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Biosphere
All living organisms on Earth
Cartography
The science of making maps
Climate
The long-term average weather condition at a particular location
Concentration
The spread of something over a given area
Conservation
The sustainable management of a natural resource
Contagious diffusion
The rapid, widespread diffusion of a feature/trend/culture throughout a population
Cultural ecology
A geographic approach that emphasizes human-environment relationships
Cultural landscape
The fashioning of a natural landscape by a cultural group
Culture
The body of customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits that together constitute a group's distinct tradition
Density
The frequency with which something exists within a given unit of area
Diffusion
The process of the spread of a feature/trend/culture from one place to another over time
Distance decay
The diminishing in importance and eventual disappearance of a phenomenon with increasing distance from its origin
Distribution
The arrangement of something across Earth's surface
Ecology
The scientific study of ecosystems
Ecosystem
A group of living organisms and the abiotic spheres with which they interact
Environmental determinism
A 19th & 20th century approach to the study of geography that argued that the geography is the study of how the physical environment causes human activities
Expansion diffusion
The spread of a feature/trend/culture among people from one area to another in an additive process
Formal region
Uniform/homogenous region; an area in which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristic
Functional region
Nodal region; an area organized around a node or focal point
GIS
Geographic information system; a computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data
GPS
Global positioning system; a system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations, and receivers
Globalization
Actions or processes that involve the entire world and results in making something worldwide in scope
Greenwich Mean Time
GMT; the time in the zone encompassing the prime meridian or 0 degrees longitude
Hearth
The region from which innovative ideas originate
Hierarchical diffusion
The spread of a feature/trend/culture from one key person or node of authority or power to other persons or places
International Date Line
An arc that for the most part follows 180 degrees longitude--when you cross the IDL heading east (towards the US) the clock moves back 24 hours; when you go west (toward Asia) the calendar moves ahead one day
Latitude
The numbering system used to indicate the location of parallels drawn on a globe and measuring distance north and south of the equator (0 degrees)
Location
The position of anything on Earth's surface
Longitude
The numbering system used to indicate the location of meridians drawn on a globe and measuring distance east and west of the prime meridian (0 degrees)
Map
A two-dimensional, flat representation of Earth's surface or a portion of it
Map scale
The relationship between the size of an object on a map and the size of the actual feature on Earth's surface
Meridian
An arc drawn on a map between the North and South poles
Nonrenewable resource
Something produced in nature more slowly than it is consumed by humans
Parallel
A circle drawn around the globe parallel to the equator and at right angles to the meridians
Pattern
The geometric or regular arrangement of something in a study area
Place
A specific point on Earth distinguished by a particular characteristic
Possibilism
Theory that the physical environment may set limits on human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to the physical environment and choose an alternative course of action
Preservation
The maintenance of resources in their present condition, with as little human impact as possible
Prime merdian
The meridian, designated by 0 degrees longitude, that passes through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England
Projection
A system used to transfer locations from Earth's surface to a flat map
Region
An area distinguished by a unique combination of trends or features
Relocation diffusion
The spread of a feature or trend through bodily movement of people from one place to another
Remote sensing
The acquisition of data about Earth's surface from a satellite orbiting the planet or from other long-distance methods
Renewable resource
Something produced in nature more rapidly than it is consumed by humans
Scale
The relationship between the portion of Earth being studied and Earth as a whole
Site
The physical character of place
Situation
The location of a place relative to another place
Space-time compression
The reduction in time it takes to diffuse something to a distant place as a result of improved communications and transportation system
Stimulus diffusion
The spread of an underlying principle even through a specific characteristic is rejected
Sustainability
The use of Earth's renewable and nonrenewable natural resources in ways that do not constrain resource use in the future
Toponym
The name given to a portion of Earth's surface
Transnational corporation
A company that conducts research, operates factors, and sells products in many countries, not just where its headquarters or shareholders are located
Uneven development
The increasing gap in economic conditions between core and peripheral regions as a result of the globalization of the economy
Vernacular region
Perceptual region; an area that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity
Acculturation
when an immigrant/ethnic group moving to a new area adopts the values and practices of the larger group while still maintaining major elements of their own culture
Assimilation
when an immigrant/ethnic group can no longer be distinguished from the receiving group
Multiculturalism
the coexistence of several cultures in one society--many argue that the interaction of cultures enriches the lives of all
Nativism
A policy of favoring native-born individuals over foreign-born ones
Population Distribution
The way people are spread across a given area.
Physical Factors of Population Distribution
Climate
Landforms
Water
Human Factors of Population Distribution
Culture
Economics
History & Politics
Economic Consequences of Population Distribution
Areas with a high population density are more developed, and have greater job opportunity and competition.
Areas with a low population density are less developed, and have fewer job opportunities + lower wages.
Social Consequences of Population Distribution
Areas with a high population density have more options available regarding housing, and greater access to social services.
Areas with a low population density have limited access to housing options and social services.
Political Consequences of Population Distribution
Population determines how many representatives each state gets in Congress.
Electoral districts are drawn to be roughly equal in population size.
Redistricting (redrawing Electoral District boundaries) takes place every 10 years, following the census.
Arithmetic Density
The total number of people divided by the total land area.
Physiological Density
The number of people per unit area of arable land.
Agricultural Density
The number of farmers per unit area of farmland.
Carrying Capacity
The maximum number of people that a region can support without environmental degradation.
Crude Birth Rate (CBR)
The number of live births per 1,000 people in a given year.
Crude Death Rate (CDR)
The number of deaths per 1,000 people in a given year.
Natural Increase Rate
The difference between the number of live births and deaths occurring in a given year.
Population Pyramid
A bar graph displaying the distribution of a population by age and sex.
Fertility Rate
The average number of children born to each woman in a given region during the course of her lifetime.
Fertility rates have dropped in most parts of the world as more women gain access to...
...education, employment, healthcare, and contraceptives.
Mortality Rate
The number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, in a given duration of time.
Migration Rate
The net number of migrants per 1,000 people within a region.
Doubling Time
The duration of time required for the population of a region to double in size.
Demographic Transition
A long-term trend of declining birth and death rates.
Epidemiologic Transition
Changing patterns of population distributions in relation to changing patterns of mortality, fertility, life expectancy, and leading causes of death.
Malthusian Theory
The idea that population growth is exponential, while the growth of the food supply or other resources is linear, which eventually reduces living standards to the point of triggering mass death.
Pro-Natalist Policies
Policies designed with the intention of increasing the birth rate/fertility rate of an area.
Why governments promote pro-natalist policies:
To prevent labor shortages
To prevent the loss of innovation that younger generations provide
Aging populations could threaten national security
How governments promote pro-natalist policies:
Paid maternity leave
Increased child allowances
Encourage immigration
Anti-Natalist Policies
Policies designed with the intention of decreasing the birth rate/fertility rate of an area.
Why governments promote anti-natalist policies:
Large populations impede economic development.
Large populations strain natural and government resources.
How governments promote anti-natalist policies:
Coercion; forced sterilization programs, fines, penalties.
Contraception, family planning, media campaigns encouraging smaller families.
What causes aging populations?
Low fertility rates (far below 2.1 replacement rate)
Longer life expectancies
Age-selective migration
What are the effects of aging populations?
Decreased labor force.
Slower economic growth.
Increased elderly population.
Immigration Quotas
Policies designed to place limits on how many migrants are allowed to enter a nation.
Immigration Policies
Laws and policies defining who can enter a country.
Contraception
Birth control via the use of devices (such as condoms or pills).
Life Expectancy
The average number of years an individual can be expected to live, given current social, economic, and medical conditions.
Dependency Ratio
The percentage of people within a population who are too young or too old to work, dependent upon the labor of working-aged people within the population.
Ravenstein's Laws of Migration
Most migration is over a short distance.
Migration occurs in steps.
Long-range migrants usually move to urban areas.
Each migration produces a movement in the opposite direction (although not necessarily of the same volume).
Natives of towns are less migratory than those of rural areas
Rural dwellers are more migratory than urban dwellers.
Within their own country females are more migratory than males, but males are more migratory over long distances.
Most migrants are adults.
Large towns grow more by migration than by natural increase.
Migration increases with economic development.
Migration is mostly due to economic causes.
Push Factor
A factor that encourages a person to migrate away from their original location.
Pull Factor
A factor that encourages a person to migrate to a new location.
Intervening Opportunities
Factors that encourage people to remain at their current location (i.e. a job opening, a major economic boom, etc).
Intervening Obstacles
Factors that hinder or prevent people from migrating to a new location (i.e. a geographic barrier, immigration moratoriums, etc).
Forced Migration
Migration to a new location against one's will, due to external factors (such as war/unrest, persecution, inclement weather, etc).
Voluntary Migration
Migration to a new location at one's will (like wanting to be closer to family, wanting a better job, etc).