APHG Unit 1 Flashcards
Human Geography
The study of why something exists in a certain location, including social and economic processes.
Physical Geography
Focuses on natural landscapes, such as mountains, rivers, and climate.
Cartography
The science of map-making.
Reference Maps
Accurate maps used for navigation or location.
Myth of Continents
The misconception of continent sizes, such as Europe appearing larger due to Eurocentric map projections.
Equator
The 0° latitude line dividing Earth into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
Prime Meridian
The 0° longitude line running through Greenwich, UK, dividing the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
International Date Line
A line roughly along the 180° meridian where the calendar date changes.
Time Zones
24 divisions of the Earth’s rotation, each representing an hour difference.
Projection
The method of representing Earth’s curved surface on a flat map.
Distortion
Alterations in shape, distance, area, or direction due to map projection
Mercator
Distorts size near the poles but preserves direction, often used for navigation.
Robinson
Distorts everything, but in low levels. Reduces the distortion of land masses as they near the poles.
Molleweide
Better for equal AREA. Shape & Direction are distorted
Winkel Tripel (National Geographic Standard)
Good for minimizing 3 kinds of distortion:
area, direction, and distance
Azimuthal
Displays one hemisphere from a central point, maintaining accurate distance from the center.
Interrupted
Maps that break apart oceans to minimize distortion on landmasses.
Dot Maps
Use dots to represent quantities; more dots indicate higher frequency.
The “Ghost Map” (John Snow)
A famous dot map used to trace the source of a cholera outbreak in London.
Choropleth Maps
Use colors or shading to represent data values across areas
Proportional Symbol Maps
Use symbols of different sizes to represent data values.
Cartograms
Adjust the size of areas to reflect a variable, such as population.
Isolene Maps
Use lines to connect areas of equal value, such as elevation or temperature.
Mental Maps
Personal perceptions of the geography around us.
Activity Spaces
Areas where people routinely travel as part of their daily activities.
Terra Incognita
Unknown or unexplored regions.
Generalized Maps
Maps that simplify data to show broad patterns
GIS (Geographic Information Systems)
A computer system for capturing, storing, analyzing, and displaying geographic data.
GPS (Global Positioning System)
A satellite-based navigation system.
Remote Sensing
The collection of data about Earth’s surface from satellites or aircraft
Geocaching
A recreational activity where participants use GPS to hide and seek containers, called “geocaches.”
Large Scale
small area with more detail
Small Scale
large area with less detail
Formal Region
official boundaries and consistent characteristics
Functional/Nodal Region
organized around a central point or function
Vernacular/Perceptual Region
defined by people’s perceptions or feelings about a place.
Cultural Landscape
imprint of human activity on the physical environment.
Site
physical characteristics of a location
Situation
location of a place relative to other places
Sense of Place
emotional or symbolic meaning associated with a location
Perception of Place
How people view or imagine a place based on information or personal experience.
Toponym
name given to a place on Earth
Possibilism
theory that humans can adapt to their environment and make choices
Environmental Determinism
environment determines human activity
Absolute Location
exact position of a place on Earth’s surface, often given in latitude and longitude.
Latitude (Parallels)
Horizontal lines on the globe, measuring north or south of the equator.
Longitude (Meridians)
Vertical lines on the globe, measuring east or west of the Prime Meridian.
Relative Location
place’s location relative to other places
Location Theory
why activities are located where they are.
Expansion Diffusion
When a cultural trait spreads outward from its hearth
Contagious Diffusion
rapid spread of a trait through a population
Hierarchical Diffusion
spread of traits through a hierarchy of people or places
Stimulus Diffusion
When a cultural trait spreads but is altered to fit the local culture.
Relocation Diffusion
spread of culture through the movement of people
Distance Decay
diminishing of a cultural trait as distance from its hearth increases
Cultural Barrier
Factors that hinder the spread of a cultural trait
Acculturation
The process of adopting traits from another culture
Globalization
increasing interconnectedness of people and places through economic, political, and cultural exchanges.
Space-Time Compression
The shrinking of the world due to advancements in transportation and communication.
Medical Geography
study of health and disease in a geographic context
Pandemic
A global outbreak of a disease
Epidemic
localized outbreak of a disease
Core (U.S., Europe, Japan, Australia)
Developed regions that are economically powerful and technologically advanced.
Periphery (Asia, Africa, Latin America)
Less developed countries that rely on core regions for technology and resources.
Spatial
Related to space or location.
Spatial Perspective
The viewpoint that considers the arrangement of people and objects in space.
Spatial Distribution
arrangement of items on Earth’s surface
Concentration
extent to which something is spread out or clustered in an area
Density
frequency of something in a given space
Dispersion
spread of phenomena across space
Pattern
arrangement of objects in space
Tobler’s 1st Law
“Everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things.”
Distance Decay
interaction decreases as distance increases
Accessibility
How easy it is to reach a certain location
Connectivity
The degree to which different locations are connected
Polder
Land that is reclaimed from the sea by dikes (things to block the water) and drainage
Rescale
Involvement of players at other scales to generate support for a position or initiative.
Cultural Ecology
how humans adapt to their environment
Political Ecology
how political forces influence environmental changes
Arithmetic Density
total number of people divided by the total land area
U.S. Land Ordinance Act of 1785
Divided land in the western territories into townships and ranges to be sold and developed. - 160 acres of land
Carl Sauer
established that Mesoamerica was also a hearth for agriculture; independent innovations. led to research of diffusion.
