Anthropogenic
Human-induced changes on natural environment.
Cultural Landscape
Human-modified natural landscape containing imprint of particular culture or society.
Eratosthenes
Head librarian at Alexandria 3rd century B.C. - one of first cartographer - coined word "geography.
Geographical Information Systems
Set of computer tools used to capture, store, transform, analyze, and display geographic data.
Nomothetic
Concepts or rules that can be appllied universally.
Qualitative Data
Data associated with more humanistic approach to geography, often collected through intervidews, empirical observations, or interpretation of documents.
Quantitative Data
Data associated with mathematical models and statistical techniques used to analyze spatial location and association.
Carl Sauer
Defined concept of cultural landscape as fundamental unit of geographical analysis. This landscape results from interaction between humans and the physical environment. He argued that virtually no landscape has escaped change by human activities.
Sense of place
Feelings evoked by people as result of certain experiences and memories associated with particular place.
Absolute location
Exact position of object or place, measured within spatial coordinates of grid system.
Azimuthal Projection
Map projection in which the plane is the most developable surface. Either the North Pole or South Pole is oriented at center of the map, giving viewer impression of looking up or down at earth.
Breaking Point
Outer edge of a city's sphere of influence, used in law of retail gravitation to describe area of city's hinterlands that depend on the city for its retail supply.
Cartograms
Type of thematic map that transforms space so that the poltical unit with the greatest value for some type of data is represented by the largest relative area.
Chloropleth map
Thematic map that uses tones or colors to represent spatial data as average values per unit area.
Complementarity
Actual or potential relationship between two places, according to Ullman's theory, usually referring to economic interactions.
Connectivity
Degree of economic, social, cultural, or political connection between two places.
Contagious Diffusion
Spread of a disease, innovation, or cultural traits through direct contact with another person or place.
Distance Decay
Decrease in interaction between two phenomena, places, or people as the distance between them increases.
Dot maps
Thematic maps that use points to show precise locations of specific observations or occurrences, such as crimes, births, etc...
Expansion Diffusion
The spread of ideas, innovations, fashion, or other phenomena to surrounding areas through contact and exchange.
Friction of Distance
Measure of how much absolute distance affects the interaction between two places.
Gravity Model
Mathematical formula that best describes the level of interaction between two places, based on the size of their populations and the the distance from each other.
Hierarchical Diffusion
A type of diffusin in which something is transmitted between places because of something the two places have in common.The level of interaction between places overcomes the actual distance between them.
Intervening Opportunity
Idea that one place has a demand for some good or service and two places have a supply of equal price and quality, then the closer of the two suppliers to buyer will represent an intervening this ,thereby blocking the third ffrom being able to share its s
Isoline
Map line that connects points of equal or very similar values.
Large Scale
Relatively small ratio between map units and ground units. These maps usually have higher resolution and cover much smaller regions.
Law of Retail Gravitation
Law that states that people will be drawn to larger cities to conduct their business because larger cities have wider influence on the hinterlands that surrounds them.
Mercator Projection
True conformal cylindrical projection, particularly useful for navigation because maintains accurate direction. Distorts north and south and make landmasses at poles appear oversized.
Relocation Diffusion
Diffusion of ideas, innovations, behaviors, and the like from one place to another through migration.
Site
Teh absolute location of place described by local relief, landforms, and other cultural or physical characteristics.
Situation
Relative location of place in relation to physical and cultural characteristics of surrounding area and connections and interdependence within that system, that place's spatial context.
Thematic map
Type of map that displays one or more variables - such as population or income level - within specific area.
Time-space convergence
Idea that distance between some places is actually shrinking as technology enables more rapid communication and increased interaction between those places.
Transferability
Costs involved in moving goods from one place to another.
Carrying Capacity
Largest number of people environment of a particular area can sustainably support.
Chain Migration
Migration event in which individuals follow migratory path of preceding friends and family to an existing community.
Cotton Belt
Term by which American South used to be known, as cotton historically dominated agricultural economy of the region. The same area is now known as New South or Sun Belt because people have migrated here from older cities in industrial north for better clim
Crude Birth Rate
Number of live births per year per l,000 people.
Crude Death Rate
Number of deaths per year per l,000 people.
Demographic Accounting Equation
Equation that summarizes the amount of growth or decline in population within a country during a particular time period taking into account both natural increase and net migration.
Natural Increase Rate
Difference between number of births and number of deaths within a particular country.
Dependency Ratio
Ratio of number of people who are either too old or young to provide for themselves to the number of people who must support them through their own labor. This is usually expressed in form of n:100 where n equals the number of dependents.
Doubling Time
Time period required for population experiencing exponential growth to double in size completely. At a 3% growth rate, the time it will take for a populatin to double is less than 25 years. Estimated by dividing the growth rate into the number 70.
Thomas Malthus
Claimed that population grows at exzponential rate while food production increases arithmetically, thereby, that eventually the population growth would outpace food production.
Neo-Malthusian
Advocacy of population control programs to ensure enough resources for current and future populations.
Population Pyramid
Model used to show age and sex distribution in particular population.
Pull Factors
Attractions that draw migrants to certain place, such as pleasant climate and employment or educational opportunities.
Push Factors
Incentives for potential migrants to leave place, such as harsh climate, econonmic recession, political turmoil.
Rust Belt
Northern industrial states of U.S. Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania in which heavy industry was once dominant economic activity. In 1960's through '80's these states lost much of their economic base to economically attractive regions of U.S. and to countries
Total Fertility Rate
Average number of children born to woman during her childbearing years.