AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY VOCAB

What is absolute distance?

The physical space between two places measured in units like miles or kilometers.

What does an age-sex composition graph represent?

A population pyramid showing age and gender distribution.

What is acculturation?

Adopting some cultural traits of another group while keeping your own.

What defines an administered boundary?

A border managed and enforced by a government or authority.

What are wetlands?

Areas that can be drained to convert them for other land uses.

What does affordability mean in terms of housing?

How financially accessible housing or services are to people.

What are agglomeration economies?

Cost savings from businesses clustering together.

What is absolute location?

Exact position on Earth using coordinates like latitude and longitude.

What does agricultural population density refer to?

The number of farmers per unit of arable land.

What is the definition of an adage?

A short, common saying expressing a general truth.

What is the African Union?

A political and economic union of African countries promoting unity and development.

What is meant by the global supply chain?

A worldwide system of producing and delivering goods.

What does annexation refer to?

Adding territory to a country or city.

What is an assembly line used for in production?

A method where each worker does one specific task repeatedly.

How is accessibility defined?

Ease of reaching a place or service.

What are antinatalist policies?

Government efforts to reduce birth rates.

Who is an adherent?

A follower or supporter of a belief or religion.

What is an allocational boundary dispute?

A conflict over resources located at or near a boundary.

What is agribusiness?

Commercial agriculture operated like a business, often with vertical integration.

What are bedroom communities?

Suburbs where people live but commute elsewhere for work.

What are back offices?

Office functions like data entry or support services, often located away from headquarters.

What is aerial photography?

Photos of the Earth taken from aircraft or satellites for mapping and analysis.

How is arable land defined?

Land suitable for growing crops.

What is animism?

The belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a spiritual essence.

What does agricultural hearth refer to?

The place where agriculture first developed and spread from.

What does bid-rent theory explain?

How land value decreases as distance from the central business district increases.

What are backwash effects?

Negative impacts on one region caused by the economic growth of another.

What does aggregation mean?

The grouping of data or people into clusters for analysis.

What is arithmetic population density?

Total population divided by total land area.

What are artifacts?

Physical objects made or used by humans, often culturally significant.

What is an antecedent boundary?

A boundary drawn before a large population was present.

What is agriculture?

The science or practice of farming.

What does blockbusting refer to in real estate?

The practice of encouraging white homeowners to sell due to fear of minority groups moving in.

What is barter?

Exchange of goods and services without using money.

What does it mean to analyze?

To examine in detail for explanation or interpretation.

What is asylum?

Protection given to someone fleeing persecution in another country.

What is assimilation?

When a minority group adopts the cultural traits of the dominant group.

What is the Arctic Council?

An intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation among Arctic states and indigenous peoples.

What does animal domestication involve?

The taming and breeding of animals for human use.

What are boomburbs?

Rapidly growing suburban cities that remain suburban in character.

What does basic economic activity refer to?

Jobs that bring income from outside the local area.

What is the built environment?

Human-made surroundings like buildings, roads, and infrastructure.

What is the baby boom?

A significant increase in birth rates, especially post-WWII.

What are blue laws?

Laws restricting activities (like business operations) on Sundays.

What is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)?

A regional group promoting economic and political cooperation in Southeast Asia.

What does aquaculture refer to?

Raising fish or aquatic plants for food.

What is Borchert's transportation model?

Describes urban growth in relation to transport technology over time.

What is a break of bulk point?

A location where goods are transferred from one transport type to another.

What is a cartogram?

A map in which data is represented by the size of areas, not geographic accuracy.

What is a baby bust?

A period of declining birth rates after a baby boom.

Who was Siddhartha Gautama?

The founder of Buddhism.

What is an autonomous region?

An area with some degree of political self-rule.

What is the bid-price curve?

Shows how much someone is willing to pay for land at various distances from the city center.

What are brownfields?

Abandoned or underused industrial areas with potential environmental contamination.

What is cartographic scale?

The ratio of a map’s distance to the actual ground distance.

What is a birth deficit?

A period with fewer births than normal, often after a war or crisis.

What is balkanization?

The fragmentation of a region into smaller, hostile units.

What is a census block?

The smallest geographic unit used by the U.S. Census Bureau.

What are bulk-gaining industries?

Industries where the final product is heavier or bulkier than its inputs.

What is a choropleth map?

A map that uses colors or shading to show data density.

What does Boserup Theory suggest?

Population growth drives agricultural innovation.

What is a caste system?

A rigid social class system in Hinduism.

What was the Berlin Conference?

The 1884 meeting where European powers divided Africa without African input.

What does the Blue Revolution refer to?

The growth of aquaculture to meet food demand.

What are census tracts?

Small areas used by the Census Bureau for analyzing populations.

What are bulk-reducing industries?

Industries where the final product is lighter than the raw materials.

What is a circular distribution?

A pattern where features are evenly spaced around a central point.

What is brain drain?

The emigration of educated or skilled workers from a country.

What are centrifugal forces?

Forces that divide a state, such as ethnic conflict or political unrest.

What is a census?

A count of a population, typically every ten years.

What is capital in economic terms?

Money, property, or goods used to produce other goods and services.

What is the central business district (CBD)?

The commercial and business center of a city.

What is colonialism?

The practice of controlling another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.

What does clustered distribution mean?

A spatial pattern where features are grouped closely together.

What is carrying capacity?

The maximum population an environment can support.

What are centripetal forces?

Forces that unify a state, like shared language or culture.

What is capital intensive production?

Production requiring large amounts of investment in machinery.

What is the central place theory?

Explains the size and spacing of cities as centers of services.

What are commodities?

Raw materials or primary agricultural products that can be bought and sold.

What are community-based solutions?

Local approaches to solving social or environmental issues.

What is chain migration?

Migration where people follow others from their community.

What is a charter group?

The dominant first group to settle and establish norms in an area.

What is a citadel?

A fortified center of a city, often on high ground.

What does commodity dependence refer to?

Relying heavily on one or a few export products.

What is the concept in cultural terms?

An abstract idea or general notion.

What are cohorts?

Groups of people with a shared characteristic, often age.

What is Christianity?

A monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus.

What is a choke point?

A strategic narrow route providing passage through or to another region.

What is center-pivot irrigation?

A circular irrigation system using rotating sprinklers.

What is a city-state?

An independent city with its own government and territory.

What is comparative advantage?

The ability to produce something at a lower opportunity cost than others.

What is a Conic Projection?

A map projection shaped like a cone over the Earth, good for midlatitudes.

What does counter migration refer to?

Return of migrants to their original location.

What was the Cold War?

A period of political tension and military rivalry between the U.S. and USSR post-WWII.

What is climate?

The long-term average of weather patterns in a region.

What is complementarity in geography?

When two places each have something the other needs.

What is connectivity?

The degree to which places are linked by transport or communication.

What is the crude birth rate (CBR)?

Number of births per 1,000 people in a year.

What is contemporary architecture?

Modern building styles using new materials and technology.

What is colonial CBD?

Colonial-era central business district with old-style architecture.