Human Geography Midterm 2

Artifacts, sociofacts, and mentifacts

Artifacts: material objects. Sociofacts: social organizations. Mentifacts: shared ideas and beliefs.

Popular culture vs. traditional culture

Popular culture spreads widely and quickly; traditional culture is passed down through generations.

Cultural landscape

A natural landscape modified by humans that reflects cultural beliefs and values.

Sequent occupance

Successive societies leave cultural imprints on a landscape over time.

Ethnocentrism vs. cultural relativism

Ethnocentrism judges other cultures by one's own standards; cultural relativism evaluates cultures by their own standards.

Centripetal vs. centrifugal forces

Centripetal forces unite a group; centrifugal forces divide it. Examples include shared identity versus discrimination.

Sense of place and safe spaces

Sense of place: emotional meaning attached to a location. Safe spaces: places of acceptance for marginalized people.

Traditional vs. postmodern architecture

Traditional architecture reflects established cultural traditions; postmodern architecture often mixes styles and challenges conventions.

Relocation diffusion

Cultural traits spread when people migrate to new places.

Contagious, hierarchical, and stimulus diffusion

Contagious: person-to-person spread. Hierarchical: spread through influential people or places. Stimulus: an idea spreads but is adapted.

Cultural hearth

The geographic location where a cultural trait originates.

Historical causes of cultural diffusion

Trade, migration, military conquest, and imperialism.

Contemporary causes of cultural diffusion

Globalization, urbanization, migration, and technological advances.

Cultural convergence vs. divergence

Convergence makes cultures more similar; divergence makes cultures more distinct.

Language family, branch, and dialect

A family groups related languages; a branch is a subdivision; a dialect is a regional or social language variety.

Universalizing religions

Religions that seek converts and aim to spread beyond one ethnic or cultural group.

State, nation, and nation-state

State: sovereign political territory. Nation: people sharing cultural identity. Nation-state: a state aligned with a nation.

Sovereignty vs. self-determination

Sovereignty is a state's authority over its territory; self-determination is a people's right to choose their political status.

Devolution

Transfer of power from a central government to regional or local authorities, often in response to divisive pressures.

Multinational state vs. multistate nation

Multinational state: multiple nations within one country. Multistate nation: one nation spread across multiple countries.

Stateless nation

A culturally united people without their own state; example: the Kurds.

Irredentism

An attempt to reclaim territory in another state based on shared national or ethnic identity.

Unitary vs. federal state

Unitary: power concentrated centrally. Federal: power constitutionally shared between national and regional governments.

Centripetal and centrifugal forces in geopolitics

Centripetal forces strengthen national unity; centrifugal forces encourage division, separatism, or instability.

Antecedent vs. subsequent boundaries

Antecedent: established before major settlement. Subsequent: drawn after settlement and cultural landscapes developed.

Consequent boundary

A subsequent boundary drawn to accommodate existing cultural differences between groups.

Superimposed, geometric, and relic boundaries

Superimposed: imposed by outsiders. Geometric: straight or coordinate-based. Relic: former boundary with no current official function.

UNCLOS and the EEZ

UNCLOS establishes maritime rules. Territorial seas extend 12 nautical miles; an EEZ extends up to 200 nautical miles for resource rights.

Electoral College

A system in which electors chosen by states formally elect the U.S. president; state electoral votes equal House seats plus two senators.

Redistricting vs. gerrymandering

Redistricting redraws electoral districts; gerrymandering draws them to create an unfair partisan advantage.

Supranational organization

An alliance of three or more states cooperating on shared economic, political, military, or cultural goals.

Von Thünen model

Explains agricultural land use around a central market based on transportation costs and product perishability.

Von Thünen model: what is the CBD?

Central business district; in the model, it represents the central market where agricultural products are sold.

Von Thünen: which products locate closest to market?

More perishable or expensive-to-transport products; less perishable, cheaper-to-transport products can locate farther away.

Von Thünen model: key assumptions and limitations

A simplified model; real patterns are affected by multiple markets, transportation technology, government policy, and connectivity.

Subsistence vs. commercial agriculture

Subsistence agriculture produces mainly for family consumption; commercial agriculture produces for sale and profit.

Intensive vs. extensive agriculture

Intensive uses more inputs per unit of land for high yields; extensive uses fewer inputs per unit of land over larger areas.

Intensive subsistence agriculture

High labor and inputs on small plots, mainly supporting families and local communities.

Intensive commercial agriculture

High capital and inputs for profit; examples include plantations, market gardening, and mixed crop-livestock farming.

Extensive subsistence agriculture

Includes shifting cultivation, slash-and-burn farming, and pastoral nomadism.

Extensive commercial agriculture

Uses large areas and relatively little labor per unit of land; ranching is an example.

Agricultural hearth: Fertile Crescent

The Fertile Crescent in Southwest Asia is an important early center of agricultural development.

First Agricultural Revolution

The Neolithic shift from foraging to farming encouraged permanent settlements, population growth, and more specialized work.

Second Agricultural Revolution

Mechanization and improved methods, including seed drills, steel plows, reapers, and crop rotation, increased yields.

Third Agricultural Revolution

Modern mechanization, scientific breeding, synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and other technologies transformed farming.

Green Revolution: benefits and drawbacks

Benefits: higher yields and reduced labor. Drawbacks: greater water demand, pesticide harms, and dependence on costly technology.

Food security vs. food insecurity

Food security means reliable access to safe, nutritious food; food insecurity means disrupted food intake due to inadequate access.

Food desert

An area where residents lack convenient access to healthy, nutritious food because relevant stores are too far away.

Farm subsidies vs. tariffs

Subsidies are government financial support for farmers; tariffs are taxes on imports or exports that can protect domestic producers.

Environmental factors affecting agriculture

Climate, precipitation, temperature, growing season, elevation, soil, topography, and sunlight.

Societal and environmental consequences of food production

Farming can increase food supply but also cause water demand, pollution, habitat loss, soil degradation, and unequal access.

Agribusiness, vertical integration, and commodity chain

Agribusiness covers agricultural production and distribution; vertical integration controls multiple stages; a commodity chain links inputs to consumers.