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Intro Vocab
Term | Definition |
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Spatial Perspective | Broadly, the geographic dimension or expression of any phenomenon; more specifically, anything related to the organization of space on the Earth’ surface. |
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 |
Geographical realm | The basic spatial unit in our world regionalization scheme. Each realm is defined in terms of a synthesis of its total human geography—a composite of its leading cultural, economic, historical, political, and appropriate environmental features. |
transition zone | An area of spatial change where the peripheries of two adjacent realms or regions join; marked by a gradual shift (rather than a sharp break) in the characteristics that distinguish these neighboring geographic entities from one another. |
Absolute and relative location | Absolute: The position or place of a certain item on the surface of the Earth as expressed in degrees, minutes, and seconds of latitude and longitude. Relative: The regional position or situation of a place relative to the position of other places. |
formal region | A type of region marked by a certain degree of homogeneity in one or more phenomena; also called uniform region or homogeneous region. |
functional region | A region marked less by its sameness than by its dynamic internal structure; because it usually focuses on a central node, also called nodal region or focal region. |
hinterland | Literally “country behind,” a term that applies to a surrounding area served by an urban center. That center is the focus of goods and services produced for its hinterland and is its dominant urban influence as well. |
global climate change | The shift in the characteristics and spatial distribution of Earth’s climates in response to a long-term trend in atmospheric warming. |
population distribution | The way people have arranged themselves in geographic space. One of human geography’s most essential expressions because it represents the sum total of the adjustments that a population has made to its natural, cultural, and economic environments. |
urbanization | A term with a variety of connotations. The proportion of a country’s population living in urban places is its level of urbanization. The process of urbanization involves the movement to, and the clustering of, people in towns and cities—a major force in e |
cultural landscape | The forms and artifacts sequentially placed on the natural landscape by the activities of various human occupants. By this progressive imprinting of the human presence, the physical (natural) landscape is modified into the cultural landscape, forming an i |
natural landscape | The array of landforms that constitutes the Earth’s surface (mountains, hills, plains, and plateaus) and the physical features that mark them (such as water bodies, soils, and vegetation). Each geographic realm has its distinctive combination of natural l |
continental drift | The slow movement of continents controlled by the processes associated with plate tectonics. |
state | A politically organized territory that is administered by a sovereign government and is recognized by a significant portion of the international community. A state must also contain a permanent resident population, an organized economy, and a functioning |
sovereignty | Controlling power and influence over a territory, especially by the government of an autonomous state over the people it rules. |
European state model | A state consisting of a legally defined territory inhabited by a population governed from a capital city by a representative government. |
core area | In geography, a term with several connotations. Core refers to the center, heart, or focus. The core area of a nation-state is constituted by the national heartland, the largest population cluster, the most productive region, and the part of the country w |
periphery | Spatial pattern in which a country’s or region’s development (and population) is most heavily concentrated along its outer edges rather than in its interior. |
globalilzation | The gradual reduction of regional differences at the world scale, resulting from increasing international cultural, economic, and political interaction. |