Ch 1: Thinking Geographically Vocab Flashcards
Absolute Distance
A distance that can be measured with a standard unit of length, such as a mile or a kilometer.
Absolute Location
The exact position of an object or place, measured within the spatial coordinates of a grid system.
Accessibility
The relative ease with which a destination may be reached from some other place.
Aggregation
To come together into a mass, sum or whole.
Azimuthal Projection
A map projection in which the plane is the most developable surface.
Breaking Point
The outer edge of a city’s sphere of influence, used in the law of retail gravitation to describe the area of the city’s hinterlands that depend on that city for its retail supplies.
Cartograms
A type of thematic map that transforms space such that the political unit with the greatest value for some type of data is represented by the largest relative area.
Cartography
The theory and practice of making visual representations of Earth’s surface in the form of maps.
Choropleth Map
A thematic map that uses tones or colors to represent spatial data as average values per unit area.
Cognitive Map
An image of a portion of Earth’s surface that an individual creates in their mind. Cognitive maps can include knowledge of actual locations and relationships among locations as well as personal perceptions and preferences of particular places.
Complementary
The actual or potential relationship between two places, usually referring to economic interventions.
Connectivity
The degree of economic, social, cultural, or political connection between two places.
Contagious Diffusion
The spread of a disease, an innovation, or cultural traits through direct contact with another person or another place.
Coordinate System
A standard grid, composed of lines of latitude and longitude, used to determine the absolute location of any object, place, or feature on Earth’s surface.
Cultural Ecology
Also called nature-society geography, the study of the interactions between societies and the natural environments in which they live.
Cultural Landscape
The human-modified natural landscape specifically containing the imprint of a particular culture or society.
Distance Decay Effect
The decrease in interaction between two phenomena, places, or people as the distance between them increases.
Dot Maps
Thematic maps that use points to show the precise locations of specific observation or occurrences, such as crimes, car accidents, or births.
Environmental Geography
The intersection between human and physical geography, which explores the spatial impacts humans have on the physical environment or vice versa.
Expansion Diffusion
The spread of ideas, innovations, fashion or other phenomena to surrounding areas through contact and exchange.
Formal Region
Definition of regions based on common themes such as similarities in language, climate, land use etc.
Friction of Distance
A measure of how much absolute distance affects the interaction between two places.
Fuller Projection
A type of map projection that maintains the accurate size and shape of landmasses but completely rearranges direction such that the four cardinal directions–north, south, east, and west–no longer have any meaning.
Functional Region
Definition of regions based on common interaction (or function)–for example, a boundary line drawn around the circulation, of a particular newspaper.
Geographic Information System (GIS)
A set of computer tools used to capture, store, transform, analyze, and display geographic data.
Geographic Scale
The scale at which a geographer analyzes a particular phenomenon–for example, global, national, census tract, neighborhood, etc. Generally, the finer the scale of analysis, the richer the level of detail in the findings.
Global Positioning System (GPS)
A set of satellites used to help determine location anywhere on Earth’s surface with a portable electronic device.
Gravity Model
A mathematical formula that describes the level of interaction between two places, based on the size of their populations and their distance from each other.
Hierarchical Diffusion
A type of diffusion in which something is transmitted between places because of a physical or cultural community between those places.
Human Geography
The study of the spatial variation in the patterns and processes related to human activity.
International Date Line
The line of longitude that marks where each new day begins, centered on the 180th meridian.
Intervening Opportunity
If one place has a demand for some good or service and two places have a supply of equal price and quality, the supplier closer to the buyer will represent an intervening opportunity, thereby blocking the third from being bale to share its supply of goods or services. Intervening opportunities are frequently used because transportation costs usually decrease with proximity.
Isoline
A map line that connects points of equal or very similar values.
Large Scale
A relatively small ratio between map units and ground units. large-scale maps usually have higher resolution and cover much smaller regions than small-scale maps.
Latitude
The angular distance north or south of the equator, defined by lines of latitude or parallels.
Law of Retail Gravitation
A law stating that people will be drawn to larger cities to conduct their business since larger cities have a wider influence on the surrounding hinterlands.
Location Chart
On a map, a chart or graph that gives specific statistical information about a particular political unit or jurisdiction.
Longitude
The angular distance east or west of the prime meridian, defined by lines of longitude, or meridians.
Map Projection
A mathematical method that involves transferring Earth’s sphere onto a flat surface. This term can also be used to describe the type of map that results from the process of projecting. All map projections have distortions in area, direction, distance, or shape.
Map Scale
The ratio between the size of an area on a map and the actual size of that same area on Earth’s surface.
Mercator Projection
A true conformal cylindrical map projection, the Mercator map projection is particularly useful for navigation since it maintains accurate direction. Mercator projections are famous for their distortion in area that makes landmasses at the poles appear oversized.
Meridian
A line of longitude that runs north-south. All lines of longitude are equal in length and intersect at the poles.
Natural Landscape
The physical landscape or environment that has not been affected by human activities.
Nature-Society
Also called nature-society geography, the study of the interactions between societies and the natural environments in which they live.
Parallel
An east-west line of latitude that runs parallel to the equator and that marks distance north or south of the equator.
W. D. Pattison
Geographer who claimed that geography drew from four distinct traditions: the earth-science tradition, the culture-environment tradition, the locational tradition, and the area-analysis tradition.
Perceptual Region
Highly individualized definition of regions based on perceived commonalities in culture and landscape.
Peters Projection
An equal-area projection purposely centered on Africa in an attempt to treat all regions of Earth equally.
Physical Geography
The realm of geography that studies the structures, processes, distributions, and changes through time of the natural phenomena of Earth’s surface.
Preference Map
A map that displays individual preferences for certain places.
Prime Meridian
An imaginary line passing through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England, that marks the 0 degree line of longitude.
Projection
The system used to transfer locations from Earth’s surface to a flat map.
Proportional Symbols Map
A thematic map in which the size of a chosen symbol–such as a circle or triangle–indicates the relative magnitude of some statistical value for a given geographic region.
Qualitative Data
Data associated with a more humanistic approach to geography, often collected through interviews, empirical observations, or the interpretation of texts, artwork, old maps and other archives.
Ptolemy
Roman geographer-astronomer, author of Guide to Geography, which included maps containing a grid system of latitude and longitude.
Quantitative Data
Data associated with mathematical models and statistical techniques used to analyze spatial location and association.
Reference Map
A map type that shows reference information for a particular place, making it useful for finding landmarks and for navigation.
Region
A territory that encompasses many places that share similar physical and/or cultural attributes.
Regional Geography
The study of geographic regions.
Relative Distance
A measure of distance that includes the costs of overcoming the friction of absolute distance separating two places. Relative distance often describes the amount of social, cultural, or economic connectivity between two places.
Relative Location
The position of a place relative to the places around it.
Relocation Diffusion
The diffusion of ideas, innovations, behaviors, and so on from one place to another through migration.
Remote Sensing
The observation and mathematical measurement of Earth’s surface using aircraft and satellites. The sensors include photographic images, thermal images, multi spectral scanners, and radar images.
Resolution
A map’s smallest discernible unit. If for example, an object has to be one kilometer long in order to show up on a map, that map’s resolution is one kilometer.
Robinson Projection
A projection that attempts to balance several possible projection errors. It does not maintain area, shape, distance, or direction completely accurately, but it minimizes errors in each.
Carl Sauer
Geographer from the University of California at Berkeley who defined the concept of cultural landscape as the fundamental unit of geographical analysis. This landscape results from the interaction between humans and the physical environment. Saur argued that virtually no landscape has escaped alteration by human activities.
Scale of Analysis
This is the geographic unit at which one investigates various patterns or processes; e.g., county vs. nation vs. globe.
Sense of Place
Feelings evoked by people as a result of certain experiences and memories associated with a particular place.
Site
The absolute location of a place, described by local relief, land forms, and other cultural or physical characteristics.
Situation
The relative location of a place in relation to the physical and cultural characteristics of the surrounding area and the connections and inter dependencies within that system; a place’s spatial context.
Small Scale
A map scale ratio in which the ratio of units on the map to units on Earth is quite small. Small-scale maps usually depict large areas.
Spatial Diffusion
The ways in which phenomena, such as technological innovations, cultural trends, or even outbreaks of disease, travel over space.
Spatial Perspective
An intellectual framework that looks at the particular locations of a specific phenomenon, how and why that phenomenon is where it is, and, finally, how it is spatially related to phenomena in other places.
Sustainability
The concept of using Earth’s resources in such a way that they provide for people’s needs in the present without diminishing Earth’s ability to provide for future generations.
Thematic Layers
Individual maps of specific features that are overlaid on one another in a Geographic Information System to understand and analyze the spatial relationship.
Thematic Map
A type of map that displays one or more variables–such as population or income level–within a specific area.
Time-Space Convergence
The idea that distance between some places is actually shrinking as technology enables more rapid communication and increased interaction among those places.
Topographic Maps
Maps that use isolines to represent constant elevations. If you took a topographic map out into the field and walked exactly along the path of an isoline on your map, you would always stay at the same elevation.
Transferability
The costs involved in moving goods from one place to another.
Visualization
Use of sophisticated software to create dynamic computer maps, some of which are three dimensional or interactive.
Place
A specific point on Earth which is distinguished by a particular characteristic.
Ex. The City of Luxembourg
Region
An area of Earth that is defined by one or more characteristics.
Ex. Latin America
Scale
The relationships between the point of Earth being studied and the whole earth.
Space
The physical gap between two objects.
Connection
Relationships among people and objects.
Ex. The panama canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans
Map
Flat model of Earth’s surface or part of it.
Cartography
The study and creation of maps.
Mashup Map
A map that overlays data from one source on top of a map provided by a mapping service.
Winkel Projection
An oval projection that minimizes distortion in the shapes of most landmasses but distorts areas in the north and south poles.
Mercator Projection
A rectangular projection that is very accurate except at the poles where size is grossly distorted. Hint: Antarctica is massive
Gall-Peters Projection
A rectangular projection that distorts shape, not size. Hint: Top half of the world is smashed
Dot Distribution map
A map that depicts data as points and shows how those points are clustered or spread out over an area.
Choropleth Map
A map where recognizable areas are shaded or patterned in proportion to the measurement of the variable.
Graduated Symbol Map
A map that displays symbols that change in size according to the value of the variable. Hint: Symbols are changing not the land
Cartogram
A map in which the size of a country of U.S state is proportional to the value of a particular variable.
Toponym
The name given to a place on Earth. Ex. Washington D.C
Site
The physical character of a place; the exact location of a city. Site factors: climate, water sources, topograph, soil, vegetation, latitude, and elevation. Ex. Boston
Relative Location
The location of a place relative to other places. Hint: Also known as situation
Absolute Location
Describes the position of a place in a way that never changes.
Functional Region
Also known as a nodal region; an area organized around a node or focal point. Ex. DMAs in Florida
Perceptual Region
An area that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity. Ex. the South, the Midwest
Globalization
A force or process which involves the entire world and results in making something worldwide in scope. Ex. fast food restaurants, service stations, retail chains
Transnational Corporation
Conducts research, operates factories, and sells products in many countries, not just where its headquarters and principal share-holders are located. Ex. Ford, MsDonald’s
Distribution
The arrangement of a feature in space.
Density
The frequency in which something occurs in space.
Concentration
The extent of a feature’s spread over space is its concentration. Hint: dispersed vs. concentrated
Post Structuralist Geography
Examines how the powerful in society dominate or seek to control less powerful groups, how the dominated groups occupy space, and confrontations that result from the domination. Space is a product of ideologies or value system or ruling elites.
Humanist Geogrpahy
Emphasizes the different ways that individuals form ideas about place and give those places symbols and meanings.
Behavioral Geopgraphy
Emphasizes the importance of understanding the psychological basis for individual human actions in space.
Uneven development
The increasing gap in economic conditions between regions in the core and periphery that results from the globalization of the economy.
Diffusion
The process by which a feature spreads across space from one place to another over time.
Hearth
A place from which an innovation originates.
Relocation Diffusion
When they move they carry with them their culture including language, religion and ethnicity. Ex. Spanish inquisition spreading Catholicism and the Spanish language, the British conquering India spread European language and ideas.
Expansion Diffusion
Hierarchical diffusion, Contagious diffusion, Stimulus diffusion
Hierarchical Diffusion
The spread of an idea from persons or nodes or authority or power to other persons or places. Ex. Missionaries spreading their beliefs by converting kings, celebrities starting fashion trends, the spread of English through colonization
Contagious Diffusion
The rapid widespread diffusion of a characteristic throughout the population. Ex. the spread of AIDS prevention, disease spreading, the use of the internet, tea and coffee culture, oral spread of religions
Stimulus Diffusion
The spread of an underlying principle even though a characteristic itself apparently fails to diffuse. Ex. feature of Apple products being used by other companies, american Mexican and Chinese food vs actual Mexican and Chinese food.
Distance Decay
Contact diminishes with increasing distance and eventually disappears.
Time-Space Compression
Describes the reduction in time it takes for something to reach another place. Ex. the invention of planes, mobile phones, email
Assimilation
The process by which a group’s cultural features are altered to resemble those of another group. Ex. immigrating to a new country and no longer expressing your culture
Acculturation
The process of changes in culture that result from the meeting of two groups. Ex. immigrating to a new country, learning the language but still practicing culture, India’s use of English after British colonization
Syncretism
The combining of elements of two groups into a new cultural feature. Ex. Gnostic Christianity, Sikhism, Our Lady of Guadalupe
Resource
A substance in the environment that is useful to people, economically and technologically feasible to access and socially acceptable to use.
Conservation
The sustainable use and management of Earth’s natural resources to meet human needs such as food, medicine, and recreation.
Preservation
The maintenance of resources in their present condition with as little human impact as possible.
Biotic and Abiotic Systems
A biotic system us composed of living organisms. Abiotic systems are composed of nonliving or inorganic matter.
Hydrosphere
The water on the planet in groundwater, oceans, lakes, rivers, glaciers, water vapor, etc.
Lithosphere
The lithosphere encompasses the crust and a portion of the mantle, the outer part of the Earth.
Ecosystem/Ecology
A group of living organisms and the biotic spheres with which they interact is an ecosystem, the study of ecosystems is ecology.
Environmental Determinism
A belief that they physical environment causes societal development.
Environmental Possiblism
A belief that the physical environment may limit some human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to their enviornment.
Reference Map
Uses absolute location (GPS).
Thematic Map
Used to express phenomena.
