Geography Terms
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Created by:
Billings on September 21, 2009
Classes:
BB&N, BB&N - Class of 2018 Flashcards, History Billings
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40 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Longitude Line | imaginary lines that measure degrees east to west |
| Prime Meridian | meridian at zero degree longitude from which east and west are reckoned (usually the Greenwich longitude in England) |
| Latitude Line | Imaginary lines that measure degrees north to south |
| equator | an imaginary line around the Earth forming the great circle that is equidistant from the north and south poles |
| Tropic of Cancer | 23.5 degrees north |
| Tropic of Capricorn | 23.5 degrees south |
| hemisphere | Half of the earth |
| map projection | a projection of the globe onto a flat map using a grid of lines of latitude and longitude |
| distortion | a change in the shape, size, or position of a place when it is shown on a map |
| topography | the shape of the land |
| trade winds | Winds that blow steadily from east to west and toward the equator. |
| westerlies | prevailing winds that blow from west to east between 23.5 degrees & 60degrees latitude in the hemisphere. |
| rain shadow | dry area found on the leeward side of a mountain range |
| flora | all the plant life in a particular region |
| fauna | all the animal life in a particular region |
| bay | part of a large body of water that extends into a shoreline, generally smaller than a gulf |
| gulf | part of a large body of water that extends into a shoreline, generally larger and more deeply indented than a bay |
| inlet | any area of water extending into the land from a larger body of water |
| strait | a narrow channel of the sea joining two larger bodies of water |
| canal | long and narrow strip of water made for boats or for irrigation |
| tributary | a stream or river that flows into a larger river |
| estuary | the area where a freshwater stream or river merges with the ocean |
| delta | a low triangular area where a river divides before entering a larger body of water |
| glacier | large, thick body of slowly moving ice |
| fjord | a long narrow inlet of the sea between steep cliffs |
| cataract | a large waterfall |
| peninsula | land surrounded by water on three sides |
| cape | a narrow, curved area of land extending into an ocean or lake |
| isthmus | a relatively narrow strip of land (with water on both sides) connecting two larger land areas |
| plains | Large areas of level or gently rolling land |
| plateau | a relatively flat highland |
| North America | Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean |
| South America | a continent in the western hemisphere connected to North America by the Isthmus of Panama |
| Central America | guatemala, belize, honduras, nicaragua, el salvador, costa rica, panama |
| Middle America | Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America |
| Latin America | the cultural region including Mexico, the Caribbean, and South America that has been strongly influenced by Spain and Portugal |
| Mesoamerica | "Middle America" the region extending from modern-day Mexico through Central America |
| Llanos | plains region of eastern Colombia and western Venezuela |
| Pampas | the vast grassy plains of northern Argentina |
| Altiplano | Spanish for "high plain," a region in Peru and Bolivia encircled by the Andes peaks |
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