Human Geography unit 1

Human Geography

Human Geography

Study of the events and process that have shaped how humans understand, use, and alter the Earth

Absolute Location

The exact location of an object, usually expressed in coordinates of longitude and latitude

Relative location

Description of where a place is in relation to other places or features

Site

Absolute location and physical characteristics of a place

Situation

A place's location in relation to other places or the surrounding features

Density

Number of things- people, animals, objects- in a specific area

Flow

Of people, goods, and information and the economic, social, political, and cultural effects of these movements on society

Pattern

How things are arranged in a particular space

Distribution

Arrangement of things in a given place

Distance decay

The trailing-off phenomenon of diminishing contact with the increase in distance

Environmental possiblism

Argues that humans a are active agents in determining their behaviors

Sustainability

The use of earths land and natural resources in ways that will be available in the future

Scales of analysis

Global, regional, national, state, local

Region

Area of earths surface with certain characteristics that make it distinct from others

Wallerstein World Systems Theory

1970: describe the spatial and functional relationship between countries in the world economy

Cartography

The science of map making

Mercator projection

•shows true direction •good for navigational purposes •distorts area •distorted near poles

Galls-Peter Projection

•shows true direction •area is relatively precise •distorts shape •continents appear elongated

Robinson Projection

•appearance” looks real” •distorts size and shape, but not too much •imprecise measurements •extreme distortion of poles; flat on poles, compressed on equator

Azimuthal Projection

•practices direction •when used from the point of North Pole, no country seen as center •distorts shape and area •only shows 1/2 of Earth

Isoline Map

Uses lines of equal value to represent data like elevation, barometric pressure, or temperature

Chloropeth Map

A variable is depicted with shading, patterns, or colors

Proportion symbol map

Size of the symbol varies in proportion to the intensity of the mapped variable

Dot map

A dot represents some frequency of the mapped variable

Cartogram map

Uses relative size of political unites to convey value

The goal of geography

Identify and explain equal patterns and processes of humans and the physical environment

Geographic Positioning System (GPS)

Gives us an absolute or mathematical location (longitude and latitude)

Geographic Information System (GIS)

A computer system that stores and queries data stored in LAYERS

Space-Time Compression

Describes shrinking of relative distance between places due to advance in transportation and communication (importance of globalization)

Globalization

Expansion of economic, cultural, and political process on a worldwide scale

Quantitive data collection

Information measured by numbers

Qualitative data collection

Interpretation of data

Physical Geography

Study of where things are found on earths surface and the reasons for their locations