HGAP Unit 1 (copy)

Formal (Uniform) Region

Areas in which certain characteristics are found throughout the area

Functional (Nodal) Region

A central place in which the surrounding places are affected by it

Perceptual (Vernacular) Region

An area defined by people's feelings and attitudes

Transitional Boundary

When regions come together, boundaries can become fuzzy due to certain characteristics and the way they transition.

Location

The position of something on the Earth's surface

Space

The physical gap or distance between two objects

Site

The exact location of a city (or state) that one can find on a map.

Situation

The location of a city (or state) as it relates to its surrounding features, both human-made and natural.

Less Developed Country

A country in the very early stages of economic development, with poor infrastructure, education, and medical care.

Newly Industrialized Country

A country that is in the beginning stages of stabilizing its economy, improving infrastructure, education, and medical care, yet still has room for growth.

More Developed Country

A sovereign country that has an advanced economy, infrastructure and medical care.

Pattern

The geometric or regular arrangement of something in an area.

Density

Frequency with which something occurs in a given space

Concentration

The extent of something's spread over a given space.

Space

The physical gap or interval between two objects

Distribution

The arrangement of a feature in a given space.

Sustainability

The use of the Earth's renewable and nonrenewable natural resources in ways that ensure resource availability in the future.

Environmental Determinism

A philosophy of geography that stated that human behaviors are a direct result of the surrounding environment.

Possibilism

The theory that the physical environment may set limits on human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to the physical environment and choose a course of action from many alternatives.

Relative Location

A description of how a place is related to other places

Absolute Location

An exact place on Earth, often given in terms of latitude and longitude.
Space

Place

A specific point on earth human and physical characteristics that distinguish it from other points

Distance Decay

The effect that distance plays on cultural or spatial interactions

Time-space Compression

The reduction in the time it takes to diffuse something to a distant place, as a result of improved communications and transportation system.

Flow

The movement of people or a phenomenon.

Census Data

An official count of a population, often including details such as sex, age, and occupation.

Satellite Imagery

Images of Earth collected by use of satellites.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

A family of software programs that allows geographers to map, analyze, and model spatial data.

Global Positioning System (GPS)

An integrate networks of satellites that orbit Earth, broadcasting location information to handheld receivers on Earth's surface.

Remote Sensing

The process of capturing images of Earth's surface from airborne platforms such as satellites or airplanes

Dot Distribution Map

Each dot represents a set number of what is being represented. The larger the number of dots, the more of what is being represented.

Goode's Homolosine Projection

This type of map is an example of an equal-area projection, which distorts the shape of objects in favor of accurately representing area.

Region

Any area differentiated from surrounding areas by at least one characteristic.

Peters Projection

Is an equal-area projection purposefully centered on Africa in an attempt to treat all regions of Earth equally

Choropleth Map

Maps with areas shaded or patterned in proportion to the measurement of the statistical variable.

Robinson Projection

Does not maintain accurate area,shape, distance, or direction, but it minimizes errors in each.

Map Scale

the relationship of a feature's length on a map to its actual distance on Earth
Meridian

Distortion

caused by trying to represent a three-dimensional object (the earth) on a two-dimensional surface (flat map)

Isoline Map

Lines that connect similar information.

Cartography

the science or practice of drawing maps.

Mercator Projection

Preserves accurate compass direction and distorts the area of landmasses relative to each other

Polar Projection

All points on the map are at proportionally correct distances from the center point, and that all points on the map are at the correct (direction) from the center point.

Cartogram Map

The size of the location is based on the amount of information being depicted.

Parallel

a circle of constant longitude passing through a given place on the earth's surface and the terrestrial poles.