hgap complete vocab

Biosphere

All living organisms on Earth

Cartography

The science of making maps

Climate

The long-term average weather condition at a particular location

Concentration

The spread of something over a given area

Conservation

The sustainable management of a natural resource

Contagious diffusion

The rapid, widespread diffusion of a feature/trend/culture throughout a population

Cultural ecology

A geographic approach that emphasizes human-environment relationships

Cultural landscape

The fashioning of a natural landscape by a cultural group

Culture

The body of customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits that together constitute a group's distinct tradition

Density

The frequency with which something exists within a given unit of area

Diffusion

The process of the spread of a feature/trend/culture from one place to another over time

Distance decay

The diminishing in importance and eventual disappearance of a phenomenon with increasing distance from its origin

Distribution

The arrangement of something across Earth's surface

Ecology

The scientific study of ecosystems

Ecosystem

A group of living organisms and the abiotic spheres with which they interact

Environmental determinism

A 19th & 20th century approach to the study of geography that argued that the geography is the study of how the physical environment causes human activities

Expansion diffusion

The spread of a feature/trend/culture among people from one area to another in an additive process

Formal region

Uniform/homogenous region; an area in which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristic

Functional region

Nodal region; an area organized around a node or focal point

GIS

Geographic information system; a computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data

GPS

Global positioning system; a system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations, and receivers

Globalization

Actions or processes that involve the entire world and results in making something worldwide in scope

Greenwich Mean Time

GMT; the time in the zone encompassing the prime meridian or 0 degrees longitude

Hearth

The region from which innovative ideas originate

Hierarchical diffusion

The spread of a feature/trend/culture from one key person or node of authority or power to other persons or places

International Date Line

An arc that for the most part follows 180 degrees longitude--when you cross the IDL heading east (towards the US) the clock moves back 24 hours; when you go west (toward Asia) the calendar moves ahead one day

Latitude

The numbering system used to indicate the location of parallels drawn on a globe and measuring distance north and south of the equator (0 degrees)

Location

The position of anything on Earth's surface

Longitude

The numbering system used to indicate the location of meridians drawn on a globe and measuring distance east and west of the prime meridian (0 degrees)

Map

A two-dimensional, flat representation of Earth's surface or a portion of it

Map scale

The relationship between the size of an object on a map and the size of the actual feature on Earth's surface

Meridian

An arc drawn on a map between the North and South poles

Nonrenewable resource

Something produced in nature more slowly than it is consumed by humans

Parallel

A circle drawn around the globe parallel to the equator and at right angles to the meridians

Pattern

The geometric or regular arrangement of something in a study area

Place

A specific point on Earth distinguished by a particular characteristic

Possibilism

Theory that the physical environment may set limits on human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to the physical environment and choose an alternative course of action

Preservation

The maintenance of resources in their present condition, with as little human impact as possible

Prime merdian

The meridian, designated by 0 degrees longitude, that passes through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England

Projection

A system used to transfer locations from Earth's surface to a flat map

Region

An area distinguished by a unique combination of trends or features

Relocation diffusion

The spread of a feature or trend through bodily movement of people from one place to another

Remote sensing

The acquisition of data about Earth's surface from a satellite orbiting the planet or from other long-distance methods

Renewable resource

Something produced in nature more rapidly than it is consumed by humans

Scale

The relationship between the portion of Earth being studied and Earth as a whole

Site

The physical character of place

Situation

The location of a place relative to another place

Space-time compression

The reduction in time it takes to diffuse something to a distant place as a result of improved communications and transportation system

Stimulus diffusion

The spread of an underlying principle even through a specific characteristic is rejected

Sustainability

The use of Earth's renewable and nonrenewable natural resources in ways that do not constrain resource use in the future

Toponym

The name given to a portion of Earth's surface

Transnational corporation

A company that conducts research, operates factors, and sells products in many countries, not just where its headquarters or shareholders are located

Uneven development

The increasing gap in economic conditions between core and peripheral regions as a result of the globalization of the economy

Vernacular region

Perceptual region; an area that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity

Acculturation

when an immigrant/ethnic group moving to a new area adopts the values and practices of the larger group while still maintaining major elements of their own culture

Assimilation

when an immigrant/ethnic group can no longer be distinguished from the receiving group

Multiculturalism

the coexistence of several cultures in one society--many argue that the interaction of cultures enriches the lives of all

Nativism

A policy of favoring native-born individuals over foreign-born ones

Population Distribution

The way people are spread across a given area.

Physical Factors of Population Distribution

- Climate
- Landforms
- Water

Human Factors of Population Distribution

- Culture
- Economics
- History & Politics

Economic Consequences of Population Distribution

- Areas with a high population density are more developed, and have greater job opportunity and competition.
- Areas with a low population density are less developed, and have fewer job opportunities + lower wages.

Social Consequences of Population Distribution

- Areas with a high population density have more options available regarding housing, and greater access to social services.
- Areas with a low population density have limited access to housing options and social services.

Political Consequences of Population Distribution

- Population determines how many representatives each state gets in Congress.
- Electoral districts are drawn to be roughly equal in population size.
- Redistricting (redrawing Electoral District boundaries) takes place every 10 years, following the census.

Arithmetic Density

The total number of people divided by the total land area.

Physiological Density

The number of people per unit area of arable land.

Agricultural Density

The number of farmers per unit area of farmland.

Carrying Capacity

The maximum number of people that a region can support without environmental degradation.

Crude Birth Rate (CBR)

The number of live births per 1,000 people in a given year.

Crude Death Rate (CDR)

The number of deaths per 1,000 people in a given year.

Natural Increase Rate

The difference between the number of live births and deaths occurring in a given year.

Population Pyramid

A bar graph displaying the distribution of a population by age and sex.

Fertility Rate

The average number of children born to each woman in a given region during the course of her lifetime.

Fertility rates have dropped in most parts of the world as more women gain access to...

...education, employment, healthcare, and contraceptives.

Mortality Rate

The number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, in a given duration of time.

Migration Rate

The net number of migrants per 1,000 people within a region.

Doubling Time

The duration of time required for the population of a region to double in size.

Demographic Transition

A long-term trend of declining birth and death rates.

Epidemiologic Transition

Changing patterns of population distributions in relation to changing patterns of mortality, fertility, life expectancy, and leading causes of death.

Malthusian Theory

The idea that population growth is exponential, while the growth of the food supply or other resources is linear, which eventually reduces living standards to the point of triggering mass death.

Pro-Natalist Policies

Policies designed with the intention of increasing the birth rate/fertility rate of an area.

Why governments promote pro-natalist policies:

- To prevent labor shortages
- To prevent the loss of innovation that younger generations provide
- Aging populations could threaten national security

How governments promote pro-natalist policies:

- Paid maternity leave
- Increased child allowances
- Encourage immigration

Anti-Natalist Policies

Policies designed with the intention of decreasing the birth rate/fertility rate of an area.

Why governments promote anti-natalist policies:

- Large populations impede economic development.
- Large populations strain natural and government resources.

How governments promote anti-natalist policies:

- Coercion; forced sterilization programs, fines, penalties.
- Contraception, family planning, media campaigns encouraging smaller families.

What causes aging populations?

- Low fertility rates (far below 2.1 replacement rate)
- Longer life expectancies
- Age-selective migration

What are the effects of aging populations?

- Decreased labor force.
- Slower economic growth.
- Increased elderly population.

Immigration Quotas

Policies designed to place limits on how many migrants are allowed to enter a nation.

Immigration Policies

Laws and policies defining who can enter a country.

Contraception

Birth control via the use of devices (such as condoms or pills).

Life Expectancy

The average number of years an individual can be expected to live, given current social, economic, and medical conditions.

Dependency Ratio

The percentage of people within a population who are too young or too old to work, dependent upon the labor of working-aged people within the population.

Ravenstein's Laws of Migration

1. Most migration is over a short distance.
2. Migration occurs in steps.
3. Long-range migrants usually move to urban areas.
4. Each migration produces a movement in the opposite direction (although not necessarily of the same volume).
5. Natives of towns are less migratory than those of rural areas
6. Rural dwellers are more migratory than urban dwellers.
7. Within their own country females are more migratory than males, but males are more migratory over long distances.
8. Most migrants are adults.
9. Large towns grow more by migration than by natural increase.
10. Migration increases with economic development.
11. Migration is mostly due to economic causes.

Push Factor

A factor that encourages a person to migrate away from their original location.

Pull Factor

A factor that encourages a person to migrate to a new location.

Intervening Opportunities

Factors that encourage people to remain at their current location (i.e. a job opening, a major economic boom, etc).

Intervening Obstacles

Factors that hinder or prevent people from migrating to a new location (i.e. a geographic barrier, immigration moratoriums, etc).

Forced Migration

Migration to a new location against one's will, due to external factors (such as war/unrest, persecution, inclement weather, etc).

Voluntary Migration

Migration to a new location at one's will (like wanting to be closer to family, wanting a better job, etc).