Cultural and Political Geography - Exam 2 (Geography)

Intense physical, cultural and political fragmentation: severe weather events; political instability; dominated by Mexico and includes the Caribbean Islands

Middle America

Population implosion; largest nation in the world; was once a major colonial power

Russia

Includes two of the largest nations; affluent; highly mobile and pluralistic societies

North America

Largely influenced by British colonization; consists of many islands nations; areas is the largest of all geographical realms (much of it being water); strongly affected by the United Nations Law of the Sea provisions

Oceania

Source of three major religions; marked by drought and unpredictable precipitation; religious, ethnic, and cultural conflict has caused instability; boundaries of this realm consists of volatile transition zones

North Africa/South West Asia

Physiography is dominated by the Andes Mountains and the Amazon Basin; climate varies from tropical to arctic; dominated by Brazil

South America

Population is strongly concentrated in the eastern regions; home to part of the emerging Pacific Rim; encircled by snowcapped mountains, vast deserts, and the Pacific Ocean; dominated by China

East Asia

Dozens of nations and hundreds of ethnic groups; political boundaries are a legacy of European colonialism; AIDS is epidemic; this realm has the largest refugee population in the world; widespread government corruption and mismanagement

Sub-Saharan Africa

Prosperous; highly urbanized; culturally and physically diverse; densely populated; declining birth rate is offset by significant immigration; has had an enduring world influence due to centuries of colonial and imperial domination

Europe

Plateau physiography; cultural hearth revolves around contacts with Europe and slavery; much of the land mass is not fertile; majority of the countries continue to experience economic challenges;

Sub-Saharan Africa

High or low pressure cells, cold and warm fronts, lack effects, and rain shadow are all examples of...

Weather

Remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems, GPS

Geographic Tools

Canada, United States, Pakistan

Nation State

Palestinia, Kurds, Pueblo

Cultural State

Human artifacts that represent cultural identity and beliefs

Material Culture

The spread of cultural elements across a people group and to other people groups

Transculturation

Fear or anger toward foreigners

Xenophobia

Decicious forests located in middle-latitude areas primarily of the northern hemisphere

Tropical Deciduous Forest

A plain of higher elevation, located in Russia, largely without trees

Steppe Grassland

A low-level plain in temperate climate of grasses and herbs

Prairie Grassland

Evergreen forest of the northen polar hemisphere characterized by short branches

Taiga Forest

Dry forest located near the equator

Tropical Deciduous Forest

Height from the sea level

Elevation

This shows how much real-life distance is symbolized on the map, usually in set bar lengths

Scale

Four main points of the compass combined with the intervening main points

Compass Rose

Division of the earth vertically into eastern and western halves

Hemisphere

The line runs through Greenwich, England and divides the globe into two vertical halves

Prime Meridian

The opposite side of longitude 0 degrees which runs through the pacific ocean

International Date Line

Group of information on a scale

Legend

A part of the “legend” that is an indication of the direction

Compass Rose

vertical topographic regions based on elevation that define unique environments, especially in the Americas

Altitudinal Zones

the recurrent fragmentation of a large nation into smaller regional nations in which the resulting new nations lose economic and political influence within the region

Balkanization

forces that unite and bind a country together (pull) such as a strong national culture, shared ideological objectives, and a common faith

Centripetal Forces

refer to forces that tend to divide a country (fragmentation) such as religious, linguistic, ethnic, or ideological differences.

Centrifugal Forces

place of origin of a major culture where people developed ideas, innovations, and ideologies that changed the world beyond

Cultural Hearth

portion of a city or the location of in a region of the principle business, banking, and governmental activity

Central Business District

coalescing of neighboring cities and towns into a super city. London is a good European example of conurbation

Conurbation

the humanized images as created by people; overall sights, sounds, tastes, & touch (appearance) of a culture

Cultural Landscape

capital city positioned in a strategic way to increase the impact of its presence.

Forward Capital

the spatial spreading or dissemination of a culture element

Diffusion

Areas of the world where outbreaks of hostility or potential hostility arise from two or more competing groups

Zone of Conflict

division of the population into a hierarchy of social classes

Social Stratification

native groups that are thought to be the “first nations” who are later conquered by invading forces

Indigenous Population

results from efforts to promote cooperation among three or more states, which results in unified or closely coordinated political or economic activity

Supranationalism

an area which has similar natural landscape features and environments

Physiographic Regions

Display of the subdivisions of population by age and gender to show relative proportion of sub-populations.

Population Pyramid