AP GEO Unit 1-2 Vocab

APHG Unit 1-2 Vocab

Absolute location

A precise position on Earth's surface

Accesability

The degree of ease with which it is possible to reach a certain location from other locations. Accessibility varies from place to place and can be measured.

Cartogram

A map that distorts the geographic shape of an area in order to show the size of a specific variable; the larger the area on a cartogram, the larger the value of the underlying variable

Cartography

The science of making maps

Choropleth maps

A thematic map that shows data aggregated for a specific geographic area, often using different colors to represent different values

Circular Distribution

Phenomena are equally spaced from a central point, forming a circle, such as the distribution of the homes of people who shop at a particular store.

Clustered

when objects in an area are close together.

Concentration

a property of distribution across space that measures how spread out a feature is

Connection

Refers to the relationship between people and objects across the barrier of space.

Density

The frequency with which something exists within a given unit of area.

Diffusion

The pattern by which a phenomenon such as the movement of people, or their ideas, technologies, or preferences, spreads from a particular location through space and time

Dispersed

The spacing of people within geographic population boundaries.

Distance decay

The diminished importance and eventual disappearance of a phenomenon with increasing

Distortion

the misrepresentation of shape, area, distance, or direction of or between geographic features when compared to their true measurements on the curved surface of the earth.

Dot Density Maps

A map that uses dots to represent objects or counts; the dot can represent one object (a one-to-one dot density map), or it can represent a number of objects (a one-to-many dot density map)

Geographic Information System (GIS)

A software application for capturing, storing, checking, and displaying data related to positions on Earth's surface, which allows the rapid manipulation of geospatial data for problem-solving and research

Global Positioning System (GPS)

A system of 24 satellites that orbit Earth twice daily and transmit radio signals Earthward; the basis for many map-based apps that provide directions on how to get from one place to another

Globalizaiton

The process by which businesses and other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) The time in the zone encompassing the prime meridian, or 0" longitude.

Homogeneous

of the same or a similar kind or nature.

Homolosine

is an equal-area pseudocylindrical projection for world maps.

human geography

The branch of geography that studies how human activity affects or is influenced by Earth's surface

International Date Line

An arc that for the most part follows 180° longitude, although it deviates in several places to avoid dividing land area. When the International Date Line is crossed heading east (lowered America), the clock moves back 24 hours, or one entire day. When it crosses heading west (toward Asia), the calendar moves ahead one day.

large-scale maps

usually have higher resolution and cover much smaller regions than small-scale maps. Map scale ratio in which the ratio of units on the map to units on the earth is quite small.

latitude

The (invisible) horizontal lines circling Earth parallel to the equator; latitude is the degree of distance north or south from the equator, which is at 0 degrees, as far as the poles, which are at 90 degrees

linear distribution

a spatial pattern where elements are arranged in a line or along a line, often following a route like a road, river, or coastline

longitude

The (invisible) vertical lines on Earth's surface that mark imaginary circles connecting the North Pole with the South Pole

Mercator projection

A map projection that is useful for navigation because the lines connecting points on the map represent the true compass direction; however, landmasses become increasingly distorted the farther away they are from the equator

non-renewable natural resources

Natural resources that are available on Earth in finite quantities and will eventually be used up

patterns

The geometric or regular arrangement of something in a particular area.

physical maps

their primary purpose is to show landforms like deserts, mountains, and plains.

political maps

A map that shows the spatial organization of the countries and territories on the entire globe at a given point in time

projection

A system used to transfer locations from Earth' surface to a flat map.

reference maps

A map that shows geographic locations on Earth's surface, such as the locations of cities or oceans

relative location

The position of one place (or person) in relation to the position of another place (or person)

remote sensing

The scanning of Earth by satellite or high-flying aircraft in order to obtain information about it

Robinson projection

A map projection that attempts to create the most visually appealing representation of Earth by keeping all types of distortion relatively low over most of the map

Scale

Generally, the relationship between the portion of Earth being studied and Earth as a whole.

Scales of analysis

The relative size of the map or lens we choose to use to observe geographical phenomena. Also called relative scale, the scale of analysis includes local, regional, national, and global sizes to consider when viewing maps of Earth.

small-scale maps

how a larger geographic area with few details on them. Small scale maps show large areas like countries or huge geographic areas such as continents.

spatial data

information that has a geographic aspect to it. In other words, the records in this type of information set have coordinates, an address, city, postal code, or zip code included with them.

spatial patterns

The placement or arrangement of objects on Earth's surface; also includes the space between those objects

thematic maps

A map that emphasizes the spatial patterns of geographic statistics or attributes, and sometimes the relationships between them

topographic maps

A graphic representation of the three-dimensional configuration of Earth's surface

Township and range

Land survey system created by the U.S. Land Ordinance of 1785, which divides most of the country's territory into a grid of square-shaped townships with 6-mile sides

Built Environment

The human-made space in which people live, work, and engage in leisure activities on a daily basis

climate

The average pattern of weather over a 30-year period for a particular region

cultural ecology

The study of the interactions between societies and their local environments

cultural landscape

The built forms that cultural groups create in inhabiting Earth — farm fields, cities, houses, and so on and the meaning, values, representations, and experiences associated with those forms

culture

The shared practices, technologies, attitudes, and behaviors that a society transmits from one generation to the next

environmental determinism

The belief that the physical environment is the dominant force shaping cultures and that humanity is a passive product of its physical surroundings

field observations

The act of physically visiting a location, place, or region and recording, firsthand, information there.

Flow (diffusion)

Patterns and movement of ideas, people, products, and other phenomena

formal region

A geographical area inhabited by people who have one or more traits in common

functional regions (nodal regions)

A geographic area that has been organized to function politically, socially, culturally, or economically as one unit

human-environmental interaction

The effect that humans have on their environment and the effect that the environment has on humans.

location

The position of anything on Earth's surface.

map scale

The distance on a map in relation to distance in actual space; for example, 1 inch on a map might indicate a distance of 100 miles

mental map

A personal representation of a portion of Earth's surface

perceptual regions (vernacular regions)

A geographic area that is perceived to exist by its inhabitants, based on the widespread acceptance and use of a unique regional name

physical geography

The study of Earth's physical characteristics and processes: how they work, how they affect humans, and how humans affect them

place

A specific point on Earth, distinguished by a particular characteristic.

Possibilism

The belief that any physical environment offers a number of possible ways for a society to develop and that humans can find ways to overcome environmental challenges

prime meridian

The zero-degree longitude line that runs through Greenwich, England; also known as the Greenwich Meridian

qualitative data

descriptive rather than numerical or statistical in nature. Qualitative geography involves methods such as ethnography, interviews, and participant observation to gather data and make sense of the complexity and diversity of human geography.

quantitative data

data that can be counted or measured in numerical values

Region

A geographical unit based on one or more common characteristics or functions

Regionalization

the process of dividing up the earth into smaller regions or units or the tendency to form decentralized regions.

sense of place

How a person feels about a particular place and why it is important to them

site

The physical character of a place.

situation

The location of a place relative to another place.

Space

The areas we occupy as humans; it has no value until the people who occupy it make it their own

Space-time compression

The reduction in the time it takes to diffuse something to a distant place as a result of improved communications and transportation systems.

spatial association

The relationship between the distribution of one feature and the distribution of another feature.

subregions

a part of a larger region or continent and is usually based on location.

sustainability

The group of practices that meet the needs of the present without compromising future generations' ability to meet their needs

Toponyms

The name given to a portion of Earth's surface.

Transnational corporations

A firm with the power to coordinate and control operations in more than one country, even if it does not own those operations

Vernacular region (perceptual)

An area that people believe exists; is part of their cultural identity.

agricultural density

The number of farmers per unit of arable land

Antinatalist

Designed to curtail population growth by reducing fertility rates

arithmetic density

The average number of people per unit of land area (usually per square mile or kilometer)

baby boom

People born from 1946 to 1964 during the post–World War II uptick in birth rate

baby bust

 fertility dropped as large numbers of women sought higher levels of education and more competitive jobs, causing them to marry later in life.

Boserup theory

 Increase in food production resulting from the use of new farming methods

Carrying capacity

 The number of people a particular environment or Earth as a whole can support on a sustainable basis

Census

An official count or survey of a population, typically recording various details about individuals, such as age, sex, and race

crude birth rate (CBR)

The average number of births per 1000 people; the traditional way of measuring birth rates

crude death rate (CDR)

The number of deaths per year per 1000 people

deindustrialization

The decline, and sometimes complete disappearance, of employment in the manufacturing sector in the core’s industrial centers

Demographic momentum

 tendency for growing population to continue growing after a fertility decline because of their young age distribution.

Demographic transition model

How crude birth rate (CBR) and crude death rate (CDR) as well as the resulting rate of natural increase (RNI) change over time as countries go through industrialization and urbanization

Demography

The statistical study of population and its change

dependency ratio

The number of dependents in a population that each 100 working-age people (ages 15 to 64 years) must support

doubling time

The number of years it takes for a population to double in size

ecumene

The portion of Earth’s surface with permanent human settlement

Epidemiological transition model

Seeks to explain how changes in health services and living standards affect patterns of disease

Industrial Revolution

 The rapid transformation of the economy through the introduction of machines, new power sources, and new chemical processes in Europe and the United States between 1760 and 1830

infant mortality rate

A measure of how many infants die within the first year of their life per 1000 live births

life expectancy

The number of years a person can expect to live from birth