Topic 1: Thinking Geographically Flashcards

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards covering fundamental geography concepts, map projections, region types, spatial analysis tools, and diffusion patterns.

Relative Directions

Directions given in relation to a person's current location or position.

Absolute Directions

Directions provided in relation to a fixed frame of reference regardless of a person's current location.

Absolute Distance

An exact measure of the separation between two points using a standard measure, such as inches, meters, or miles.

Relative Distance

A measure describing separation between two points using less precise but meaningful units, most commonly time based on transportation mode.

Cognitive Distance

Distance based on an individual's perceived separation between two or more points.

Absolute Location

The precise location of any object or place on the earth's surface determined by a standard grid or coordinate system, most commonly latitude and longitude.

Relative Location

Describes a place's location in terms of its relationship to places around it.

Accessibility

The relative ease with which people, goods, and/or ideas can reach a destination, determined by a place's connectivity.

Barriers to Diffusion

Factors that inhibit a phenomenon from spreading across space, including physical barriers, sociocultural factors, and psychological barriers.

Physical Barriers

Objects in the environment that prohibit interaction, such as mountain ranges, highways when on foot, and rivers.

Sociocultural Factors (Barriers to Diffusion)

Factors that prohibit diffusion when a person's beliefs, culture, or place in society prevents interaction with certain people or places.

Psychological Barriers

Barriers generally stemming from fear or ignorance that keep individuals from interacting with certain people or places and prohibit the spread of a phenomenon.

Cartograms

Maps that transform space so that the political unit with the greatest value for a specific data type is represented by the largest relative area, scaling all other polygons proportionately.

Cartography

The art and science of making maps.

Cartographic Scale

The ratio between distance on a map and the actual distance on the earth's surface, where a ratio like $1:200$ means $1$ unit on the map equals $200$ of that unit in reality.

Small-Scale Maps

Maps where the ratio between map units and ground units is small, representing a larger piece of the earth's surface with high generalization and less detail.

Large-Scale Maps

Maps where the ratio between map units and ground units is large, representing a relatively small piece of the earth's surface with less generalization and more detail.

Choropleth Maps

Maps that use colors or tonal shadings to represent categories of data for given geographic polygons, such as using $5$ shades of green for population density by county in the United States.

Cognitive/Mental Maps

A dynamic internal representation of a place or an environment held within a person's head.

Sketch Map

The external physical representation of spatial information stored in a person's cognitive map.

Concentration

When spatial distributions of objects or features appear in close proximity to one another, also referred to as a cluster.

Conformal Projection

A map projection that preserves the shapes of small areas and retains accurate compass directions, such as the Mercator Projection.

Connectivity

A measure of all the means of connection and communication between places, which is virtually synonymous with relative distance.

Density

The amount of a particular feature within a given area, distinct from concentration.

Relocation Diffusion

A process where physical movement, usually via migration, leads to the spread of a phenomenon, involving a relatively small number of adopters.

Expansion Diffusion

A process where interaction leads to the spread of a phenomenon, causing the number of adopters to grow rapidly before stabilizing.

Distance Decay

The pattern of diminishing likelihood of interaction with a place as distance from that place increases.

Distortion

The alteration of shape, area, or direction that occurs when projecting the three-dimensional surface of Earth onto a two-dimensional flat map.

Dot Density Map

A map type that uses points to represent particular values, such as $1{,}000$ bushels of corn per dot, to facilitate visual perception of spatial patterns.

Distribution Concepts

Spatial analysis concepts used to understand how objects, features, and phenomena are organized in space, including concentration, density, dispersion, and pattern.

Environmental Determinism

The claim that cultural traits are formed and controlled directly by environmental conditions.

Equal Area Projection

A map projection designed to preserve the correct relative sizes of landmasses while distorting shapes or directions.

First Law of Geography

The principle stating that everything is related to everything else, but near things are more closely related than far things.

Friction of Distance

The concept that the farther away something is, the less likely someone is to interact with it.

Formal Region

A region defined by one or more specific themes or variables, characterized by vague boundaries and gradual transitions between areas.

Functional Region

A region defined by a spatial pattern of interaction around a central node, such as commuter flows or newspaper circulation.

Generalization

The averaging over of details on a map that results from cartographic scaling changes.

GIS (Geographic Info Systems)

A software program that allows geographers to map, analyze, and model spatial data using thematic layers.

Geospatial Data

Any data containing a locational component used for personal, business, organizational, and governmental decision-making.

GPS (Global Positioning System)

An integrated network of orbiting satellites broadcasting latitude and longitude coordinates to handheld receivers.

Human Geography

The branch of geography examining variations in human behavior, cultural and economic characteristics, and human-environment interactions.

Isoline Maps

Maps using continuous lines to connect points of equal value, such as elevation lines on topographic maps.

Mercator Projection

A cylindrical conformal projection that preserves accurate compass direction but severely distorts the area of landmasses near the North and South Poles.

Latitude & Longitude

A coordinate system composed of parallel lines originating at the equator (latitude) and meridians originating from the prime meridian through Greenwich, England to the International Date Line.

Network

The areal pattern of physical or non-physical connections between places, such as metro stops or online social links.

Perceptual/Vernacular Regions

Informal regions based on individual mental maps and shared cultural beliefs, such as the Deep South in the United States.

Peter's Projection

A cylindrical map projection that retains accurate relative sizes of all world landmasses, highlighting the true area of equatorial regions.

Possibilism

The perspective that environmental conditions present restraints and opportunities, but human decisions dynamically shape cultural outcomes.

Projection

The process of transferring the three-dimensional surface of Earth onto a two-dimensional flat map.

Proportional Symbol Map

A map that scales the size of symbols or flow lines according to the relative magnitude of a variable.

Geographic Scale

A conceptual hierarchy of real-world spaces ranging from neighborhood, urban area, metropolitan area, to region.

Scale of Analysis

The specific spatial level (such as global, regional, national, local, or business) at which spatial patterns or processes are analyzed.

Perception of Place

An understanding of a place developed through secondary sources, such as reading, images, or videos, without having visited it in person.

Sense of Place

The emotional attachment or feelings a person develops toward a specific locale through direct personal memories and experiences.

Sustainability

Using resources in a manner that supplies existing populations without compromising the availability of resources for future generations.

Spatial Perspective

An intellectual framework allowing geographers to look at Earth in terms of relationships and distributions across various places.

Site

The physical and cultural features of a place independent of surrounding locations.

Situation

The location of a place described in terms of its relationship to surrounding places and features.

Spatial Association

The degree to which the spatial distribution of two or more features corresponds to one another.

Thematic Maps

Maps designed to display one or more specific variables across space, such as population variables or voting patterns.

Time-Distance Decay

The concept that time acts as a barrier to spatial diffusion, decreasing the likelihood of interaction or spread over time.

Time-Space Compression

The psychological impact of modern communication and transport technologies making the world feel smaller and effective distance shorter.