important things to know

Unit 2: Population & Migration

  • CBR (Crude Birth Rate): Number of live births per 1,000 people in a year.

  • CDR (Crude Death Rate): Number of deaths per 1,000 people in a year.

  • NIR (Natural Increase Rate): The percentage by which a population grows in a year, calculated by CBR minus CDR.

  • TFR (Total Fertility Rate): Average number of children a woman will have in her lifetime.

  • IMR (Infant Mortality Rate): Number of infant deaths per 1,000 live births within the first year.

  • Doubling Time: Time taken for a population to double in size.

  • Dependency Ratio: Ratio of dependents (people younger than 15 or older than 64) to the working-age population.

  • Density Types:

    • Arithmetic Density: Total population divided by total land area.

    • Physiological Density: Total population divided by arable land area.

    • Agricultural Density: Number of farmers per unit area of farmland.

  • Demographic Transition Model (DTM) Stages:

    • Stage 1: High birth and death rates; population stable.

    • Stage 2: High birth rates; declining death rates; population growing rapidly.

    • Stage 3: Declining birth rates; low death rates; population growth slows.

    • Stage 4: Low birth and death rates; population stable or slowly increasing.

    • Stage 5: Potential decline in population; birth rates fall below death rates.

  • Malthusian Theory: Population growth will outpace resources, leading to famine.

  • Push/Pull Factors: Factors that drive people from their home (push) and attract them to a new place (pull).

  • Ravenstein's Laws of Migration: Emphasize patterns of migration and demographic characteristics.

  • Migration Types:

    • Internal Migration: Moving within a country.

    • International Migration: Moving between countries.

    • Voluntary Migration: Choosing to move.

    • Forced Migration: Compelled to move due to circumstances.

  • Brain Drain: Emigration of educated or skilled individuals to another country.

  • Remittances: Money sent back home by migrants.

  • Population Pyramids: Graphical representation showing the distribution of age groups in a population.

Unit 3: Cultural Patterns & Processes

  • Culture Traits/Complexes/Hearths: Elements like language, religion, and customs that characterize a culture.

  • Material vs. Non-material Culture: Tangible objects vs. beliefs, values, and norms.

  • Folk vs. Popular Culture: Traditional lifestyles vs. mass-produced culture.

  • Cultural Landscape: Modifications of the environment by human activity.

  • Diffusion Types:

    • Relocation: Spread of culture through migration.

    • Expansion:

    • Contagious: Rapid spread through population.

    • Hierarchical: Spread from top influential places to others.

    • Stimulus: Adopted aspect of a culture while adapting it.

  • Language Families: Groups of languages related by descent.

  • Lingua Franca: A common language facilitating communication among speakers of different native languages.

  • Pidgin/Creole: Simplified language mixing multiple languages; Creole evolves into a stable natural language.

  • Universalizing vs. Ethnic Religions: Religions that seek followers globally vs. those tied to a specific ethnic group.

  • Sacred Sites: Locations with religious significance.

  • Cultural Change: Processes like acculturation (cultural modification), assimilation (merging cultures), syncretism (blending), globalization, and cultural convergence.

  • Ethnic Neighborhoods/Enclaves/Ghettos: Communities distinguished by ethnic identity.

Unit 4: Political Patterns & Processes

  • Definitions:

    • State: A political unit with a permanent population, territory, and government.

    • Nation: A group of people who share a common identity.

    • Nation-state: A state that coincides with a particular nation.

    • Multinational State: A state with multiple national groups.

  • Political Structures:

    • Stateless Nation: A nation without a state.

    • Autonomous Region: A region with a degree of self-government.

  • State Shapes:

    • Compact: Equidistant from the center.

    • Elongated: Longer than wide.

    • Prorupted: A compact state with a protruding section.

    • Fragmented: Composed of multiple disconnected pieces.

    • Perforated: A state that surrounds another independent state.

  • Boundary Types:

    • Physical: Natural features.

    • Cultural: Ethnic or cultural divisions.

    • Geometric: Straight lines often without regard for physical or cultural features.

    • Relic: No longer in use, but its effects are still felt.

    • Superimposed: Drawn over existing boundaries without regard for cultural patterns.

  • Boundary Processes: Establishment and adjustment of borders.

  • Unitary vs. Federal States: Centralized government vs. division of power between central and regional authorities.

  • Devolution: Transfer of authority from central to local governments.

  • Supranationalism: Political, economic, or cultural cooperation beyond national boundaries.

  • Centripetal vs. Centrifugal Forces: Forces that unite vs. forces that divide a state.

  • Gerrymandering: Manipulating electoral district boundaries.

  • Choke Points: Strategic areas that can be easily controlled to influence trade or military movement.

Unit 5: Agriculture & Rural Land Use

  • 3 Agricultural Revolutions:

    • Neolithic Revolution: Shift to agriculture from foraging.

    • 2nd Agricultural Revolution: Technological advancements in agriculture.

    • Green Revolution: Introduction of high-yield crops and fertilizers.

  • Agricultural Types:

    • Subsistence vs. Commercial Agriculture: Farming for personal use vs. for profit.

    • Intensive vs. Extensive: High input/output per unit area vs. larger areas with lower input.

    • Monoculture vs. Polyculture: Single crop farming vs. diverse crop systems.

  • Von Thünen Model: Economic model explaining agricultural land use in relation to transport costs.

  • Boserup Hypothesis: Population growth drives agricultural intensification.

  • Survey Methods: Land division techniques (Metes & Bounds, Long Lot, Township & Range).

  • Settlement Patterns: Distribution of homes and communities.

  • Food Deserts: Areas with limited access to affordable and nutritious food.

  • Food Insecurity: Lack of reliable access to sufficient food.

  • Agribusiness: Business model involving the production, processing, and distribution of food.

  • Sustainable Agriculture: Practices that maintain the productivity of land over time.

  • Environmental Issues: Challenges such as salinization, desertification, aquifer depletion, and deforestation.

Unit 6: Cities & Urban Land Use

  • Central Place Theory: Explains the size and distribution of cities based on their role as central places.

  • Rank-size Rule vs. Primate City: Population size distribution vs. the largest city disproportionately larger than others.

  • World/Global Cities: Major urban areas with significant global influence.

  • Megacities/Metacities: Cities with significant population and urban complexity.

  • Urban Models:

    • Burgess Concentric Zone Model: Urban land use model explaining social structures.

    • Hoyt Sector Model: Urban land use based on transportation routes.

    • Harris-Ullman Multiple Nuclei Model: Cities develop around multiple centers.

    • Galactic/Peripheral Model: Decentralized urban structure with a central business district surrounded by suburbs.

    • Global Models: Contemporary urban forms influenced by globalization.

  • Urban Issues:

    • Urban Sprawl: Spread of city into rural areas.

    • Gentrification: Renovation of urban neighborhoods leading to displacement of lower-income residents.

    • Suburbanization: Movement from urban core to suburbs.

    • Redlining: Denial of services based on geographical area.

    • Blockbusting: Inducing panic selling based on demographic changes.

    • Squatter Settlements: Informal housing in urban areas.

    • Urban Decay vs. Renewal: Declining urban areas vs. revitalization efforts.

    • Density Gradient: Change in density of population as one moves from the urban center to the periphery.

Unit 7: Industrial & Economic Development

  • Economic Sectors:

    • Primary: Extraction of raw materials.

    • Secondary: Manufacturing and construction.

    • Tertiary: Services.

    • Quaternary: Knowledge-based services.

    • Quinary: High-level decision making and management.

  • Rostow's Stages of Growth: Model of economic development through five stages.

  • Wallerstein's World-Systems Theory: Global economic system divided into core, semi-periphery, and periphery.

  • Weber's Least Cost Theory: Location of industries based on transport costs, labor, and agglomeration.

  • Development Indicators:

    • GDP: Gross Domestic Product.

    • GNI per capita: Gross National Income per capita.

    • HDI: Human Development Index.

    • GII: Gender Inequality Index.

  • Globalization & Trade:

    • Outsourcing: Obtaining goods or services from an external source.

    • Offshoring: Moving a business process to another country.

    • Maquiladoras: Factories in Mexico that export products to the U.S.

    • Special Economic Zones (SEZs): Areas with economic regulations that differ from the rest of the country.

    • Export Processing Zones (EPZs): Areas with reduced tariffs to attract foreign investment.

    • Fordism vs. Post-Fordism: Mass production vs. flexible production methods.

  • International Division of Labor: Global allocation of tasks in production.

  • Organizations:

    • WTO: World Trade Organization; regulates international trade.

    • IMF: International Monetary Fund; provides monetary cooperation.

    • EU: European Union; political and economic union in Europe.

    • OPEC: Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries; coordinates oil production policies.

  • Microloans: Small loans given to individuals for self-employment projects.

  • Sustainability & Ecotourism: Practices that promote conservation and responsible travel.