APHUG Unit 1 Vocab

Human Geography

The study of how humans interact with, adapt to, and shape their environments, focusing on spatial patterns and cultural processes rather than just physical landscapes.

Globalization

The increasing interconnectedness of people, places, and ideas across the world, leading to cultural, economic, and political integration.

Spatial Distribution

The physical location and arrangement of a phenomenon across the Earth’s surface (e.g., where people live, where diseases spread).

Pandemic

A disease that spreads worldwide, affecting large populations across multiple continents.

Epidemic

 A regional outbreak of a disease that spreads rapidly within a specific area or community.

Cultural Hearth

The geographic origin of a cultural trait, idea, or innovation that later spreads to other areas.

Independent Invention

The development of the same cultural trait or innovation in different places without diffusion from a single origin.

Spatial Perspective

The geographical viewpoint that considers the arrangement of places and phenomena and how they are connected or interact over space.

Perceptions of Place

The personal feelings, ideas, or stereotypes people form about a location, often shaped by media, stories, or personal experience.

Accessibility

The ease of reaching one location from another, influenced by transportation, communication, and infrastructure.

Connectivity

The degree of direct linkages between locations in a network, showing how connected and integrated places are.

Cultural Landscape

The visible imprint of human activity on the environment, such as buildings, roads, farms, or monuments.

Sequent Occupance

The idea that successive groups of people leave cultural imprints on a place, layering landscapes with different cultural influences over time.

Mental Maps

A person’s internal representation of the layout of places, based on their knowledge, experience, and perceptions.

Time-Distance Decay

The principle that the farther a cultural trait, idea, or innovation is from its origin, and the more time that passes, the less likely it is to be adopted.

Cultural Barriers

Social or cultural differences that prevent the adoption or spread of an idea, innovation, or practice.

Environmental Determinism

The outdated theory that human behavior and cultural development are shaped primarily by the physical environment.

Possibilism

The theory that while the environment sets certain limits, people have the ability to adapt, modify, and choose cultural development paths.

Cultural Ecology

The study of how human societies adapt to and modify their environments.

Activity Spaces

The areas in which people move about during their daily routines, such as school, work, or recreational locations.