AP Human Geography
Geography: Its Nature and Perspectives
Nature and Perspectives
of Geography
BASIC IDEAS OF GEOGRAPHY
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All places have location, direction, and
distance with respect to other places.
Places may be large or small; the scale is
important.
Places have both physical structure and
cultural content.
The characteristics of places develop and
change over time.
The elements of places interact with other
places.
The content of a place is nationally
organized.
Places may be classified into regions with
similarities and differences.
FIVE THEMES OF SPATIAL
PERSPECTIVE
LOCATION
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Position on Earth’s surface
ABSOLUTION LOCATION
The exact position where something is.
Latitude and longitude – used to describe
a point on earth in reference to degrees,
minutes, and seconds.
RELATIVE LOCATION
The position of a place in relation to
another place.
It conveys interconnection and
interdependence between different
places.
SITE
Describes the physical and cultural
characteristics of a place.
SITUATION
Describes where a place is in reference to
where other places are – bodies of water,
etc.
SCALE
How the size of a feature is depicted on a
map in relation to the size of the feature
in real life.
HUMAN-ENVIRONMENTAL
INTERACTION
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Also called CULTURAL ECOLOGY.
Geographers analyze both directions of
interaction: how human activities affect
their environment and how environmental
changes impact human life.
PLACE
 The physical and cultural attributes that
give each location on earth uniqueness.
Geographic Models /
Concepts
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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, based on
western point of view. Contains 6 stages
of development:
REGION
 Spatial units that share some similar
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characteristic – physical or human.
FORMAL REGIONS
Also known as UNIFORM REGIONS –
areas that have common (or uniform)
cultural or physical features. EX: Climate
region.
FUNCTIONAL REGION
Also known as a NODAL REGION – a
group of places linked together by some
function’s influence on them– the places
affected by the movement of some
phenomenon from its source (node). EX:
pizza delivery routes
PERCEPTUAL REGIONS
Also known as a VERNACULAR REGION –
the boundaries of a perceptual region
are determined by people’s beliefs, not a
scientifically measurable process. EX:
The “South”.
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MOVEMENT
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Movement of information, goods,
people, and other phenomena – how
places interaction through movement –
SPATIAL INTERACTION – often depends
on distance.
The FRICTION OF DISTANCE is the degree
to which distance interferes with some
interaction. The friction of distance has
reduced with improved transportation
and communication.
SPACE-TIME COMPRESSION – Increase
sense of accessibility and connectivity –
reduces perceived distance, not actual
distance on the land.
DISTANCE DECAY – interaction between
two places declines as the distance
between the two places increases.
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FOUR TRADITIONS OF GEOGRAPHY
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SPATIAL TRADITION: Emphasis is on
movement and location – deals with the
shape of the land.
AREA STUDIES TRADITION – deals with
physical and cultural characteristics –
emphasis is on region, place, and history.
MAN-LAND (HUMAN ENVIRONMENT)
TRADITION: overlaps with the area
studies tradition – emphasized the
relationships between external
conditions and human actions.
EARTH SCIENCE TRADITION – deals with
how physical systems affect humans
(hydrology cycle, wind patterns, etc.
ROSTOW MODEL: 1950’s gauge of
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Traditional Societies
Preconditions for Takeoff
Takeoff
Drive to Maturity
Age of mass Consumption
Post Industrial (debatable)
WORLD SYSTEMS THEORY:
WALLERSTEIN - 1970’s, as opposed to
Rostow’s, the World Systems model looks
at economic development based on the
relationships between countries – the
CORE (consisting of the economically
dominant partners) and the SEMIPERIPHERY and PERIPHERY (less dominant
and typically contains more basic level
employment – they are reliant upon the
core.
CONCENTRIC ZONE MODEL: E.
BURGESS, 1923. A generalized model of
urban growth and land use that varies
slightly from the Sector Model. A city
grows outward in a series of rings from
the CBD. The second ring around the CBD
is called the ZONE OF TRANSITION
(industry and poor housing). The third
rind is called the ZONE OF THE WORKING
CLASS homes (older homes – independent
working-class. The fourth ring is called the
ZONE OF BETTER RESIDENCE (middle
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class). The 5 and final ring is called the
COMMUTER’S ZONE, and it consists of
people who work in the CBD but commute
there from the outer edges of the city
(suburbs).
SECTOR MODEL: H. HOYT, 1939.
Generalized model of urban growth and
land use patterns. CBD is in the direct
center. Wholesale manufacturing and low
class residential housing areas are located
next to the CBD but extend outward from
it along a major transportation route. The
outer edges are a mix of medium-class
and high class housing.
MULTIPLE NUCLEI MODEL: C.
HARRIS and ULLMAN, 1945. Another
generalized model of urban growth and
land use patterns. The CBD is not in the
exact center. The city spreads outward
from more than one node of growth.
There are several other small centers from
which growth occurs. There is a CBD, a
wholesale manufacturing area, a lowclass, medium-class residential areas;
heavy manufacturing, outlying residential
suburb, and industrial suburb.
©BECKY WHITE HATCH, 2011
Geographic Models /
Concepts (continued)
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NOTE: The Concentric Zone Model, Sector
Model, and Mutiple Nuclei Model are United
States models. Other areas have their own,
separate models.
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DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION
MODEL: A model that evaluates
economic development by examining
population patterns. The model consists of
four stages: stage one is characterized by
high birth rates and high death rates. In
stage two death rates decline but there is
still a high birth rate. In the third stage
birth rates also begin to decline; people
begin to control family size. The fourt and
final stage is characterized byvery low
birth and death rates with only a slight
percentage of total population increase, if
any. It is based soley in European
examples and does not take into account
demographic regression.
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POPULATION PYRAMIDS: a graph
that represents a population by age and
gender. They can represent stages of the
demographic transition.
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THE CENTRAL PLACE THEORY:
WALTER CHRISTALLER, 1930’s. A central
place is a market center used for an
exchange of goods and services. People
are attracted to a central place from the
surrounding area. The competition
between central places creates a regular
pattern of settlements. Larger
settlements are fewer and farther apart,
they provide services to the smaller
settlements. Based on THRESHOLD
(minimum number of people needed to
support an activity) and RANGE (distance
people are willing to travel for the
activity).
VonTHÜNEN’S MODEL: JOHANN
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HEINRICH vonTHÜNEN, 19 century.
Describes the relationship between
distance from market and land use.
There are four rings around a central
market. Products grown inside each of
the rings are determined by the crop’s
TRANSPORT GRADIENT. Perishable
items like fruits and vegetables face
higher transport rates, while the
transportation rates for commodities like
st
grain are less. In the 1 ring, dairying
and market gardening occur since these
products are perishable and generate
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high transport costs. The 2 ring around
the center has cash grains and livestock.
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Mixed farming occurs in the 3 ring, and
extensive grain farming and stock raising
occurs in the farthest ring.
LEAST-COST THEORY: A. WEBER.
Used to discover the optimum location
of a production facility based on
transportation costs – either MARKET or
MATERIAL orientation.
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GRAVITY MODEL: H. CAREY; the laws
of gravity are applicable in describing the
attractive force that exists between two
areas (cities). Large cities have greater
drawing power for people than small
cities. There is a breaking point for each
city beyond which people iwill not be
drawn to the city to meet their needs.
DISTANCE DECAY is a term that should be
linked with the GRAVITY MODEL. Distance
decay described the decline of attractive
pull something has with increasing
distance from the point of origin.
CARTOGRAPHY: The process of
mapmaking. All maps include a
somewhat simplified view of the earth’s
surface. SIMPLIFICATION is when a
cartographer gets rid of unnecessary
details and focuses on the information
needing to be displayed on the map.
DISTORTION: error resulting from the
“flattening” process. Each map has four
main map properties: SHAPE, SIZE
(AREA), DISTANCE, and DIRECTION. All
four properties cannot be accurately
represented, so a cartographer must
choose which of the properties to distort
in the PROJECTION.
o EQUAL-AREA (EQUIVALENT)
PROJECTION: maps that
maintain AREA but distort
other properties.
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(ORTHOMOROPHIC)
PROJECTIONS: maps that
maintain SHAPE but distort
other properties.
AZIMUTHAL PROJECTIONS:
maps that maintain DIRECTION
but distort other properties.
EQUIDISTANT PROJECTIONS:
maps that maintain DISTANCE
but distort other properties.
USES OF PROJECTIONS:
o ROBINSON PROJECTION: shows
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Mapmaking
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DISTORTION (CONTINUED)
o CONFORMAL
the world according to slight
distortion of ALL four properties.
Used in classrooms.
MERCATOR PROJECTION: shows
the shapes of the continents and
landforms accurately, but
drastically distorts the size (area)
of the continents.
PETER PROJECTION: shows
relative size of the earth’s
continents accurately (equal
area), but distorts shape – it is
not conformal.
CATEGORIES OF MAPS:
o REFERENCE MAP: show
common features such as
boundaries, roads, highways,
mountains, and cities.
o THEMATIC MAP: zeros in on one
feature, such as climate, city
size, or alligators!
o ISOLINE THEMATIC MAP:
displays the lines that connect
points of equal value, like
elevation levels.
o CHOROPLETH THEMATIC MAP:
shows a pattern of some
variable, such as population
density or voting patterns, by
using various colors or degrees
of shading.
o PROPORTIONAL SYMBOL
THEMATIC MAP: uses some
symbol to display the frequency
of a variable. The larger the
symbol, the higher is the
frequency of that variable.
o DOT DENSITY THEMATIC MAPS:
use dots to represent the
frequency of a variable.
o CARTOGRAM: uses
proportionality to show a
particular variable .
DATA AGGREGATION: The size of
geographic units being represented on a
map. The larger the area that is being
represented in a study, the “coarser” is
the study’s (or map’s level of data
aggregation.