Studied by 30 people
Human geography
The study of the ways human activity shapes the world; How people use, adapt to, and change the Earth-- as well as how they’re influenced by it.
Physical geography
The study of natural processes and the distribution of features in the environment (landforms, plants, animals, etc.)
Spatial perspective
Geographic perspective that focuses on how people live on Earth, how they organize themselves, and why the events of human societies occur where they do.
Ecological perspective
The relationships between living things and their environments.
Location
The position that a point or object occupies on Earth.
Absolute location
The exact location of an object, usually expressed in coordinates of longitude and latitude.
Relative location
A description of where a place is in relation to other places or features.
Place
A location on Earth that is distinguished by its physical and human characteristics.
Site
A place’s absolute location, as well as its physical characteristics, such as the landforms, climate, and resources.
Situation
Location of a place in relation to other places or its surrounding features.
Space
The area between two or more things.
Distribute
To arrange within a given space.
Density
The number of things—people, animals, or objects—in a specific area.
Pattern
The way in which things are arranged in a particular space.
Flow
Movement of people, goods, or information that has economic, social, political, or cultural effects on societies
Environmental determinism
The idea that human behavior is strongly affected, controlled, or determined by the physical environment.
Possibilism
Theory of human-environment interaction that states that humans have the ability to adapt the physical environment to their needs.
Distance decay
A principle stating that the farther away one thing is from another, the less interaction the two things will have.
Time-space compression
A key geographic principle that describes the ways in which modern transportation and communication technology have allowed humans to travel and communicate over long distances quicker and easier.
Sustainability
The use of Earth’s land and natural resources in ways that ensure they will continue to be available in the future.
Scale
The area of the world being studied.
Region
An area of Earth’s surface with certain characteristics that make it distinct yet cohesive from other areas.
Formal region
An area that has one or more shared traits; also called a uniform region.
Functional region
An area organized by its function around a focal point, or the center of an interest or activity.
Node
The focal point of a functional region.
Suburbs
Less densely populated residential and commercial areas surrounding a city.
Perceptual Region
A type of region that reflects people’s feelings and attitudes about a place; also called a vernacular region.
Globalization
The expansion of economic, cultural, and political processes on a worldwide scale.
Theory
A system of ideas intended to explain certain phenomena.
World System Theory
Theory describing the spatial and functional relationships between countries in the world economy; categorizes countries as part of a hierarchy consisting of the core, periphery, and semi-periphery.
Core countries
Classification of a country or region that has wealth, higher education levels, more advanced technologies, many resources, strong militaries, and powerful allies.
Semi-peripheral countries
Classification of a country or region that has qualities of both core and peripheral areas and is often in the process of industrializing.
Peripheral countries
Classification of a country or region that has less wealth, lower education levels, and less sophisticated technologies and also tends to have an unstable government and poor health systems.
Sustainable development
Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
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