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Geography

The mother of all sciences; one of the oldest fields of study.

Physical Geography

The study of spatial characteristics of physical elements like weather, climate, and ecosystems.

Human Geography

The study of spatial characteristics of human activity, including population, culture, economics, urban areas, and politics.

Five Themes of Geography

Location, Place, Human-Environment Interaction, Movement, Region.

Absolute Location

The precise spot where something is, defined by latitude and longitude.

Relative Location

A description of where something is in relation to something else.

Place

The specific human and physical characteristics of a location.

Site vs Situation

Site refers to immediate characteristics of a location; Situation refers to the location relative to surrounding areas.

Cultural Ecology

The study of how humans adapt to their environment.

Environmental Determinism

The belief that physical environment determines human behavior and societal development.

Movement (Geography)

The way that people, goods, ideas, and information move from one place to another.

Region

Areas of unique characteristics and ways of organizing people geographically.

Formal Region

An area with a high level of consistency in cultural or physical attributes.

Functional Region

An area centered on a node or focal point with surrounding areas connected by social, political, or economic activities.

Perceptual Region

Regions defined by feelings and beliefs that may not reflect objective reality.

Cultural Hearth

The origination area of a unique culture or specific cultural trait.

Cultural Diffusion

The spreading of information, ideas, behaviors, and other cultural aspects.

Relocation Diffusion

The spread of cultural traits by people migrating and carrying their culture with them.

Expansion Diffusion

The spread of cultural traits through direct or indirect exchange without migration.

Demography

The study of populations, including their distributions, densities, and patterns.

Crude Birth Rate (CBR)

Total number of live births per year for every 1,000 people alive in a society.

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)

Annual number of deaths of infants under one year compared to total live births.

Epidemiological Transition Model

Describes changes in health and population dynamics as societies develop.

Overpopulation

The condition where the population outpaces food production and resources.

Push Factor

Factors that cause people to leave an area.

Pull Factor

Factors that attract people to a new area.

Cultural Geography

The study of how and why cultures vary over space.

Acculturation

The process where the less dominant culture adopts traits from the more dominant culture.

Assimilation

When the less dominant culture completely loses native customs.

Ethnocentrism

Judging another culture by the standards of one's own culture.

Folk Culture

Cultural practices of small, homogenous groups living in traditional societies.

Popular Culture

Cultural practices of large, heterogeneous groups and societies that spread rapidly.

Linguistic Geography

The study of speech areas and their local variations.

Monotheism

Belief in one God.

Polytheism

Belief in multiple gods.

Nation

A group of people sharing a common cultural heritage with the desire for self-determination.

State

A formal term for a country, requiring defined boundaries and sovereignty.

Sovereignty

The power of a political unit to govern itself.

Centripetal Force

A force that brings people together, strengthening states.

Centrifugal Force

A force that breaks states apart or prevents them from forming.

Urban Morphology

The physical layout/structure of a city.

Zoning

The division of an urban area into zones for specific purposes like residential, commercial, or industrial.

Gentrification

The process of wealthier residents moving into an area, renovating properties, and driving out existing residents.

Urban Heat Island

A city area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities.

Brownfield

An abandoned industrial property with potential hazards.

Commodity Chain

The process used by corporations to gather resources, transform them into goods, and transport them to customers.

Global Supply Chain

How goods or services move from supplier to customer globally.

Rostow's Model of Economic Growth

A development model outlining stages from traditional to modern society.

Wallerstein's World Systems Theory

The view that countries are interdependent within a global economic system.