Unit 1 Vocab

Question 1

the cardinal directions north, south, east, and west

Answer 1

Absolute Direction

Question 2

distance that can be measured using a standard unit of length

Answer 2

Absolute Distance

Question 3

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

Answer 3

Absolute Location

Question 4

a person who creates maps

Answer 4

Cartographers

Question 5

an official count of the number of people in a defined area, such as a state

Answer 5

Census

Question 6

classification of a country or region that has wealth, higher education levels, more advanced technologies, many resources, strong militaries, and powerful allies

Answer 6

Core

Question 7

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

Answer 7

Density

Question 8

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

Answer 8

Distance Decay

Question 9

to arrange within a given space

Answer 9

Distribute

Question 10

the relationships between living things and their environment

Answer 10

Ecological Perspective

Question 11

the idea that human behavior is strongly affected, controlled, or determined by the physical environment

Answer 11

Environmental Determinism

Question 12

movement of people, goods, or information that has economic, social, political, or cultural effects on societies

Answer 12

Flow

Question 13

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

Answer 13

Formal Region

Question 14

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

Answer 14

Functional Region

Question 15

a computer system that allows for the collection, organization, and display of geographic data for analysis

Answer 15

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Question 16

a network of satellites that orbit Earth and transmit location data to receivers, enabling users to pinpoint their exact location

Answer 16

Global Positioning System (GPS)

Question 17

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

Answer 17

Globalization

Question 18

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

Answer 18

Human Geography

Question 19

The position that a point or object occupies on Earth.

Answer 19

Location

Question 20

the relationship of the size of the map to the size of the area it represents on Earth’s surface

Answer 20

Map Scale

Question 21

internalized representations of portions of Earth’s surface

Answer 21

Mental Maps

Question 22

the focal point of a functional region

Answer 22

Node

Question 23

the way in which things are arranged in a particular space

Answer 23

Pattern

Question 24

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

Answer 24

Perceptual Region

Question 25

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

Answer 25

Periphery

Question 26

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

Answer 26

Physical Geography

Question 27

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

Answer 27

Place

Question 28

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

Answer 28

Possibilism

Question 29

involving data that is descriptive of a research subject and is often based on people's opinions

Answer 29

Qualitative

Question 30

involving data that can be measured by numbers

Answer 30

Quanitative

Question 31

a map that focuses on the location of places

Answer 31

Reference Maps

Question 32

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

Answer 32

Region

Question 33

direction based on a person's perception, such as left, right, up, or down

Answer 33

Relative Direction

Question 34

distance determined in relation to other places or objects

Answer 34

Relative Distance

Question 35

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

Answer 35

Relative Location

Question 36

a method of collecting or analyzing data from a location without making physical contact

Answer 36

Remote Sensing

Question 37

the area of the world being studied

Answer 37

Scale

Question 38

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

Answer 38

Semi-Periphey

Question 39

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

Answer 39

Site

Question 40

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

Answer 40

Situation

Question 41

the area between two or more things

Answer 41

Space

Question 42

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

Answer 42

Spatial Perspective

Question 43

less densely populated residential and commercial areas surrounding a city

Answer 43

Suburbs

Question 44

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

Answer 44

Sustainability

Question 45

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

Answer 45

Sustainable Development

Question 46

any map that focuses on one or more variables to show a relationship between geographic data

Answer 46

Thematic Maps

Question 47

a system of ideas intended to explain certain phenomena

Answer 47

Theory

Question 48

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

Answer 48

Time-space compression

Question 49

the representation of earth's surface to show natural and man-made features, especially their relative positions and elevations

Answer 49

Topography

Question 50

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

Answer 50

Vernacular Region

Question 51

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

Answer 51

World System Theory