human geography – The study of the
distribution of humans and their
activities on the surface of the earth
and of the processes that generate
these distributions.
physical geography – the realm of
geography that studies the structures,
processes, distributions and change
through time of the natural phenomena of
the earth’s surface.
Spatial- pertaining to space on the
earth ‘s surface; sometimes used as
a synonym for geographic
aggregation - The level of detail for
dividing a thematic map into geographic
units, ranging from a coarse division
(e.g., countries) to a fine division (e.g.,
zip codes).
accessibility –
the relative
ease with which
a destination
may be reached
from some other
place
attribute – A characteristic or
quality of a thing
connectivity –
the degree of
economic,
social, cultural,
or political
connection
between two
places.
Diffusion: the spatial spreading or
dissemination of a cultural element or
some other phenomenon
diffusion, contagious – the distance controlled
spreading of an idea, innovation or some other item
through a local population by contact from person to
person – analogous to the communication of
contagious illness
diffusion, cultural – the expansion and adoption of a
cultural element, from it place or origin to a wider
area
diffusion, expansion - A process in which the items
being diffused remain and often intensify in the
origin area as new areas are being affected, i.e., the
items diffuse from person to person
diffusion, hierarchal - Diffusion of a disease, cultural
trait, idea, or innovation from larger to smaller
places, leaping over nearby but small places in the
early stages. Hierarchical diffusion emphasizes the
size distribution of urban places (i.e., the urban
hierarchy) in explaining the spread of things over
time and space
diffusion, relocation - A process in which items
being diffused leave the originated areas as they
move to new areas, i.e., the items diffuse with
people migrating
diffusion, spatial - The spread of some phenomenon
over space and through time from a limited number
of origins
diffusion, stimulus – form of diffusion in which a
cultural adaptation is created as a result of the
introduction of a cultural trait from another place
direction, absolute - bearings expressed using
compass rose nomenclature (N S E W) may be
calculated using a compass
direction, relative - bearings expressed in relation to
vectors and axes ( left, right, up, down)
dispersion/concentration - spreading or
redistribution of ideas, goods and people/to bring
people, goods and ideas toward a common center
distance – measurement of the physical space
between two places
distance - friction of – a measure of how much
absolute distance affects the interaction between 2
places.
Distortion - to twist or stretch out of the original or
normal shape, as in creating a flat map from the
spherical shape of the earth
Distribution - the division,
sharing and delivery of goods,
people, services and ideas.
environmental determinism – the view that
the natural environment has a controlling
influence over various aspects of human life,
including cultural development
Globalization – the
expansion of economic,
political, and cultural
processes to the point
that they become
global in scale and
impact. The process of
globalization transcend
state boundaries and
have outcomes that
vary across places and
scales
human-environment interaction - The ways in which
human society and the natural environment affect
each other (the fifth theme of geography).
independent invention – the term for a trait
with many cultural hearths that developed
independently of each other.
Innovation- a
new idea,
method or
invention for
doing
something
location - The absolute position of something
on the surface of the earth, and also its
relative proximity to other related things (the
first theme of geography).
location,
absolute – the
position or place
of a certain item
on the surface of
the earth as
expressed in
degrees, minutes
and seconds of
longitude and
latitude
location,
relative – the
regional
position or
situation of a
place relative to
the position of
other places.
location theory –
logical attempt to
explain the locational
pattern of an
economic activity and
the manner in which
its producing areas
are interrelated
movement The flow of
people, goods,
money, ideas,
or materials
between
locations near
or far (the
fourth theme
of geography).
linear pattern – distribution along a straight
configuration
random
pattern unstructured
irregular
distributions
perception of
place –
belief or
understanding
about a place
developed
through
books, movies
or pictures
physiological population density – the
number of people per unit of arable land
place -The local
human and
physical
characteristics that
uniquely define a
place and give it
meaning to its
inhabitants (the
second theme of
geography).
political ecology – an
approach to studying
nature – society
relations that is
concerned with the
ways in which the
environmental issues
both reflect and are
the result of, the
political and
socioeconomic
contexts in which they
are found
possibilism- theory that human decision
making not the environment is the crucial
factor in cultural development, although
possibilist contend that the environment
provides broad constraints that limits
possibilities
realm - the largest logical regions into which
we can divide the whole world.
region - An area characterized by similarity or
by cohesiveness that sets it apart from other
areas (the third theme of geography).
region – formal/uniform - an area of near
uniformity (homogeneity) in one or several
characteristics
region – functional/nodal - product of
interactions, and movement of various kinds,
usually characterized by a core and hinterland
(e.g. a city and its surrounding suburbs)
region – perceptual/vernacular - a region
that only exists as a conceptualization or an
idea and not as a physically demarcated entity
rescale – involvement of players at other
scales to generate support for a position or an
initiative
scale –
representation
of a real-world
phenomena at
a certain level
of reduction or
generalization
size - relative aggregate amount or number
spatial distribution – physical location of
phenomena across space
spatial
interaction –
the contact
and relations
between 2 or
more places
spatial perspective –
intellectual
framework that looks
at the particular
locations of specific
phenomena, how and
why that phenomena
is where it is, and,
finally, how it is
spatially related to
phenomena in other
places.
syncretism - The
fusion of two
distinctive
cultural traits into
a unique new
hybrid trait
time zones - is a region of the Earth that has
adopted the same standard time, usually
referred to as the local time, each ‘zone’
generally represents one hour of time; 24 time
zones generally accepted throughout the
world
time-distance
decay the declining
degree of
acceptance of an
idea or innovation
with increasing
time and distance
from its point of
origin or source
time-space
compression –
David Harvey –
social and
psychological
effect of living in a
world in which
time-space
convergence has
reach a high level
of intensity
cartogram – a type of thematic map that
transforms space such that the political unit
with the greatest value for some type of data is
represented by the largest relative area.
cartography – science of map making
equator - 0º latitude, divides the northern
and southern hemispheres
geographic models - representations of the
patterns found on the earth both physical and
human; may relate to population, location,
and other phenomena
grid - network of uniformly spaced horizontal
and perpendicular lines (as for locating
points on a map)
international
date line - an
arbitrary line
approximately
along the 180th
meridian
designated as the
place where each
calendar day
begins
latitude –
imaginary line
running parallel
to the equator
that is used to
measure
distance in
degrees north
and south
longitude – An
imaginary line encircling
the Earth and running
through the poles. Used
to determine the
location of things by
measurement of the
angular distance in
degrees east or west
from the Prime
Meridian, also called
meridians
map - A twodimensional
graphical
representati
on of the
surface of
the earth (or
of events
that occur on
the earth
map, choropleth - A thematic map in which
ranked classes of some variable are depicted
with shading patterns or colors for predefined
zones.
map, isoline - A thematic map with lines that
connect points of equal value
map, mental –
images or picture of
the way space is
organized as
determined by an
individual’s
perception,
impression, and
knowledge of that
space
maps, reference A generalpurpose map that
shows
recognizable
landmarks, roads,
and political units
map projection - A systematic method of
transferring a spherical surface to a flat map.
maps,
thematic - A
map that
demonstrates
a particular
feature or a
single variable
meridian –
lines of
longitude
parallel –
lines of
latitude
prime meridian – imaginary north-south line
of longitude on the earth grid, passing
through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich
in London defined as having a longitude of
zero degrees
geocaching – a hunt for a cache using the GPS
coordinates which are placed on the Internet
by other geocachers
geographic
information systems A computer hardware
and software system
that handles
geographically
referenced data. A GIS
uses and produces
maps and has the
ability to perform
many types of spatial
analysis.
global
positioning
system – a set of
satellites used to
help determine
location
anywhere on the
earth’s surface
with a portable
electronic device
remote sensing –
observation and
mathematical
measurement of the
earth’s surface using
aircraft and satellites.
The sensors include
both photographic
images, thermal
images, multispectral
scanners, and radar
images.