Chapter 1

Question 1

absolute location

Answer 1

n. the exact location of an object, usually expressed in coordinates of longitude and latitude

Question 2

core

Answer 2

n. classification of a country or region that has wealth, higher education levels, more advanced technology

Question 3

density

Answer 3

n. the number of things—people, animals, or objects—in a specific area

Question 4

distance decay

Answer 4

n. a principle stating that the farther away one thing is from another, the less interaction the two things will have

Question 5

distribute

Answer 5

v. to arrange within a given space

Question 6

ecological perspective

Answer 6

n. the relationships between living things and their environments

Question 7

environmental determinism

Answer 7

n. the idea that human behavior is strongly affected, controlled, or determined by the physical geography

Question 8

flow

Answer 8

n. movement of people, goods, or information that has economic, social, political, or cultural effects on society

Question 9

formal region

Answer 9

n. an area that has one or more shared traits; also called a uniform region

Question 10

friction of distance

Answer 10

n. a concept that states that the longer a journey is, the more time, effort, and cost it will involve

Question 11

functional region

Answer 11

n. an area organized by its function around a focal point, or the center of an interest or activity

Question 12

globalization

Answer 12

n. the expansion of economic, cultural, and political processes on a worldwide scale

Question 13

human geography

Answer 13

n. the study of the processes that have shaped how humans understand, use, and alter Earth

Question 14

location

Answer 14

n. the position that a point or object occupies on Earth

Question 15

mental maps

Answer 15

n. internalized representations of portions of Earth’s surface

Question 16

node

Answer 16

n. the focal point of a functional region

Question 17

pattern

Answer 17

n. the way in which things are arranged in a particular space

Question 18

perceptual region

Answer 18

n. a type of region that reflects people’s feelings and attitudes about a place; also called a vernacular region

Question 19

periphery

Answer 19

n. classification of a country or region that has less wealth, lower education levels, and less sophisticated technologies and also tends to have an unstable government and poor health systems

Question 20

physical geography

Answer 20

n. the study of natural processes and the distribution of features in the environment, such as landforms, plants, animals, soil, and climate

Question 21

place

Answer 21

n. a location on Earth that is distinguished by its physical and human characteristics

Question 22

possibilism

Answer 22

n. theory of human-environment interaction that states that humans have the ability to adapt the physical environment to their needs

Question 23

region

Answer 23

n. an area of Earth’s surface with certain characteristics that make it distinct yet cohesive from other areas.

Question 24

relative location

Answer 24

n. a description of where a place is in relation to other places or features

Question 25

scale

Answer 25

n. the area of the world being studied

Question 26

semi-periphery

Answer 26

n. classification of a country or region that has qualities of both core and peripheral areas and is often in the process of industrializing

Question 27

site

Answer 27

n. a place’s absolute location, as well as its physical characteristics, such as the landforms, climate, and resources

Question 28

situation

Answer 28

n. location of a place in relation to other places or its surrounding features

Question 29

space

Answer 29

n. the area between two or more things

Question 30

spatial perspective

Answer 30

n. geographic perspective that focuses on how people live on Earth, how they organize themselves, and why the events of human societies occur where they do

Question 31

sustainability

Answer 31

n. the use of Earth’s land and natural resources in ways that ensure they will continue to be available in the future

Question 32

sustainable development

Answer 32

n. development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

Question 33

theory

Answer 33

n. a system of ideas intended to explain certain phenomena

Question 34

time space compression

Answer 34

n. a key geographic principle that describes the ways in which modern transportation and communication technology have allowed humans to travel and communicate over long distances quicker and easier

Question 35

vernacular region

Answer 35

n. a type of region that reflects people’s feelings and attitudes about a place; also called a perceptual region

Question 36

world system theory

Answer 36

n. theory describing the spatial and functional relationships between countries in the world economy; categorizes countries as part of a hierarchy consisting of the core, periphery, and semi-periphery