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AP Human Geography Key Terms

Population, culture, politics, agriculture, cities and development concepts.

96 cardsGrades 9–12, College#ap#geography

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96 cards
  • Absolute locationTerm
    Exact position, such as latitude and longitude
  • Relative locationTerm
    Position described in relation to other places
  • SiteTerm
    The physical features of a place itself
  • SituationTerm
    A place's location relative to surrounding areas
  • RegionTerm
    An area defined by shared characteristics
  • Formal regionTerm
    Area with uniform traits, such as a country
  • Functional regionTerm
    Area organized around a central node, like a metro area
  • Perceptual regionTerm
    Region based on people's feelings, like 'the South'
  • Spatial distributionTerm
    How things are arranged across space
  • DensityTerm
    Number of things per unit of area
  • Distance decayTerm
    Interaction declines with distance
  • Time-space compressionTerm
    Technology making distant places seem closer
  • Geographic information systemTerm
    Computer system for mapping and analyzing spatial data
  • Remote sensingTerm
    Gathering data about Earth from satellites or aircraft
  • Mercator projectionTerm
    Map that preserves direction but distorts size near poles
  • Arithmetic densityTerm
    Population divided by total land area
  • Physiological densityTerm
    Population divided by arable land
  • Agricultural densityTerm
    Farmers per unit of arable land
  • Crude birth rateTerm
    Births per 1,000 people per year
  • Total fertility rateTerm
    Average number of children a woman is expected to have
  • Doubling timeTerm
    Years for a population to double
  • Demographic transition modelTerm
    Stages of population change as countries develop
  • Population pyramidTerm
    Graph of a population by age and sex
  • Dependency ratioTerm
    Ratio of dependents (young and old) to working-age people
  • Infant mortality rateTerm
    Infant deaths per 1,000 live births
  • Life expectancyTerm
    Average years a person is expected to live
  • Epidemiological transitionTerm
    Shift in leading causes of death from infectious to chronic disease
  • Malthusian theoryTerm
    Population grows faster than food supply
  • Pro-natalist policyTerm
    Government encouraging births
  • Anti-natalist policyTerm
    Government discouraging births
  • Push factorTerm
    A reason for leaving a place
  • Pull factorTerm
    A reason for moving to a place
  • Chain migrationTerm
    Migrants follow relatives or neighbors to the same destination
  • Forced migrationTerm
    Movement against one's will
  • RefugeeTerm
    Person who flees across a border due to persecution or danger
  • Internal migrationTerm
    Movement within a country
  • Gravity modelTerm
    Predicts interaction based on size and distance of places
  • CultureTerm
    Shared beliefs, customs and material traits of a group
  • Cultural landscapeTerm
    The visible imprint of culture on land
  • Folk cultureTerm
    Traditional culture of small, homogeneous groups
  • Popular cultureTerm
    Culture widely shared across large, varied groups
  • Cultural diffusionTerm
    Spread of cultural traits
  • Relocation diffusionTerm
    Spread through the movement of people
  • Expansion diffusionTerm
    Spread outward while remaining strong in the origin
  • Hierarchical diffusionTerm
    Spread from important people or places to others
  • Contagious diffusionTerm
    Rapid, widespread spread from person to person
  • AcculturationTerm
    Adopting traits from another culture
  • AssimilationTerm
    Fully taking on the dominant culture
  • SyncretismTerm
    Blending of cultural elements
  • Language familyTerm
    Group of languages with a common ancestor
  • Lingua francaTerm
    A common language for speakers of different languages
  • Universalizing religionTerm
    Religion that seeks converts, like Christianity or Islam
  • Ethnic religionTerm
    Religion tied to a specific group, like Judaism or Hinduism
  • StateTerm
    A political unit with defined territory and government
  • NationTerm
    A group sharing identity, culture or history
  • Nation-stateTerm
    A state whose population shares a national identity
  • SovereigntyTerm
    A state's authority over its territory
  • Boundary typesTerm
    Natural, geometric and cultural borders
  • DevolutionTerm
    Transfer of power from central to regional governments
  • Centripetal forceTerm
    Force that unifies a state
  • Centrifugal forceTerm
    Force that divides a state
  • Supranational organizationTerm
    Group of states cooperating, like the EU
  • GerrymanderingTerm
    Drawing districts to favor a group
  • GeopoliticsTerm
    Study of how geography shapes politics
  • IrredentismTerm
    Claiming land beyond borders because of shared ethnic ties
  • AgricultureTerm
    Cultivating plants and animals for food
  • Subsistence farmingTerm
    Growing food mainly for the farmer's family
  • Commercial agricultureTerm
    Farming primarily for sale
  • Green RevolutionTerm
    Higher-yield crops and techniques spread from the 1960s
  • Von Thunen modelTerm
    Land use rings around a market center
  • Shifting cultivationTerm
    Clearing land, farming it for a few years, then moving on
  • Intensive agricultureTerm
    Large inputs of labor or capital per acre
  • AgribusinessTerm
    Large-scale commercial farming integrated with processing and sales
  • MonocultureTerm
    Growing a single crop
  • UrbanizationTerm
    Growth of the share of people living in cities
  • Central place theoryTerm
    Settlements serve surrounding areas, forming a hierarchy
  • Primate cityTerm
    A city much larger than any other in its country
  • Rank-size ruleTerm
    The nth largest city has 1/n the population of the largest
  • MegacityTerm
    City of over 10 million people
  • Edge cityTerm
    Suburban commercial hub
  • GentrificationTerm
    Wealthier people move into older neighborhoods, raising costs
  • Urban sprawlTerm
    Spread of low-density development
  • Concentric zone modelTerm
    Burgess model of rings around a central business district
  • Sector modelTerm
    Hoyt model of wedge-shaped zones along transport routes
  • RedliningTerm
    Denial of loans or services by area, often on racial lines
  • Industrial RevolutionTerm
    Shift to factory production beginning in Britain
  • Weber's least cost theoryTerm
    Industrial sites are chosen to minimize transport, labor and agglomeration costs
  • DeindustrializationTerm
    Decline of manufacturing in a region
  • OutsourcingTerm
    Contracting work to outside companies, often abroad
  • Human Development IndexTerm
    Composite of health, education and income
  • Gender Inequality IndexTerm
    Measures disparities between men and women
  • Core-periphery modelTerm
    Wealthy core areas dominate poorer periphery areas
  • Rostow's stagesTerm
    Model of five stages of economic development
  • MicrofinanceTerm
    Small loans for people lacking access to banks
  • Fair tradeTerm
    Trade certification aimed at paying producers a fair price
  • Sustainable developmentTerm
    Meeting present needs without harming future generations

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