AP Human Geography Part 4 - C

Genetically modified organism (GMO)

A living organism that possesses a novel combination of genetic material obtained through the use of modern biotechnology.

Genocide

The mass killing of a group of people in an attempt to eliminate the entire group from existence.

Gentrification

A process of converting an urban neighborhood from a predominantly low-income, renter-occupied area to a predominantly middle-class, owner-occupied area.

Geographic information science (GIScience)

Analysis of data about Earth acquired through satellite and other electronic information technologies.

Geographic information system (GIS)

A computer system that captures, stores, queries, and displays geographic data.

Geotagging

Identification and storage of a piece of information by its precise latitude and longitude coordinates.

Geothermal energy

Energy from steam or hot water produced from hot or molten underground rocks.

Gerrymandering

The process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power.

Ghetto

During the Middle Ages, a neighborhood in a city set up by law to be inhabited only by Jews; now used to denote a section of a city in which members of any minority group live because of social, legal, or economic discrimination.

Global city

A major center for the provision of services in the global economy.

Global Positioning System (GPS)

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 result in making something worldwide in scope.

Graduated symbol map

A map that displays symbols that change in size according to the value of the variable.

Grain

Seed of a cereal grass.

Gravity model

A model that holds that the potential use of a service at a particular location is directly related to the number of people in a location and inversely related to the distance people must travel to reach the service.

Green revolution

Rapid diffusion of new agricultural technology, especially new high-yield seeds and fertilizers.

Gross domestic product (GDP)

The value of the total output of goods and services produced in a country in a year, not accounting for money that leaves and enters the country.

Gross national income (GNI)

The value of the output of goods and services produced in a country in a year, including money that leaves and enters the country.

Guest worker

A term once used for a worker who migrated to the developed countries of Northern and Western Europe, usually from Southern and Eastern Europe or from North Africa, in search of a higher-paying job.

Habit

A repetitive act performed by a particular individual.

Hearth

A place from which an innovation originates.

Herbicide

A chemical to control unwanted plants.

Hierarchical diffusion

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

Hierarchical religion

A religion in which a central authority exercises a high degree of control.

Horticulture

Growing of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and tree crops.

Human Development Index (HDI)

An indicator constructed by the U.N. to measure the level of development for a country through a combination of income, education, and life expectancy.

Human geography

An approach to human geography that emphasizes the different ways that individuals form ideas about place and give those places symbolic meanings.

Hydrosphere

All of the water on and near Earth's surface.

Immigration

Migration to a new location.

Industrial Revolution

A series of improvements in industrial technology that transformed the process of manufacturing goods.

Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI)

A modification of the HDI to account for inequality.

Infant mortality rate (IMR)

The total number of deaths in a year among infants under 1 year of age for every 1,000 live births in a society.

Informal settlement

An area within a city in a less developed country in which people illegally establish residences on land they do not own or rent and erect homemade structures.

Institutional language

A language used in education, work, mass media, and government.

Intensive subsistence agriculture

A form of subsistence agriculture characteristic of Asia's major population concentrations in which farmers must expend a relatively large amount of effort to produce the maximum feasible yield from a parcel of land.

Internal migration

Permanent movement within a particular country.

Internally displaced person (IDP)

Someone who has been forced to migrate for similar political reasons as a refugee but has not migrated across an international border.

International Date Line

An arc that for the most part follows 180° longitude. When the International Date Line is crossed heading east (toward America), the clock moves back 24 hours, or one entire day. When it is crossed heading west (toward Asia), the calendar moves ahead one day.

International migration

Permanent movement from one country to another.

Interregional migration

Permanent movement from one region of a country to another.

Intervening obstacle

An environmental or cultural feature of the landscape that hinders migration.

Intraregional migration

Permanent movement within one region of a country.

Isogloss

A boundary that separates regions in which different language usages predominate.

Isolated language

A language that is unrelated to any other languages and therefore not attached to any language family.

Isoline map

A map that connects places of a particular value by lines.

Just-in-time delivery

Shipment of parts and materials to arrive at a factory moments before they are needed.

Labor-intensive industry

An industry for which labor costs comprise a high percentage of total expenses.

Landlocked state

A state that does not have a direct outlet to the sea.

Language

A system of communication through speech or movement, a collection of sounds or symbols understood by a group of people to have the same meaning.

Language branch

A collection of languages related through a common ancestor that can be confirmed through archaeological evidence.

Language family

A collection of languages related to each other through a common ancestor long before recorded history.

Language group

A collection of languages within a branch that share a common origin in the relatively recent past and display relatively few differences in grammar and vocabulary.

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°).

Life expectancy

The average number of years an individual can be expected to live.