- accent
-
a difference in the pronunciation of words within a language
- acculturation
-
when a dominant culture is present and exerts influence but minority cultural features are still retained
- acid rain
-
a form of precipitation that is highly acidic and results from the emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide
- agglomeration
-
a clustering of economic activity, such as when similar industries locate near one another
- agnostic
-
the belief that the existence of God/gods cannot be proven
- agribusiness
-
a company connected with the production of food
- Agricultural Revolution
-
the transition from hunting and gathering to the domestication of plants and animals
- agriculture
-
the science, art, and practice of cultivating plants and livestock
- animism
-
the belief that objects, people, and creatures all possess a divine essence
- antecedent boundary
-
a boundary that was created before modern human settlement occurred
- arithmetic density
-
the number of people per unit area
- assimilation
-
the process by which a minority group adopts the values and traits of a more dominant cultural group
- atheist
-
a lack of belief in God/gods
- autocracy
-
a form of government where power is held by a single ruler
- balkanization
-
the process of a state breaking up into a smaller independent units, which may be hostile toward one another
- bid-rent theory
-
the idea that the price and demand for real estate decreases as the distance from the city center increases
- bounds
-
general boundary descriptions that utilize local landmarks or physical geographic features
- branch
-
a large division within a religion
- break-of-bulk point
-
a location where cargo arriving in bulk is broken up into smaller units to transport elsewhere
- bulk-gaining industry
-
an economic activity where the finished product weighs more than the inputs
- bulk-reducing industry
-
an economic activity where the inputs, or raw materials, weigh more than the finished product
- carrying capacity
-
the maximum population size that can be sustained by an area based on the resources available
- cartography
-
the art and science of map-making
- central business district
-
the center of a city and the focal point for the exchange of goods and services
- centrifugal force
-
a force that pushes people apart within a country and threatens national unity
- centripetal force
-
a force that unifies people within a state
- chain migration
-
where migrants from one area follow the path of other migrants from the same area, much like links in a chain
- city-state
-
a sovereign city that controls the surrounding territory
- colony
-
a territory that is ruled by another state
- commercial agriculture
-
a form of agriculture where crops are grown primarily for sale off the farm
- compact state
-
a shape of a state where the distance from the center to any point on the boundary is roughly the same
- concentration
-
the spread of a particular feature over space
- Concentric Zone Model
-
a model of the internal structure of a city where zones of businesses and residences are arranged in concentric rings outward from the CBD
- contagious diffusion
-
the rapid and expanding spread of a cultural feature from person to person
- cottage industry
-
a home-based manufacturing activity, such as weaving
- crude birth rate
-
or CBR, the total number of live births in a year for every 1,000 people
- crude death rate
-
or CDR, the total number of deaths in a year for every 1,000 people
- cultural relativism
-
the idea that a person's values and beliefs are a product of a unique cultural tradition and should not be judged based on others' views or practices
- culture
-
the social behaviors and beliefs as well as material forms found in human societies
- democracy
-
a form of government where people have the right to select their leaders
- Demographic Transition Model
-
or DTM, a model of how a country's population structure and growth changes over time
- denomination
-
a subgroup of a religion within a branch that has a common tradition and typically has a single administrative body
- density
-
the frequency of a particular feature within a given area
- dependency ratio
-
the number of people who are too young or too old to work compared to the number of people in their productive years
- dependency theory
-
a theory of uneven development that holds that resources generally flow from peripheral countries to core countries
- devolution
-
when a central government delegates additional powers to a sub-national entity
- dialect
-
a particular regional speech pattern found within a language
- diaspora
-
a group of people who are living outside of their geographic homeland
- distance decay
-
the notion that the likelihood of interaction between two things decreases as their distance apart increases
- doubling time
-
the amount of time a population takes to double in size
- economies of scale
-
the cost advantage gained by industries as they grow in scale and are able to decrease the cost to produce each unit
- edge cities
-
an urban area with businesses, shopping, and entertainment outside of the traditional CBD
- elongated state
-
a state that is long and narrow
- emigration
-
refers to migration from a location
- endangered language
-
a language at risk of becoming extinct
- environmental determinism
-
the view that cultural features and societal developments are determined by environmental conditions
- Epidemiological Transition Model
-
or epidemiological transition, describes changing disease patterns and causes of death that correspond with broader societal and population changes
- ethnic cleansing
-
the forced removal or killing of an ethnic group in order to create a more ethnically homogenous region
- ethnic religion
-
a belief system primarily associated with a particular ethnic group and generally tied to a particular geographic area
- ethnicity
-
a shared identity with a group of people who have a common history or cultural tradition
- ethnocentrism
-
evaluating or judging another culture's traits based on one's own cultural system
- expansion diffusion
-
the spread of culture through an expansive process, growing larger as it spreads but remaining in its original location
- extinct language
-
a language with no remaining speakers
- exurb
-
an area of lower density housing outside the central city and surrounding suburbs where people live and commute to the central city for work
- fascism
-
a political system characterized by an extreme form of nationalism and the rule by a dictator
- federal state
-
a form of government where the power resides in units of local government, such as self-governing territories or states.
- folk culture
-
cultural features practiced by small, homogeneous groups that generally live in rural, more isolated areas
- forced migration
-
the involuntary movement of people from one place to another
- formal region
-
an area that has one or more common characteristics
- fragmented state
-
a state that is fragmented into multiple, noncontiguous parts
- functional region
-
an area organized around a particular node or focal point
- fundamentalism
-
a form of a religion that is characterized by a strict, literal interpretation of scripture and a return to the religion's core principles
- Gender Inequality Index
-
or GII, a measure of gender disparity created by the United Nations that uses reproductive health, empowerment, and labor market participation to measure the loss of achievement in a country due to gender inequality
- gentrification
-
the process by which the character of a neighborhood changes as more affluent residents and businesses move in
- geographic information system
-
a computer system that can capture, store, query, analyze, and display geographic data, also known as GIS and sometimes referred to a geographic information science
- gerrymandering
-
a political tactic used to create voting districts that give an advantage to one political party
- globalization
-
the increasing interconnectedness and integration of the countries of the world resulting from advances in communication and transportation technology
- Green Revolution
-
agricultural innovations that resulted from the use of new technologies in the 1950s and 1960s that significantly increased global agricultural production
- gross domestic product
-
or GDP, a measure of the amounts of goods and services produced within a country in a given time period
- gross national income
-
or GNI, the total income earned by residents of a country
- gross national product
-
the value of all goods and services produced by a country and the value of all of the overseas investments by its residents and businesses
- hierarchical diffusion
-
the expansive spread of a cultural feature from a person of influence or authority to the wider population
- Human Development Index
-
or HDI, a composite statistic created by the United Nations to measure a country's level of development
- human geography
-
the study of humans and their interaction with the earth
- immigration
-
migration to a location
- Industrial Revolution
-
a period of transition to new manufacturing processes beginning in the United Kingdom from the mid-1700s to the mid-1800s
- infant mortality rate
-
or IMR, the annual number of deaths of infants under 1 year of age, compared with total live births
- intensive subsistence agriculture
-
a form of subsistence agriculture where farmers cultivate a small area of land using additional effort
- internal boundary
-
a boundary within a state
- internal migration
-
a permanent move within the same country
- international migration
-
movement from one country to another
- interregional migration
-
movement from one region to another
- intervening opportunity
-
the presence of an opportunity between a migrant's home site and their intended destination
- intraregional migration
-
migration within one region
- just-in-time delivery
-
a system of producing goods only as needed in order to reduce inventory and align with the buyer's needs
- language branch
-
a collection of languages within a language family that are related through a common ancestral language that existed several thousands of years ago
- language families
-
a large group of languages that were united by a common ancestral language before recorded history
- language group
-
a collection of languages that share a common origin in the relatively recent past
- languages
-
a structured system for communication
- latitude
-
lines that circle the globe running east-west parallel to the equator
- life expectancy
-
the average number of years a newborn infant can expect to live
- lingua franca
-
a common language that is used as a means of communication between speakers of different native languages, often for the purposes of trade or diplomacy
- logogram
-
a written character that represents a word or phrase
- long lot
-
long, narrow divisions of land usually lined up along a waterway
- longitude
-
lines that run vertically north-south around the globe intersecting at the poles
- megacity
-
a city with a population of over 10 million people
- megalopolis
-
a group of two or more overlapping metropolitan areas
- metes
-
a boundary defined by a specific distance between two points as well as an orientation and direction
- Metropolitan Statistical Area
-
a United States Census designation, defined as an urban area, the county within which it is located, and surrounding counties where a high percentage of the residents commute to the central county for work
- microfinance
-
financial services that target individuals and small businesses on a smaller scale than traditional financial institutions
- migration
-
a permanent move to a new location
- missionary
-
a member of a religious group who helps diffuse and promote their religion in an area
- monoculture
-
a form of farming where a single crop is grown
- monotheistic
-
the belief in one God
- multiculturalism
-
the presence of multiple, distinct cultural identities
- multiple nuclei model
-
a model of internal city structure where clusters of development occur in nodes or separate nuclei outside of the CBD
- nation
-
a group of people with a strong cultural and ethnic identity
- nation-state
-
an independent state that has a homogenous cultural and ethnic identity
- nationality
-
a personal allegiance to a particular country
- natural increase rate
-
or NIR, the percentage by which a population grows in a year
- natural resources
-
materials or substances drawn from nature that are useful to humans
- neocolonialism
-
a form of control using economic influence or indirect political control rather than direct military or political authority
- neoliberalism
-
an ideology that promotes free market competition
- nomadic pastoralism
-
a form of subsistence agriculture where domesticated animals are herded in search of fresh pastures for the animals to graze (also known as pastoral nomadism)
- non-renewable resource
-
a natural resource that cannot be replaced by natural means as fast as it is consumed
- nonpoint source pollution
-
refers to the pollution of water or air that does not originate from a single source
- nontheistic
-
not having a belief in God/gods
- oligarchy
-
a form of government where the power structure rests with a small group of people
- outsourcing
-
contracting out a portion of a business to another party, which might be located in another country
- pattern
-
the arrangement of a particular feature within an area
- perforated state
-
a state that completely surrounds another state
- physical geography
-
the study of Earth's natural environment
- physiological density
-
the number of people per unit of arable land
- pidgin language
-
a simplified form of communication that develops as a means of interaction between speakers of different native languages
- plantation agriculture
-
a form of commercial agriculture where large farms specialize in the production of one or two crops
- point source pollution
-
a single discrete source of pollution
- polytheistic
-
the belief in many gods
- popular culture
-
broad cultural features found dominant, heterogeneous societies
- population pyramid
-
a graphical presentation of a country’s population by age and gender groups
- possibilism
-
the idea that the physical environment places some limits on human activity, but that people can adapt and adjust to their environment
- primary sector
-
an economic activity that involves directly getting raw materials from the natural environment
- primate city
-
a city that is the largest city in a country, is more than twice as populous as the next largest city, and is emblematic of the national culture
- projection
-
a way to flatten the globe's surface onto a flat surface to create a map
- prorupted state
-
a shape of a state that has an extension that protrudes from its main territory
- proto-language
-
a theorized ancestral language from which a group of related languages is believed to have evolved
- protruded state
-
see prorupted state
- pull factors
-
reasons to migrate to a particular location
- push factors
-
reasons that push people to move from their current location
- quaternary sector
-
an economic activity that relates to information technology, such as computing or research
- quinary sector
-
an economic activity related to making high level decisions
- race
-
identity with a group of people who have a shared biological heritage
- racism
-
the belief that race corresponds with differences in both physical appearance and behavioral traits and the belief that one race is superior over another
- rank-size rule
-
the observation that the nth largest city in a country has 1/n the population of the largest country
- redlining
-
a policy aimed at denying services to residents of particular ethnic or racial communities
- refugee
-
a person who has been forced to cross national boundaries and cannot return home safely
- regions
-
areas that are broadly divided based on their physical or human characteristics
- relic boundary
-
a boundary that no longer functions but is still apparent on the landscape
- relocation diffusion
-
diffusion of culture through the physical movement of people from one place to another
- renewable resource
-
a natural resource that is able to be replenished during a human time scale
- scale
-
the ratio of the distance on a map to the corresponding distance on Earth's surface
- Second Agricultural Revolution
-
the increases in agricultural production that coincided with the innovations created during the Industrial Revolution
- secondary sector
-
an economic activity that uses a raw material to create a finished good
- sect
-
a division within a religion that characterizes a smaller group that has split from an established denomination
- sector model
-
a model of city structure where zones of development extend out from the CBD in wedges
- secularism
-
the principle that promotes the separation of religion from government, politics, and public affairs
- seed agriculture
-
the reproduction of plants through the use of seeds
- self-determination
-
the right of a group of people to govern themselves
- shatter belt
-
a region caught between more powerful states (can also be spelled shatterbelt)
- site
-
the location of a settlement on Earth and its physical characteristics
- situation
-
the location of a place relative to other places and geographic features
- sovereignty
-
the authority of a state to govern itself within a territory
- state
-
an organized territory led by a government that has control over its domestic and foreign interests
- stateless nation
-
an ethnic group that does not govern its own state and is not the majority population of any nation-state
- stimulus diffusion
-
the spread of an idea or principle rather than the original cultural feature or product
- subsequent boundary
-
a boundary established after human settlement
- subsistence agriculture
-
a form of agriculture where a farmer grows crops primarily to feed themselves and their families
- superimposed boundary
-
a boundary created by an outside power that ignores underlying cultural differences
- supranational organization
-
an organization or political entity that is comprised of a number of different member states and whose administrative structure extends across multiple national boundaries
- sustainability
-
the ability of a natural system to be productive indefinitely
- syncretism
-
the blending of cultural features to form new traits
- taboo
-
a social or cultural prohibition or restriction that designates certain behaviors, actions, or subjects as forbidden or unacceptable within a particular society or group
- terrorism
-
the use of violence to achieve political goals
- tertiary sector
-
an economic activity that provides a service to businesses and consumers
- time-space compression
-
the idea that the relative distance between spaces has been reduced due to advances in transportation and communication technologies
- total fertility rate
-
or TFR, the average number of children a woman will have throughout her childbearing years (defined as ages 15-49)
- transition zone
-
an area marked by a gradual spatial change
- unitary state
-
a form of government where a central government entity has all or most of the governing power
- urban area
-
an area that includes a city and its surrounding, developed region
- urban decentralization
-
the process of businesses, workers, and consumers, moving away from the central business district
- urban heat island effect
-
a phenomenon that refers to localized and elevated temperatures within urban areas compared to their surrounding rural regions
- urban sprawl
-
the unrestricted growth of an urban area over a large tract of land, also known as sprawl or suburban sprawl
- urbanization
-
the shifting of population from rural areas to urban areas
- vegetative planting
-
the reproduction of plants using a fragment of the parent plant
- vernacular region
-
a region that is perceived to exist