agricultural density
the ratio of the number of farmers to the total amount of land suitable for agriculture
arithmetic density
the total number of people divided by the land area
base line
an east-west line designated under the Land Ordinance of 1785 to facilitatethe surveying and nubering of townships in the united states
cartography
the science of making maps
concentration
the spread of something over a givin area
connections
relationships among people and objects across the barrier of space
contagious diffusion
the rapid, widespread diffusion of a feature or trend throughout a population
cultural ecology
geographic approach that emphasizes human-enviroment interaction
cultural landscape
fashioning of natural landscape by a cultural group
culture
the body of customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits that together constitute a group of people's distict tradition
density
the frequency with which something exists within a givin unit of area
diffusion
teh process of spread of a feature or trend from one place to another
distance decay
the diminishing in importance and eventual disappearance of a phenomenon with increasing distance from it's origin
distribution
the arrangement of something across Earth's surface
enviromental determinism
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 enviroment caused hum
expansion diffusion
the spread of a feature or trend among people from one area to another in a snowballing process
formal region
(or uniform or homogeneous region) an area in which everyone shares in one or more distinctive charactaristics
functional region
(or nodal) an area organized around a node or focal point
global positioning system (GPS)
a system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations, and recievers
globalization
actions or processes that involve the entire world and result in making something worldwide in scope
Greenwich mean time
the time in that time zone encompassion the prime meridian, or zero degrees longitude
Hearth
the region from which innovative ideas originate
Hierarchical Diffusion
the spread of a feature or trend from one key person or node of authority or power to another persons or places
International dateline
an arc that for the most part follows 180 degrees longitute, although it deviates in several places to avoid dividing land area.
Land areas
When you cross the International Dateline 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.
Land Ordinance of 1785
a law that divided much of the United States into a system of townships to facilitate the sale of land to settlers
Latitude
The numbering system used to indicate the location of parallels of drawn on a globe and measuring distance North and South of the equator (zero degrees)
Longitute
The numbering system used to indicate the location of Meridians drawn on a globe and measuring distance East and West of the Prime Meridian (zero degrees)
Map
A two-dimensional, or flat, representation of Earths surface or a portion of it
Mental Map
An internal representation of a portion of Earths surface based on what an individual knows about a place, containing personal impressions of what is in a place and where places are located
Meridian
An arc drawn on a map between the North and South Poles
Parallel
A circle drawn around a globe parallel to the equator and at right angles to the Meridian
Pattern
The geometric or regular arrangement of something ina study area
Physiological density
The number of people per unit of area of arable land, which is land suitable for agrigulture
Place
A specific point on Earth distinguished by a particular character
Polder
Land created by the Dutch by draining water from an area
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
Prime meridian
The meridian, disignated a 0 degrees longitude, which passes through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, Englad
Principal meridian
A north-south line designated in the Land Ordinance of 1785 to facilitate the surveying and numbering of townships in the United States
Projection
The system used to transfer locations from Earth's surface to a flat map
Region
An area distinguished by a unique combination of trends or features
Regional Studies
( or culteral landscapes) An approach to geography that emphasizes the relationships among social and physical phenomena in a particular study area
Relocation diffusion
The spread of a feature or trend through bodily movement of people from one place to another
Remote sensing
The acquisition of data about Earth's surface from a satellite orbiting the planet or other long-distance methods
Resource
A substance in the environment that is useful to people, is economically and technologically feasible to access, and is socially acceptable to use
Scale
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
Section
A square normally 1 mile on a side. The Land Ordinance of 1785 divided townships in the United States into 36 sections
Site
The physical character of a place
Situation
The location of a place relative to other places
Space
The physical gap or interval between two objects
Space-time compression
The reduction in the time it takes to diffuse something to a distant place, as a result of improved communications and transportation systems
Stimualas diffusion
The spread of an underlying principle, even though a specific characteristic is rejected
Toponym
The name given to a portion of Earth's surface
Township
A square normally 6 miles on a side. The Land Ordinance of 1785 divided much of the United States into a series of townships
Transnational corporation
A company that conducts reserch, operates factories, and sells products in many countries, not just where its headquarters or shareholders are located
Uneven development
The incresing gap in economic conditions between core and peripheral regions as a result of the globalization of the economy
Vernacular Region
(or perceptual region) An area that people believe to exist as part of their culteral identity