UNIT ONE Vocab Flashcards
Sequent Occupance: The notion that successive societies leave their cultural imprints on a place, each contributing to the cumulative cultural landscape. This is an important concept in geography because it symbolizes how humans interact with their surroundings.
- *My Definition:** Societies’ influences of both past and present shape the cultural landscape.
- *Example:** European colonialism has changed Africa and scarred populations in many ways.
Cultural landscape: Fashioning of a natural landscape by a cultural group. This is the essence of how humans interact with nature.
My definition: Natural landscape fashioned by cultural group(s).
Example: Egypts form giant pyramids with limestone
Arithmetic density: The total number of people divided by the total land area. This is what most people think of as density; how many people per area of land.
My definition: # of people / total land area
Example: According to data.worldbank.org, the Netherlands had an average arithmetic density of 498. Number is found by midyear population / km2.
Physiological density: The number of people per unit of area of arable land, which is land suitable for agriculture. This is important because it relates to how much land is being used by how many people.
My definition: # people / unit area2 of arable land
Example: If the number of people who lived in 5 km2 of arable land were 500 people, then the physiological density would be 100 people per km2.
Hearth: The region from which innovative ideas originate. This relates to the important concept of the spreading of ideas from one area to another (diffusion).
The ancient culture hearths are Fertile Crescent, Indus Valley, Chang & Yellow River Valley, Nile River Valley and Delta, and Meso-America (beginnings of First Agricultural Revolution, which began around 12,000 years ago).
My definition: Origin of innovative ideas
Example: The cultural hearth of the Rubik’s cube is in Hungary. Rubik’s cubes spread by hierarchical diffusion because of toy distributors’ decisions to showcase them at popular events. They also spread by contagious diffusion because they are so popular.
Diffusion: The process of spread of a feature or trend from one place to another over time.
My definition: Process of spread of a feature or trend from one place to another over time.
Example: Diffusion of Christianity from the Middle East
Relocation diffusion: The spread of an idea through physical movement of people from one place to another.
My definition: Spread of an idea through physical movement of people from one place to another.
Example: Italian immigrants to NYC taught Irish-Americans how to make pizza.
Expansion diffusion: The spread of a feature from one place to another in a snowballing process. This can happen in 3 ways:
(1) Hierarchical diffusion: The spread of an idea from persons or nodes of authority or power other persons or places.
(2) Contagious diffusion: The rapid, widespread diffusStion of a characteristic throughout the population.
(3) Stimulus diffusion: the spread of an underlying principle, even though a characteristic itself apparently fails to diffuse.
My definition: Hierarchical diffusion is spread of an idea by people or nodes of authority. Contagious diffusion is the rapid spread of a characteristic. Stimulus diffusion of an underlying principle.
Example: Spread of Starbucks by contagious diffusion throughout the US and hierarchical decision because of corporate decisions to tap into the potential of other busy markets.
Absolute distance: Exact measurement of the physical space between two places.
My definition: physical distance between two places in prescribed units.
Example: The physical distance between me and my object of affection’s house is about 8 miles.
Relative distance: Approximate measurement of the physical space between two places.
My definition: Absolute distance is exact measurement and relative distance is approximate.
Example: The distance between Earth and the Moon is 238,900 miles; however, this number changes due to forces of gravity from other planets, solar systems, the Sun, galaxies acting upon our galaxy, etc.
Distribution: The arrangement of something across Earth’s surface.
My definition: Arrangement of something across Earth’s surface.
Example: Subway stores in Miami
Environmental determinism: A 19th- and early 20th-century approach to the study of geography that argued that the general laws sought by human geographers could be found in the physical sciences. Geography was therefore the study of how the physical environment caused human activities.
Basically, environmental determinism is the doctrine that individual human actions, beliefs, and values are controlled or determined by the ambient environment.
My definition: 19th and early 20th century thought that geography was the study of how the physical environment caused human activities.
Example: Rich soil in Brazil calls for a lot of farming. Rocky soil and too cool temperatures calls for sheep and cattle herding in Scotland.
Absolute location: Position on Earth’s surface using the coordinate system of longitude (that runs from North to South Pole) and latitude (that runs parallel to the equator).
My definition: Position on Earth’s surface determind by coordinate system of longitude and latitude.
Example: GPS coordinates of Orlando, Florida, are
28° 32’ 17” N / 81° 22’ 45” W.
Relative location: Position on Earth’s surface relative to other features.
My definition: Position on Earth’s surface relative to other features.
Example: Orlando is west of the Atlantic Ocean, and Orlando is close to Lake Apopka.
Site: The physical character of place; what is found at the location and why it is significant.
My definition: What is found at a location and why it is significant.
Example: Orlando, Florida has many theme parks including Aquatica, Universal Studios, and Disney World. This is significant because Orlando brings attention to many tourists from all over the world.
Situation: The location of a place relative to other places.
My definition: Location of a place relative to other places.
Example: In the State of Florida, I live in Merritt Island, which is really close to Cape Canveral.
Space Time Compression: The reduction in the time it takes to diffuse something to a distant place, as a result of improved communications and transportation system.
My definition: Time reduction in diffusing something to distant places as a result of advancements in communications and transporation.
Example: #ALSicebucketchallenge is known all over the world in a short span of time because of near real-time communications such as Instagram and Internet.
Friction of Distance: is based on the notion that distance usually requires some amount of effort, money, and/or energy to overcome. Because of this “friction,” spatial interactions will tend to take place more often over shorter distances; quantity of interaction will decline with distance.
My definition: Quantity of interaction will decline with distance because distance usually requires some amount of effort, time, and/or money.
Example: When I am attending my overseas college, I will interact much less with my parents.
Distance Decay: The diminishing importance and eventual disappearance of a phenomenon with increasing distance from its origin. Typically, the farther away one group is from another, the less likely the two groups are to interact. Electronic devices such as the internet and e-mail have aided in eliminating barriers to interaction between people who are far from each other.
My definition: Distance among cultural groups becomes less and less relative because advancements of technology allows for widespread cultural diffusion within a short time.
Example: It could take American colonials 44 hours to go from Boston to New York. Nowadays, we can use airfare and be there in an hour or so.
Networks: defined by Manuel Castells as a set of interconnected nodes without a center. Also, a network society is a society whose social structure is made of networks powered by microelectronics-based information and communication technologies.
My definition: Set of interconnected nodes without a center.
Example: There are many movie theaters throught the United States and they all are of different sizes, depending on the populations surrounding them.
Connectivity: The relationships among people and objects across the barrier of space. Geographers are concerned with the various means by which connections occur.
My definition: The relationships among people and objects across the barrier of space.
Example: The relationship I share with the college of RSM Erasmus University is that it could be my future college.
Accessibility: The degree of ease with which it is possible to reach certain locations from other locations. Accessibility varies from place to place and can be measured.
My definition: How easy it is to reach certain locations from other locations.
Example: There is a very high degree of accessibility from Florida to Algeria due to airfare.
Space: Refers to the physical gap or interval between two objects.
My definition: Physical gap or interval between two objects.
Example: When the world’s largest scissors open up, there is a space between the two blades and the two blades slightly differ in long-lat coordinates.
Spatial Distribution: Physical location of geographic phenomena across SPACE.
My definition: Physical location of geographic phenomena across SPACE.
Example: Earthquakes originate at fault lines, many of which are underneath oceans.
Size: Is the estimation or determination of extent.
My definition: Is the estimation or determination of extent.
Example: Size of Christianity may include the number of followers, but could also include the scope of its influence in literature, media, and physical area.
Scale: Representation of a real-world phenomenon at a certain level of reduction or generalization. In cartography, the ratio of map distance to ground distance, indicated on a map as a bar graph, representative fraction, and/or verbal statement.
My definition: Generally, scale refers to the size of an area or time period. In human geography we look at maps of different scales.
Example: United States map (small scale) showing 2008 presidential elections by popular vote. You can also zoom in on the results of each state and their particular counties (large scale).
Formal Region: (uniform) or homogenous region is an area within which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristics. The shared feature could be a cultural value such as a common language, or an environmental climate.
My definition: Area within which everyone shares one or more characteristics.
Example: Everyone in Florida experiences warm weather; furthermore, everyone in Florida speaks either English or Spanish, we hope. The map below shows the formal regions where English is the official language.
Functional Region: (nodal region) Area organized around a node or focal point. The characteristic chosen to define a functional region dominates at a central focus or node and diminishes in importance outward. This region is tied to the central point by transportation or communication systems or by economic or functional associations.
My definition: Imagine that the center of a bicycle wheel is the functional region. Then, the spokes of the wheel represent links to outside areas through transportation, communication, and trade.
Example: The Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area is a functional region in that Dallas and Fort Worth share a common airport located between the two cities.
Vernacular Region: (Perceptual Region) is a place that people believe exists as a part of their cultural identity. Such regions emerge from peoples informal sense of place rather than from scientific models developed through geographic thought. (Often identified using a mental map- which is an internal representation of a portion of Earth’s surface)
My definition: Place people believe exists as a part of their cultural identity.
Example: We believe Florida is in the Cottonbelt and in the Sunbelt.
Possibilism: The physical environment may limit some human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to their environment.
My definition: People have the ability to adjust to their environment, although the physical environment can limit some human actions.
Example: People in northern regions can get used to cold showers and people in Florida can get used to hot, humid weather.
Pattern: A common property of distribution, which is the geometric arrangement of objects in space. Some features are organized in a geometric pattern, whereas others are distributed irregularly. Geographers observe that many objects form a linear distribution, such as the arrangement of houses along a street or stations along a subway line.
My definition: Property of distribution, which is the geometric, linear, or irregular arrangements of objects in space.
Example: Power lines appear to be in a linear fashion.
Place Name: Often referred to as a places’ name. The definition of toponym is the name given to a place on Earth.
My definition: Toponym, a places’ name.
Example: The more traditional toponyms of Mount Everest are Sagarmāthā (Nepalese) and Chomolungma (Tibetan).
Pattison’s Four Traditions (1964) by W.D. Pattison:
(1) earth-science: physical geography
(2) locational: spatial tradition (location)
(3) man-land: human/environmental interaction
(4) area-studies: regional geography
My definition: He wanted to counter the idea geography was undisciplined science.
(1) An earth-science tradition: physical (natural) geography
(2) A spatial tradition: spatial unifying theme, similar patterns between physical and human geography
(3) A man-land tradition: relationships between human societies and natural environments
(4) An area-studies tradition: regional geography
Five Themes of Geography (1986):
(1) location: position; situation of people and things
(2) human/environmental interaction: reciprocal relationship b/w humans & env.
(3) region: area on Earth’s surface marked by a degree of homogeneity (uniformity) of some phenomenon
**(4) **place: uniqueness of a location (or similarity of two or more locales); phenomena within an area
(5) movement: mobility of people, goods and ideas; phenomena between areas
**My definition: **
(1) location: position on Earth’s surface
(2) human/environmental interaction: relationships between man and the environment
(3) region: area of unique characteristic, way of organizing people geographically
(4) place: associations among phenomena in an area
(5) movement: interconnections between areas
Anthropogenic: Caused or produced by humans.
My definition: The humans did it.
Example: Pyramids of Giza, Great Wall of China, Hagia Sophia, etc…
Region:
(1) Formal Region: (uniform, homogeneous) or homogenous region is an area within which everyone shares in common one or mare distinctive characteristics. The shared feature could be a cultural value such as a common language, or an environmental climate.
(2) Functional Region: (nodal) Area organized around a node or focal point. The characteristic chosen to define a functional region dominates at a central focus or node and diminishes in importance outward. This region is tied to the central point by transportation or communication systems or by economic or functional associations.
(3) Perceptual Region: (vernacular) is a place that people believe exists as a part of their cultural identity. Such regions emerge from peoples informal sense of place rather than from scientific models developed through geographic thought. (Often identified using a mental map- which is an internal representation of a portion of Earths surface). Many “belts” fit this description … cotton belt (what used to be dominated by agriculture, and is often referred to as the New South), Bible belt, sun belt, rust belt, …
My definition: Formal region is an area within which everyone shares one or more characteristics. Functional region is an area organized around a node or focal point. Perceptual (vernacular) region is a place people believe exists as a part of their cultural identity. The image below helps visualize a functional region.
Environmental perception: a person’s idea or image of a place; may often be inaccurate.
My definition: Person’s idea or image of a place.
Example: I think Putin’s compound has high walls, some snow, lots of pine trees, and lots of guards.
Cultural trait: a single element of normal practice in a culture.
My definition: any trait of human activity acquired in social life and transmitted by communication.
Example: I obtained the cultural trait of fondness for cycyling, which many Dutch citizens do everyday.
Culture complex: a combination of related cultural traits.
My definition: combination of related cultural traits.
Example: Fondness for cycling, speaking Dutch, being tall, these are all traits of being Dutch.
Migrant diffusion: spread of an idea through people, in which the phenomena weakens or dies out at its previous source.
Definition: type of diffusion when something is prevalent in its hearth (origin) for a brief period, but then dies in its hearth by the time it spreads outward to other areas.
Example: The spread of the flu is migrant diffusion because by the time it spreads away from its hearth, most of the people in its hearth are generally already immune to it.
Acculturation: Process of adopting only certain customs that will be to their advantage
My definition: Adopting certain customs that will be to their advantage
Example: Most of my family members are Christians, then so am I. All of my family members speak Dutch, then it will be to my advantage to learn Dutch to that I can be trilingual and speak with my family members in their native tongue.
Transculturation: A near equal exchange of culture traits or customs.
My definition: Near equal exchange of culture traits or customs.
Example: I adopt an American, Canadian, and Dutch identity and I consider all of them to be influential in my life.
Assimilation: Process of less dominant cultures losing their culture to a more dominant culture
My definition: Less dominant cultures losing their culture to a more dominant culture.
Example: Members of animalistic African tribes are converted to Christianity, wear more modern apparel, and learn English. This happens time and time again.
Cultural Ecology: The geographic study of the multiple interactions of human-environmental relationships.
My definition: Relationships between cultures and environment.
Example: You know what the relationship was between Great Britain and the environment during the Industrial Revolutions? Humans deracinated the natural landscape and set on top factories.
Holocene epoch: Current interglaciation period (sustained warming phase between glaciations during an ice age), extending from around 12,000 years ago to the present (some scientists speculate that since humans influence the Earth as no species was able to before, we have recently entered the Anthropocene epoch).
My definition: Warming phase of Earth that began 12,000 years ago and is still ongoing.
Example: The time is 9:09 A.M. on August 31st, 2014, during the Holocene epoch.
First Agricultural Revolution: beginning around 12,000 years ago; achieved plant domestication (human influence on genetic modification of a plant) and animal domestication (genetic modification of an animal to make it more amenable to human control and use); began permanent settlements along fertile river valleys which moved humans from egalitarian societies (equal) to more stratified societies (unequal).
My definition: Plant and animal domestication began around 12,000 years ago,which moved humans from egalitarian societies to more stratified societies.
Example: Humans could stay and watch over their property, whether it be land for farming or for herding.
Global Positioning System (GPS): Satellite-based system for determining the absolute location of places.
My definition: Satellite-based system for determining the absolute location of places.
Example: You can use a GPS to get to places.
Geographic Information System (GIS): A computer system that, stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data.
My definition: A computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data.
Example: You can use a GIS to analyze the magnitude of an earthquake.
Qualitative data: described in terms of its quality (that is, informal or relative characteristics such as culture, language, religion, …).
My definition: described in terms of quality such as the color of a table is black or the mountain is grey.
Example: I am a devout Christian who will serve the Lord with all my soul, with all my heart, and with all my might.
Quantitative data: precisely describes data using numbers and measures (population, political, economic, …).
My definition: describes data using numbers and measures.
Example: Gold is shiny and heavy and metallic (qualitative data). Gold has a density of 19.31 grams per mol.
Map projections: any 3-dimensional object (Earth) will project some distortion onto any 2-dimensional object (map).
(1) Azimuthal: directions from a central point are preserved; usually these projections also have radial symmetry.
(2) Mercator: straight meridians and parallels that intersect at right angles, used for marine navigation.
(3) Peters: equal-area cylindrical, areas of equal size on the globe are also equally sized on the map.
(4) Robinson: distorts shape, area, scale, and distance in an attempt to balance the errors of projection properties.
(5) Fuller: using the surface of a polyhedron, it is unfolded to a net in many different ways and flattened to form a two-dimensional map which retains most of the globe’s relative proportional integrity.
My definition:
(1) Azimuthal: directions from a central point are preserved; usually looking on one of the poles
(2) Mercator: straight meridians and parallels that intersect at right angles; Greenland looks bigger on a Mercator map than a Peters map
(3) Peters: areas of equal size on the globe are also equally sized on this map; northern regions looked a little compressed
(4) Robinson: attempts to balance errors of projection properties; very round at the edges
(5) Fullers: using the surface of a polyhedron, it retains most of the globe’s relative proportional integrity.
Types of maps:
(1) dot: one dot represents a certain number of phenomena (e.g., population)
(2) thematic: made to reflect a particular theme about a geographic area (e.g., geographic, topographic, political, …)
(3) choropleth: thematic map in which areas are shaded or patterned in proportion to the measurement of the statistical variable being displayed (e.g., population density)
(4) reference: generalized map type designed to show general spatial properties of features (e.g., world maps, road maps, atlas maps)
(5) proportional symbol: type of thematic map in which the areas of symbols are varied in proportion to the value of an attribute (e.g., city population)
(6) preference: map demonstrating progressively more desirable options
(7) cartogram: map in which some thematic mapping variable is substituted for land area (e.g., GDP)
My definition:
(1) dot: one dot represents a certain number of phenomena
(2) thematic: reflects a particular (political, topographical, geothermal, etc)
(3) choropleth: shaded or patterned in proportion to measurement of the statistical variable being displayed
(4) reference: designed to show general spatial properties of features (world maps, road maps, etc)
(5) porportional symbol: areas of symbols are varied in proportion to the value of an attribute (city population, etc)
(6) preference: demonstrating more desirable options
(7) cartogram: thematic mapping variable is substituted for land area (GDP, etc)
Map terms:
(1) parallel: line of latitude (Equator, Tropic of Cancer & Capricorn, Arctic & Antarctic Circles)
(2) meridian: line of longitude (Prime Meridian, International Date Line)
My definition: Parallel is line of latitude and runs east-west. Meridian is line of longitude and runs north-south.
Example: Equator is a parallel and Prime Meridian is a meridian.
TODALSIG: acronym for assessing the validity and reliability of any map
Title
Orientation
Date
Author
Legend
Scale
Index
Grid
My definition: TODALSIG is for assessing if a map is right.
Migration Patterns: immigration = into a region; emigration = out of a region
1) Internal - permanent movement within a country
_A) Interregional_ - Permanent movement from one region of the country to another.
B) Intraregional - Permanent movement within one region of a country
_ C) Rural-Urban_ - Permanent movement from suburbs and rural area to the urban city area.
2) External - permanent movement outside country
_ A) Intercontinental_ - Permanent movement from one country to a different country on the same continent.
_B) International_ - permanent movement from one country to another.
My definition: immigration is into a region
emigration is out of a region
1) Internal is within a country
A) Interregional - one region to another region
B) Intraregional - within one region of a country
2) External is outside a country
A) Intercontinental is one country to another and on the same continent
B) International from one country to another
Example: My parents immigrated to Canada in the early 1990’s. The seven of us emigrated from Canada in 2004 and immigrated to the United States. Canada to United States is a intercontinental migration.
Laws of migration: 1885; Ernst Ravenstein (studied internal migration in England)
- net migration amounts to a fraction of the gross migration
- the majority of migrants move a short distance
- migrants who move longer distances tend to choose big cities
- urban residents are less migratory than inhabitants of rural areas
- families are less likely to make international moves than young adults
**My definition: **
1) net migration accounts for a fraction of gross migration
2) majority of migrants go short distances
3) migrants who go longer distances often go to urban cities
4) rural residents migrate more than urban residents
5) young adults migrate more than family units
My Example: Young adults go off to college in faraway distances. My brothers and I have planned to study in the Netherlands. Young adults are more likely to make international moves because they are burdened with fewer members and financial costs.
Gravity Model: (Ravenstein) Predicts that the optimal location of a service is directly related to the number of people in the area and inversely related to the distance people must travel to access it.
**My definition: **
Optimal location of a service = # of people in an area / distance people must travel to access it
My Example: Hollywood is in an optimal location of an entertainment service because of high number of people in encompassing areas, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco. Also, other entertainment cities, such as Las Vegas are only a state or two away.
Push factors: incentives for people to leave a place including harsh climate, economic recession, and political turmoil
Pull factors: attractions that draw migrants to a place including pleasant climate, employment, education
Catalysts of migration: many exist such as economic conditions, political circumstances, armed conflict & civil war, environmental conditions, culture and traditions, technological advances, etc
My definition:
Push factors are incentives for people to leave
Pull factors are incentives for people to enter
Catalysts of migration are political, economic, cultural, technological, and environmental
My example: Push factors to emigrate from Canada include my severe asthma problems in colder climates, low educational attainment, and more job opportunities for my father. Pull factors to immigrate to USA include warmer climates, living in the land of the free and home of the brave, high educational attainment in Merritt Island, and many entertainment services in Central Florida.
Friction of Distance: is based on the notion that distance usually requires some amount of effort, money, and/or energy to overcome. Because of this “friction,” spatial interactions will tend to take place more often over shorter distances; quantity of interaction will decline with distance.
Distance Decay: the diminishing in importance and eventual disappearance of a phenomenon with increasing distance from its origin. Typically, the farther away one group is from another, the less likely the two groups are to interact.
My definition:
Friction of Distance: distance usually requires some amount of effort, money, and/or energy to overcome.
Distance Decay: Diminishing importance of a phenomenon with increasing distance from its origin.
My example: Would require some time and money to send a mail delivery. Would require some of your time and energy to set up a Skype call. Technological advancements in communications and transportations are reasons of distance decay.
Step migration: migration to a destination that occurs in stages (e.g., from farm to nearby village and later to town and city)
Chain migration: migration event in which individuals follow the migratory path of preceding friends or family to an existing community (initial migration created a “chain reaction”)
**My definition: **
Step migration occurs in stages (farm to town to city)
Chain migration follow the migratory path of preceding friends or family to an existing community
My example: Guest workers send money home for other family members to follow them.
Intervening opportunity: the presence of a nearer opportunity that greatly diminishes the attractiveness of sites farther away
My definition: nearer opportunity often look better than sites farther away
My example: Many students like to go abroad and travel the world; however, many here apply within the United States and often within the same state because they love nearer opportunities
Voluntary migration: movement in which people relocate in response to perceived opportunity)
Forced Migration: People removed from their countries and forced to live in other countries because of war, natural disaster, and government. (Atlantic Slave Trade, Jewish Diaspora)
Counter migration: migration back to an original area in which people had left. For example, migration increases after natural disasters, yet many eventually return after a time.
**My definition: **
Voluntary migration is when people relocate in response to opportunity
Forced migration is when people have to move because of war, natural disaster, and government action
Counter migration is when people move back to an original area in which people had left
My example: My parents moving from Canada and then to USA were voluntary migrations. Relocation of non-Russians during Stalin’s reign is forced migration.
Cyclic movement: movement that has a closed route and is repeated annually or seasonally (e.g., activity (action) space – space within which daily activity occurs; commuting, seasonal, nomadism)
Periodic movement: movement that involves temporary, recurrent relocation including military service, migrant workers, and college attendance.
** A) transhumance - **movement of pastoralists and their livestock between highland and lowland pastures
**My definition: **
Cyclic movement has a closed route and is repeated
annually or seasonally
Periodic movement is temporary and constant relocation
My example: I’ll probably experience periodic movement for many more years to come; I shall attend college in the Netherlands, perhaps go to Hong Kong to study some more business, and go to California to work with close associates of the film industry.
** Refugees:** people who leave their homes because they are forced out and not relocated
1) move without any more tangible property than what they can carry or transport with them
2) make their first “step” on foot, by bicycle, wagon, or open boat
3) move without the official documents that accompany channeled migration.
My definition: people who fled and not relocated
1) Refugees bring with what they have on their backs
2) first begin to flee using feet, bicycle, wagon, or open boat
3) move without official documents
My example: Cubans who make it to land are refugees. Many Vietnamese and Syrian people fleeing are refugees.
Brain drain: large scale emigration of talented people
Counterurbanization: net migration from urban to rural areas in more developed countries
My definition:
Brain drain is large scale emigration of skilled labor
Movement of people from urban to rural is counterurb
My example: Lots of smarties from Russia defecting to USA and so on
Emigration: migration from a location
Immigration: migration to a new location
Net migration: the difference between the level of immigration and the level of emigration
My definition:
Emigration is from a location,
Immigration is to a location
Net migration is immigration minus emigration
My example: Population growth of USA accounts for huge positive net migration, especially with the large numbers of Central and Latin American immigrants
Quotas: laws that place a maximum limit on the number of people who can immigrate to a certain country each year.
My definition: max number of people who can immigrate to a country each year
My Example: USA first set quotas for each country, then for each hemisphere, then for the world. EU immigrants were limited during and a couple years after WWI.
Accent: the manner in which people speak and the way words are pronounced in different parts of the world
My definition: the manner in which people speak and pronounce words in different parts of the world.
My example: My mother definitely has a moderately strong Dutch accent. My mother’s brother has a very strong Dutch accent when speaking English.
Bilingual: Speaking two languages
My definition: Speaking two languages
My example: I am fluent in English, pretty good at Dutch, and decent in Spanish. Also, my mother is fluent in Dutch and English.
BRP: British Received Pronunciation. The dialect of English associated with upper class Britons living in the London area now considered a standard
My definition: British Received Pronunciation is the dialect associated with upper class Britons that is now considered the standard
My example: There are many dialects in England but the dialect associated with upper class Britons living in London is now considered the standard
Creole: a language that results from the mixing of a colonizer’s language with the indigenous language of the people being dominated
My definition: mixing of a colonizer’s language with the indigenous language
My example: The language Afrikaans adopted words from languages such as Portuguese, the Bantu languages, Malay, Khoisan languages, and mostly from Dutch.
Dialect: A regional variety of a language distinguished by vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation
My definition: distinguished by vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation
My example: Dialects of German in the United States are Amish Swiss German, Texas German, Wisconsin High German, Swiss German, etc
- *Ebonics:** a dialect spoken by some African Americans
- *Esperanto:** A made-up Latin-based language, which its European proponents in the early twentieth century hoped would become a global language.
**My definition: **
Ebonics is a dialect spoken by some African Americans
Esperanto is a Latin-based language which early 12th century proponents hoped to become a global language
**My example:** Ebonics is mostly commonly spoken today by urban working-class and largely bi-dialectal middle-class African Americans. Between 100,000 and 200,000 people fluently or actively speak Esperanto.
Extinct language: A language that was once used by people in daily activities but is no longer used.
My definition: no longer used
My example: last native speaker of Klallam language died in February 2014
Franglais: the widespread use of English in the French language. A term used by the French for English words that have entered the French language, a combination of franfais and anglai.” the French words for “French” and “English,” respectively.
My definition: the widespread use of English in the French language
My example: Examples of Franglais are…
Je suis tired - I am tired
Je ne care pas - I don’t care
J’agree - I agree
- *Ideogram:** symbol that stands for a concept rather than a word
- *Isogloss:** A boundary that separates regions in which different language usages predominate
My definition:
Ideogram - stands for a concept than word
Isogloss - boundary that separates regions in which different language usages dominate
My example: Ideograms include the biohazard sign, the stop sign, and the wheelchair access sign
- *Isolated language:** A language that is unrelated to any other languages and therefore not attached to any language family.
- *Language:** A system of communication through the use of speech, a collection of sounds understood by a group of people to have the same meaning
My definition:
Isolated language is unrelated to any other languages and language families
Language is a system of communication
**My Example: **Basque and Korean are commonly cited examples of isolated languages
Language branch: A collection of languages related through a common ancestor that existed several thousand years ago. Differences are not as extensive or old as with language families, and archaeological evidence can confirm that these derived from the same family.
My definition: collection of languages related through a common ancestor that existed several thousand years ago
**My Example: **Indo-European branches are Indo-Iranian, Balto-Slavic, Germanic, and Italic
- *Language family:** a collection of languages related to each other through a common ancestor long before recorded history
- *Language group:** A collection of languages within a branch that share a common origin in the relatively recent past and display relatively few differences in grammar and vocabulary.
My definition:
fam- collection of languages related through a common ancestor long before recorded history
group - collection of languages within a branch that share an origin relatively recent in the past
**My Example: **Language families are Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, Niger-Congo, Altaic, etc. Language groups include Low Germanic and High Germanic
Lingua Franca: A language mutually understood and commonly used in trade by people who have different native languages
- *linguistics:** study of language
- *literary tradition:** A language that is written as well as spoken
- *mono-lingual:** Speaking only one language.
- *multi-lingual:** Speaking several languages.
My definition:
lingu - study of language
lit tradition - written as well as spoken
mono - one language
multi - more than one language
**My Example: **Couple of my friends are mono-lingual but most of them are multi-lingual
- *Official language:** The language adopted for use by the government for the conduct of business and publication of documents.
- *Orthography:** the study of where languages are found/located
My definition:
official - adopted for use by the government
ortho - study of where languages are found/located
**My Example: **Orthographists would find that English is spoken nearly everywhere, especially in North America and West Europe
Pidgin language: A form of speech that adopts a simplified grammar and limited vocabulary of a lingua franca, used for communications among speakers of two different languages.
My Definition: simplified grammar and limited vocabulary of a lingua franca
**My Example: **Pidgin languages include Basque-Icelandic pidgin, Nigerian Pidgin, and Pidgin Hawaiian
- *Spanglish:** Combination of Spanish and English, spoken by Hispanic-Americans.
- *Standard language:** The form of a language used for official government business, education, and mass communications.
**My definition: **
Spang - combo of English and Spanish
Standard lang - used for government, business, and education, and mass communications
My Example: Many students speak Spanglish in their Spanish classrooms. Standard Hindi and Urdu are India’s standard languages
Toponym: the name by which a geographical place is known
**My definition: **name of a geo place
My Example: Highest mountain of the Himalayas is called Mt. Everest, or Sagarmatha in Nepal, or Chomolungma in Tibet
- *Trade language:** A language used between native speakers of different languages to allow them to communicate so that they can trade with each other.
- *Vernacular:** the everyday speech of the people (as distinguished from literary language)
**My Definition: **
trade lang - allows different speakers to communicate so they can trade
vernacular - everyday speech of the people
My Example: English is a trade language in many international business meetings
Animism: belief that objects, such as plants and stones, or natural events, like thunderstorms and earthquakes, have a discrete spirit and conscious life
My definition: inanimate objects have discrete spirits and conscious lives
My Example: A movie example of animism is Avatar
Autonomous religion: a religion that does not have a central authority but shares ideas and cooperates informally
My definition: religion that does not have a central authority
My Example: Judaism and Animisim are autonomous religions
- *Branch:** a large and fundamental division within a religion
- *Caste:** the class or distinct hereditary order into which a Hindu is assigned according to religious law
**My definition: **
branch - large division within religion
caste - distinct hereditary order
My Example: Islam made a formal split in 632, and Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church split officially in 1054.
Cosmogony: a set of religious beliefs concerning the origin of the universe
**My definition: **set of religious beliefs concerning the origin of the universe
My Example: Steven Hawkings believe the universe started with a big bang. Others believe the Titans did. Others believe God made it so.
- *Denomination:** a division of a branch that unites a number of local congregations in a single legal and administrative body
- *Diocese:** the basic unit of geographic organization in the Roman Catholic Church
My definition:
Deno - division of a branch that brings congregations into an administrative body
Dio - basic unit of geo organization in Roman Catholic Church
**My Example: **Denominations in the USA include Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, and Mormon. The Pope is also called the Diocese of Rome.
Ethnic religion: a religion with a relatively concentrated spatial distribution whose principle are likely to be based on the physical characteristics of the particular location in which its adherents are concentrated
My definition: based on physical characteristics of the particular location of where adherents are concentrated
My Example: Hinduism in the Caribbean is considered an ethnic religion by some scholars.
Fundamentalism: literal interpretation and strict adherence to basic principles of a religion (or a religious branch, denomination, or sect).
My definition: strict adherence to basic principles of a religion
My Example: Muslim extremists are often fundamentalists or rather they think themselves to be
Ghetto: during the Middle Ages, a neighborhood in a city set up by law to be inhabited only by Jews; now used to denote a section of the city in which members of any minority group live because of social, legal, or economic pressure
My definition: a neighborhood in a city to be inhabited only by Jews; now its where very poor minority groups live
My Example: Ghettos in Miami are probably filled with law-breakers, poor and homeless people, and minorities living in terrible condtions.
Hierarchical religion: a religion in which a central authority exercises a high degree of control
My definition: central authority exercises a high degree of control
My Example: The Roman Catholic Church has a very rich and influential chain of religious command with the Pope on top
- *Missionary:** an individual who helps to diffuse a universalizing religion
- *Monotheism:** the doctrine or belief of the existence of only one god
- *Pagan:** a follower of a polytheistic religion in ancient times
- *Pilgrimage:** a journey to a place considered sacred for religious purposes
- *Polytheism:** belief in or worship of more than one god
Sect: a relatively small group that has broken away from an established denomination
**My definition: **
Missionary - who helps diffuse a religion
Monotheism - only one God
Pagan - follower of polytheistic religion
Pilgrimage - journey to a relgious sacred place
Polytheism - more than one god
Sect - small group broken away from an established denomination
My Example: The religious hotspot for Muslims, Jews, and Christians alike is Jerusalem. Roman Catholic sects include Palmarian Catholic Church, Community of the Lady of All Nations, and the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church.
Universalizing/proselytic religion: a religion that attempts to appeal to all people, not just those living in a particular location, members try to convert others
My definition: religion that attempts to appeal to all people
My Example: Islam, Christianity, and Buddhism
Interfaith boundaries: the boundaries between the world’s major faiths
My definition: boundaries between world’s major faiths
My Example: An example of an interfaith conflict that exists between several countries is in Africa, including Nigera and the Muslim inhabited zone north of its borders.
- *Religious Exclave:** people practicing their religion who are physically separated from their religions hearth
- *Religious Enclave:** people with a particular religion surrounded by people with a different religion
**My definition: **
exclave - practicing religion outside religious hearths
enclave - people with a particular religion surrounded by people with a different religion
My Example: Many Muslims who don’t live in the Middle East are commonly found in the countries of Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. In America an example of a religious enclave would be Muslims surrounded by Christians.
- *Sacred space:** location that holds spiritual significance for the faithful
- *Secularism:** the belief that religion should not play a role in government, school or public parts of society
- *Theocracy:** government based on religious principals and beliefs
My definition:
Sacred space - location holds spiritual significance
Secularism - church-state separation
Theocracy - government based on religious beliefs
My Example: Mecca is a sacred space for Muslims. Many early settlers of America, including the independent-minded Rhode Islanders believed in church-state separation. The Taliban held a theocracy before it was overthrown in 2001.
Agglomeration: The centralization of parts of an industry for the mutual benefit of the industry as a whole.
My definition: centralization of industry for mutual benefit of industry as a whole
My example: Car industries in Detroit
Basic industries: The industries that are the focal point of the economy for a city.
My definition: industries are focal point of economy
Break of bulk: Point where goods are transferred – oceangoing ships to truck or rail
My definition: place where goods are transferred
My example: Ports in Miami
Capitalism: An economic system that lets the competitive market determine the price of goods in a society and in which people have the freedom to choose their outcomes based on their ability to pay for a product.
My definition: self-determining market
My example: America
Communism: An economic system in which the government has total control over the prices of goods in a society, ranging from the price of bread to utility prices.
My definition: government has total control
My example: Former Soviet Union
Commodification: When a good idea that was previously not thought of as sellable is turned into an item that can be bought or traded (commodity)
My definition: previously not good idea to sellable idea
My example:
Commodity chain: Series of links connecting all the places of production and distribution of a product
My definition: links production and distribution of product
My example: Railroads
Core-periphery model (World systems Theory): Model suggesting the core areas are more developed while periphery areas are less developed and often times the periphery is at the economic beckoning of the core through resources.
My Definition: core areas more developed, peripheral areas
My example: America is core and Uganda is periphery
Deglomeration: Occurs when the market becomes saturated with a particular industry, creating too much competition and forcing some businesses to shut down.
My definition: market becomes saturated
My example:
Deindustrialization: When industrial jobs move to other regions for cheaper labor, leaving the area to switch to a service economy often including periods of high unemployment
My definition: moving from secondary to tertiary services
My example: Textiles from America and Britain to India
Dependence theory: Suggests that more developed countries exploit less developed countries to remain at the top of international trade.
My definition: MDCs exploit LDCs to remain on top of international trade
My example: America exploits China, Vietnam, etc
Development: The continued progress of a society in all areas, including demographics, economics, and social factors.
My definition: continued progress of society
My example: China with increasing market economy, population, and rising out of poverty
Dollarization: When a poorer country ties the value of its currency to that of a wealthier country or abandons it altogether in favor of the wealthier countries currency
My definition: country ties value to another currency or adopts another currency
My example: Saudi Arabia pegged its currency to the euro
EPZs (Export Processing Zones): Secure zones established by many countries in the periphery and semi-periphery where they offer favorable tax, regulatory and trade arrangements to attract foreign business, countries do business in a foreign country for cheap labor or proximity to resources – the home country gets jobs and the company gets cheaper resources
My definition: secure economic zones with policies that are lax on customs and tarriffs and the sort.
Extractive: Industries such as mining, fishing, lumbering
Fixed costs: Costs that do not fluctuate depending on the quantity ordered.
My definition: mining, fishing, lumbering, resource gathering industries
costs do not fluctuate from change in quantity
Footloose industry: A company with no allegiance or ties to a country or a location that, therefore, can move its primary location.
Fordism: Describes an assembly line on which each employee is doing a specific task to speed up the overall process of production.
My definition: no allegiance to country or location
assembly line with each person doing the same specialized task
Foreign direct investment: The direct investment by a company in the economy of a foreign country characterized by a direct relationship between the investor and the product of the investment.
My definition: direct investment by a company in the economy of a foreign country
My example: MDCs usually invest in other MDCs
Four Asian Tigers (Asian Dragons): Includes South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore, each of which is currently experiencing rapid economic growth as a result of its industrial base and the exporting of items to areas like the United States and Europe.
My definition: South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore are all experiencing rapid economic growth.
My example: Japan inspired the Four Asian Dragons
Gross domestic product (GDP): Determined by summing the selling value or market price of all the goods and services that are produced in a particular country in a given year.
Gross domestic product per capita: Determined by dividing the total amount of goods and services produced in a country by the total population of the country.
My definition: value of all goods and services produced in a certain country in a certain year
GDP/population
Example: On average LDCs have less than $3000 GDP/Capita and MDCs have greater than $30.000 GDP/Capita
Gross national product (GNP): Determined by summing the value of the goods and services produced by a country’s factors of production within a given time period (usually one year).
My definition: value of goods and services by country’s people, regardless of domestic or international
My example: GNP probably higher than GDP because GDP discounts more
Human Development Index: Includes the characteristics such as life expectancy, literacy, education, and standard of living that affect all people’s lives regardless of culture.
My definition: literacy rate, GDP, average years of education, life expectancy
My example: Japan had a HDI of .96
Industrial Revolution: Starting in the mid-1600s, the Industrial Revolution was an extension of the Enlightenment period in Europe. Began in England, and spread to other parts of Europe, North America and Japan. Created overpopulated cities and a continuous supply of cheap labor. Goods went from cottage industries to mass production. New technologies in all aspects of life were born out of this time period.
My definition: Many say it began in Great Britain in the 1750s.
My example: First Great Britain and then rest of Western Europe and America
International division of labor: The specialization of labor so that production becomes individualized, thereby increasing the speed, efficiency, and quality of the overall work process.
Labor-intensive industries: Businesses that require relatively more human effort in the production process (e.g., agriculture).
My definition: specialization of labor
Businesses that require relatively more human effort in the production process
My example: some are specialized to become doctors and others military men and others brokers
Maquiladoras: Areas in northern Mexico where goods are manufactured in foreign owned factories and sent to US markets
Multiplier effect: The expansion of the economic base of a city as a result of increased demand sparking increased production, which in turn employs more people who then demand even more goods and services.
My Definition: made in northern Mexico and sent to US markets
one industry sparks another
My Example: shopping malls can cause multiplier effects because businesses will be interested to put up a store front in the mall
Neocolonialism: A situation wherein the less developed countries of the world are still economically dependent upon the more developed countries, imperialism is entrenched.
New International Division of Labor: The outsourcing of jobs from more developed countries to lesser developed countries to produce goods more cheaply.
My definition: developed countries are still dependent upon more developed countries
outsourcing of jobs to lesser developed countries
My example: outsourcing sweatshops and textiles to places such as China
Nonbasic industries: Industries that serve as secondary businesses, established after the city has already established its basic industry.
Outsource: Turn over production or service to a third party
My definition: Industries that serve as secondary businesses
Turn over job to a third party
SEZs (Special Economic Zones: A geographical region that has economic laws that are more favorable than a country’s typical economic laws. To promote rapid economic growth by using tax and business incentives to attract foreign investment and technology. To improve infrastructure, technologies, employment. A specific amount of land is designated.
My definition: geographical region that has favorable economic laws
My example: Many SEZs in China, such as Hong Kong
Site: The internal characteristics of a place based on its physical features.
Situation: The relationship that a particular location has with the locations around it.
My definition: physical features
relationship with other locations
My example: The surrounding physical features in Detroit are cold, industrialized, and with many trees. The situation in Detroit is that many car manufacturers are close and work together and are close to markets
Socialism: An economic system in which the government controls the basic elements of an economy, such as food prices, transportation costs, and energy prices.
Time-Space Compression: The increase in the efficiency in the delivery process by diminishing distance obstacles, perhaps via email, fax machines, etc.
My Definition: government controls everything
increase in efficiency in delivery process
My example: Planes close T-S C gap further
Transnational corporations: Large companies with offices or divisions in countries around the world.
Treaty ports: Ports that must remain open for international trade because of the signing of various treaties.
Variable costs: Costs that fluctuate based upon the volume of the order.
My Definition: large companies around the world
ports remain open to international trade
costs fluctuate upon change in quantity
My Example: Commodore Perry ordered Japan to open up to international trade
