Chapter 1 | The Power of Geography: Thinking Geographically

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.