Regional Geography Flashcards
Exam 1: Chapters 1 & 2
What is Colonialism?
Formal, established rule over local peoples by a larger imperialist government for the expansion of political and economic empire.
What is the Core-Periphery Model?
A conceptualization of the world in two economic spheres. The developed countries of western Europe, North America, and the Japan form the dominant core, with less-developed countries making up the periphery. Implicit in this model is that the core gained its wealth at the expense of peripheral countries.
What is cultural Imperialism?
The active promotion of one cultural system over another, such as the implantation of a new language, school system, or bureaucracy. Historically, cultural imperialism has been primarily associated with European colonialism.
What is Cultural Landscape?
A physical or natural landscape that has been changed considerably by the influences of human settlement.
What is Cultural Nationalism?
The national identity defined by a shared sense of cultural traditions.
What is Cultural Syncretism or Hybridization?
The blending of two or more cultures, which produces a synergistic third culture that exhibits traits from all cultural parents.
What is Decolonization
The process of a former colony’s gaining (or regaining) independence over its territory and establishing (or reestablishing) an independent government.
What is the Demographic Transition Model?
A 5-stage model of population change derived from the historical decline of the natural rate of increase as population becomes increasingly urbanized through industrialization and economic development.
(Preindustrial, transitional, transitional, industrial, postindustrial)
What is Diversity?
Refers to the state of having different landscapes, cultures, or ideas, as well as the inclusion of distinct peoples in a particular society.
What is Formal Region
A geographic concept used to describe an area where a static and specific trait (such as language or climate) has been mapped and described. A formal region contrasts with a functional region.
What is a Functional Region?
A geographic concept used to describe the spatial extend dominated by a specific activity. The circulation are of a newspaper is an example, as is the trade area of a large city.
What is Gender Equity (and Gender Inequality Index)
The GII is a composite measure, reflecting inequality in achievements between women and men in three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment, and the labor market.
What is GIS
A computerized mapping and information system that analyzes vast amounts of data that may include many layers of specific kinds of information, such as microclimates, hydrology, vegetation, or land-use zoning regulations.
What is Geography?
The spatial science that describes and explains physical and cultural phenomena on Earth’s surface.
What is Geopolitics
The relationship between politics and space and territory.
What is Globalization?
The increasing interconnectedness of people and places throughout the world through converging processes of economic, political, and cultural change.
What is Glocalization
The Process of modifying an introduced product or service to accommodate local tastes or cultural practices.
What is Global Positioning System?
Originally used to describe a very accurate satellite-based location system, but not also used in a general sense to describe smartphone location systems that may use cell phone towers as a substitute for satellites.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
The total value of goods and services produced within a given country in a single year.
Gross National Income (GNI)
The value of all final goods and services produced within a country’s borders (gdp) plus the net income from abroad (formerly referred to as gross national product)
GNI per capita
The figure that results from dividing a country’s GNI by the total population.
Human Development Index (HDI)
Tracks social development in the world’s countries, which combines data on life expectancy, literacy, educational attainment, gender equity, and income.
Less Developed Country (LDC)
A sovereign state with low income per capita, limited infrastructure and social welfare, and mixed levels of industrialization. Most LDCs are in Latin America, Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.
Life Expectancy
The number of years a person can expect to live.
Map Projection
The cartographic and mathematical solution to translating the surface of a rounded globe to a flat surface with a minimum of distortion.
Map Scale
The relationship between distances on a mapped object and depiction of that space on a map. Large scale cover small areas in great detail, small scale depict less detail but larger area.
Meridians
Lines of longitude (up and down)
More Developed Country (MDC)
A sovereign state that has an industrialized economy, advanced infrastructure, social welfare, and high income per capita. Most MDCs are in North America, Western Europe, and parts of East Asia and Oceania.
Nation-State
A relatively homogeneous cultural group (a nation) with its own political territory (the state).
Neocolonialism
Economic and political strategies by which powerful states indirectly (and sometimes directly) extend their influence over other, weaker states.
Net Migration Rate
A statistic that depicts whether more people are entering or leaving a country through migration per year. It is usually expressed as a positive or negative number per 1000 people in the population.
Parallels
Lines of latitude (side to side)
Population Density
The population of an area as measured by people per spatial unit, usually people per square mile or square kilometer.
Population Pyramid
The structure of a population measuring the percentage of young and old, presented graphically as a pyramid-shaped graph. This graph plots the percentage of all different age groups along a vertical axis that divides the population into male and female.
Prime Meridian
An arbitrarily-chosen meridian (longitude line) in a geographic coordinate system at which longitude is to be defined to be 0 degrees.
Purchasing Power Parity
An important qualification to GNI per capita data is the concept of PPP, an adjustment that takes into account the strength or weakness of local currencies.
Rate of Natural Increase (RNI)
The standart statistic used to express natural population growth per year for a country, a region, or the world, based on the difference between birthrates and deathrates. Does not consider pop change from migration. Often positive, but can also be expressed as a negative for no growth countries.
Region
A geographical concept of areal or spatial similarity, large or small.
Remote Sensing
A method of digitally photographing Earth’s surface from satellites or high altitude aircraft so that the image captured can be manipulated by computers to translate information into certain electromagnetic bandwidths, which, in turn, emphasizes certain features and patterns on Earth’s surface.
Terrorism
The systematic use of terror to achieve political or cultural goals.
Total Fertility Rate (TFR)
The Average number of children who will be borne by women of a hypothetical, yet statistically valid, population, such as that of a specific cultural group or within a particular country. Demographers consider TFR a more reliable indicator of population change than the crude birthrate.
