people/economy, including international income flows.

Your guide connects this with purchasing power/cost-of-living adjustments.

Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)

An adjustment that accounts for differences in the cost of living between countries.

Cost of living

How much it costs to obtain goods and services needed for everyday life in a particular place.

Human Development Index (HDI)

A measure of development that looks beyond just income and considers factors such as health, education, and standard of living.

informal economy

Economic activity that occurs outside formal government regulation or taxation systems.

Income Distribution

How income is divided among the population.

GINI index

A measure of income inequality.

Higher inequality → higher GINI.

Gender Development Index

A measure comparing development outcomes between males and females.

sustainable development

Improving current living standards without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

Globalization

The increasing connections and linkages between places around the world.

Your professor emphasizes that globalization isn't new and has roots in colonialism.

Global Economy

A worldwide system involving the exchange of goods, services, and labor.

free trade

International trade with fewer restrictions such as tariffs.

Triad of economic powers

The three major economic regions identified in your guide:

North America

Western Europe

East Asia

Multinational corporation

A company that operates in multiple countries.

Primary Sector

Obtains raw materials directly from nature.

Examples: farming, fishing, mining.

Secondary Sector

Processes/manufactures raw materials into products.

Example: automobile manufacturing.

teritary sector

Provides services.

Examples: retail, banking, restaurants.

Quaternary Sector

Involves knowledge and information-based activities.

Examples: research, information technology.

World Trade Organization (WTO)

An international organization that establishes and oversees rules for international trade and promotes freer trade and lower tariffs.

Regional trade bloc

A group of countries that agree to reduce trade barriers among themselves.

Fair trade

A trading approach intended to provide better/fairer conditions and compensation for producers, especially producers in developing countries.

Urbanization

The process by which more people live in urban areas.

Your sheet gives approximately:

Global: 55%

MDCs: 79%

LDCs: 50%

Push Factors

Conditions that encourage people to leave a place.

Example: poverty or lack of jobs.

Pull Factors

Conditions that attract people to another place.

Example: employment opportunities.

Nation

A group of people who share a common identity, such as ethnicity, language, or history.

State

A politically organized territory/country with government and sovereignty.

Nation-state

A state whose territory is associated with a particular national identity.

Geopolitics

The study of how geography influences international relations and political power.

UN

An international organization created to promote international cooperation, peace, security, and human rights.

General assembly

The UN body in which member states are represented.

Security Council

The UN body responsible for major matters involving international peace and security.

It has:

5 permanent members

10 rotating members

Peacekeeping

International efforts to help maintain peace in areas experiencing conflict.

Trade sanctions

Economic restrictions placed on a country to pressure its government to change behavior.

Human rights monitoring

Observing and documenting whether basic human rights are being respected.

Weapons inspections

Inspections intended to determine whether countries are following agreements concerning weapons.

Cold War

A period of conflict primarily involving competing political/economic ideologies, especially the United States and Soviet Union, without direct full-scale war between them.

Resource Conflict

Conflict associated with competition over scarce or valuable natural resources.

Ethnic cleansing

The forced removal of an ethnic population from a particular territory.

Genocide

The forced removal of an ethnic population from a particular territory.

Democratization

The process by which a political system becomes more democratic.

Democratic backsliding

The process in which a democracy loses or weakens democratic institutions or practices.

Democracy Index

A measure used to evaluate the state/quality of democracy in countries.

Birth rate (BR)

The number of births in a population, usually measured per 1,000 people per year.

Death Rate (DR)

The number of deaths in a population, usually measured per 1,000 people per year.

Age structure

The distribution of a population among different age groups.

Rate of Natural Increase (RNI)

The rate at which a population grows from births minus deaths, excluding migration.

Births > deaths → population naturally increases.

life expectancy

The average number of years a person is expected to live.