AP Human Geography

• Cartography


  the science and art of drawing maps

  
• Toponym


  a place name

  
• Reference map


  maps that emphasizes the location of places (without data attached).

  
• Examples of reference maps

  Political map, Physical map, Road Map
• Political map


  a map that shows the names and borders of countries

  
• physical map


  a reference map that shows land and water features

  
• Thematic maps


  a map that displays not only locations but maps a topic or theme of information with the location

  
• types of thematic maps

  Isoline, Chloropleth, Dot Distribution, cartogram, graduated symbol
• Map Projection


  a method of taking a 3D object and putting in on a 2D plane

  
• Mercator Projection


  a map projection of the earth onto a cylinder. Distorts the land area at the poles

  
• Map Scale


  the relationship between the distance on the ground and the corresponding distance on a specific map

  
• Absolute location


  describing where something is using the exact site on an objective coordinate system

  
• Relative location


  describing the position of a place as compared to (or relative to!) another landmark

  
• Absolute distance


  describing how far a distance is quantitative units of distance (miles, kilometers, etc.)

  
• Relative distance


  describing the distance between locations using qualitative terms or non-traditional measurements of distance (one hour north of)

  
• place


  A specific point on Earth distinguished by particular characteristics.

  
• site


  The physical character of a place, including its geographic characteristics. For example the site of Istanbul includes the fact that it is on a land bridge connecting Asia and Europe, and also a water bridge (strait) connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean

  
• location


  the specific position of a place on Earth's surface

  
• situation


  the location of a place relative to the places that are around it- example: the situation of New Jersey is that it is part of a highly populated and connected area on the East Coast of the US

  
• GIS (Geographic Information Systems)


  software that captures, manages, analyzes, and displays data in layers

  
• GPS (Global Positioning System)


  a system that measures distance from a series of satellites to determine location on the planet

  
• Remote sensing


  the science of making measurements of the earth using sensors on airplanes or satellites

  
• Geospatial


  relating to data that is specific to one location

  
• Quantitative data


  objective data that is fact based, usually measurable and usually expressed in numbers

  
• Census


  statistically information about a population that are collected and can be graphed, mapped, charted (every 10 years)

  
• Qualitative data


  subjective information that is opinion based, is usually descriptive, and often expressed as text

  
• Density


  the number of things divided by the measurement of area

  
• Concentration


  how closely packed together objects are

  
• pattern


  any regular geometric arrangement that a geographer can identify to how a characteristic is distributed
• Distance decay


  the idea that the interaction between two places declines as the distance between them increases

  
• Region


  a place larger than a point and smaller than a planet that is grouped together because of a measurable or perceived common feature

  
• Formal region


  uniform or homogeneous areas where everyone in that region shares common attributes or traits like language, climate or political system

  
• Functional region


  a region based around a node or focal point - terrestrial radio broadcasts are an example of this

  
• Vernacular/perceptual region


  An area that people believe exist as part of their cultural identity. Ex: The South

  
• Globalization


  worldwide integration and development which results in the expansion of international cultural, economic, and political activities

  
• Infrastructure


  the basic facilities and installations that help a government or community run, including roads, schools, phone lines, sewage treatment plants and power generation

  
• Natural resource


  a physical material constituting part of Earth that people need and value

  
• Scale of analysis


  includes global, regional, national, and local. Patterns and processes at different scales reveal variations in, and different interpretations of, data
• Spatial


  how things are organized in space
• Spatial distribution


  arrangement of a phenomenon across the Earth's surface