AP Human Geo Key Terms Unit 1

Absolute location

Longitude and Latitude

ex: the United States Capitol is at: 38° 53′ 35″ N, 77° 00′ 32″ W

Relative location

A position in relation to other locations.

ex: "It's past the stop light before you turn into the Target on Franklin, to the left of the Crumbl."

Site

The physical characteristics of a place.

ex: the site shown in the picture is New York City. (picture of nyc)

Situation

The location of a place relative to its surroundings.

ex: San Francisco's location on the coast of the Pacific contributes to it being a huge commercial hub.

Map distortion

Alterations in shape, size, distance, and direction on a map.

Map projections

Methods of representing the curved surface of the Earth on a flat map.

Mercator map projection

A cylindrical map projection that distorts size but preserves shape.

ex: With the mercator map, Greenland is as large as Africa, when in reality, Africa is 14x larger than Greenland.

Equal Area map projection

A map projection that maintains area but distorts shape.

Conformal map projection

A map projection that preserves angles but distorts area.

Reference maps

Maps that show the location of features without data analysis.

Thematic maps

Maps that focus on a specific theme or subject.

Dot Distribution

A thematic map that uses dots to represent the frequency of a phenomenon.

Choropleth

A thematic map that uses color or shading to represent data values.

ex: the percentage of voters in the 2016 general election. The darker the color the more voters, and the lighter the color the fewer voters

Graduated Symbol

A thematic map that uses symbols of varying size to represent data values.

Isoline

A map line that connects points of equal value.

ex: color-coded isoline map that shows the different average temperatures in The U.S during the week of March 18-21, 2001.

Sources of geospatial information

Various methods and technologies used to gather geographic data.

Geographic Information Systems

Systems designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present spatial or geographic data.

Satellite Navigation

A system that uses satellite signals to determine the location of a receiver.

Remote Sensing

The acquisition of information about an object or area from a distance.

ex: using satellite imagery to monitor urban sprawl and map changes in land use over time

Topography

The arrangement of the natural and artificial physical features of an area.

Scale

The relationship between distance on a map and distance on the ground.

ex: An example could be the crime rates across the United States. This scale is national but the scale of analysis is county because the information is showing per county.

Scales of analysis

Different levels of geographic analysis: Global, regional, national, local.

Spatial Patterns

The arrangement of phenomena across the Earth's surface, including clustering and dispersal.

Distance decay

The decrease in interaction between two phenomena as the distance between them increases.

ex: The people who live closer to the mall are more likely to go to the mall more frequently

Time-space compression

The phenomenon that describes the reduction in time it takes for something to reach another place.

ex: the invention and expansion of air travel. Global airplanes and airlines have made it much easier and more efficient to travel around the world, shrinking our perception of how big the world is due to our ability to travel around at a whim

Sense of place

The emotional and cultural meanings attached to a location.

Natural Landscape

The physical environment, including soil, climate, vegetation, and elevation.

Cultural landscape

The human-modified landscape that reflects cultural practices, including language, architecture, technology, and settlement patterns.

ex: Gardens like the Royal Botanical gardens are examples of cultural landscapes because it was a landscape designed by humans

Toponyms

Place names that reflect the history and culture of a location.

ex: cities (Boston, Chapel Hill), States (California, Florida)

Sequent Occupance

The concept that successive societies leave their cultural imprints on a place.

ex: Louisiana was originally inhabited by native people, then was taken over by the French, temporarily owned by the Spanish and eventually bought by the US.

Vernacular Architecture

Architecture that reflects local traditions and materials.

Formal Regions

Regions defined by official boundaries and uniform characteristics.

Functional or Nodal Regions

Regions defined by a central point and the surrounding areas that are affected by it.

ex: Delivery zones. If a pizza place is centered somewhere, the delivery will only go so far until you are outside of the region

Perceptual or Vernacular Regions

Regions defined by people's perceptions and feelings about an area.

Uniform and Non-Uniform Membership Function

Concepts related to how elements belong to a set in spatial analysis.