ALL VOCAB

• accessibility


  the degree of ease with which it is possible to reach a certain location from other locations. Accessibility varies from place to place and can be measured.
• physical geography

  one of the two major divisions of systematic geography; the spatial analysis of the structure, processes, and location of the Earth's natural phenomena such as climate, soil, plants, animals, and topography.
• connectivity


  the degree of direct linage between one particular location and other locations in a transport network.
• sequent occupance


  the notion that successive societies leave their cultural imprints on a place, each contributing to the cumulative cultural landscape
• spatial distribution


  physical location of geographic phenomena across space
• five themes (of geography)


  they are location, human-environment, region, place, and movement
• location theory


  a logical attempt to explain the locational pattern of an economic activity and the manner in which its producing areas are interrelated. The agricultural location theory contained in the von Thunen model is a leading example.
• medical geography

  the study of health and disease within a geographic context and from a geographical perspective. Among other things, medical geography looks at sources, diffusions routes, and distribution of diseases.
• spatial perspective


  observing variations in geographic phenomena across space
• human geography

  one of the major divisions of geography; the spatial analysis of human population, its cultures, activities, and landscapes
• epidemic


  regional outbreak of a disease
• cultural landscape

  the visible imprint of human activity and culture on the landscape. The layers of buildings, forms, and artifacts sequentially imprinted on the landscape by the activities of various human occupants.
• landscape


  the overall appearance of an area. Most landscapes are comprised of a combination on natural and human-induced influences.
• perception of place


  belief or "understanding" about a place developed through books, movies, stories or pictures
• sense of place


  state of mind derived through the infusion of a place with meaning and emotion by remembering important events that occurred in that place or by labeling a place with a certain character.
• pattern


  the design of a spatial distribution (e.g. scattered or concentrated)
• spatial


  pertaining to space on the Earth's surface; sometimes used as a synonym for geographic
• fieldwork

  the study of geographic phenomena by visiting places and observing how people interact with and thereby change those places
• place


  the fourth theme of geography; uniqueness of a location
• pandemic

  an outbreak of a disease that spreads worldwide. (see also - endemic)
• globalization


  the expansion of economic, political, and cultural processes to the point that they become global in scale and impact. The processes of globalization transcend state boundaries and have outcomes that vary across places and scales.
• location


  the first theme of geography as defined by the Geography Educational National Implementation Project; the geographical situation of people and things.
• distance

  measurement of the physical space between two places
• spatial interaction


  see complementarity (a condition that exists when two regions, through an exchange of raw materials and/or finished products, can specifically satisfy each others demands) and intervening opportunity (the presence of a nearer opportunity that greatly diminishes the attractiveness of sites farther away)
• human-environment


  the second theme of geography; reciprocal relationship between humans and environment.
• region

  the third theme of geography; an area on the Earth's surface marked by a degree of formal, functional, or perceptual homogeneity of some phenomenon
• movement


  the fifth theme of geography; the mobility of people, goods, and ideas across the surface of the planet.
• reference maps


  Maps that show the absolute location of places and geographic features determined by a frame of reference, typically latitude and longitude
• absolute locations


  The position or place of a certain item on the surface of the Earth as expressed in degrees, minutes, and seconds of latitude, 0° to 90° north or south of the equator, and longitude, 0° to 180° east or west of the Prime Meridian passing through Greenwich, England (a suburb of London)
• possibilism


  Geographic viewpoint—a response to determinism—that holds that human decision making, not the environment, is the crucial factor in cultural development. Nonetheless, possibilists view the environment as providing a set of broad constraints that limits the possibilities of human choice
• relocation diffusion


  Sequential diffusion process in which the items being diffused are transmitted by their carrier agents as they evacuate the old areas and relocate to new ones. The most common form of relocation diffusion involves the spreading of innovations by a migrating population
• cultural hearth


  Heartland, source area, innovation center; place of origin of a major culture
• generalized map


  "When mapping data, whether human or physical geographers, cartographers, the geographers who make maps, generalize the information the present on maps." (de Blij, Murphey, Fouberg, ph 16)
• cultural barriers


  Prevailing cultural attitude rendering certain innovations, ideas or practices unacceptable or unadoptable in that particular culture
• rescale


  Involvement of players at other scales to generate support for a position or an initiative (e.g., use of the Internet to generate interest on a national or global scale for a local position or initiative)
• contagious diffusion


  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 a contagious illness
• hierarchical diffusion

  A form of diffusion in which an idea or innovation spreads by passing first among the most connected places or peoples. An urban hierarchy is usually involved, encouraging the leapfrogging of innovations over wide areas, with geographic distance a less important influence
• global positioning systems (GPS)

  Satellite-based system for determining the absolute location of places or geographic features
• stimulus diffusion


  A form of diffusion in which a cultural adaptation is created as a result of the introduction of a cultural trait from another place
• formal region


  A type of region marked by a certain degree of homogeneity in one or more phenomena; also called uniform region or homogeneous region