Geography 1100 Midterm Review Vocabulary

Midterm Exam Information

General Information

• Midterm Exam Dates:

  • Tuesday class: June 17th
  • Thursday class: June 19th

• Preparation Resources:

  • List of terms (provided below)
  • Lecture notes
  • Lecture slides
  • Quizzes
  • Textbook review questions

Terms and Topics

Introductory Concepts (Ch. 1)

• Geography

  • Physical geography: The study of natural features and processes.
  • Human geography: The study of the spatial organization of human activities and relationships.

• Location

  • Absolute: Defined by latitude and longitude coordinates.
  • Relative: Defined by site (physical characteristics) and situation (location relative to other places).

• Distance

  • "First law" of geography: Everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things.
  • Absolute: Measured in standard units (e.g., kilometers, miles).
  • Relative: Measured in terms of time, effort, or cost.
  • Cognitive: Perceived distance based on individual experience.

• Space

  • Absolute: Objective, mathematically defined space.
  • Relative: Subjective, varies based on context and perception.
  • Cognitive: Mental maps, individual perceptions of space (cognitive images).
  • Topological: Defined by connections and relationships rather than absolute distance.

• Region: An area with shared characteristics.

• Landscape

  • Ordinary: Everyday landscapes that people experience.
  • Symbolic: Landscapes that represent particular values or meanings.
  • Palimpsest: Landscape with evidence of past and present cultures overlapping.

• Place

  • Place-making: The process by which people give meaning to a place.
  • Sense of place: Feelings and associations evoked by a place.

• Geographical imagination: Capacity to understand changing patterns, changing processes, and changing relationships among people, places, and regions.

• Map projection

  • Mercator: Preserves shape and direction, distorts area significantly, especially at high latitudes.
  • Peters: Preserves area accurately, distorts shape.
  • Robinson: Compromise projection, balances shape and area distortions.
  • Fuller (dymaxion): Projects the world onto a icosahedron which can be unfolded to a flat map; minimizes distortion.

• Spatial diffusion: The process by which phenomena spread across space.

Globalization (Ch. 2)

• World-system theory

  • World-system: Interdependent system of countries linked by economic and political competition.
  • Core: Dominant countries that exploit periphery and semi-periphery for resources and labor.
  • Periphery: Less developed countries that supply raw materials and labor to the core.
  • Semi-periphery: Countries with characteristics of both core and periphery, acting as intermediaries.

• Imperialism: The extension of a country's power and influence through colonization, use of military force, or other means.

• Colonialism: The establishment and maintenance of colonies in one territory by people from another territory.

• European expansion: Historical period of European powers establishing colonies and trading networks throughout the world.

• Ethnocentrism: Belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group or culture.

  • Social Darwinism: Application of Darwinian concepts to human society.
  • Environmental determinism: The theory that the environment determines culture and societal development; discredited due to being overly simplistic.
  • “White man’s burden”: The idea that Europeans had a duty to civilize and Christianize non-European people.

• Scramble for Africa: The rapid colonization of the African continent by European powers in the late 19th century.

• Impacts of colonialism on the periphery

  • Economic: Exploitation of resources, creation of dependency.
  • Political: Imposition of foreign political systems, creation of artificial boundaries.
  • Cultural: Suppression of local cultures, imposition of colonizer's culture.
  • Neo-colonialism: The use of economic, political, cultural, or other pressures to control or influence other countries, especially former colonies.

• Contemporary globalization: Increased interconnectedness and interdependence of countries through trade, technology, and cultural exchange.

• Perspectives on globalization

  • Globalization is generally “good”: Promotes economic growth, innovation, and cultural exchange.
  • Globalization is generally “bad”: Exacerbates inequalities, exploits workers, and degrades the environment.

• Core-periphery inequalities

  • Income and wealth: Concentration of wealth in core countries, poverty in periphery countries.
  • Fast world/slow world: Core regions characterized by rapid technological advancement and economic growth, peripheral regions lagging behind.
  • Digital divide: Unequal access to information and communication technologies (ICT) between core and periphery.

Political Geographies (Ch. 9)

• North-South divide: Socio-economic and political division between wealthy, developed countries (typically in the Northern Hemisphere) and poorer, developing countries (typically in the Southern Hemisphere).

• Decolonization: The process by which colonies gain independence from colonizing powers.

Population Dynamics (Ch. 3)

• Demography: The study of population statistics and trends.

• Crude (arithmetic) density: The number of people per unit area (e.g., people per square kilometer).
  Crude Density = \frac{Total Population}{Total Land Area}

• Nutritional (physiologic) density: The number of people per unit of arable land.
  Nutritional Density = \frac{Total Population}{Total Arable Land}

• Natural increase (or decrease): The difference between birth rate and death rate.
  Natural Increase Rate = Birth Rate - Death Rate

• Crude birth rate: The number of live births per 1,000 people per year.

• Total fertility rate: The average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime.

• Replacement rate: The total fertility rate needed to keep the population stable (approximately 2.1).

• Infant mortality rate: The number of deaths of infants under one year old per 1,000 live births.

• Crude death rate: The number of deaths per 1,000 people per year.

• Average life expectancy: The average number of years a person is expected to live.

• Age-sex pyramid (aka “population pyramid”): A graphical representation of the age and sex structure of a population.

• Dependency ratio: The ratio of dependents (under 15 and over 64) to the working-age population (15-64).
  Dependency Ratio = \frac{Population under 15 + Population over 64}{Population aged 15-64} * 100

• Demographic transition theory

  • Key arguments: Model that describes population change over time as countries develop.
  • Phases and reasons for changes: Stages include high birth and death rates, declining death rates, declining birth rates, and low birth and death rates.
  • Critiques: Eurocentric, doesn't account for migration, and assumes all countries will follow the same path.

• Overpopulation

  • Malthusian perspective: Population growth will outstrip food supply, leading to famine and disaster.
  • Neo-Malthusian perspective: Similar to Malthus, but focuses on resource depletion and environmental degradation.
  • Critiques of Malthus and neo-Malthusians: Technological innovation can increase food production, inequality is the main cause of hunger, not overpopulation.

• Population policy: Government actions aimed at influencing population size, growth, or distribution.

Economic Development (Ch. 7)

• Economic development

  • Definitions: Processes of economic growth, social progress, and institutional change that improve the well-being of a population.
  • Expectations: Increased incomes, improved living standards, and greater access to education and healthcare.

• Economic indicators

  • GDP: Gross Domestic Product, the total value of goods and services produced within a country's borders.
  • GNP: Gross National Product, the total value of goods and services produced by a country's residents and businesses, regardless of location.
  • GNI: Gross National Income, GNP less income taxes, depreciation, and subsidies.

• Informal sector: Economic activities that are not officially recognized, regulated, or taxed by the government.

• Externalities

  • Positive: Benefits that accrue to third parties as a result of economic activity.
  • Negative: Costs that are imposed on third parties as a result of economic activity.

• Human development index (HDI): A composite index measuring life expectancy, education, and income.

• Gender inequality index (GII): A composite index measuring gender disparities in reproductive health, empowerment, and economic status.

• Economic sectors

  • Primary: Extraction of raw materials (e.g., agriculture, mining).
  • Secondary: Manufacturing and processing of raw materials.
  • Tertiary: Services (e.g., retail, tourism, healthcare).
  • Quaternary: Information and knowledge-based services (e.g., research, technology).

• Foreign direct investment: Investment made by a company or individual in one country into business interests located in another country.

• Transnational corporation: A company that operates in multiple countries.

• Trade bloc: A group of countries that have reduced or eliminated trade barriers among themselves.

• Globalization and economic development

  • Internationalization of finance: The increasing flow of capital across national borders.
  • New technology system
    • Time-space convergence: The reduction in travel time and distance due to technological innovation.
  • Global consumer markets: The increasing availability of goods and services from around the world.
  • New international division of labor
    • Global assembly line: Production processes are divided among different countries.
    • Commodity chain: The steps involved in producing, distributing, and consuming a product.
    • “Race to the bottom”: Countries lowering wages and environmental standards to attract investment.

• Film: The True Cost

  • Fast fashion: Rapid production of inexpensive clothing.
    • Causes: Demand for cheap clothing, global supply chains.
    • Impacts: Environmental pollution, worker exploitation.
    • Externalities: Pollution, health problems.
  • Rana Plaza: The collapse of a garment factory in Bangladesh, highlighting the dangers of the fast fashion industry.
  • Consumptionism: A cultural orientation that encourages the acquisition of goods and services.
  • Ecological narcotics: The idea that consumption provides temporary satisfaction but ultimately harms the environment.
  • Fair trade: A system that ensures producers in developing countries receive fair prices for their goods.

Exam Format

• Part 1: Multiple-choice, true/false, and matching questions (approximately 35 questions).

  • Use a scantron form -> bring a pencil.

• Part 2:

  • Short Answer Questions: Four (4) questions worth 5 points each (20 points total).
    • Choose four (4) questions to answer from a list of six.
    • Answers should be in full sentences (1-2 paragraphs long).
    • Indicate the number of the question.
  • Essay Question: One (1) question worth 15 points.
    • Choose one (1) question to answer from a list of three.
    • Answers should be in full sentences (4-6 paragraphs long).
    • Indicate the number of the question.

Important Notes

• Time: 2.5 hours to complete the exam.
• No lecture afterwards.
• Turn off your phones and put them away.
• No washroom breaks during the exam.
• Define key terms and provide examples.
• Write in your own words (do NOT quote directly from the slides).
• Relate your discussion to information and ideas from the course (lecture and textbook).
• Communicate clearly.
• Cheating will result in a zero on the exam and being reported to the College.
• Map Quiz 1 retake available after you turn in your exam.