AP HumanGeo

Absolute Distance

A distance that can be measured with a standard unit of length, such as a mile or kilometer

Absolute Location

The exact position of an object or place, measured within the spatial coordinates of a grid system

Accessibility

The relative ease with which a destination may be reached from some other place

Aggregation

To come together into a mass, sum, or whole

Azimuthal Projection

A map projection in which the plane is the most developable surface

Breaking Point

The outer edge of a city’s sphere of influence, used in the law of retail gravitation to describe the area of a city’s hinterlands that depend on that city for its retail supplies

Cartograms

A type of thematic map that transforms space such that the political unit with the greatest value for some type of data is represented by the largest relative area

Cartography

The theory and practice of making visual representations of Earth’s surface in the form of maps

Choropleth Map

A thematic map that uses tones or colors to represent spatial data as average values per unit area

Cognitive Map

An image of a portion of Earth’s surface that an individual creates in his or her mind. Cognitive maps can include knowledge of actual locations and relationships among locations as well as personal perceptions and preferences of particular places

Complementarity

The actual or potential relationship between two places, usually referring to economic interactions

Connectivity

The degree of economic, social, cultural, or political connection between two places

Contagious diffusion

The spread of a disease, an innovation, or cultural traits through direct contact with another person or another place

Coordinate System

A standard grid composed of lines of latitude and longitude, used to determine the absolute location of any object, place, or feature on Earth’s surface

Cultural Ecology/nature-society geography

The study of the interactions between societies and the natural environments in which they live

Cultural Landscape

The human-modified natural landscape specifically containing the imprint of a particular culture of society

Distance Decay Effect

The decrease in interaction between two phenomena, places, or people as the distance between them increases

Dot Maps

Thematic maps that use points to show the precise locations of specific observations or occurrences, such as crimes, car accidents, or births

Environmental Geography

The intersection between human and physical geography, which explores the spatial impacts humans have on the physical environment and vice versa

Expansion diffusion

The spread of ideas, innovations, fashion, or other phenomena to surrounding areas through contact and exchange

Formal Region

Definition of regions based on common themes such as similarities in language, climate, land use etc

Friction of Distance

A measure of how much absolute distance affects the interactions between two places

Fuller Projection

A type of map projection that maintains the accurate size and shape of landmasses but completely rearranges direction such that the four cardinal directions—north, south, East, and west—no longer have any meaning

Functional Region

Definition of regions based on common interaction (or function)—for example, a boundary line drawn around the circulation of a particular newspaper

Geographic Information System (GIS)

A set of computer tools used to capture, store, transform, analyze, and display geographic data

Geographic Scale

The scale at which a geographer analyzes a particular phenomenon—for example, global, national, census tract, neighborhood, etc. Generally, the finer the scale of analysis, the richer the level of detail in the findings

Global Positioning System (GPS)

A set of satellites used to help determine location anywhere on Earth’s surface with a portable electronic device

Gravity Model

A mathematical formula that describes the level of interaction between two places, based on the size of their populations and their distance from each other

Hierarchical Diffusion

A type of diffusion in which something is transmitted between places because of a physical or cultural community between those places

Human Geography

The study of the spatial variation in the patterns and processes related to human activity

International Date Line

The line of longitude that marks where each new day begins, centered on the 180th meridian

Intervening opportunity

If one place has a demand for some good or service and two places have a supply of equal price and quality, the supplier closer to the buyer will represent an intervening opportunity, thereby blocking the third from being able to share its supply of goods or services. Intervening opportunities are frequently used because transportation costs usually decrease with proximity

Isoline

A map line that connects points of equal or very similar values

Large Scale

A relatively small ratio between map units and ground units. Large-scale maps usually have higher resolution and cover much smaller regions than small-scale maps

Latitude

The angular distance north or south of the equator, defined by lines of latitude or parallels

Law of Retail Gravitation

A law stating that people will be drawn to larger cities to conduct their business since larger cities have a wider influence on the surrounding hinterlands

Location Chart

On a map, a chart or graph that gives specific statistical information about a particular political unit or jurisdiction

Longitude

The angular distance east or west of the prime meridian, defined by lines of longitude, or meridians

Map Projection

A mathematical method that involves transferring Earth’s sphere onto a flat surface. This term can also be used to describe the type of map that results from the process of projecting. All map projections have distortions in area, direction, distance, or shape

Map Scale

The ratio between the size of an area on a map and the actual size of that same area on Earth’s surface

Mercator Projection

A true conformal cylindrical map projection, the projection is particularly useful for navigation since it maintains accurate direction. This projection is famous for its distortion in area that makes landmasses at the poles appear oversized

Meridian

A line of longitude that runs north-south. All lines of longitude are equal in length and intersect at the poles

Natural Landscape

The physical landscape or environment that has not been affected by human activities

Nature-Society

The study of the interactions between societies and the natural environments in which they live

Parallel

An east-west line of latitude that runs parallel to the equator and that marks distance north or south of the equator

W.D Pattison

Geographer who claimed that geography drew from four distinct traditions: the earth-science tradition, the cultural-environment tradition, the locational tradition, and the area-analysis tradition

Perceptual Region

Highly individualized definition of regions based on perceived commonalities in culture and landscape

Peters projection

An equal-area projection purposely centered on Africa in an attempt to treat all areas of Earth equally

Physical Geography

The realm of geography that studies the structures, processes, distributions, and changes through time of the natural phenomena of Earth’s surface

Preference Map

A map that displays individual preferences for certain places

Prime Meridian

An imaginary line passing through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England, that marks the 0 degree line of longitude

Projection

The system used to transfer locations from Earth’s surface to a flat map

Proportional Symbols Map

A thematic map in which the size of a chosen symbol—such as a circle or triangle—indicates the relative magnitude of some statistical value for a given geographic region

Ptolemy

Roman Geographer-astronomer, author of Guide to Geography, which included maps containing a grid system of latitude and longitude

Qualitative Data

Data associated with a more humanistic approach to Geography, often collected through interviews, empirical observations, or the interpretation of texts, artwork, old maps, and other archives

Quantitative Data

Data associated with mathematical models and statistical techniques used to analyze spatial location and association

Reference Map

A map type that shows reference information for a particular place, making it useful for finding landmarks and for navigation

Region

A territory that encompasses many places that share similar physical and/or cultural attributes

Regional Geography

The study of geographic regions

Relative Distance

A measure of distance that includes the costs of overcoming the friction of absolute distance separating two places. Relative distance often describes the amount of social, cultural, or economic connectivity between two places

Relative Location

The position of a place relative to the places around it

Relocation Diffusion

The diffusion of ideas, innovations, behaviours, and so on from one place to another through migration

Remote Sensing

The observation and mathematical measurement of Earth’s surface using aircraft and satellites. The sensors include photographic images, thermal images, multispectral scanners, and radar images

Resolution

A map’s smallest discernable unit. If, for example, an object has to be one kilometer long in order to show up on a map, that map’s resolution is one kilometer

Robinson Projection

A projection that attempts to balance several possible projection errors. It does not maintain area, shape, distance, or direction completely accurately, but it minimizes errors in each.

Carl Sauer

Geographer from the University of California at Berkeley who defined the concept of cultural landscape as the fundamental unit of geographical analysis. This landscape results from the interaction between humans and the physical environment. He argued that virtually no landscape has escaped alteration by human activities.

Scale of Analysis

This is the geographic unit at which one investigates various patterns or processes; eg country vs. nation vs. globe

Sense of place

Feelings evoked by people as a result of certain experiences and memories associated with a particular place

Site

The absolute location of a place, described by local relief, landforms, and other cultural or physical characteristics

Situation

The relative location of a place in relation to the physical and cultural characteristics of the surrounding area and the connections and inter dependencies within that system; a place’s spatial context

Small Scale

A map scale ratio in which the ratio of units on the map to unis on Earth is quite small. They usually depict large areas

Spatial Diffusion

The ways in which phenomena, such as technological innovations, cultural trends, or even outbreaks of disease, travel over space

Spatial Perspective

An intellectual framework that looks at the particular locations of a specific phenomenon, how and why that phenomenon is where it is, and finally, how it is spatially related to phenomena in other places

Sustainability

The concept of using Earth’s resources in such a way that they provide for people’s needs in the present without diminishing Earth’s ability to provide for future generations

Thematic Layers

Individual maps of specific features that are overlaid on one another in a Geographic Information System to understand and analyze a spatial relationship

Thematic Map

A type of map that displays one or more variables—such as population or income level—within a specific area

Time-Space Convergence

The idea that distance between some places is actually shrinking as technology enables more rapid communication and increased interaction among those places

Topographic Maps

Maps that use isolines to represent constant elevations. If you took a topographic map out into the field and walked exactly along the path of an isoline on your map, you would always stay at the same elevation.

Transferability

The costs involved in moving goods from one place to another

Visualization

Use of sophisticated software to create dynamic computer maps, some of which are Three dimensional or interactive

Age-Sex Distribution

A model used in population geography that describes the ages and numbers of males and females within a gveon population; also called a population pyramid

Agricultural Density

The number of farmers per unit area of farmland

Arithmetic Density

The number of people living in a given unit area

Baby Boom

A cohort of individuals born in the United States between 1946 and 1964, which was just after World War II in a time of relative peace and prosperity. These conditions allowed for better education and job opportunities, encouraging high rates of both marriage and fertility.

Baby Bust

Period during the 1960’s and 1970’s when fertility rates in the United States dropped as large numbers of women from the baby boom generation sought higher levels of education and more competitive jobs, causing them to marry later in life. As such, the fertility rate dropped considerably, in contrast to the baby boom, in which fertility rates were quite high.

Carrying Capacity

The largest number of people that the environment of a particular area can sustainably support

Chain Migration

The migration event in which individuals follow the migratory path of preceding friends or family members to an existing community

Child Mortality Rate

Number of deaths per thousand children within the first five years of life

Cohort

A population group unified by a specific common characteristic, such as age, and subsequently treated as a statistical unit

Cotton Belt

The term by which the American South used to be known, as cotton historically dominated the agricultural economy of the region. The same area is now known as the New South or Sun Belt because people have migrated here from older cities in the industrial North for a better climate and new job opportunities

Crude Birth Rate

The number of live births per year per thousand people

Crude Death Rate

The number of deaths per year per thousand people

Demographic Accounting Equation

An equation that summarizes the amount of growth or decline in a population within a country during a particular time period, taking into account both natural increase and net migration

Demographic Transition Model

A sequence of demographic changes in which a country moves from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates through time

Demography

The study of human populations, including their temporal and spatial dynamics

Dependency Ratio

The ratio of the number of people who are either too old or too young to provide for themselves to the number of people who must support them through their own labor. This is usually expressed in the form n:100, where n equals the number of dependents

Doubling Time

Time period required for a population experiencing exponential growth to double in size completely

Emigration

The process of moving out of a particular country, usually the individual person’s country of origin

Epidemiologcial Transition

Sudden population growth as a result of improved food security and health care, followed by a plateau in growth because of subsequent declines in fertility rates

Exponential Growth

Growth that occurs when a fixed percentage of new people is added to a population because the fixed growth rate applies to an ever increasing population