APHG Vocabulary
Geography – Nature & Perspectives
Sequent occupance:
Successive societies leave cultural imprints, contributing to the cumulative cultural landscape.
Symbolizes human interaction with surroundings.
Cultural landscape:
Fashioning of a natural landscape by a cultural group.
Essence of human interaction with nature.
Arithmetic density:
Total people divided by total land area.
People per area of land.
Physiological density:
People per unit of arable land (land suitable for agriculture).
Relates to land use by population.
Hearth:
Region where innovative ideas originate.
Related to diffusion (spreading of ideas).
Diffusion:
Spread of a feature or trend over time.
Relocation diffusion:
Spread through physical movement of people.
Ex: Spread of AIDS from New York, California, & Florida.
Expansion diffusion:
Spread in a snowballing process.
Hierarchical diffusion:
Spread from authority or power to other persons or places.
Ex: Hip-hop/rap music.
Contagious diffusion:
Rapid, widespread diffusion throughout the population.
Ex: Ideas placed on the internet.
Stimulus diffusion:
Spread of an underlying principle, even if the characteristic fails to diffuse.
Ex: PC & Apple competition.
Absolute distance:
Exact measurement of physical space.
Relative distance:
Approximate measurement of physical space.
Distribution:
Arrangement across Earth’s surface.
Environmental determinism:
Early 20th-century approach arguing that physical sciences explain human geography.
Geography studies how the physical environment causes human activities.
Absolute location:
Position using longitude and latitude coordinates.
Relative location:
Position relative to other features.
Ex: "My house is west of 394."
Site:
Physical character of a place.
What is found at the location and why it is significant.
Situation:
Location of a place relative to other places.
Space Time Compression:
Reduction in diffusion time due to improved communications and transportation.
Friction of Distance:
Distance requires effort, money, and energy to overcome.
Spatial interactions decrease with distance.
Distance Decay:
Diminishing importance of a phenomenon with increasing distance from its origin.
Internet and e-mail reduce barriers.
Networks:
Interconnected nodes without a center (Manuel Castells).
Connectivity:
Relationships among people and objects across space.
Accessibility:
Ease of reaching certain locations from other locations.
Space:
Physical gap between two objects.
Spatial Distribution:
Physical location of geographic phenomena across space.
Size:
Estimation or determination of extent.
Scale:
Representation of real-world phenomenon at a certain level of reduction or generalization.
Ratio of map distance to ground distance.
Formal Region:
(Uniform or homogenous region)
Area sharing common characteristics (e.g., language, climate).
Functional Region:
(Nodal region)
Area organized around a node or focal point.
Linked by transportation, communication, or economic associations.
Vernacular Region:
(Perceptual Region)
Region based on people's beliefs and cultural identity.
Often identified using a mental map.
Possibilism:
Environment limits some actions, but people can adjust to their environment.
Natural Landscape:
(xxx - Not specified in transcript)
Pattern:
Geometric arrangement of objects in space.
Linear distribution example: houses along a street.
Place Name:
Toponym (name given to a place).
Population – Migration & Dispersion
Age Distribution:
Population pyramid: back-to-back bar graphs showing males and females in 5-year age groups.
Indicates guest worker population, war effects, disease impacts.
Carry capacity:
Population level sustainable with available resources (food, habitat, water).
Cohort:
Population in age categories of age-sex pyramids.
Indicates stage in demographic transition model.
Demographic equation:
Formula: births - deaths + net migration.
Determines stage in demographic transition model.
Demographic momentum:
Continued population growth after fertility decline due to young age distribution.
Demographic regions:
Cape Verde (Stage 2: High Growth), Chile (Stage 3: Moderate Growth), Denmark (Stage 4: Low Growth).
Shows different regions in different demographic transition stages.
Demographic Transition model:
5 stages: Stage 1 (low growth), Stage 2 (high growth), Stage 3 (moderate growth), Stage 4 (low growth), Stage 5 (possible decline).
Describes country transformation from less to more developed.
Dependency ratio:
Number of dependents (too young or old to work) vs. productive population.
Indicates financial burden on workers.
Diffusion of fertility control:
Varies globally (e.g., U.S. below 2.1, Africa above 4).
Shows where populations are growing rapidly or leveling off.
Disease diffusion:
Contagious (density-dependent) and hierarchical (urban to rural).
Predicts disease spread patterns.
Doubling time:
Years needed to double population at constant natural increase rate.
Projects population increase.
Ecumene:
Proportion of Earth's surface occupied by permanent human settlement.
Indicates land available for building.
Epidemiological transition model:
Distinctive causes of death in each demographic transition stage.
Gendered space:
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Infant mortality rate (IMR):
Annual deaths of infants under one year per 1000 live births.
Indicates country development level (high IMR = LDC, low IMR = MDC).
J-curve:
Exponential population growth projection.
Leads to exponential resource use and demand for food.
Maladaption:
Adaptation becoming less helpful/harmful over time.
Malthus, Thomas:
Argued population increase outruns food development.
Pointed out potential resource shortages.
Mortality:
Measured by IMR and life expectancy.
Reflects health care system and average lifespan.
Natality:
(Crude Birth Rate) Ratio of live births to population per 1000 people.
Indicates population growth rate.
Neo-malthusian:
Builds on Malthus, considers LDC population growth and resource depletion.
Recognizes medical advancements without wealth transfer in LDCs.
Overpopulation:
Population exceeds environment's capacity to support acceptable living standards.
Population densities:
Frequency of occurrence in space.
Arithmetic density: total objects in an area.
Physiological density: people per unit of arable land.
Agricultural density: farmers per unit of farmland.
Population distributions:
Arrangement of features in space (density, concentration, pattern).
Population explosion:
Sudden population increase.
Occurred in late 18th/early 19th centuries due to Stage 2 of the DTM.
Population projection:
Predicts future population.
Helps anticipate problems like over/underpopulation.
Population pyramid:
Population displayed by age and gender.
Shape determined by crude birth rate and shows age/sex distribution.
Rate of natural increase:
CBR - CDR = NIR (excludes migration).
Affects population and area's ability to support it.
S-curve:
Traces cyclical movement upwards and downwards in a graph. The graph is named after the letter "s".
Relates to growth and decline in the natural increase.
Sex ratio:
Number of males per 100 females.
Depends on birth/death rates, immigration.
Standard of living:
Quality and quantity of available goods and services.
Higher in MDCs.
Sustainability:
Best outcomes for human and natural environments, present and future.
Underpopulation:
Sharp population decrease in a region.
Refers to lack of people to support local economy.
Zero population growth:
CBR = CDR, natural increase rate approaches zero.
Often in Stage 4 of the demographic transition model.
Activity space:
Space allotted for an industry or activity.
Chain migration:
Family members migrate to a new country after one member migrates.
Cyclic movement:
Trends in migration and other processes that have a clear cycle.
Distance Decay:
Contact between two groups diminishes because of the distance between them.
Forced Migration:
People removed from their country and forced to live in other countries because of war, natural disasters, and government.
Gravity Model:
Predicts the optimal location of a service is directly related to the number of people in the area and inversely related to the distance people must travel to access it.
Internal Migration:
Permanent movement within a particular country.
Intervening Opportunity:
An environmental or cultural feature of the landscape that helps migration.
*Migration Patterns:Intercontinental- Permanent movement from one country to a different country on the same continent.
Interregional- Permanent movement from one region of the country to another.
Rural-Urban- Permanent movement from suburbs and rural area to the urban city area.
Migratory Movement:
Periodic Movement:
Personal Space-
Place Utility-
Push-Pull Factors- Factors that induce people to leave old residence and move to new locations.
Refugee:
People forced to migrate from their home country and cannot return for fear of persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group, or political opinion.
Space-Time Prism-
Step Migration-
Transhumance- Seasonal migration of live stock between mountains and lowland pasture areas.
Transmigration-
Voluntary-
Cultural Patterns & Processes
Acculturation:
Adopting beneficial customs.
Assimilation:
Losing culture to a dominant culture.
Cultural Adaptation:
(xxx - Not specified in transcript)
Cultural core/periphery pattern:
Core: main economic power.
Periphery: lesser economic ties.
Cultural Ecology:
Study of human-environmental relationships.
Cultural Identity:
Belief in belonging to a group or aspect of culture.
Cultural Landscape:
Visible imprint of human activity.
Cultural Realm:
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Culture:
Beliefs, social forms, and material traits constituting a group's tradition.
Culture Region:
* Formal (Uniform):
* Shared characteristics.
* Core-Center of economic activity
* Periphery-Outlying region of economic activity
* Functional (Nodal):
* Organized around a node.
* Vernacular (perceptual-regional self-awareness):
* Part of cultural identity.Diffusion Types:
* Expansion:
* Snowballing spread.
* Hierarchical:
* Spread from authority.
* Contagious:
* Widespread spread.
* Stimulus:
* Spread of underlying principle.
* Relocation:
* Spread through movement.Innovation Adoption:
Study of how technology spreads.
Maladaptive diffusion:
Diffusion with negative side effects.
Sequence Occupancy:
Cultural succession and lasting imprint (Derwent Whittlesey).
Religion:
Faithfulness to codified beliefs and rituals.
Animism:
Belief in spirits in objects and events.
Buddhism:
Major universalizing religion.
Cargo Cult Pilgrimage-
Cargo Cult’s believe western goods have been traded to them by ancestral spirits.
It takes place in Melanesia and is important go HG because it’s a big religious movement by a large number of people.
Christianity-
is a monotheistic religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament.
It’s important to HG because it’s the most popular religion in the world.
Confucianism-
Developed by earlier Chinese man Confucius, it’s a complex system of moral, social, political, and religious thought.
This is important to HG because it has affected Chinese Civilizations tremendously.
Ethnic Religion-
A religion with a rather concentrated distribution whose principles are likely to be based on the physical characteristics of the particular location where its adherents are located.
This is important to HG because most religions start off as a Ethnic Religion.
Exclave/Enclave-
A enclave is a country or part of a country mostly surrounded by the territory of another country; an exclave is one which is geographically separated from the main part by surrounding alien territory.
This is important to HG because a lot of countries are within other countries.
Fundamentalism-
Literal interpretation and strict adherence to basic principles of a religion.
This is important to HG because there are a lot of Fundamentalists in all religions.
Geomancy-
is a method of prediction that interprets markings on the ground, or how handfuls of dirt land when someone tosses them.
The Arabic tradition consists of sketching sixteen random lines of dots in sand.
This is important to HG because most farmers use a form of Geomancy.
Hajj-
The pilgrimage to Mecca for Islam followers. It’s the fifth of the five pillars.
It is important to HG because just about all Islam followers try the pilgrimage there.
Hinduism-
Created in India, approximately one billion followers. Unlike other religions, heaven isn’t always the ultimate goal in life.
Third largest in world behind Christianity and Islam. Talk about Karma (what goes around comes around.) It is important to HG because such a large number of people follow the religion and it’s unlike any other one.
Interfaith boundaries-
the boundaries between the world's major faiths, such as Christianity, Muslim, and Buddhism.
This isn’t the same as Intrafaith boundaries which describes the boundaries within a major religion.
This is important to HG because it separates different groups of people for different reasons.
Islam-
It means the submission to the will of god. Its a monotheistic religion originating with the teachings of Muhammad, a key religious figure. It is the second largest religion in the world.
This is important to HG because it has impacted the world greatly, especially boundaries.
Jainism-
religion and philosophy originating in ancient India. Stresses spiritual independence and equality throughout all life. It affects HG because a lot of people believe in it in India.
Judaism-
It is the religion of ancient Hebrews, said to be one of the first monotheistic faiths. This is important to HG because many other religions have been based off it.
Landscapes of the dead-
The certain areas where people have commonly been buried.
This is important to HG because it has always been important where people are buried.
Monotheism/polytheism-
Monotheism this is the belief in one god and polytheism is the belief in many gods.
This affects HG because many religions spread throughout the world fall under these two categories.
Mormonism:
a term used to describe religious, ideological, and cultural aspects of the various denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement.
It is important because a lot of people around the world practice Mormonism.
Muslim pilgrimage:
If physically and financially able, a Muslim makes a pilgrimage to Makkah. (Mecca) They usually make the trip around Ramadan.
This pilgrimage is also referred to as Hajj. It is important because Islam is one of the most popular religions practiced around the world.
Muslim population:
It is the religion of 1.3 billion people in the world. It is the predominant religion of the Middle East from North Africa to Central Asia.
Half of the world’s Muslims live in four countries outside the Middle East: Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India. It is important because Islam is one of the most popular religions practiced around the world.
Proselytic Religion:
Referred to as a Universalizing Religion, which is an attempt to be global, to appeal to all people, wherever they may live in the world, not just to those of one culture or location.
There are three religions that practice this they are Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism. To proselytize is to try to convert another person to your religion. This important to HG because these are three of the biggest religions in the world they are practiced all over the world.
Reincarnation:
The idea of reincarnation is that after this life you will come back in another life either as a plant, animal, or a human life. So basically what you do in this life will affect what your next life is like. This is commonly practiced by the Buddhists and the Hindus. This is important to HG because these two religions are very important in the world.
Religion (groups, places):
One group is universalizing religions. These are Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism. All of these have different branches. There’s also ethnic religions, such as, Hinduism, Daoism, and Confucianism. These religions are spread out throughout the world. This affects HG because all regions throughout the world have a general religion.
Religious architectural styles:
These are the styles of architecture created by the religions. For example, Christians have always made temples, and Buddhists have always made a lot of religious statues. This is important to HG because these styles affected most of the future styles for other civilizations.
Religious Conflict-
this is the conflicts between religions. One of these is Israel-Palestine. This consists of Roman Takeovers, Muslim conquests, and the crusades. This affects HG because there has been a lot of bloodshed over Religious Conflict.
Religious Culture Hearth:
This is where most religions are born. Most major religions have come from the Middle East near Israel, but a few have come from India too. This is important to HG because where religions are created, civilizations are too.
Religious toponym:
This refers to the origin and meaning of the names of religions. This is important to HG because many names mean significant things including beliefs of cultures.
Sacred space-
Sacred space is the place where religious figures and congregations meet to perform religious ceremonies.
This is important to HG because a lot of history has taken place at sacred spaces.
Secularism-
This is the belief that humans should be based on facts and not religious beliefs.
This is important to HG because this has caused conflicts in a lot of different places including politics.
Shamanism-
This is the range of traditional beliefs and practices that claim the ability to cure, heal, and cause pain to people. This is important to HG because it is thought as good and bad.
Sharia law-
it is the legal framework within which public and some private aspects of life are regulated for those living in a legal system based on Muslim principles. This is important to HG because it affects many people around Muslims around the world.
Shintoism-
said to be the way of god. It is the native religion of Japan and was once its state religion. It involves the worship of kami (a god). Not very significant anymore and lost importance to today. This is important to HG because before WWII it was very popular and affected a lot of people in Japan.
Sikhism-
is a religion that began in sixteenth century Northern India . The principal belief in Sikhism is faith in Vāhigurū. Emphasizes faith in god.
This is important to HG because its another minor religion in India that affects a lot of people.
Political Organization of Space
Annexation:
Incorporation of territory into another geo-political entity.
Antarctica:
Southernmost continent with no permanent residents and doesn't belong to any country.
Apartheid:
Segregation of blacks in South Africa from 1948 to 1994 to keep white minority in power.
Balkanization:
Fragmentation of a region/country into smaller regions/countries (e.g., Yugoslavia).
Border Landscape:
Exclusionary: keeps people out (e.g., U.S.-Mexico border).
Inclusionary: facilitates trade and movement (e.g., U.S.-Canada border).
Boundary disputes:
Conflicts over border location (e.g., U.S.-Mexico along Rio Grande).
Boundary origin:
Originated from tribal lands and war-won lands.
Boundary process:
Process of creating boundaries.
Boundary type:
Natural boundaries (rivers, mountains).
Political boundaries (war, treaties).
Cultural boundaries (cultural homeland).
Africa/Middle East boundaries not arranged by culture but politics.
Buffer state:
Country between two hostile powerful countries (e.g., Mongolia between Russia and China).
Capital:
Principle city in a state/country.
Ideally located at center.
Centrifugal:
Religious, political, economic conflict causing disunity.
Centripetal:
Attitude unifying people and enhancing state support.
City-state:
Region controlled by a city with sovereignty (common in Middle Ages/Renaissance).
Colonialism:
Establishing settlements and imposing political/economic control (Europe, 17th-20th century).
Confederation:
Association of sovereign states by treaty/agreement.
Conference of Berlin:
Regulated trade and colonization in Africa.
Core/periphery:
Core: high development, innovation, trade.
Periphery: less development, poorer countries.
Decolonization:
American/European colonies gaining independence (peaceful or violent).
Devolution:
Decentralization of government or fracturing of government like Balkanization.
Domino theory:
If one land in a region came under the influence of Communists, then more would follow in a domino effect.
Exclusive Economic Zone:
An Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is a sea zone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources.
Electoral regions:
Electoral regions are the different voting districts that make up local, state, and national regions.
Enclave/exclave:
An enclave is a country or part of a country mostly surrounded by the territory of another country or wholly lying within the boundaries of another country (Lesotho).
An exclave is a country which is geographically separated from the main part by surrounding alien territory (Azerbaijan)
Ethnic conflict:
An ethnic conflict is a war between ethnic groups often as a result of ethnic nationalism or fight over natural resources. Ethnic conflict often includes genocide. It can also be caused by boundary disputes.
European Union:
The European Union (EU) is a supranational and intergovernmental union of 27 democratic member states of Europe.
Federal:
Federalism is a political philosophy in which a group or body of members are bound together with a governing representative head. Federalism is the system in which the power to govern is shared between the national & state governments.
Forward capital:
A forward capital is a symbolically relocated capital city usually because of either economic or strategic reasons.
Frontier:
A frontier is a zone where no state exercises complete political control. It is usually uninhabited or sparsely inhabited.
Geopolitics:
Geopolitics is the study that analyzes geography, history and social science with reference to international politics.
Gerrymander:
Gerrymandering is the process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the political party in power.
Global commons:
Global commons is that which no one person or state may own or control and which is central to life.
Heartland/rimland:
Heartland is the central region of a country or continent; especially a region that is important to a country or to a culture.
Rimland is the maritime fringe of a country or continent.
Immigrant state:
An immigrant state is a type of receiving state which is the target of many immigrants.
Agricultural & Rural Land Use
Adaptive strategies:
(xxx - Not specified in transcript)
Agrarian:
People or societies that are farmers therefore promote agricultural interest ext.
Where agrarian people and societies are located is not generally near cities ext. but these types of people are essential to the way that we live and our ability to live in cities.
Agribusiness:
Commercial agriculture characterized by integration of different steps in the food-processing industry, usually through ownership by large corporations.
It influences how things are grown and what people eat
Agricultural Industrialization:
The use of machinery in agriculture, like tractors ext.
Makes it a lot faster for farmers to yield crop
Agricultural landscape:
*The land that we farm on and what we choose to put were on our fields.
* Effects how much yield one gets from their plants.Agricultural location model:
(xxx - Not specified in transcript)
Agricultural Origins:
Through time nomadic people noticed the growing of plants in a cycle and began to domesticate them and use for there own use.
Carl Sauer points out vegetative planting and seed agriculture as the original forms.
He also points out that vegetative planting likely was originated in SE Asia and seed agriculture originated in W. India, N. China and Ethiopia.
Without the development of agriculture we would still have a relatively small and likely uneducated population
Agriculture:
The deliberate effort to modify a portion of Earth’s surface through the cultivation of crops and the raising of livestock for subsistence or economic gain.
It has influenced the growth of areas and human society
Animal Domestication:
Domestication of animals for selling or using byproducts.
Helped us obtain meat with out having to go out and kill our food right before dinner.
Aquaculture:
The cultivation of aquatic organisms especially for food
Allowed us to use the sea and its abundant sources of food for our benefit
Biorevolution:
The revolution of biotechnology and the use of it in societies.
See reasoning for below term
Biotechnology:
Using living organisms in a useful way to produce commercial products like pest resistant crops.
*
Sequent occupance:
Successive societies leave cultural imprints, contributing to the cumulative cultural landscape.
This concept symbolizes human interaction with surroundings, showing how each group adapts and alters the landscape over time.
Cultural landscape:
The fashioning of a natural landscape by a cultural group defines the essence of human interaction with nature.
It reflects the combined impact of various cultural practices and traditions on the physical environment.
Arithmetic density:
Total people divided by total land area results in a measure of people per unit of land.
It is useful for understanding population distribution and resource allocation.
Physiological density:
This measure relates the number of people to the unit of arable land, giving insight into land use as it pertains to population support.
A high physiological density may indicate pressure on agriculture and natural resources.
Hearth:
A hearth is a defined region where innovative ideas originate and which significantly affects cultural diffusion processes.
Understanding hearth areas aids in tracing the roots of cultural phenomena and the path of their spread.
Diffusion:
The spread of a feature or trend over time can be categorized into several types:
Relocation diffusion: Spread through the physical movement of people.
Example: Spread of AIDS from high prevalence areas.
Expansion diffusion: Spread in a snowballing process; ideas gain strength and spread more rapidly.
Hierarchical diffusion: This describes how features spread from authority or power to other regions or people, as seen in popular culture or technology.
Example: The rise of hip-hop music.
Contagious diffusion: Rapid and widespread diffusion among the population, particularly through social media or viral content.
Stimulus diffusion: Occurs when an underlying principle of an idea spreads even if the specific characteristic does not.
Example: Competition between tech companies like PC and Apple.
Absolute distance:
Defined as the exact spatial measurement between two points, providing a clear distance.
Relative distance:
This measurement gives a more contextual understanding, describing how far apart things are in a meaningful way rather than just by numbers.
Distribution:
Refers to the arrangement of features across Earth’s surface and the patterns of their location.
Environmental determinism:
An early 20th-century approach suggesting that physical environments, rather than social conditions, shape human cultures and behaviors.
Absolute location:
Uses longitude and latitude coordinates to identify a precise position on Earth.
Relative location:
Expresses a position in relation to other geographic features, enhancing comprehension of a place's significance.
Site:
Refers to the physical character of a place, such as its terrain and resources.
Situation:
Encompasses the location of a place relative to other places, enhancing its geographical context.
Space-Time Compression:
The reduction in the time it takes for ideas or trends to spread across distances, significantly influenced by technology.
Friction of Distance:
This concept addresses how distance can inhibit interaction by requiring effort, time, and expenses to overcome.
Distance Decay:
The phenomenology in which the intensity of a phenomenon decreases as one moves away from its origin.
Networks:
Interconnected systems without a central node, showing modern social and economic relationships.
Connectivity:
This refers to the degree and quality of connections among people and places, crucial for understanding modern interaction.
Accessibility:
How easy it is to reach certain locations, influenced by transport, infrastructure, and social connections.
Spatial Distribution:
Involves the physical location of geographic phenomena across space, revealing patterns in human or physical geography.
Size:
An estimation determining the extent of an area or the number of populations.
Scale:
Represents the ratio of a map distance to the corresponding ground distance, crucial for interpreting