Midterm 1 Review Flashcards
Geography
The study of patterns and processes on Earth’s surface. The word itself is derived from the Greek words geo, meaning ‘the earth’, and graphie, meaning ‘to write about’
Human Geography
The study of patterns and processes of the human world, including where people and activities are found and why they are located there.
Space
The areal extent of something on the earth’s surface
Absolute Space
pace that can be objectively measured with definable boundaries and remains stable over time. It is objective, physically real, and measurable.
Relative Space
Subject to continuous change and differences in interpretation. How we perceive space differently.
Location
Any particular position within space and on the Earth’s surface.
Absolute Location
Relatively stable and unchanging, expressed mathematically.
Relative Location
Subject to change and interpretation, expressed in relation to other geographical phenomena
Nominal Location
The expression of a place’s name.
Toponyms
Names of places that can reveal the Indigenous or colonial pasts, the namer’s perception of a place, and can change over time.
Place
A location with a particular identity, meaning, or significance. ______ is space with meaning.
Sense of Place
The personally significant attachments we associate with certain places. It can be positive or negative. Human geographers tend to think about _______ as the collective attachments individuals have to places of shared experiences.
Placemaking
The deliberate transformation of ‘space’ or location into ‘place’.
Placeless
Some places evoke little or no meaning at all. Often linked to homogeneity and standardization.
Distance
The amount of space between 2 or more locations.
Absolute/Physical Distance
The shortest point between two or more objects. It is measured with reference to a standard system.
Time/Travel Distance
Distance mediated by roads, pathways, transit routes, etc.
Economic Distance
The physical costs that must be managed when moving people or items across space.
Psychological Distance
Relates to one’s state of mind, influenced by experience, knowledge, and emotions.
Distribution
The spatial organization of geographic phenomena, often explained by the distance between them.
Density
The frequency with which something exists in a measured area.
Concentration (Agglomerated)
Objects are close together.
Dispersed
Objects are scattered and far apart.
Pattern
The geometric arrangement of geographic phenomena in space.
Region
A way to think about society at different levels or layers. Also, indicates the spatial relationship between real-world locations, distances, and areas.
Map Scale
How much of local areas can show much greater detail.
Small-scale Maps
Show large areas with little detail.
Large-scale Maps
Show smaller areas with greater detail.
Landscape
The visible features of the land/area, which can be natural/physical or human/cultural or both.
Cultural Landscape
The outcome of the interactions between people and their environments, the visible human imprint on the land.
Diffusion
The movement or spread of geographic phenomena across space and over time.
Relocation Diffusion
The spread of ideas, cultural characteristics, etc., from one area to another via the physical movement of people.
Expansion Diffusion
The spread of innovations, trends, ideas, and other phenomena that does not require people’s relocation.
Hierarchical Diffusion
The spread of cultural practices through key, highly connected, and influential people and places.
Contagious Diffusion
The spread of geographic phenomena similar to the spread of infectious disease, rapidly throughout an area.
Mental Maps
A unique personal representation of reality. Reflects imperfect knowledge, not objective reality. Shaped by perception and subjective experiences.
Map
A two-dimensional graphical representation of the world, used to communicate information and analyze spatial problems.
Perspective
How the map is oriented. Can be north-oriented, south-oriented (anthropocentric), Atlantic-centric (European World View) or Pacific-centric (Asian World View).
Projection
The way the earth’s surface is represented on a flat map. All projections distort portions of the Earth’s surface in one way or another. Distortion appears in one or more forms: area, distance, shape, or direction.
Culture
The way of life of the members of a society. Includes values, beliefs, worldviews, lifestyles, traditions, customs, and practices.
Globalization
Economic, political, and cultural changes that bring about increasing interconnectedness of people and places.
Cultural Regions
An area with a degree of homogeneity in cultural characteristics. Examples include the Arctic North, BC, Atlantic, Prairies, Great Lakes, and Canadian Shield.
Hearth
The area from which a cultural activity emerges or is most concentrated.
Sub-cultures
The values, beliefs, and lifestyles of a minority group within society.
Deviance Sub-cultures
Lifestyle deviates from society, often based on pleasure and wants. ex. BDSM community
Resistance Sub-cultures
Intentionally distorting appearance or behaviors to resist dominant culture. Ex. punk rockers
Distinction Sub-cultures
Lifestyles and practices seen as superior to the dominant culture. ex. people who go to art galleries, symphonies, and the opera
Cultural Adaptation
The adaptation or adjustment, by individuals and groups, to the challenges posed by the physical environment. Includes technological, organizational, and ideological changes.
Language
A fundamental way that we distinguish between cultural groups. An expression of our beliefs, attitudes, ways of life.
Language Family
A group of closely related languages that share a common and/or ancient origin.
Language Branch
A subset of a language family with a more recent origin.
Religion
A set of beliefs that facilitates an appreciation and understanding of our place in the world and acts to unify all those that believe in a single community.
Universalizing Religion
Sees its faith as applicable to everyone and actively seeks new converts (e.g., Christianity, Islam, Buddhism).
Ethnic Religion
Appeals to a particular group of people, whose members are usually born into the religion and typically do not seek converts (e.g., Hinduism, Judaism).
Ethnicity
An individual’s affiliation with a group that distinguishes them from the rest of the population based on racial, cultural, religious or linguistic characteristics, national origins, etc.
Ethnic Group
A group whose members perceive themselves as different from others because of a common ancestry.
Race
A socially constructed concept, not a natural thing, that delineates cultural subgroups based on minor physical differences. A race is not a genetically distinct group of a species.
Racism
A particular form of prejudice that attributes characteristics of superiority or inferiority to a group of people who share some physically inherited characteristics.
