Human Geography

Spring 2026

Toponym

The name given to a place on Earth

Site

Psychical characteristics of a place (ex: climate, vegetation and wildlife, natural resources)

Situation

The location of a place relative to other places, network (links between places)

5 points to define human geography

uses scientific process/method, to look at landscape/surface of the earth, and identify patterns, the processes that created these patterns, and their impacts

Formal region

An area within which most people share one or more distinctive characteristics

Functional region

An area organized around a node or focal point

Vernacular region

An area that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity

Globalization

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

in scope

Density

The frequency with which something occurs in space, number of people divided by size of the space

Concentration

The extent of a feature's spread over space (clustered or dispersed)

Pattern

The geometric arrangement of objects in space

Uneven development

The increasing gap in economic conditions between regions in the core and periphery

Hierarchical diffusion

spread of an idea from persons or nodes of authority or power to other persons or places

Contagious diffusion

rapid, widespread diffusion of a characteristic throughout the population

Stimulus diffusion

The spread of an underlying principle

Distance decay

The diminishing in importance and eventual disappearance of a phenomenon with increasing

distance from its origin

What 4 regions contain 2/3 of the world’s population?

Europe, Southeast Asia, East Asia (China), South Asia (India)

Ecumene

the area of Earth occupied by permanent human settlement

Which environmental condition is most likely to discourage human settlement?

Areas too dry, too cold, or too mountainous

Which characteristics encourage human settlement?

Temperate/moderate temperatures, fertile soil (arable), low-lying coastal areas

Agricultural density

Number of farmers per unit of arable land, indicator of economic growth and economic difference between countries (developed countries have lower ag density than developing)

4 types of distortion that can happen with projection

Shape, Distance (between two points), relative size (Greenland looking big), direction (from one place to another)

Latitude and Longitude

Lat: vertical, North/South, parallels Long: horizontal, East/West, meridians

Hearth

node/place from which an innovation originates

Diffusion

Process of a spread of a feature or trend from one place to another over time

Environmental possibilism

Belief that the psychical environment may limit some human actions BUT people have the ability to adjust to their environment, NOT determinism

Human-Environment (school)

Studies the impact humans have on the environment and vice versa

Area Studies (school)

Encylocpedic memorizing locations and maps, what classically think of geography

Spatial Interaction (school)

Study the movement of things, people, cultures, practices, and goods around the planet and it’s impacts

Absolute VS Relative locations

Absolute: precise, coordinate systems, addresses, place names

Relative: colloquial, situational, landmarks to give directions

Which of the following countries is in Stage 4 of the demographic transition model?

Denmark

In which stage of demographic transition do birth rates decline?

Stage 3

What is a key characteristic of Stage 1 of the demographic transition?

High birth and death rates

Demographic Transition 1

Deaths and births relatively the same, very low growth

Demographic Transition 2

Births begin to outweigh deaths, High growth, transition from 1 to 2 usually sparked by the Industrial Revolution

Demographic Transition 3

High population but slowing growth, more education and access to healthcare

Demographic Transition 4

Low growth, few births and deaths outweigh births, aging populations and declining populations

Historically what advancement typically moved a country from Stage 1 to Stage 2 of the demographic

transition?

Industrial revolution

What is an example of physiological density?

Number of people per square kilometer of arable land

Why does Egypt have a high physiological density?

Most of the population lives in a small area near the Nile, because a large portion of the land is not arable

What is the main reason for the high crude death rate (CDR) in developed countries like Denmark?

Aging population

What type of country has the highest CBR? And what can bring it down?

Developing countries, goes down with educating women and access to healthcare/birth control

What demographic issue is caused by cultural preferences for sons in countries like China and India?

Gender imbalance

Dependency ratio

Ratio of the elderly plus young under 15 over the working age population

Which population pyramid shape is typical for a country in Stage 2 of the demographic transition?

Triangle with a wide base (

Malthusian Theory

Population growth will outpace food production (overestimated pop growth and underestimates ag tech and economic growth)

What region is experiencing most rapid population growth today?

Africa

What health challenges are typical in Stage 4 of the epidemiologic transition?

Obesity and sedentary lifestyle diseases

4 Stages of epidemiologic transition

What does infant mortality rate (IMR) measure?

Deaths of infants under 1 year per 1,000 live births

What is the primary cause of low life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa?

Lack of access to medical facilities

What does the demographic winter predict?

around 2100 global population will peak and after that it will start to collapse around the world

What does the NRI (Natural Rate of Increase) also called the natural increase rate (NIR) measure?

CBR minus CDR and adjusted to reflect a percentage, increase of pop without accounting for migration

Which population density measure helps geographers understand food availability?

Physiological density

Physiological density

Urban density

Migration

A permanent move to a new location

Difference between emigration and immigration?

Em: moving FROM/OUT a country

Im: moving TO/IN a country

Net migration

The difference between the number of immigrants and emigrants

According to Ravenstein's laws, most migrants:

Move a short distance and remain in the same country

Which country has RECENTLY been the greatest source of immigrants in the US

Mexico

Where is the largest flow of immigration from?

Latin America to North America

What was one of the primary reasons for migration to the United States in the 19th and

early 20th centuries?

Search for economic opportunities

What is the migration of people from rural areas to urban areas primarily caused by?

Economic opportunities

The Trail of Tears is an example of what?

Forced migration

Which country has HISTORICALLY been the largest source of immigrants to

the United States?

Germany

In recent years a major cause of forced political migration is:

Armed conflict

Intervening obstacle

A challenge that hinders migration

Brain drain

the migration of highly skilled individuals from one country to another

Chain migration

Migration of people to a location where relatives or members of the same nationality previously migrated, based on social ties

Step migration

follows a path of a series of steps toward a final destination, based on logistical considerations

Counter urbanization

Movement from urban to rural areas

What is one of the most common environmental push factors of migration?

Water related disasters

Asylum seeker

A person who has migrated in the hope of being recognized as a refugee

Remittance

Money migrants send back to their home countries

Why do many countries implement quotas on immigration?

To control the number of people moving into the country

What was the primary reason for migration from Mexico to the U.S. in recent decades?

Economic opportunities

Why has female migration increased in recent years?

More job opportunities for women in host countries

Refugee

Someone forced to migrate due to conflict, violence, or persecution

Which of the following continents has the highest number of emigrants?

Asia