human geo flashcards

Reference Maps

Maps that show the absolute location of places and geographic features.

Physical Reference Maps

Show natural landscape features such as mountains, rivers, and lakes.

Political Reference Maps

Show human-created boundaries like countries, states, and cities.

Thematic Maps

Maps that display the spatial pattern of geographic data.

Choropleth Maps

Use different colors or shading patterns within predefined areas to show variation in data.

Dot Density Maps

Use dots to show the presence of a feature or phenomenon.

Cartogram

A map in which the size of areas is distorted to represent a statistical variable.

Isoline Maps

Use lines to connect points of equal value.

Graduated/Proportional Symbol Maps

Use symbols of different sizes to represent data.

Absolute Distance

The physical distance between two places measured in standard units (miles, kilometers).

Relative Distance

Distance measured in terms of time, cost, or effort rather than physical units.

Absolute Direction

Direction based on compass points (north, south, east, west).

Relative Direction

Direction described in relation to the location of the observer.

Map Projections

Methods used to represent the three-dimensional Earth on a two-dimensional surface.

Map Distortion

The inevitable inaccuracies in shape, area, distance, or direction that occur when projecting the Earth onto a flat surface.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Computer systems designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, and display spatial data.

Satellite Navigation Systems

Systems of satellites that provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning.

Remote Sensing

The acquisition of information about the Earth's surface without making physical contact, typically through satellite or aerial imagery.

Absolute Location

The exact position of a place on Earth, usually given in coordinates (latitude and longitude).

Relative Location

The position of a place in relation to other places.

Distance Decay

The diminishing of interaction between places as the distance between them increases.

Time-Space Compression

The reduction in the time it takes to travel or communicate between places due to technological innovations.

Sense of Place

The subjective feelings and perceptions people associate with a place based on their experiences and understanding.

Placelessness

The loss of uniqueness of place in the cultural landscape so that one place looks like the next.

Human-Environment Interaction

The relationship between humans and their natural environment.

Theory of Environmental Determinism

The theory that the physical environment shapes human culture and societal development.

Theory of Possibilism

The theory that the physical environment provides opportunities and limitations, but humans can adapt through culture and technology.

Scale of Analysis

The level at which analysis is conducted, which can be global, regional, national, or local.

Formal Region

An area defined by homogeneity in one or more characteristics.

Functional Region

An area organized around a focal point with surrounding areas linked through systems of transportation, communication, or economic ties.

Perceptual (Vernacular) Region

Areas that people believe exist as part of their cultural identity, which may lack precise boundaries.

Relocation Diffusion

The spread of an idea or innovation through physical movement of people.

Expansion Diffusion

The spread of an idea or innovation from its source area to adjacent areas while remaining strong in its original region.

Contagious Diffusion

The rapid, widespread diffusion of a feature through direct contact.

Hierarchical Diffusion

The spread of an idea or innovation from larger to smaller places, or from higher to lower social groups.

Stimulus Diffusion

When an idea stimulates the development of an innovation elsewhere, which may be transformed in the process.

Agricultural Density

The ratio of the number of farmers to the amount of arable land. Example: Bangladesh has high agricultural density with many farmers working relatively small areas of land.

Anti-natalist Policies

Government policies designed to reduce the birth rate. Example: China's former One-Child Policy.

Arithmetic Density

The total number of people divided by the total land area. Example: Singapore has a high arithmetic density of about 8,358 people per square kilometer.

Birth Rate

The number of live births per 1,000 people in a population in a year. Example: Niger has one of the world's highest birth rates at 44 births per 1,000 people.

Death Rate

The number of deaths per 1,000 people in a population in a year. Example: Monaco has a high death rate due to its elderly population.

Demographic Transition Model (DTM)

A model showing population changes over time as a country develops economically.

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

The average number of children a woman would have throughout her childbearing years. Example: Niger has a TFR of about 6.8 children per woman.

Dependency Ratio

The ratio of economically dependent people (generally those under 15 and over 64) to productive people (ages 15-64). Example: Japan has a high dependency ratio due to its aging population.

Epidemiologic Transition Model

A model describing changes in the causes of death as a society develops. Example: Shift from infectious diseases to chronic diseases as primary causes of death.

Esther Boserup

Theorist who argued that population growth stimulates technological innovation, especially in agriculture. Example: Her theory that food production increases to meet population demands.

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)

The number of deaths of infants under one year old per 1,000 live births. Example: Japan has one of the world's lowest IMRs at about 2 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Life Expectancy

The average number of years a person is expected to live. Example: Japan has one of the highest life expectancies at about 84 years.

Malthusian Theory

Thomas Malthus's theory that population growth would outpace food production, leading to famine, disease, and war. Example: Malthus predicted population collapse due to food shortages.

Medical Revolution

The application of modern medical practices that drastically reduced death rates. Example: The development and widespread use of antibiotics.

Mortality

The number of deaths in a given time or place. Example: Mortality rates typically increase during pandemics.

Neo-Malthusian

Modern adherents to Malthusian theory who believe population growth will deplete resources. Example: Paul Ehrlich's 'The Population Bomb' predictions.

Physiological Density

The number of people per unit area of arable land.

Physiological Density

A measure of population density calculated by dividing the population by the amount of arable land.

Population-doubling Time

The time required for a population to double in size at current growth rates. Example: A country with a 2% growth rate would double its population in about 35 years.

Population Pyramid

A graph showing the age and sex structure of a population. Example: Developing countries often have pyramid-shaped graphs with wide bases (many young people).

Pronatalist Policies

Government policies designed to encourage more births. Example: Russia offering 'baby bonuses' to encourage families to have more children.

Rate of Natural Increase

The birth rate minus the death rate, expressed as a percentage. Example: Kenya has a high rate of natural increase at about 2.3%.

Asylum Seekers

People who have fled their home countries due to persecution and are seeking international protection. Example: Syrian refugees seeking asylum in Europe.

Chain Migration

Migration of people to a specific location because relatives or members of the same nationality previously migrated there. Example: Italian immigrants to New York bringing family members over time.

Forced Migration

Migration in which people are compelled to move against their will. Example: The African slave trade or displacement due to civil war.

Guest Worker

A foreign worker temporarily employed in a host country. Example: Turkish guest workers in Germany during the economic boom of the 1960s.

Immigration Policies

Laws and regulations governing who may enter and remain in a country. Example: Australia's points-based immigration system.

Internal Migration

Movement within a country. Example: The Great Migration of African Americans from the U.S. South to Northern cities.

Internally Displaced Persons

People forced to flee their homes but who remain within their country's borders. Example: People displaced by the civil conflict in Colombia.

Intervening Opportunities

The presence of a nearer opportunity that greatly diminishes the attractiveness of sites farther away. Example: Mexican migrants settling in border states rather than continuing to the northern U.S.

Intervening Obstacles

Environmental or cultural features that hinder migration. Example: The Mediterranean Sea as an obstacle for migrants from Africa to Europe.

Pull Factors

Factors that attract migrants to a new location. Example: Job opportunities, political freedom, better climate.

Push Factors

Factors that drive people to leave their homes. Example: War, persecution, natural disasters, economic hardship.

Ravenstein's Laws of Migration

Early theories on migration patterns developed by Ernst Ravenstein. Example: The principle that most migration covers short distances.

Zelinsky's Migration Transition

A model that relates migration patterns to stages of demographic transition. Example: The shift from rural-urban migration to suburb-urban migration in developed countries.

Step Migration

Migration that occurs in stages, often from rural to increasingly larger urban areas. Example: Moving from a farm to a small town, then to a larger city.

Transhumance

The seasonal movement of people with their livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. Example: Shepherds in the Alps moving flocks to high pastures in summer.

Transnational Migration

The process by which immigrants maintain connections to their country of origin while settling in a new country. Example: Mexican immigrants in the U.S. maintaining homes and family ties in Mexico.

Voluntary Migration

Migration based on a person's free choice. Example: Moving to a new country for better career opportunities.

Brain Drain

The emigration of highly trained or educated people from a country. Example: Indian tech professionals moving to Silicon Valley.

Step Migration

Migration that occurs in stages, often from rural to increasingly larger urban areas.

Transhumance

The seasonal movement of people with their livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures.

Transnational Migration

The process by which immigrants maintain connections to their country of origin while settling in a new country.

Voluntary Migration

Migration based on a person's free choice.

Brain Drain

The emigration of highly trained or educated people from a country.

Remittances

Money sent by migrants to their home countries.

Primary Sector

The part of the economy concerned with extracting raw materials.

Secondary Sector

The part of the economy that transforms raw materials into products.

Tertiary Sector

The service sector of the economy.

Quaternary Sector

Information-based services.

Quinary Sector

Highest level decision-makers in a society or economy.

Gender Inequality Index (GII)

A measure of gender disparity in a country.

Human Development Index (HDI)

A composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and income indices.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

The total value of goods and services produced within a country's borders in a specific time period.

Gross National Product (GNP)

The total value of goods and services produced by the residents of a country, regardless of location.

Gross National Income (GNI) per capita

The dollar value of a country's final income divided by its population.

Formal Economy

Economic activity that is taxed and monitored by a government.

Informal Economy

Economic activity that is neither taxed nor monitored by a government.

Acculturation

The process of adopting cultural traits from another culture while maintaining one's own culture.

Diffusion

The spread of ideas, objects, or practices from one culture to another.

Hierarchical Diffusion

The spread of an idea from persons or nodes of authority or power to other persons or places.

Relocation Diffusion

The spread of an idea through physical movement of people.

Assimilation

The process by which a minority group gradually adopts the customs and attitudes of the prevailing culture.

Hinduism

Hearth: Indus River Valley (modern-day India/Pakistan). Diffusion: Mainly throughout South Asia, with significant presence in Southeast Asia through historical trade and cultural exchange. Adherents: Approximately 1.2 billion.