unit 1 vocab Flashcards
Absolute Direction
Absolute directions are relative to a fixed frame of reference and always point in the same direction, regardless of their location.
Absolute Distance
Exact measurement of the physical space between two places
Absolute Location
A place’s absolute location is its exact place on Earth, often given in terms of latitude and longitude.
Cartographers
a person who draws or produces maps.
Choropleth Maps
a map that uses differences in shading, coloring, or the placing of symbols within predefined areas to indicate the average values of a property or quantity in those areas.
Census
an official count or survey of a population, typically recording various details of individuals.
Contagious Diffusion
Contagious diffusion is the process of an idea being spread rapidly throughout the population
Core
the central or most important part of something.
Culture
the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group.
Cultural Ecology
Cultural ecology is the study of the adaptation of a cul- ture to a specific environment and how changes in that environment lead to changes in that specific culture
Cultural Landscape Approach
Cultural landscape is a term used in the fields of geography, ecology, and heritage studies, to describe a symbiosis of human activity and environment.
Density
Density, mass of a unit volume of a material substance
Diffusion
Diffusion, process resulting from random motion of molecules by which there is a net flow of matter from a region of high concentration to a region of low concentration
Distance Decay
Distance decay is a geographical term which describes the effect of distance on cultural or spatial interactions.
Distributed
shared or spread out.
Dot Distribution Maps
A dot distribution map is a type of thematic map that uses a point symbol to visualize the geographic distribution of a large number of related phenomena.
Ecological Perspective
a concept of community psychology in which a community (or any other social entity) is viewed in terms of the interrelations among people, roles, organizations, local events, resources, and problems.
Environmental Determinism
Environmental determinism argues that both general features and regional variations of human cultures and societies are determined by the physical and biological forms that make up the earth’s many natural landscapes.
Equal Area Projection
An equal area projection is a map projection that shows regions that are the same size on the Earth the same size on the map but may distort the shape, angle, and/or scale.
Expansion Diffusion
Expansion diffusion is when innovations spread to new places while staying strong in their original locations.
Flow
the action or fact of moving along in a steady, continuous stream.
Formal region
An area defined by one predominant or universal characteristic throughout its entire area
Friction of Distance
Friction of distance is a core principle of Geography that states that movement incurs some form of cost, in the form of physical effort, energy, time, and/or the expenditure of other resources, and that these costs are proportional to the distance traveled
Functional Region
A functional region is a territorial unit resulting from the organisation of social and. economic relations in that its boundaries do not reflect geographical particularities.
Geography
the study of the physical features of the earth and its atmosphere, and of human activity as it affects and is affected by these, including the distribution of populations and resources, land use, and industries.
Geographic Information System (GIS)
A geographic information system is a conceptualized framework that provides the ability to capture and analyse spatial and geographic data.
Geographic Information Science
Geographic information science or geographical information science is the scientific discipline that studies the techniques to capture, represent, process, and analyze geographic information
Global Positioning System (GPS)
is a space-based radio-navigation system consisting of a constellation of satellites broadcasting navigation signals and a network of ground stations and satellite control stations used for monitoring and control
Globalization
Globalization is a term used to describe how trade and technology have made the world into a more connected and interdependent place.
Gravity Model
The gravity model of international trade in international economics is a model that, in its traditional form, predicts bilateral trade flows based on the economic sizes and distance between two units.
Greenwich Mean Time
Greenwich Mean Time is the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London.
Hearth
The region from which innovative ideas originate. This relates to the important concept of the spreading of ideas from one area to another
Equator
The Equator is an imaginary line around the middle of the Earth
Hierarchical Diffusion
spread of an idea from persons of authority or power to other persons.
Human Geography
the branch of geography dealing with how human activity affects or is influenced by the earth’s surface.
International Date Line
The date line, also called the International Date Line, is a boundary from which each calendar day starts.
Isoline Maps
An isoline map is a way of presenting numerical data cartographically, helping readers to recognize geographical patterns and relationships.
Location
an actual place or natural setting in which a film or broadcast is made, as distinct from a simulation in a studio.
Locator Maps
A locator map, sometimes referred to simply as a locator, is typically a simple map used in cartography to show the location of a particular geographic area within its larger and presumably more familiar context.
Map
a diagrammatic representation of an area of land or sea showing physical features, cities, roads, etc.
Map Scale
The scale of a map is the ratio of a distance on the map to the corresponding distance on the ground.
Mashup
A mashup is a creative work, usually in a form of a song, created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, typically by superimposing the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumental track of another, changing the tempo and key where necessary.
Mental Maps
Mental maps are a mix of objective knowledge and subjective perceptions:
Meridian
a circle of constant longitude passing through a given place on the earth’s surface and the terrestrial poles.
Mercator Projection
Mercator projection, type of map projection introduced in 1569 by Gerardus Mercator
Model
A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system.
Node
a point at which lines or pathways intersect or branch; a central or connecting point.
Parallel
A circle drawn around the globe parallel to the equator and at right angles to meridians and helps to define a time zone along with a meridian
Pattern
A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas
Perceptual Region
Area defined by people’s feelings and attitudes
Periphery
the outer limits or edge of an area or object.
Physical Geography
Physical geography is the study of the processes that shape the Earth’s surface, the animals and plants that inhabit it, and the spatial patterns they exhibit.
Physical Maps
A map of the locations of identifiable landmarks on chromosomes
Place
a particular position or point in space.
Possibilism
Possibilism in cultural geography is the theory that the environment sets certain constraints or limitations, but culture is otherwise determined by social conditions.
Political Maps
“Political maps” are among the most widely used reference maps
Prime Meridian
A prime meridian is the meridian in a geographic coordinate system at which longitude is defined to be 0°.
Projection
Projection is the process of displacing one’s feelings onto a different person, animal, or object.
Proportional Symbol/Graduated
While proportional symbol maps scale symbols with absolute magnitude, graduated symbol maps divide quantities into classes
Symbol Maps
A map symbol is a graphical device used to visually represent a real-world feature on a map, working in the same fashion as other forms of symbols.
Qualitative
relating to, measuring, or measured by the quality of something rather than its quantity.
Quantitative
relating to, measuring, or measured by the quantity of something rather than its quality.
Reference Maps
A reference map shows the location of the geographic areas for which census data are tabulated and disseminated.
Region
an area or division, especially part of a country or the world having definable characteristics but not always fixed boundaries.
Relative Direction
Relative Direction- Left, right, forward, backward, up, down, directions based on peoples surroundings and perception.
Relative Distance
A relative distance is the approximate measurement of the physical space between two places.
Relative Distance
Relative distance is a measure of the social, cultural and economic relatedness or connectivity between two places
Relocation Diffusion
Relocation diffusion: The spread of an idea through physical movement of people from one place to another.
Remote Sensing
Remote sensing is the process of detecting and monitoring the physical characteristics of an area by measuring its reflected and emitted radiation at a distance (typically from satellite or aircraft).
Robinson Projection
a compromise map projection showing the poles as lines rather than points and more accurately portraying high latitude lands and water to land ratio.
Scale
Map scale refers to the relationship (or ratio) between distance on a map and the corresponding distance on the ground
Semi-periphery
the industrializing, mostly capitalist countries which are positioned between the periphery and core countries
Situation
a set of circumstances in which one finds oneself; a state of affairs.
Site
an area of ground on which a town, building, or monument is constructed.
Space
a continuous area or expanse which is free, available, or unoccupied.
Spatial Analysis
Spatial analysis or spatial statistics includes any of the formal techniques which studies entities using their topological, geometric, or geographic properties
Spatial Perspective
A historical perspective focuses on the temporal dimension of human experience (time and chronology), while geography is concerned with the spatial dimension of human experience (space and place).
Stimulus Diffusion
diffusion in which one people receives a culture element from another but gives it a new and unique form.
Suburbs
an outlying district of a city, especially a residential one.
Sustainability
What Is Sustainability? Sustainability focuses on meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
Sustainable Development
Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Thematic Maps
A thematic map is also called a special-purpose, single-topic, or statistical map.
Theory
a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general principles independent of the thing to be explained.
Time-Space Compression
Time–space compression, articulated in 1989 by geographer David Harvey in The Condition of Postmodernity
Time Zones
an area or stretch of land having a particular characteristic, purpose, or use, or subject to particular restrictions.
Tobler’s First Law
The First Law of Geography, according to Waldo Tobler, is “everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things.”
Topography
the arrangement of the natural and artificial physical features of an area.
Toponym
a place name, especially one derived from a topographical feature.
Transportation Maps
A transit map is a topological map in the form of a schematic diagram used to illustrate the routes and stations within a public transport system—whether this be bus, tram, rapid transit, commuter rail or ferry routes.
Uneven Development
it means, quite simply, that the development of the economy is uneven.
Vernacular Region
is a distinctive area where the inhabitants collectively consider themselves interconnected by a shared history, mutual interests, and a common identity
World System Theory
World-systems theory is a multidisciplinary approach to world history and social change which emphasizes the world-system as the primary unit of social analysis.
