Vocab intro Flashcards
Population density
Population per unit area
Region
An area on the Earth’s surface marked by specific criteria (area, boundaries, location, homogeniety) -physical or cultural. (all have area, boundaries, & location)
Characteristics of a Region
Area
Boundaries
Location
Homogeniety
Formal Region
Marked by a certain degree of homogenity in 1+ phenomena (physical or internal) immobilistic
aka: uniform/homogeneous region
Functional Region
spatial system marked by dynamic internal structure (urban core/economic activity)
aka nodal region
two types of things that can mark a functional region
urban core
economic activity
Physical Geography
Wegner’s theory of Pangaea based on tectonic/lisopheric plates
Tectonic Plates
heavy rocks moving propelled by giant circulation cells in the red ot magma below & carry continents
Volcanoes & earthquakes result when they collide
aka lisopheric plates
Subduction
When oceanic plate converges head on with a plate carrying a continental landmass @ its leading edge. The light plate overrides the plate & pushes it downward
Ring of Fire
Pacific Ocean almost completely encircles by active volcanoes & earthquake epicenters
Climate
aggregate, total recodrd of weather conditions at a place, or in a region, over the entire period during which records have been kept
Impacts how, where, & why ppl live where they are living
Physiological density
Population per unit area of arable land
arable
can be used for agriculture and habitation
Development
the economic, social, and institutional growth of national states to improve the well-being of its people
Geo
Earth
Graphos
to write/describe
Spatial viewpoint
how, why, and where things are located on the earth’s surface the way they are
Transition Zone
area of spatial change where peripheries of two adjacent regions join, makred by a gradual shift in the characteristics that distinguish neighboring realsm
ex: subsaharan africa & north africa/southwest asia
Scale
ratio of distance on a map to ground distance
Cultural landscape
the composite of human imprints on the earth’s surface- always being modified & evolving
Culture
Shared patterns of learned behavior (not part of DNA)
“A” climate
tropical conditions, high temps, never freezes, all year around precipitation (may be wet, dry, wet, or wet monsoon)
“B” climate
low & high altitiudes (found anywhere)
“Bw” climate
true desert (<10 cm rain annually)
“Bs” climate
semiarid >10 cm rain annually
“D” climate
only found in northern hemisphere (only category found in 1 hemisphere), continental climate, no equivalent land areas in Southern Hemisphere, cold winters, cool summers, best soil here (not necessarily most productive)
“C” climate
Mid-latitudes beyond tropics, no climate extremes, cold winters, precipitations range from moist-dry summer
“E & H” Climate
frigid conditions with many places with permanent ice & snow
“E” climate
near poles
“H” climate
at equator or low latitudes, but at high elevation (arctic like conditions then)
Spatial scient
arrangement of everything on the earth’s surface (what geography is)
geographic realms are based on
spatial criteria
the largest geographic units into which the inhabited world can be divided
geographic realms
what is based on physical and human yardsticks
geographic realms
geographic realms resulted from
interaction between human societies & natural environments
function interaction of geographic realms are revealed by
farms, mines, fishing ports, transport routes, dams, bridges, villages, & other features of the landscape
Regions are marked by
spatial similarity
2 types of regions
formal
functional
Formal regions are
uniformity in one or al imited number of related physical/cultural features and do not change
functional realms are centered on
central spot (core/node)
do functional regions change?
yes
3 main layers of the earth
crust, mantle, core (inner/outer)
land hemisphere
half of the globe containing the greatest amount of land surface, centered on Western Europe. 80% of landmass located in lcose proximity to each other
Isolated State Model
Von Thunen bullseye: central city, intensive farming & dairying, forest, increasingly extensive field crops, ranching animal products
Nation-state
a large majority of the population shares cultural homogeneity & unity (Iceland)
Centrifugal forces
forces that tend to divide a country (religious, linguistic, ethnic, or ideological differences)
Centripital forces
forces that unite & bind a country together (a strong national culture, shared ideolgical objectives, and a common faith)
Primate city
country’s largest city, disproportionally larger than the second largest city, expressive of national culture, usually the capitla, (Paris, London, Athens)
Break-of-Bulk point
location along a transport route where goods must be transferred from one carrier to another. Cargo of ocreangoing ships are unloaded and put on trains, trucks, or perhaps smaller river boats for inland distribution (entrepot) (Copenhagen-Denmark) (gives huge industry)
Entrepot
a place, usually a port city, where goods are imported, stored, and transshipped (break-of-bulk point)
Shatter belt
in Eastern Europe to describe a zone of chronic political and splintering (ethnically diverse region where nationalism has a great deal of power)
Balkanization
to break up (as in a region) into smaller and hostile units (Yugoslavia)
Exclave
bounded piece of territory that is kpart of a particular state but lies separated from it by the territory of another state
Irredentism
policy of cultural extension and potential political expansion by a state aimed at a community of its national living in a neighboring state
Countries in Western Europe
Germany
France
Belgium
Netherlands
Luxembourg
Switzerland
Austria
Eastern Europe Countries
Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus
Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary
Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Hertzogovina, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania
Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine
British Isles
United Kingdom
Ireland
Northern Europe
Sweden
Norway
Denmark
Finland
Estonia
Iceland
Mediterranean Europe
Italy
Spain
Portugal
Greece
Cyprus
Malta
Countries that face the Baltic Sea
Poland
Lithuania
Latvia
Belarus
The Landlocked Center
Czech Republic
Slovakia
Hungary
Countries facing the Adriatic Sea
Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Hertzogovina, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania
Yugoslavia
Slovenia
Croatia
Bosnia-Hertzogovina
Macedonia
Serbia
Montenegro
Kosovo
Countries facing the Black Sea
Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine
4 physical landscapes
Western Uplands
North European Lowlands
Central Uplands/Highlands
Alpine Region
lingua franca
english
Iberian Peninsula
Spain & Portugal
United Kingdom
- England, Scotland, Wales, & Northern Ireland
- birth place Industrialized Revolution
- important energy source: coal
- large deposits of oil and natural gas
Republic of Ireland
- independent in 1921
- one of the fastest growing economies in Europe & EU
- important: agriculture, high-tech industries, tourism
Germany
- divided after WWII, unified in 1990
- highly developed/industrialized
- among world’s leading economic power
- most powerful European economy
- Europe’s most populous country
France
- natural wealth
- 2/3rds of land nearly level
Luxembourg
- high level of industrialization & GNP
- Agriculture only 4% of population
- Economy based on financial activities
The Kingdom of the Netherlands
- most densely populated country in Europe
- land reclamation
Swizerland
- one of the oldest countries in Europe
- one of the most stable democracies in the world
- known for neutrality
- Four national languages (German, Romanshe, Italian, French)
Austria
- majority speaks German
- 85%= Roman Catholic
- terrain=hilly/mountainous
- tourism=important
Sweden
- warm currents=nicer climate
- high percentage of population 65 & older
Norway
- 1/3 of length= north of Arctic Circle
- chief natural resources: fish, timber, hydroelectric power, oil & natural gas
- 4% of land suitable for agriculture
- fjords
Denmark
- Copenhagen (entrepot/break-of-bulk point)
- most extensive use of land is for agriculsture, yet highly industrialized
Finland
- heavy glaciated, lake-strewn landscape
- 1917 independence from uSSR
Estonia
-Former Soviet Soialist Republic until from until 199-l
arge oil shale deposites (electric power
-EU 2004
Iceland
- mild lowland climate
- damp.cool summers
- highest literacy rate in world
- US defends it
Italy
- most populated Mediterranean country
- most economically advanced
- Po river basin
- North: most industrialized/progressive
- South: largely undeveloped/poorer (Mezzogiamo region)
- Ancona line: sharp north/south contrast
- Milan: largest city/manufacturing center & country’s financial & service/industry center
- Rome:
- 3,000 yrs ago
- Italy’s capital: 1870
- 2.6 million ppl
Spain
- 47 million
- democratic
- catalonia (leading industrial area)
- madrid (primate city)
- conflict
- British control of Gibralter
- March 2004 (Terrorism)
Portugal
- 10.6 million
- coastal orientation
- primate city: Lisbon
Greece
- cradle of western civilization
- 11 million
- primate city:Athens
- fragmented
Cyprus
- Greek majority, Turk minority
- UN peace keeping in center
Malta
- archipelago
- tourism
Poland
- nation-state
- agragarian-wheat
- primate city: warsaw
Lithuania
- soviet socialist republic 1940-1991
- kalingrad (Russian exclave)
