Question | Answer |
Geography | The study of the earth as the home of humankind |
Ethnogeographies | Systems of geographic knowledge used by indigenous peoples who have not had written languages |
6 essential elements of geography | 1. the world in spatial terms
2. places and regions
3. physical systems
4. human systems
5. environment and society
6. uses of geography |
2 major branches of geography | physical and human |
Human agency | humans' role in changing the face of the earth |
landscape perspective | method of studying the transformation through time of a natural landscape to a cultural landscape |
landscape | the collection of physical and human geographic features on the earth's surface |
Culture | a shared, learned, symbolic system of values, beliefs, and attitudes that shapes and influences perception and behavior |
The world regional approach | ranges across the human and physical subfields of geography, synthesizing, simplifying, and characterizing the human experiences of earth as home. |
regions | 8 spatial subdivisions of the world.
Human constructs, not 'facts on the ground' |
3 types of regions | formal, functional, and vernacular (or perceptional) |
formal region | all the population shares a defining trait or set of traits.
ex: a county or state |
functional region | a spatial unit characterized by a central focus on some activity (often an economic one). at the center of a functional region the activity is most intense, while toward the edges of the region, the defining activity diminishes in importance |
vernacular region | a region that exists in the mind of a large number of people and may play an important role in cultural identity but does not necessarily have official or clear cut borders.
ex: the midwest, or the bible belt |
space | the precise placement of locations on the face of the earth |
place | the physical and cultural context of a location |
spatial context | the distribution of various phenomena on the earth's surface |
scale | the actual distance on earth as represented by a given linear unit on the map |
large scale map | large representative fraction (ex. 1:10,000 or 1:100) that portrays a relatively small area in more detail |
small scale map | small representative fraction (ex. 1:1,000,000 or 1:10,000,000) portrays a relatively lg area in more generalized terms. |
relative location | defines a place in relationship to other places |
absolute location | uses different ways to label places on the earth so that every place has its own unique location |
coordinate systems | used to determine absolute location |
latitude | measured in degrees, minutes, and seconds.
each degree is made up of 60 minutes and is about 69 miles apart. each minute of latitude, which is made up of 60 seconds is roughly a mile apart |
latitude of the equator | 0 degrees |
The highest latitude a place can have | 90 degrees N (the north pole) |
meridian of greenwich or the prime meridian | 0 degrees longitude |
the International Date Line | 180 degrees meridian. Separates 2 consecutive calendar days. the date west of the line is one day ahead of the date eat of the line |
map projection | a way of depicting the curved surface of the earth. represented accurately on a globe |
azimuthal projections | projections onto a plane; typically used for maps of the polar regions |
cylindrical projections | mostly used for areas around the equator or to depict the entire world |
conic projections | common for middle latitudes |
compromise projections | projections not based on developable surface geometry. attempt to create a balance of distortion among the 4 metric properties.
ex: the world maps in geography book |
equal-area projections | each area on the map is proportional to the area it occupies on the earths surface. |
equidistant projections | show accurate distances, but only from the center of the projection. |
conformal projections | keep the map's scale the same in every direction from any given point, preserving shapes in very small, localized areas. |
mercator projection | best-known conformal map.
designed for navigation |
2 major types of maps that use symbols | reference and thematic maps |
reference maps | concerned mainly with the locations of various features on the earths surface and their spatial relationships with each other.
ex: highway maps |
thematic maps | show spatial relationships, but more specifically show the distribution of just one phenomenon. |
Types of thematic maps | choropleth, isarithmic, graduated symbol, dot, and flow maps |
mental map | collection of personal geographic information that each of us uses to organize spatially the images and facts we have about places, both local and distant |
Geographic information systems (GIS) | a computerized system designed to help people analyze, manage, and visualize geographic data. uses cartography, remote sensing, statistics, and computer science |
remote sensing | satellite imagery and photographic coverage to assess land use or other geographic patterns |
geomorphology | the study of landforms and a field in which geography intersects with geology |
climatology | climatic processes and patterns |
environmental studies | reciprocal relationships between society and the environment |
plate tectonics | plates of the earths lithosphere moving in various directions |
seafloor spreading | 2 plates moves away from one another, carrying islands with them |
tectonic forces | when the earths plates collide.
seismic activity that causes earthquakes and tsunamis and the volcanism are results of tectonic forces |
subduction | one plate 'dives' below another. |
faulting | rocks crowding together or pulling apart along fracture lines |
4 major landforms | hill lands and mountains, plains, and plateaus |
escarpment | a steep edge on at least one side of a plateau.
marks a sharp boundary with the lower elevation |
convectional precipitation | air heated by intense surface radiation can rise rapidly, cool, and produce a heavy downpour of rain and is released from tall cumuloform clouds |
orographic precipitation | results when moving air strikes a topographic barrier and is forced upward |
cyclonic precipitation | generated in traveling low pressure cells called cyclones, that bring air masses with different characteristics of temperature and moisture into contact |
summer solstice | june 22 |
equinox | sept 23 and/or march 20. earths axis does not point toward or away from the sun, so days and nights are of equal length at all latitudes on earth |
ice cap, tundra, and subarctic climates | long, severely cold winter. short and cool summer |
biodiversity | the number of plant and animal species present and the variety of genetic materials these organisms contain |
hydrologic cycle | solar radiation evaporates seawater into vapor that is then released onto land in the form of freshwater precipitation |
the greenhouse effect | the earths atmosphere acts like the transparent glass cover of a greenhouse. naturally occurring greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and water vapor make the earth habitable by trapping heat from sunlight |
dry farming | planting and harvesting according to the seasonal rainfall cycle |
GDP | total output of goods and services that a country produces for home use in a year divided by the countrys population |
GNP | foreign output by domestically owned producers |
GNI | gross domestic production plus income from abroad from sources such as rents, profits, and labor |
PPP | consider differences in the relative prices of goods and services, providing a better overall way of comparing the ral value of output between different countries economies |
marginalization | governments or foreign corporations often buy out, force out, or otherwise displace subsistence food farmers in the search for new lands on which to grow commercial crops |
brain drain | the emigration of educated and talented people from a place that needs them |
ecological footprint | the amount of biologically productive land needed to sustain a persons consumption and absorb his or her wastes |
Highlands | generally not very populous, potential shortages of water, health risks with living at higher altitudes. Some highlands can be populous like the andes. |
Steppe | bit more precipitation than the desert. Steppe climates surround most deserts. |
Mediterranean | seasonal precipitation. Drought like conditions. |
Tropical savanna | lies in the low latitudes. Temps are pretty warm throughout the year. Wet summers and dry winters. A transitional climate. |
Humid subtropical | moderate temperate region. Hot summers, winters are mildly cool. |
Undifferentiated highland | complex and variable |
kyoto protocol | 1997 world conference on climate change. 84 countries signed a treaty. required 38 countries to reduce CO2 emissions. |
mercantile colonialism | Europeans conquered colonies to produce raw materials for the ruling country in return for finished goods. |
neocolonialism | the now independent countries that were former colonies of mercantile colonialism continue to depend on exports of raw materials to and purchases of finished goods from their former colonizers, this disadvantage keeps them poor |
GNI PPP | measured in current international dollars, indicate the amount of goods and services one could buy in the US with a given amount of money. |
agricultural revolution | the domestication of plants and animals |
industrial revolution | began in europe 1750 c.e. experimentation, new tools that improved productivity, and population growth |
civilization | the complex culture of urban life characterized by the appearance of writing, economic specialization, social stratification, and high population concentrations |
Malthusian scenario | Malthus envisioned a race between people and resources in which people lost |
sustainable development | new concepts and tools for managing the earth and its resources in an effective, long-term way. |
lingua franca | language used to communicate between persons not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both persons' mother tongues |
3 major religions | Buddhism, Christianity, islam |