Human, Population, Political, Urban, and Economic Geography Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and definitions from human, population, political, urban, and economic geography.

Culture

Knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors that are shared by a group.

Society

A group that shares a geographic region, sense of identity, and culture.

Ethnic Group

A specific group that shares language, culture, and heritage.

Innovation

Improving an existing technology to meet a need; one of the ways cultures change over time.

Diffusion (Cultural)

When ideas spread; one of the ways cultures change over time.

Acculturation

When a society changes to adopt a new innovation.

Dialect

Changes related to class, region, or culture in language.

Language Diffusion

When a language is spread over a new area.

Religion

Belief in a supernatural power as regarded to Creator and maintainer of the universe.

Judaism

A major religion concentrated in Israel, with the Torah as its religious text and Jerusalem as its holy city.

Christianity

The largest religion in the world, in which Jesus Christ is a central figure.

Islam

A major religion consisting of Sunni and Shiite Muslims, where Muhammad and Allah are central figures.

Hinduism

The oldest religion in the world, concentrated in India, which includes the idea of caste.

Buddhism

An offshoot of Hinduism that rejects the caste system and reincarnation, with the goal to reach a state of nirvana.

Population Geography

The study that looks at birth and death rates, distribution, and density of population.

Northern Hemisphere

The most heavily populated zone in the world.

Urban-rural mix

The current demographic balance where today over 1/2 of the world's population lives in urban areas as urbanization has occurred.

Reasons for migration

1. Environmental conditions, 2. Political reasons, 3. Good economic opportunities, and 4. Favorable climate.

Population density

Shows how heavily populated an area is.

Carrying capacity

Number of organisms a piece of land can support.

Nation

Group of people with common culture and sense of unity.

State

Independent unit with control over specific territory.

Nation-state

When a nation and state occupy the same territory.

Democracy

Type of government where citizens hold power, such as in The US.

Monarchy

Type of government where a ruling family holds power, such as in Saudi Arabia.

Dictatorship

Type of government where an individual or group holds complete power, such as in North Korea.

Communism

Type of government where government controls politics and economics in the name of the people, with no real example.

Natural boundaries

Boundaries based on physical features.

Artificial boundaries

Fixed lines that generally follow longitude/latitude.

Cities

Large population center of business and culture.

Suburbs

Residential areas that border cities.

Metropolitan areas

Formed when cities, suburbs, and other towns all link together.

Urbanization

Dramatic rise in the number of cities.

Megacities

Urban areas with Tokyo being the largest megacity in the world.

Economy

Production and exchange of goods and services among a group of people.

Economic system

Way people produce and exchange goods and services.

Command Economy

An economic system in which the government determines production.

Market economy

An economic system in which consumers determine production.

Natural Resources

Materials that have economic value.

Gross domestic product

The total value of all goods and services produced within a country over a period of time.

Infrastructure

Support to keep a country going.