Introductory Geography: Key Concepts, Diffusion, and Spatial Distribution

A set of vocabulary flashcards defining key spatial, economic, and diffusion concepts from the lecture material.

Population Distribution in Africa, Asia, and Latin America

Countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America contain $\frac{3}{4}$ of the world's population.

Uneven development

When levels of wealth and well-being enjoyed by people in the core and in the periphery create an increasing gap in economic conditions between regions resulting from globalization of the economy.

5 Key Concepts of Geography

Place, Region, Scale, Space, and Connections.

Expansion diffusion

The spread of a feature from one place to another in a snowballing process. It includes three types: hierarchical diffusion, contagious diffusion, and stimulus diffusion.

Hierarchical diffusion

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

Contagious diffusion

The rapid, widespread diffusion of a characteristic throughout the population.

Stimulus diffusion

The spread of an underlying principal even though a characteristic itself apparently fails to diffuse.

Centers of Global Culture and Economy

North America, Western Europe, and Japan.

Distance decay

When contact diminishes with increasing distance and eventually disappears.

Diffusion

Process in which a characteristic spreads across space from one place to another over time.

Hearth

The place from which an innovation originates.

Relocation diffusion

The spread of an idea through physical movement of people from one place to another, which is how languages spread.

Distribution

The arrangement of a feature in space, characterized by three main properties: density, concentration, and pattern.

Density

The frequency with which something occurs in space.

Arithmetic Density

The total number of objects in an area, commonly used to compare population distributions in different countries; involves two measurements: number of people and land area.

Physiological Density

The number of persons per unit of area suitable for agriculture.

Agricultural Density

The number of farmers per unit area of farmland.

Concentration

The extent of a feature's spread over space.

Pattern

The geometric arrangements of objects in space, which is the third property of distribution.

Globalization

A force or process that involves the entire world and results in making something worldwide in scope.

Transnational corporation

An entity that conducts research, operates factories, and sells products in many countries.

Spatial thinking

The most fundamental skill that geographers possess to understand the arrangement of objects across surfaces considerably larger than a game board.

Geographers' Inquiry Focus

Geographers ask 'Where and Why', whereas historians ask 'When and Why'.