AP Human Geography Units 1-3 – Flashcards
Unlock all answers in this set
Unlock answersquestion
base line
answer
an east-west line designated under the Land Ordinance of 1785 to facilitate the surveying and numbering of townships in the United States
question
cartography
answer
The science of making maps
question
connections
answer
Relationships among people and objects across the barrier of space
question
GIS
answer
A computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data.
question
GPS
answer
A system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations, and receivers.
question
Greenwich Mean Time
answer
The time in that time zone encompassing the prime meridian, or 0° longitude.
question
International Date Line
answer
An arc that for the most part follows 180° longitude, although it deviates in several places to avoid dividing land areas. When you cross the International Date Line heading east (toward America), the clock moves back 24 hours, or one entire day. When you go west (toward Asia), the calendar moves ahead one day.
question
latitude
answer
The numbering system used to indicate the location of parallels drawn on a globe and measuring distance north and south of the equator (0°).
question
longitude
answer
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°).
question
location
answer
The position of anything on Earth's surface.
question
map
answer
A two-dimensional, or flat, representation of Earth's surface or a portion of it.
question
meridian
answer
An arc drawn on a map between the North and South poles.
question
parallel
answer
A circle drawn around the globe parallel to the equator and at right angles to the meridians.
question
place
answer
A specific point on Earth distinguished by a particular character.
question
projection
answer
The system used to transfer locations from Earth's surface to a flat map.
question
Prime Meridian
answer
The meridian, designated at 0° longitude, which passes through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England.
question
region
answer
An area distinguished by a unique combination of trends or features.
question
regional studies
answer
An approach to geography that emphasizes the relationships among social and physical phenomena in a particular study area (cultural landscape).
question
Remote sensing
answer
The acquisition of data about Earth's surface from a satellite orbiting the planet or other long-distance methods.
question
scale
answer
Generally, the relationship between the portion of Earth being studied and Earth as a whole, specifically the relationship between the size of an object on a map and the size of the actual feature on Earth's surface.
question
site
answer
The physical character of a place
question
situation
answer
The location of a place relative to other places.
question
space
answer
The physical gap or interval between two objects.
question
toponym
answer
The name given to a portion of earth's surface
question
township
answer
A square normally 6 miles on a side. The Land Ordinance of 1785 divided much of the United States into a series of townships.
question
agricultural density
answer
The ratio of the number of farmers to the total amount of land suitable for agriculture.
question
arithmetic density
answer
The total number of people divided by the total land area.
question
concentration
answer
The spread of something over a given area.
question
contagious diffusion
answer
The rapid, widespread diffusion of a feature or trend throughout a population.
question
cultural ecology
answer
Geographic approach that emphasizes human-environment relationships.
question
culture
answer
The body of customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits that together constitute a group of people's distinct tradition.
question
density
answer
The frequency with which something exists within a given unit of area.
question
diffusion
answer
The process of spread of a feature or trend from one place to another over time.
question
distribution
answer
The arrangement of something across Earth's surface.
question
environmental determinism
answer
A nineteenth- and early twentieth-century approach to the study of geography that argued that the general laws sought by human geographers could be found in the physical sciences. Geography was therefore the study of how the physical environment caused human activities.
question
expansion diffusion
answer
The spread of a feature or trend among people from one area to another in a snowballing process.
question
hearth
answer
The region from which innovative ideas originate.
question
hierarchical diffusion
answer
The spread of a feature or trend from one key person or node of authority or power to other persons or places.
question
physiological density
answer
The number of people per unit of area of arable land, which is land suitable for agriculture.
question
polder
answer
Land created by the Dutch by draining water from an area.
question
possiblism
answer
The theory that the physical 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.
question
relocation diffusion
answer
The spread of a feature or trend through bodily movement of people from one place to another.
question
space-time compression
answer
The reduction in the time it takes to diffuse something to a distant place, as a result of improved communications and transportation systems.
question
stimulus diffusion
answer
The spread of an underlying principle, even though a specific characteristic is rejected.
question
transnational corporation
answer
A company that conducts research, operates factories, and sells products in many countries, not just where its headquarters or shareholders are located.
question
uneven development
answer
The increasing gap in economic conditions between core and peripheral regions as a result of the globalization of the economy.
question
agricultural density
answer
The ratio of the number of farmers to the total amount of land suitable for agriculture.
question
agricultural revolution
answer
The time when human beings first domesticated plants and animals and no longer relied entirely on hunting and gathering.
question
arithmetic density
answer
The total number of people divided by the total land area.
question
census
answer
A complete enumeration of a population.
question
crude birth rate
answer
The total number of live births in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society.
question
crude death rate
answer
The total number of deaths in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society.
question
demographic transition
answer
The process of change in a society's population from a condition of high crude birth and death rates and a low rate of natural increase to a condition of low crude birth and death rates, low rate of natural increase, and a higher total population.
question
demography
answer
The scientific study of population characteristics.
question
dependency ratio
answer
The number of people under the age of 15 and over age 64, compared to the number of people active in the labor force.
question
doubling time
answer
The number of years needed to double a population, assuming a constant rate of natural increase.
question
ecumine
answer
The portion of Earth's surface occupied by permanent human settlement.
question
epidemiologic transition
answer
Distinctive causes of death in each stage of the demographic transition.
question
epidemiology
answer
Branch of medical science concerned with the incidence, distribution, and control of diseases that affect large numbers of people.
question
industrial revolution
answer
A series of improvements in industrial technology that transformed the process of manufacturing goods.
question
infant mortality rate
answer
The total number of deaths in a year among infants under one year old for every 1,000 live births in a society.
question
life expectancy
answer
The average number of years an individual can be expected to live, given current social, economic, and medical conditions. Life expectancy at birth is the average number of years a newborn infant can expect to live.
question
medical revolution
answer
Medical technology invented in Europe and North America that is diffused to the poorer countries of Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Improved medical practices have eliminated many of the traditional causes of death in poorer countries and enabled more people to live longer and healthier lives.
question
natural increase rate
answer
The percentage growth of a population in a year, computed as the crude birth rate minus the crude death rate.
question
overpopulation
answer
The number of a people in an area exceeds the capacity of the environment to support life at a decent standard of living.
question
pandemic
answer
Disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects a very high proportion of the population.
question
physiological density
answer
The number of people per unit of area of arable land, which is land suitable for agriculture.
question
population pyramid
answer
A bar graph representing the distribution of population by age and sex.
question
sex ratio
answer
The number of males per 100 females in the population.
question
total fertility rate
answer
The average number of children a woman will have throughout her childbearing years (14-54).
question
zero population growth
answer
A decline of the total fertility rate to the point where the natural increase rate equals zero.
