AP Human Geo Unit 1.1 Vocab

Physical Geography

the study of natural processes and the distribution of features in the environment, such as landforms, plants, animals, soil, and climate

Human Geography

the study of the processes that have shaped how humans understand, use and alter Earth

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 Persepctive

the relationships between living things and their enviroments

location

the position a point or object occupies on Earth

absoulte 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

Mental Map

internalized representations of portions of Earth’s surface

Site

a place’s absolute location, as well as its physical characterics, such as the land forms, 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

distrubuted

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

enviromental determinism

the idea that human behavior is strongly affected, controlled or determined by the phycial enviroments

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 way in which modern transportation and communication over long distances more quickly and easily

possibilism

theory of human-environment interaction that states that humans have the ability to adapt the physical environment to their needs

sustanability

the use of Earth’s land and natural resources in ways that ensure they will continue to be available in the future