6th Grade Geography Unit 1 Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards for Unit 1 Geography terms.

continent

One of Earth's seven large landmasses.

hemisphere

One half of Earth, either northern, southern, eastern, or western.

equator

An imaginary line circling the Earth halfway between the North and South Poles.

latitude

Distance north or south of the equator, measured by imaginary lines that run east and west.

longitude

Distance east or west of the Prime Meridian, measured by imaginary lines that run north and south.

Prime Meridian

The line of longitude at 0° from which east and west longitude are measured.

cardinal directions

The main compass directions: north, south, east, and west.

intermediate directions

The four diagonal directions: northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest.

map key

A legend: a list of symbols and what each symbol stands for on a map.

locator

A small map that shows where the subject area of a main map is located.

absolute location

The exact position of a place using its latitude and longitude.

relative location

The location of a place in relation to another place.

scale

A unit of measure on a map that represents distance on Earth.

map symbol

A symbol on a map that represents a real feature (for example, a star for a capital city).

political map

A map mainly showing divisions such as national or state boundaries, cities, and capitals.

physical map

A map that shows natural features of Earth, such as lakes, rivers, mountains, and deserts.

elevation map

A map that shows the height of land above sea level.

relief

The shading on a map used to show changes in elevation.

historical map

A map that shows information about the past.

distribution map

A special-purpose map that shows how a particular feature such as population density is spread over an area.

International Date Line

An imaginary line on the surface of the Earth that runs from the north to the south pole and separates one calendar day from the next.

cartographer

A map maker.