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Chapter 1: Thinking Geographically Flashcards

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79587521Agricultural DensityThe ratio of the number of farmers to the total amount of land suitable for agriculture0
79587522Arithmetic DensityThe total number of people divided by the total land area1
79587523Base LineAn east-west line designated under the Land Ordinance of 1785 to facilitate the surveying and numbering of townships in the United States2
79587524CartographyThe science of making maps3
79587525ConcentrationThe spread of something over a given area4
79587526ConnectionsRelationships amoung peopleand objects across the barrier of space5
79587527Contagious DiffusionThe rapid, widespread diffusion of a feature or trend throughout a population6
79587528Cultural EcologyGeographic approach that emphasizes human-environment relationships7
79587529Cultural LandscapeFashioning of a natural landscape by a cultural group8
79587530CultureThe body of customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits that together constitute a group of people's distinct tradition9
79587531DensityThe frequency with which something exists within a given unit of area10
79587532DiffusionThe process of spread of a feature or trend from one place to another over time11
79587533Distance DecayThe diminishing in importance and eventual disappearence of a phenomnon with increasing distance from its origin12
79587534DistributionThe arrangement of something across Earth's surface13
79587535Environmental DeterminismA nineteenth- and early twentieth-century approach to the study of geography thast argued that the general laws sought by human geographers could be found in the phyisical sciences. Geography was therefore the study of how the phyisical environment caused human activities14
79587536Expansion DiffusionThe spread of a feature or trend among people from one area to another in a snowballing process15
79587537Formal Region(or uniform or homogeneous region) An area in which everyone shares in one or more distinctive characteristics16
79587538Functional Region(or nodal region) An area organized around a node or focal point17
79587539Geographic Information System (GIS)A computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes, and display geographic data18
79587540Global Positioning System (GPS)A system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations, and recievers19
79587541GlobalizationActions or processes that involve the entire world and result in making something worldwide in scope20
79587542Greenwich Mean TimeThe time in that time zone ecompassing the Prime Meridian, or 0 degrees longitude21
79587543HearthThe region from which innovative ideas originate22
79587544Heirarchical DiffusionThe spread of a feature or trend from one key person or node of authority or power to other persons or places23
79587545International Date LineAn arc that for the most part follows 180° longitude, although it deviates in several places to avoid dividing land areas. When you cross the International Date Line 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.24
79587546Land Ordinance of 1785A law that divided much of the United States into a system of townships to facilitate the sale of land to settlers25
79587547LatitudeThe numbering system used to indicate the location of parallels drawn on a globe and measuring distance north and south of the equator26
79587548LocationThe position of anything on Earth's surface27
79587549LongitudeThe numbering system used to indicate the location of meridians drawn on a globe and measuring distance east and west of the prime meridian (0°).28
79587550MapA two-dimensional, or flat, representation of Earth's surface or a portion of it29
79587551Mental MapAn internal representation of a portion of Earth's surface based on what an individual knows about a place, containing personal impressions of what is in a place and where places are located.30
79587552MeridianAn arc drawn on a map between the North and South poles.31
79587553ParallelA circle drawn around the globe parallel to the equator and at right angles to the meridians.32
79587554PatternThe geometric or regular arrangement of something in a study area.33
79587555Physiological DensityThe number of people per unit of area of arable land, which is land suitable for agriculture34
79587556PlaceA specific point on Earth distinguished by a particular character.35
79587557PolderLand created by the Dutch by draining water from an area.36
79587558PossibilismThe 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.37
79587559Prime MeridianThe meridian, designated at 0° longitude, which passes through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England.38
79587560Principal MeridianA north-south line designated in the Land Ordinance of 1785 to facilitate the surveying and numbering of townships in the United States.39
79587561ProjectionThe system used to transfer locations from Earth's surface to a flat map.40
79587562RegionAn area distinguished by a unique combination of trends or features.41
79587563Regional StudiesAn approach to geography that emphasizes the relationships among social and physical phemona in a particular area study (cultural landscape)42
79587564Relocation DiffusionThe spread of a feature or trend through bodily movement of people from one place to another.43
79587565Remote SensingThe acquisition of data about Earth's surface from a satellite orbiting the planet or other long-distance methods.44
79587566ResourceA substance in the environment that is useful to people, is economically and technologically feasible to access, and is socially acceptable to use.45
79587567ScaleGenerally, 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 on Earth's surface.46
79587568SectionA square normally 1 mile on a side. The Land Ordinance of 1785 divided townships in the United States into 36 sections.47
79587569SiteThe physical character of a place48
79587570SituationThe location of a place relative to other places.49
79587571SpaceThe physical gap or interval between two objects.50
79587572Space-Time CompressionThe reduction in the time it takes to diffuse something to a distant place, as a result of improved communications and transportation systems51
79587573Stimulus DiffusionThe spread of an underlying principle, even though a specific characteristic is rejected.52
79587574ToponymThe name given to a portion of Earth's surface.53
79587575TownshipA square normally 6 miles on a side. The Land Ordinance of 1785 divided much of the United States into a series of townships.54
79587576Transnational CorporationA company that conducts research, operates factories, and sells products in many countries, not just where its headquarters or shareholders are located.55
79587577Uneven DevelopmentThe increasing gap in economic conditions between core and peripheral regions as a result of the globalization of the economy.56
79587578Vernacular RegionAn area that people believe to exsist as part of their cultural identity (perceptual region)57

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