Unit 1 Flashcards
This is Geography Vocabulary Information taken from "THE Cultural Landscape" An Introduction to Human Geography by James A. Rubenstien (pgs. 4-5)
In the word geography, geo means “___” and graphy means “___”
Geo means “Earth” and graphy means “to write”
Geography?
the study of where things are found on Earth’s surface and the reasons for the locations
Place?
a specific point on Earth, distinguished by a particular characteristic; every place occupies a unique location, or position, on Earth’s surface
Region?
is an area of Earth defined by one or more distinctive characteristics; geographers divide the world into a number of regions, for example North America and Latin America
Scale?
the relationship between the portion of Earth being studied (local) and Earth as a whole (global).
What processes affect scale?
~processes that affect humanity’s occupation of Earth are global in scale are climate change and depletion of energy supplies
~local-scale processes, such as preservation of distinctive cultural and economic activities are important
Space?
refers to the physical gap or interval between two objects; many objects are distributed across space in a regular manner, for discernible reasons
Connection?
refers to relationships among people and objects across the barrier of space
What is an example of the terms using Luxembourg to illustrate the 5 concepts?
~The City of Luxembourg is a place located on a hillside perched above the Alzette River
~The City of Luxembourg is the capital of the country Luxembourg, located in the world region of Europe.
~Luxembourg plays a major role at a global scale, because it is on of the principle headquarters of the European Union, which unites 28 countries
~It also has a distinctive local scale; one example is the availability of distinctive local products not available elsewhere
~The space occupied by Luxembourg has distinctive features; for example most people live in the South of the country while the North is barely inhabited
~Connections between Luxembourg and other places are created by road, rail, and river
Map?
a map is a 2D or flat scale model of Earth’s surface, or a portion of it
What are two purposes of maps?
- As a reference tool
- As a communications tool
Cartography?
The study of map making
Geotagging
identifications and storage of a piece of information by its precise latitude and longitude coordinates
Location?
the position that something occupies on Earth’s surface
Toponym?
the name given place on Earth
Site?
the physical character of a place
What are examples of site?
Climate, water sources, topography, soil, vegetation, latitude, and elevation.
Situation?
the location of a place relative to other places
Cultural landscape?
a combination of cultural features such as language and religion, economic factors such as agriculture and industry, and physical features such as vegetation and climate
Formal region, or a uniform region?
an area within which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive features
Functional region or nodal region?
an area organized around a node or focal point
Vernacular region or perceptual region?
an area that people believe exists as a part of their cultural identity
Culture?
the body of customary beliefs, material traits, and social forms that together constitute the distinct tradition of a group of people
What are the three main culture traits?
Language, ethnicity, and religion
Spatial association?
occurs within a region if the distribution of one feature is related to the distribution of another feature
Globalization?
a force or process that involves the entire world and results in making something worldwide in scope
Transnational corporation?
conducts research, operates factories, and sells products in many countries, not just where its headquarters and principle shareholders are located
Distribution?
the arrangement of a feature in space
Density?
the frequency with which something occurs in space
Concentration?
the extent of a feature’s spread over space
Pattern?
the geometric arrangement of objects in space
Poststructuralist geography?
it examines how the powerful in a society dominate, or seek control, less powerful groups, how the dominated groups occupy space, and confrontations that result from the domination
Humanistic geography?
a branch of human geography that emphasizes the different ways that individuals form ideas about place and give those places symbolic meaning
Behavioral geography?
it emphasizes the importance of understanding the phycological basis for individual human actions in space
Uneven development?
the increasing gap in economic conditions between regions in the core and periphery that results in the globalization of the economy
Assimilation?
the process by which a group’s cultural features are altered to resemble those of another group
Acculturation?
the process of changes in culture that result from the meeting of two groups
Syncretism?
the combination of elements of two groups into a new cultural feature
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?
the spread of an idea through physical movement of people from one place to another
Expansion diffusion?
the spread of a feature from one place to another in an additive process
Hierarchical diffusion?
the spread of an idea from persons or nodes authority or power to other persons or places
Contagious diffusion?
the rapid, widespread diffusion of a characteristic throughout the population
Stimulus diffusion?
the spread of an underlying principle even though a characteristic itself apparently fails to diffuse
Network?
a chain of communication that connects to places
Distance decay?
the diminished importance and eventual disappearance of a phenomenon with increasing distance from its origin
Space-time compression?
describes the reduction in time it takes for something to reach another place
Resource
a substance in the environment that is useful to people, economically and technologically feasible to access, and socially acceptable to use
Sustainability
the use of Earth’s resources in ways that ensure their availability in the future
Renewable resource
produced in nature more rapidly than it is consumed by humans
Nonrenewable resource
produced in nature more slowly than it is consumed by humans
What are the three pillars that sustainability rests upon?
environment, society and economy
Conservation
the sustainable use and management of Earth’s natural resources meet human needs such as food, medicine, and recreation
Preservation
the maintenance of resources in their present condition, with as little human impact at possible
Biotic system
composed of living organisms
Abiotic system
composed of nonliving or inorganic matter
Atmosphere (abiotic)
a thin layer of gases surrounding Earth
Hydrosphere (abiotic)
all of the water on and near Earth’s surface
Lithosphere (abiotic)
Earth’s crust and a portion of user mantle directly below the crust
Biosphere (biotic)
all living organisms on Earth including plants and animals, as well as microorganisms
Climate
the long-term average weather condition at particular location
What are the five main climate regions?
- Humid low-latitude climates
- Dry climates
- Warm mid-latitude climates
- Cold mid-latitude climates
- Polar climates
Ecosystem
a group of living organisms and the abiotic spheres with which they interact
Ecology
the scientific study of ecosystems
Erosin
occurs when soils washes away in the rain or blows away in the wind
Depletion of nutrients
soil contains the nutrients essential for the successful growth of plants and the ones useful for humans, and nutrients are depleted when plants withdraw more nutrients than natural process can replace
Cultural ecology
the geographic study of human-environment relationships
Environmental determinism
German geographers Alexander von Humboldt and Carl Ritter believed that the physical environment caused social development
Possibilism
the physical environment may limit some human actions, but people have the ability to adjust their environment
polder
a piece of land that is created by draining water from an area
