Geography midterm study guide

Geography

Geography

Studying the world, what it looks like, and cultures

1. Investigate human and natural phenomena around the world

2. Look at hour human and physical occurrences connect the earth

3. Regional analysis

Physical geography

Geography is a spatial science - we study things in relation to their space on earth

The branch of geography dealing with natural features and processes

Human geography

Studying specific systems (ex. Trade, politics, etc.)

The study of how people interact with the physical world around them

Includes the way they use resources, adapt to climate change, and develop regional cultures

Spatial

Geography is a spatial science, we study things in relation to their space on earth

Absolute location

Accepted grid system (longitude and latitude) (section, township, range)

Relative location

Position in relation to other places/ things (situation ~how something is situated)

Absolute direction

North, east, south, west

Relative direction

Near east, far east, out west, back east

Absolute distance

How many mikes/km away

Relative distance

More relevant to human experience (time, money, etc)

Scale (in terms of study)

How big or small a study is ~ how general or specific it is (agriculture, travel, etc))

Scale (for a map)

It's relationship to real world distances (ex. 1in on a map = 1mile in the world)

Tobler’s first law of geography

Everything is specially related, but relationships are stranger when things are near one another

Accessability

How easy/difficult it is to overcome a distance

Connectivity

Things that help connect different areas- roads, TV, cellphones, etc.

Globalization

Increasing interconnection of more people and parts of the world

Spatial diffusion

The process of the spread of an idea or thing

Spatial distributions

The study of how things ave arranged or spread out across a geographic area ~ Form the root of regions

Spatial associations

The relationships and patterns that exist between geographical phenomena and how they are distributed across space~ arise from spatial distributions that are closely related

4 types of regions

Administrative, formal, functional, perceptual

Administrative region

A geographical region designated for the exposes of administration and governance (ex-country)

Formal region

A well-defined area with a common characteristic that is consistent throughout the region (ex. Corn belt)

Functional region

A type of region that is defined by a specific social or economic attribute (ex. Circulation area for the Bismarck tribune)

Perceptual region

An area that's defined by people's feelings, beliefs, and attitudes about a place rather than geographical boundaries

Maps (uses)

1. When the area we are trying to look at is too big

2. Show distributions of things over earth

3. Measuring distances between locations

4. Illustrating the sizes and shapes of countries

5. Communicates spatial data about earths surface

Maps (weakness)

1. They distort shape, size, distance, and direction because its hard to show a 3D world on a flat map

Longitude

Vertical (up and down) lines 0 to 180 degrees

Latitude

Horizontal ( side to side) (lines get shorter as you go-the line for the equator is the longest)

Equal-area projection map

A map projection that shows regions that are the same size on the earth the same size on the map but may distort the shape, angle, or scale

Used for longitude and latitude

Conformal projection map

A map that favors preserving the shape of features on the map but may greatly distort the size of features

Azimuthal equidistant projection map

A map that shows earth's surface from a given point, preserving both distance and direction from the center point

Robinson projection map

Shows the poles as lines rather than points and more accurately portraying high latitude lands and water to land ratio

General maps

A map that displays a variety of natural and human made features of general interest and are intended for widespread public use

Thematic maps

Portrays the geographic pattern of a particular subject matter in a geographic area

Lithosphere and main processes

A thin but strong solid shell of rocks, the outer, lighter portion of earth's crust

Processes: plate techtonics, earthquakes, volcanos

Atmosphere and main processes

Player of gasses surrounding the planet primarily composed of oxygen and nitrogen

Processes: radiation, convection, regulating temperature, movement of air masses

Biosphere and main processes

The zone of earth where life exists (includes the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere)

Processes: photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition

Hydrosphere and main processes

Refers to all water on earth and the main processes within it

Processes: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, runoff, infiltration, and Transpiration

Coriolis effect

An effect whereby a mass moving in a rotating system experiences a force acting perpendicular to the direction of motion and to the direction of motion and the axis of rotation

Population geography

Provides the concepts and theories to understand and forecast the size, composition, and geographic distribution of the human population

Rates

Record the frequency of the occurance of an event during a given time frame for a designated population

Cohort

Refer data to a population group untied by a common characteristic

Crude rates

Relates to the total population without regard to the age or sex of a population

Birth rate

Annual number of live births per 1000 population

Death rate

Also known as mortality rate, the annual number of deaths per 1000 population

Total fertility rate

Average number of children each woman has

Replacement fertility rate

Level needed to ensure replacement of each generation

Rate of natural increase

Crude birth minus crude death, then converted to a percentage

Doubling Time

The time it takes for the population to double

Migration

Movement of people

Types of migration

Emigration - movement of people out of a place

Immigration - movement of people into a place

Demographic equation

Formula for determining population change from year to year that takes into account the factors of births, deaths, immigration, and emigration

Ecumene

Habitable areas

Non-ecumene

Inhabitable areas

Population Density

Number of people per area they occupy

Crude density

Number of people per unit area of land

Physiological density

Population per arable land

Agricultural Density

Excludes city population from physiological density

Population Profiles (population pyramid)

A graph that shows the distribution of a population by age and gender

Population Distributions

A map that shows population density around the world

Projections

If y holds true the x will be true in the future

Predictions

We think this is going to happen (projections can be predictions)

Demographic transition

Stages of population growth and decline - birth and death rates start high , death rate decreases, they both decrease, population eventually declines

Overpopulation

Judgement of whether the environment can support the present population - many variables such as carrying capacity, technology , and trade

Cultural Geography

A common way of life - can be small scale or large scale

Convergence

A culture becoming more alike

Divergence

Cultures becoming more distinct

Culture traits

units of learned behavior

Culture complex

Combination of traits

Culture system

Shared traits/complexes in a population

Culture region

portion of the earth’s surface with shared characteristics

Culture realm

Culture region at broadcast extent

Subsystems of culture (I/FWP)

Ideas/folk, work, place - technological, sociological, ideological

Innovation

Change of ideas within a cultural group itself

Spatial diffusion

Process by which an aspect of culture spreads to another area - people move or information spreads - barriers can arise

Acculturation

One culture group changes dramatically by adopting another culture

Language

An organized system of speech by which people communicate with and understand each other

Religion

Value systems that involve worship and faith of sacred/divine or a unified system of beliefs that own people into single moral community

Universalizing

Faiths that seek to spread beliefs to everyone

Ethnic

Strong territorial/cultural identification

Traditional religion

Small, very local, often close nature

Principal religion

Ex. Judaism, Christianity, Islam, etc

Human interaction

Communication and interdependencies between people

Spatial interaction

Human interactions. Looked at through the places involved

Distance decay

Principle that states that interactions decrease as distance increases

Critical distance

Distance where variables associated with interaction override our willingness to interact

Barriers to interaction (and examples)

Anything that can inhibit movement of ideas, technology, or people

Ex. Distance, cost, religion, language, government

Individual activity space

The space within which we move freely to do daily tasks

Variables that affect activity space

Stages in life, mobility, opportunities

Contagious diffusion

Spread person to person - the more people who have it the faster it spreads

Hierarchical diffusion

Ideas spread at high levels first, then move down

Push factors

Things that makes someone want to leave a place

Pull factors

Things that make someone want to come to a place

Place utility

How much use can be made of a place

Migration field

Areas that dominate in/out migration for a place

Step migration

A big migration done in small steps

Chain migration

One group leaves, another follows, etc.

Political geography

Study of the organization and spatial distribution of political phenomena

State

Political unit that is part of the federal government or- independent political unit holding sovereignty over a territory

Nation

Independent political unit holding sovereignty over a territory Or- community of people with a common culture or territory