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AP Human Chapter 1

Terms in this set (39)

Absolute direction
Based on the cardinal points of North, South, East, and West.
Absolute distance
Exact measurement of the physical space between two places.
Absolute location
Exact location of a place on the earth described by global coordinates.
Area distortion
The distortion of an area; inaccurate to the actual area; bigger or small, thinner or wider.
Census data
Geospatial data collected through the quantification of a population.
Clustering
Gathering; forming in a group.
Direction distortion
The distortion of a direction; cardinal directions are not preserved.
Dispersal
Movement of individuals away from centers of high population density or their area of origin.
Distance decay
The diminishing in importance and eventual disappearance of a phenomenon with increasing distance from its origin.
Distance distortion
Distance between two points may be longer or shorter than in reality.
Elevation
The height of land above sea level.
Environmental determinism
A doctrine that claims that cultural traits are formed and controlled by environmental conditions.
Formal region
An area defined by one predominant or universal characteristic throughout its entire area; well defined boundaries.
Functional region
A region defined by the particular set of activities or interactions that occur within it.
Geographic Information System (GIS)
A computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data.
Geographical data
Quantitative or qualitative information about people, places and environments.
Geospatial data
Information about a physical object that can be represented by numerical values in a geographic coordinate system.
Global scale
The scale of the world, in a global setting.
Local scale
A spatial scale that is essentially equivalent to a community.
Map projection/distortion
Happens when a round surface is made flat; distortion may be in size or shape of land forms, distance between land forms, or in direction.
National Scale
A spatial scale that is essentially equivalent to individual countries.
Pattern
The geometric or regular arrangement of something in a study area.
Perceptual/ vernacular region
A region that only exists as a conceptualization or an idea and not as a physically demarcated entity.
Place
A specific point on Earth distinguished by a particular character.
Possibilism
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.
Reference maps
Maps that show the absolute location of places and geographic features determined by a frame of reference, typically latitude and longitude.
Regional analysis
The study of the cultural, economic, political, physical, or other factors that contribute to the distinctiveness of geographical areas.
Regional scale
Interactions occurring within a region, in a regional setting.
Relative direction
Directions such as left, right, forward, backward, up, and down based on people's perception of places.
Relative distance
Approximate measurement of the physical space between two places.
Relative location
Where a place is located in relation to another place.
Remote sensing
The acquisition of data about Earth's surface from a satellite orbiting the planet or other long-distance methods.
Satellite imagery
Images generated at intervals from satellites orbiting the Earth. Can show visible, infrared, shortwave infrared or water vapor images.
Satellite navigation system (GPS)
Satellite-based system for determining the absolute location of places or geographic features.
Shape distortion
The result of unequal magnification of the actual shape of the structure.
Space
The physical gap or interval between two objects.
Sustainability
The use of Earth's renewable and nonrenewable natural resources in ways that do not constrain resource use in the future.
Thematic maps
Maps that tell stories, typically showing the degree of some attribute or the movement of a geographic phenomenon.
Time-space compression
A term associated with the work of David Harvey that refers to the social and psychological effects of living in a world in which time-space convergence has rapidly reached a high level of intensity.
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