AP Human Geography First Semester Voc Exam – Flashcards

Regions defined formally, often by government or other structures, are called formal regions. Cities, towns, states, and countries are all formal regions, as are things like mountain ranges.

Functional regions are made up of a central place and surrounding areas affected by it. Often, this is a metropolitan area that consists of a major city and lots of smaller towns or cities that surround it.

Vernacular Region- An example of a vernacular region in the United Sates in particular would be the South. Any given person may have different beliefs of where the South is located and what regions it encompasses. 

The site and situation of a settlement are very different things. The site of a settlement is the land upon which it was built. There are a range of factors that can determine the site of a settlement: wet point site - these are sites close to a supply of water and dry point site - these are sites that avoided the risk of flooding

The situation of a settlement is its location in relation to surrounding human and physical features. We usually describe the situation when we are telling someone where a settlement is.

A (geographical) meridian (or line of longitude) is the half of an imaginary great circle on the Earth's surface, terminated by the North Pole and the South Pole, connecting points of equal longitude

Parallel, imaginary line extending around the Earth parallel to the equator; it is used to indicate latitude. The 38th parallel, for example, has a latitude of 38° N or 38° S. 

when one group of people adopt the culture traits of another culture

The ratio between the size of an area on a map and he actual size of that same area on the earth's surface

is the general name for any place or geographical entity. Related, more specific types of toponym include hydronym for a body of water and oronym for a mountain or hill.

the production of maps, including construction of projections, design, compilation, drafting, and reproduction.

An approach made by Humboldt and Ritter, 19th century geographers, which concentrated on how the physical environment caused social development, applying laws from the natural sciences to understanding relationships between the physical environment and human actions

The theory that the physical environment may set limits on human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to the physical environment and choose a course of action from many alternatives

The total number of people divided by the total land area.

The number of people per unit of area of arable land, which is land suitable for agriculture.

The ratio of the number of farmers to the total amount of land suitable for agriculture.

the increasing sense of connectivity that seems to be bringing people closer together even thought their distances are the same - technology (internet,cell phones) is allowing us to communicate more across longer distances.

a form of diffusion in which an idea or innovation spreads by trickling down from larger to smaller adoption units

the distance-controlled spreading of an idea, innovation, or some other item through a local population by contact from person to person.

Occurs when the innovative idea diffuses from its hearth outward, but the original idea is changed by the new adopters. A cultural adaptation is created as a result of the introduction of a cultural trait from another place

(DT) refers to the transition from high birth and death rates to lower birth and death rates as a country or region develops from a pre-industrial to an industrialized economic system. 

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A categorization of humans based on skin color and other physical characteristics. Racial categories are social and political construction because they are based on ideas that some biological differences (esp. skin color) are more important than others (e.g. height, etc), even though the later might have more significance in terms of human activity. With its roots in 16th century England, the term is closely associated with European colonialism because of the impact of the development on global understandings of racial differences.

a legal system that was the physical speration of different races into different geographic areas

Definition: Laws (no longer in effect) in South Africa that physically separated different races into different geographic areas.
Example: There were apartheid laws in South Africa between around 1950 to 1994.
Application: These laws significantly added to the amount of racial discrimination in South Africa

Definition: A state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular ethnicity that has been transformed into a nationality

Example: An example of a nation state is Denmark
Application: Nation-states typically have very little fighting or turmoil.

Definition: An attitude that tends to unify people and enhance support for a state

Example: MLK was a centripetal force.
Application: Centripetal forces counter discrimination, a huge problem that the world currently faces.

A politically organized territory that is administered by sovereign government and is recognized by a significant portion of the international community. A state has a defined territory, a permanent population, a government, and is recognized by other states.

Process in which more powerful ethnic group forcibly removes a less powerful one in order to create an ethnically homogeneous region.

Def:
Control of territory already occupied and organized by an indigenous group.

Ex:
This was exactly what the British Empire did to expand their lands.

Def:
A state surrounded on all sides by land.

Ex:
Lesotho is a landlocked state, very dependent on its larger neighbor of South Africa.

Def:
A zone separating two states in which neither state exercises political control.

Ex:
One of the last frontiers in the modern world is the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea.

Def:
The process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power.

Ex:
After Elbridge Gerry's inadvertent indirect coining of the term "Gerrymandering," it was illegalized in the U.S.

Def:
An internal organization of a state that places most power in the hands of central government officials.

Ex:
The United Kingdom has most of its power concentrated in the central Parliament, making it unitary.

A voluntary grouping of states or communities for some common purpose. Initially, usually created by treaty, which later typically evolves into a constitution.

In the United States, "confederate" states refer to the southern states that voluntarily joined together in an effort to secede from the Union; an effort that failed as a result of the Confederate states' loss of the Civil War.

first to demonstrate world was spherical

the scientific method of transferring locations on earth's surface to a flat surface

geographic information system; computer system that can capture, store, query, analyze and display geographic data - geocoding: mathematic precision

global positioning system; system that determines accurately the precise position of something on Earth

Culture traditionally practiced by a small, homogeneous, rural group living in relative isolation from other groups.

Dynamic culture based in large, heterogeneous societies permitting considerable individualism, innovation, and change; having a money-based economy, division of labor into professions, secular institutions of control, and weak interpersonal ties; and producing and consuming machine-made goods.

(Crude Birth Rate) This is the ratio of live births in an area to the population of that area; it is expressed as number of birth in year to every 1000 people alive in the society. This is important because it tells you the rate a country is having babies as well as how fast you can expect that population to grow

(Crude death rate) The total number of deaths in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society

(rate of natural increase) the percentage by which a population grows in a year. CBR-CDR=NIR (Affects the population and a country's or area's ability to support that population)

(Zero Population Growth) A decline of the total fertility rate to the point where the natural increase rate equals zero.

(total fertility rate) The number of births that 1,000 women would have if the current year's age-specific birth rate remained constant throughout their childbearing years

(infant mortality rate) The annual number of deaths of infants under one year of age, compared with total live births. Its is expressed as the annual number of deaths among infants among infants per 1000 births rather than a percentage. This is important because it tell how developed a country is, if they have a high IMR they are an LDC and if it is low they are an MDC.

The expansion and adoption of a cultural element, from its place of origin to a wider area

when a certain place (such as a restaurant) is the same in one place and another

Definition: Factor that induces people to leave old residences.
Example: Political instability
Application: This the 2nd half of the reason someone migrates--it is the reasons to leave where you currently reside. People leave Mexico because of x, y, and z. X, y, and z are push factors

Definition: Factor that induces people to move to a new location.
Example: Job Opportunities in the US
Application: This is a big deal because it accounts for the reason someone would go to a certain place. People go to the US for x, y, and z. x,y, and z are pull factors

Definition: Permanent movement within one region of a country.
Example: Sallys family moved down the street to get a larger house
Application: This is important because it stimulates the economy because of the real estate transactions.

Definition: Permanent movement from one region of a country to another.
Example: Keith and Dee Ann Boyd move from Texas to New York.
Application: This is important because most interregional migration is done from Rural to Urban cities

A regional variety of a language distinguished by vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation.

Definition: The language adopted for use by the government for the conduct of business and publication of documents.
Example: English in England
Application: Having an official language typically (not always) unifies a country and spurs on patriotism

A language that was once used by people in daily activities but is no longer used.

Definition: A language that is unrelated to any other languages and therefore not attached to any language family.

Example: Japanese
Application: An Isolated Language shows unique culture as well as gives insight as to how much interaction it has/had with other countries

Definition: A language mutually understood and commonly used in trade by people who have different native languages
Example: ENGLISH
Application: English, being the Lingua Franca, is the most important language in the world because the majority of trade conducted is done in English

a religion that attempts to appeal to all people, not just those living in a particular location.
Example: Christianity

a religion that is closely tied to a particular ethnic group
Example: Hinduism