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AP Geo
vocab
352
Geography
10th Grade
04/25/2010

Additional Geography Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Acid deposition
Definition
Sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides, emitted by burning fossil fuels, enter the atmosphere-where they combine with oxygen and water to form sulfuric acid and nitric acid-and return to Earth's surface
Term
Acid precipitation
Definition
Conversion of sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides to acids that return to Earth as rain, snow, or fog
Term
Active solar energy systems
Definition
Solar energy system that collects energy through the use of mechanical devices like photovoltaic cells or flat-plate collectors
Term
Agribusiness
Definition
Commercial agriculture characterized by the integration of different steps in the food-processing industry, usually through ownership by large corporations
Term
Agricultural density
Definition
(ratio) # of farmers: total amount of land suitable for agriculture
Term
Agricultural revolution
Definition
The time when human beings first domesticated plants and animals and no longer relied on hunting & gathering
Term
Agriculture
Definition
The deliberate effort to modify a portion of Earth's surface through the cultivation of crops and the raising of livestock for sustenance or economic gain
Term
Air pollution
Definition
Concentration of trace sustances, such as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, and solid particulates, at a greater level than occurs in average air
Term
Animate power
Definition
Power supplied by people or animals
Term
Animism
Definition
Belief that objects, such as plants & stones, or natural events, like thunderstorms & earthquakes, have a descrete spirit and conscious life
Term
Annexation
Definition
Legally adding land area to a city in the US
Term
Apartheid
Definition
Laws (no longer in effect) in South Africa that physically seperated different races into different geographic areas
Term
Arithmetic density
Definition
total # of people   /   total land area
Term
Autonomous religion
Definition
A religion that does not have a central authority but shares ideas and cooperates informally
Term
Balance of power
Definition
Condition of roughly equal strength between opposing countries or alliances of countries
Term
Balkanization
Definition
Process by which a state breaks down throuhg conflicts among its ethnicities
Term
Balkanized
Definition
A small geographic area that could not successfully be organized into one or more stable states because it was inhabited by many ethnicities with complex, long-standing antagonisms toward each other
Term
Base line
Definition
An E-W line designed under the Land Ordinance of 1785 to facilitate the surveying and numbering of townships in the US
Term
Basic industries
Definition
Industries that sell their products or services primarily to consumers outside the settlement
Term
Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)
Definition
Amount of oxygen required by aquatic bacteria to decompose a given load of organic waste; a measure of water pollution
Term
Biodiversity
Definition
The # of species within a specific habitat
Term
Biomass fuel
Definition
Fuel that derives from plant material & animal waste
Term
Blockbusting
Definition
A process by which real estate agents convince white property owners to sell their houses at low prices because of fear that persons of color will soon move into the neighborhood
Term
Boundary
Definition
Invisible line that marks the extent of a state's territory
Term
Brain drain
Definition
Large-scale emigration by talented people
Term
Branch (of a religion)
Definition
A large and fundamental division within a religion
Term
Break-of-bulk point
Definition
A location where transfer is possible from one mode of transportation to another
Term
Breeder reactor
Definition
A nuclear power plant that creates its own fuel from plutonium
Term
British received pronunciation (BRP)
Definition
The dialect of English associated with upper-class Britons living in the London area and now considered standard in the UK
Term
Bulk-gaining industry
Definition
An industry in which the final product weighs more or comprises a greater volume than the imputs
Term
Bulk-reducing industry
Definition
An industry in which the final product weighs less or comprises a lower volume than the imputs
Term
Business services
Definition
services that primarily meet the needs of other businesses, including professional, financial, and transportation services
Term
Cartography
Definition
The science of making maps
Term
Caste
Definition
The class or distinct hereditary order into which a Hindu is assigned according to religious law
Term
Census
Definition
A complete enumeration of a population
Term
Census tract
Definition
An area delineated by the US Bureau of the Census for which statistics are published; in urbanized areas, census tracts correspond roughly to neighborhoods
Term
Central business district (CBD)
Definition
The area of a city where retail and office activities are clustered
Term
Central place
Definition
A market center for the exchange of services by people attracted by the surrounding area
Term
Central place theory
Definition
A theory that explains the distribution of servies, based on the fact that settlements serve as centers of market areas for services;larger settlements are fewer and farther apart than smaller settlements and provide services for a large number of people who are willing to travel father
Term
Centripetal force
Definition
An attitude that tends to unify people and enhance support for a state
Term
Cereal grain
Definition
A grass yielding grain for food
Term
Chaff
Definition
Husks of grain separated from the seed by threshing
Term
Chain migration
Definition
Migration of people to a specific location because relatives or members of the same nationality previously migrated there
Term
Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC)
Definition
A gas used as a solvent, a propellant in aerosols, a refrigerant, and in plastic foams & fire exstinguishers
Term
Circulation
Definition
Short-term, repetitive, or cyclical movements that recur on a regualr basis
Term
City-state
Definition
A sovereign state comprising a city and its immediate hinterland
Term
Clustered rural settlement
Definition
A rural settlement in which the houses and farm buildings of each family are situated close to each other and fields surround the settlement
Term
Colonialism
Definition
Attempt by one country to establish settlements and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principals in another territory
Term
Colony
Definition
A territory that is legally tied to a sovereign state rather than completely independent
Term
Combine
Definition
A machine that reaps, threshes, and cleans grain while moving over a field
Term
Commercial agriculture
Definition
Agriculture undertaken primarily to generate products for sale off the farm
Term
Compact state
Definition
A state in which the distance from the center to any boundary does not vary significantly
Term
Concentration
Definition
The spread of something over a given area
Term
Concentric zone model
Definition
A model of the internal structure of cities in which scial groups are spatially arranged in a series of rings
Term
Connections
Definition
Relationships among people and objects across the barrier of space
Term
Conservation
Definition
The sustainable use & management of natural resource, through consuming at a lesss rapid rate than it can be replaced
Term
Consumer services
Definition
Businesses that provide services primarily to individual consumers, including retail services and education, health, and leisure services
Term
Contagious diffusion
Definition
The rapid, widespread diffusion of a feature or trend throughout a population
Term
Cosmogony
Definition
A set of religious beliefs concerning the origin of the universe
Term
Cottage industry
Definition
Manufacturing based in homes rather than in a factory, commonly found before the Industrial Revolution
Term
Council of government
Definition
A cooperative agency consisting of representatives of local governments in a metropolitan area in the US
Term
Counterurbanization
Definition
Net migration from urban to rural areas in MDC's
Term
Creole / Creolized language
Definition
A language that results from the mixing of a colonizer's language with the indigenous language of the people being dominated
Term
Crop
Definition
Grain or fruit gathered from a field as a harvest during a particular season
Term
Crop rotation
Definition
The practice of rotation use of different fields from crop to crop each year, to avoid exhausting the soil
Term
Crude birth rate (CBR)
Definition
The total # of live births in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society
Term
Crude death rate (CDR)
Definition
The total # of deaths in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society
Term
Cultural ecology
Definition
Geographic approach that emphasizes human-environment relationships
Term
Cultural landscape
Definition
Fashioning of a natural landscape by a cultural group
Term
Culture
Definition
The body of customary beliefs, social forms, and materials traits that together consitute a group of people's distinct tradition
Term
Custom
Definition
The frequesnt repetition of an act, to the extent that it becomes characteristic of the group of people performing the act
Term
Demographic transition
Definition
The process of change in a society's population from a condition of high crude birth & death rathes and low rate of natural increase TO a condition of low crude birth & death rates, low rate of natural increase, and a higher total population
Term
Demography
Definition
The scientific study of population characteristics
Term
Denomination
Definition
A division of a branch that unites a number of local congregations in a single legal and administrative body
Term
Density
Definition
The frequency with which something exists within a given unit of area
Term
Density gradient
Definition
The change in the density in a urban area from the center to the periphery
Term
Dependency ratio
Definition
The # of people under age 15 and over age 64, compared to the # of people active in the labor force
Term
Development
Definition
A process of improvement in the material conditions of people through diffusion of knowledge and technology
Term
Dialect
Definition
A regional variety of a language distinguished by voacabulary, spelling, and pronunciation
Term
Diffusion
Definition
The process of spread of a feature or trend from one place to another over time
Term
Diocese
Definition

The basic unit of geographic organization in the

Roman Catholic Church

Term
Dispersed rural settlement
Definition
A rural settlement pattern characterized by isolated farms rather than clustered villages
Term
Distance decay
Definition
The diminishing in importance of a phenomenon wht increasing distance from its origin
Term
Distribution
Definition
The arrangement of something across Earth's surface
Term
Double cropping
Definition
Harvesting twice a year from the same field
Term
Doubling time
Definition
The number of years needed to double a poplutation, assuming a constant rate of natural increase
Term
Ebonics
Definition
Dailect spoken by some African Americans
Term
Economic base
Definition
A community's collection of basic industries
Term
Ecumene
Definition
The portion of Earth's surface occupied by a permanent human settlement
Term
Edge city
Definition
A large node of office and retail activities on the edge of an urban area
Term
Elongated state
Definition
A state with a long, narrow shape
Term
Emigration
Definition
migration from a location
Term
Enclosure movement
Definition
The process of consolidating small landholdings into a smaller number of larger farms in England during the 18th century
Term
Environmental determinism
Definition
The study of how the physical environment caused human activities
Term
Epidemiologic transition
Definition
Distinctive causes of death in each stage of the demographic transition
Term
Epidemiology
Definition
Branch of the medical science concerned with the incidence, distribution, and control of diseases that affect large numbers of people
Term
Ethnic cleansing
Definition
Process in which a more powerful ethnic group forcibly removes a less powerful one in order to create an ethnically homogeneous region
Term
Ethnic religion
Definition
A religion with a relatively concentrated spatial distribution whose principles are likely to be based on the physical characteristics of the particular location in which its adherents are concentrated
Term
Ethnicity
Definition
Identity with a group of people that share distinct physical and mental traits as a product of common heredity and cultural traditions
Term
Expansion diffusion
Definition
The spread of a feature or trend among people from one area to another in a snowballing process
Term
Extinct language
Definition
A language that was once used by people in daily activities but is no longer used
Term
Fair trade
Definition
Alternative to international trade tehat emphasizes small businesses and worker owned and democratically run cooperatives and requires employers to pay workers fair wages, permit union organizing, and comply with minimum environmental and safety standards
Term
Federal state
Definition
An international organization of a state that allocates most powers to units of local government
Term
Ferrous
Definition
Metals, including iron ore, that are utalized in the production of iron and steel
Term
Filtering
Definition
A process of change in the use of a house, from single-family owner occupancy to abandonment
Term
Fission
Definition
The splitting of an atomic nucleus to release energy
Term
Floodplain
Definition
The area subject to flooding during a given number of years according to historical trends
Term
Folk culture
Definition
Culture traditionally practiced by a small, homogeneous, rural group living in relative isolation from other groups
Term
Forced migration
Definition
Permanent movement compelled usually by cultural factors
Term
Fordist production
Definition
Form of mass production in which each worker is assigned one specific task to perform repeatedly
Term
Foreign direct investment (FDI)
Definition
Investment made by a foreign company in the economy of another country
Term

Formal region

(uniform or homogeneous region)

Definition
An area in which everyone shares in one or more distinctive characteristics
Term
Fossil fuel
Definition
Energy source formed from the residue of plants and animals buried millions of years ago
Term
Fragmented state
Definition
A state that includes several discontinuous pieces of territory
Term
Franglais
Definition
A term used by the french for English words that have entered the French language
Term
Frontier
Definition
A zone separating 2 states in which neither exercises political control
Term

Functional region

(nodal region)

Definition
An area organized around a node or focal point
Term
Fundamentalism
Definition
Literal interpretation and strict adherence to basic principles of a religion
Term
Fusion
Definition
Creation of energy by joining the nuclei of 2 hydrogen atoms to form helium
Term
Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM)
Definition
Compares the ability of women and men to participate in economic and political decision making
Term
Gender-Related Development Index (GDI)
Definition
Compares the level of development of women with that of both sexes
Term
Gentrification
Definition
A process converting an urban neighborhood from a predominantly low-income renter-occupied ares to a predominantly middle-class owner-occupied area
Term
Georaphic information system (GIS)
Definition
A computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data
Term
Geothermal energy
Definition
Energy from steam or hot water produced from hot or molten underground rocks
Term
Gerrymandering
Definition
Process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power
Term
Ghetto
Definition
During Middle Ages, a neighborhood in a city set up by law to be inhabited only by jews; now used to denote a section of a city in which members of any minority group live because of social, legal, or economic pressure
Term
Globalization
Definition
Actions or processes that involve the entire world and result in making something worldwide in scope
Term
Global Positioning System (GPS)
Definition
A system that determines the precise position of something on earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations, and receivers
Term
Grain
Definition
Seed of a cereal grass
Term
Gravity model
Definition
A model that holds that the potential use of a service at a particular location is directly related to the number of people in a location and inversely related to the distance people must travel to reach the service
Term
Green revolution
Definition
Rapid diffusion of new agricultural technology, especially new high-yield seeds and fertilizers
Term
Greenbelt
Definition
A ring of land maintained as parks, agriculture, or other types of open space to limit the sprawl of an urban area
Term
Greenhouse effect
Definition
Anticipated increase in Earth's temperature, caused by carbon dioxide (emitted by burning fossil fuels) trapping some of the radiation emitted by the surface
Term
Greenwich Mean Time
Definition
The time in the time zone encompassing the prime meridian, 0* longitude
Term
Gross domestic product (GDP)
Definition
The value of the total output of goods and services produced in a country in a given time period (normally 1 yr)
Term
Guest workers
Definition
Workers who migrate to the MDC's of N & W Europe, usually from S & EEurope or N. Africa, in search of higher-paying jobs
Term
Habit
Definition
A repetitive act performed by a partiular individual
Term
Hearth
Definition
The region from which an innovative ideas originate
Term
Hierarchical diffusion
Definition
The spread of a feature or trend from one key person or node of authority or power to other persons or places
Term
Hierarchical diffusion
Definition
The spread of a feature or trend from one key person or node of autority or power to other persons or places
Term
Hierarchical religion
Definition
A religion in which a central authority exercises a high degree of control
Term
Horticulture
Definition
The growing of fruits, vegetables, and flowers
Term
Hull
Definition
The outer covering of a seed
Term
Human Development Index (HDI)
Definition
Indicator of level of development for each country, constructed, constructed by United Nations, combining income, literacy, education, and life expectancy
Term
Hydroelectric power
Definition
Power generated from moving water
Term
Ideograms
Definition
The system of writing used in China and other E Asian countries in which each symbo represents an idea or a concept rather than a specific sound
Term
Immigration
Definition
Migration to a new location
Term
Imperialism
Definition
Control of territory already occupied and organized by an indigenous society
Term
Inanimate power
Definition
Power supplied by machines
Term
Industrial Reolution
Definition
A series of improvements in industrial technology that transformed the prosess of manufacturing goods
Term
Imfant mortality rate (IMR)
Definition
The total # of deaths in a year among infants under 1 yr for every 1000 births in a society
Term
Intensive subsistence agriculture
Definition
A form of subsistence agriculture in which farmers must expand a relitively large amount of effort to produce the maximum feasible yield from a parcel of land
Term
Internal migration
Definition
Permanent movement within a particular country.
Term
International Date Line
Definition

An arc that for the most part follows 180* longitude, although deviates to avoid dividing land area.

Heading E= back 24 hours, heading W=forward 24 hours

Term
International migration
Definition
Permanent movement from one country to another
Term
Interregional migration
Definition
Permanent move from one region of a country to another
Term
Intervening obstacle
Definition
An environmental or cultural feature of the landscape that hinders migration
Term
Intraregional migration
Definition
Permanent movement within one region of a country
Term
Isogloss
Definition
A boundary that separates regions in which different language usages predominate
Term
Isolated language
Definition
A language that is unrelated to any toher languages and therefore not atttached to any language family
Term
Labor-intensive industry
Definition
An industry for which labor costs make up a high percentage of total expenses
Term
Land Ordinance of 1785
Definition
A law that divided much of the US into a system of townships to facilitate that sale of land to settlers
Term
Landlocked state
Definition
A state that does not have a direct outlet to the sea
Term
Language
Definition
A system of communication through the use of speech, a collection of sounds understood by a gorup of people to have the same meaning
Term
Language branch
Definition
A collection of languages related through a common ancestor that existed several thousand years ago. Differentces are not that exstensive, differences derived from the same family
Term
Language family
Definition
A collection of languages related to each other through a common ancestor long before recorded history
Term
Language group
Definition
A collection of languages within a branch that share a common origin in the relatively recent past and display relatively few differences in grammer and vocabulary
Term
Latitiude
Definition
The numbering system used to indicate the location of parallels drawn on a globe and measuring the distance N&S of the equator (0*)
Term
Less developed country (LDC)
Definition

A country that is at a relatively early stage in the process of economic development

(Also developing country)

Term
Life expectancy
Definition
The average number of years an individual (newborn) can be expected to live, given current social, economic, and medical conditions
Term
Lingua franca
Definition
A language mutually understood and commonly used in trade by people who have different native languages
Term
Literacy rate
Definition
The % of a country's people who can read and write
Term
Literacy tradition
Definition
A language that is written as well as spoken
Term
Location
Definition
The postition of anything on Earth's surface
Term
Longitude
Definition
The numbering system used to indicate the location of meridians drawn on a globe and measuring distance E & W of the prime meridian (0*)
Term
Map
Definition
A 2-dimentional (flat) representation of Earth's surface or a portion of it
Term
Maquiladora
Definition
Factories built by US companies in Mexico near the US border, to take advantage of much lower labor costs in Mexico
Term
Market area / Hinterland
Definition
The area surrounding a central place, from which people are attracted to use the place's goods and services
Term
Medical Revolution
Definition
Medica technology invented in Europe and N America that is diffused to the poorer countries of Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Improved practices have eliminated many traditional causes of death in poorer countries and provided longer, healthier lives
Term
Mental map
Definition
An internal representation of a portion of Earth's surface based on what an individual knows about a place, containing personal impressions of what is in a place and where places are located
Term
Meridian
Definition
An arc drawn on a map between the N & S poles
Term
Metropolitan statistical area (MSA)
Definition
In the US, a central city of at least 50,000 population, the country within which the city is located, and adjacent countries meeting one of several tests indicating a functional connection to the central city
Term
Micropolitan statistical area
Definition
An urbanized area of between 10,000 and 50,000 inhabitants, the country in which it is found, and adjacent counties tied to the city
Term
Microstate
Definition
A state that encompasses a very small land area
Term
Migration
Definition
Form of relocation diffusion involving a permanent move to a new location
Term
Migration transition
Definition
Change in the migration pattern in a society that results from industrialization, population growth, and other social and sconomic changes that also produce the demographic transition
Term
Milkshed
Definition
The area surrounding a city from which milk is supplied
Term
Missionary
Definition
An individual who helps diffuse a universalizing religion
Term
Mobility
Definition
All types of movement from one location to another
Term
Monotheism
Definition
The doctrine or belief in the existence of only 1 god
Term
More developed country (MDC)
Definition

A country that has progressed relatively far along a continuum of development

(also relatively developed country / developed country)

Term
Multi-ethnic state
Definition
State that contains more than one ethnicity
Term
Multinational state
Definition
State that contains 2 or more ethnic groups with traditions of self-determination that agree to coexist peacefully by recognizing each other as distinct nationalities
Term
Multiple nuclei model
Definition
A model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are arranged around a collection of nodes of activities
Term
Nationalism
Definition
Loyalty and devotion to a particular nationality
Term
Nationality
Definition
Identity with a group of people that share legal attachment and personal allegiance to a particular place as a result of being born there
Term
Nation-state
Definition
A state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular ethnicity that has been transformed into a nationality
Term
Natural increase rate (NIR)
Definition
The % growth of a population in a year, computed as the crude birth rate minus crude death rate
Term
Net migration
Definition
The difference between the level of immigration and the level of emigration
Term
New international division of labor
Definition
Transfer of some types of jobs, especially those requiring low-paid, less-skilled workers, from MDC's to LDC's
Term
Nonbasic industries
Definition
Industries that sell their products primarily to consumers in the community
Term
Nonferrous
Definition
Metals utalized to make products other than iron and steel
Term
Nonrenewable energy
Definition
A source of energy that is a finite supply capable of being exhausted
Term
Official language
Definition
The language adopted for use by the government for the conduct of business and publication of documents
Term
Outsourcing
Definition
A decision by a corporation to turn over much of the responsibility for production to independent suppliers
Term
Overpopulation
Definition
The # of people in an area exceeds the capacity of the environment to suppport life at a decent standard of living
Term
Ozone
Definition
A gas that absorbs ultraviolet solar radiation, found in the stratosphere, a zone between 15 & 50 kilometers (9-30 miles) above Earth's surface
Term
Paddy
Definition
Malay word for wet rice, commonly but incorrectly used to describe a sawah
Term
Pagan
Definition
A follower of a polytheistic religion in ancient times
Term
Pandemic
Definition
Disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects a very high proportion of the population
Term
Parallel
Definition
A circle drawn around the globe parallel to the equator and at right angles to the meridians
Term
Passive solar energy systems
Definition
Solar energy system that collects energy without the use of mechanical devices
Term
Pastoral nomadism
Definition
A form of subsistence agriculture based on herding domesticated animals
Term
Pasture
Definition
Grass or other plants grown for feeding grazing animals, as well as land used for grazing
Term
Pattern
Definition
The geometric or regular arrangement of something in a study area
Term
Perforated state
Definition
A state that completely surrounds another one
Term
Peripheral model
Definition
A model of N American urban areas consisting of an inner city surrounded by large suburban residential and business areas tied together by a beltway or ring road
Term
Photochemical smog
Definition
An atmospheric condition formed through a combination of weather conditions and pollution, especially from motor vehicle emissions
Term
Photovoltaic cell
Definition
Solar energy cells, usually made from silicon, that collect solar rays to generate electricity
Term
Physiological density
Definition
The # of people per unit of arable land, land suited for agriculture
Term
Pidgin language
Definition
A form of speech that adopts a simplified grammar and limited vocabulary of a lingua france, used for communication among speakers of 2 different languages
Term
Pilgrimage
Definition
A journey to a place considered sacred for religious purposes
Term
Place
Definition
A specific point on Earth distinguished by a particular character
Term
Plantation
Definition
A large farm in tropical and subtropical climates that specializes in the production of 1 or 2 crops for sale, usually to a MDC
Term
Polder
Definition
Land created by the Dutch by draining water from an area
Term
Pollution
Definition
Addition of more waste than a resoure can accomodate
Term
Polytheism
Definition
Belief or worship of more than one god
Term
Popular culture
Definition
Culture found in a large, heterogeneous society that shares certain habits despite differences in toehr personal characteristics
Term
Population pyramid
Definition
A bar graph representing the distribution of population by age and sex
Term
Possibilism
Definition
the theory that the physical environment may set limits on human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to the physical environment and choose a course of action from many alternatives
Term
Post-fordist production
Definition
Adoption by companies of flexible work rules, such as the allocation of workers to teams that perform a variety of tasks
Term
Potential reserve
Definition
The amount of energy in deposits not yet identified but thought to exist
Term
Preservation
Definition
Maintenance of a resource in its present condition, with as little human impact as possible
Term
Primary sector
Definition
The portion of the economy concerned with the direct exstracton of materials from Earth's surface, generally through agriculture, also by mining, fishing, forestry
Term
Primate city
Definition
The largest settlement in a country, if it has more than twice as many people as the second-ranking settlement
Term
Primate city rule
Definition
A pattern of settlements in a country, such that the largest settlement had more that twice as many people as the second-ranking settlement
Term
Prime agricultural land
Definition
The msot productive farmland
Term
Prime meridian
Definition
The meridian, 0* longitude, that passes through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England
Term
Principal meridian
Definition
A N-S line designated in the Land Ordinance 1785 to facilitate the surveying and numbering of townships in the US
Term
Productivity
Definition
The value of a particular product compared to the amount of albor needed to make it
Term
Projection
Definition
The system used to transfer locations from Earth's surface to a flat map
Term
Prorupted state
Definition
An toherwise compact state with a large projecting extension
Term
Proven reserve
Definition
The amount of a resource remaining in discovered deposits
Term
Public housing
Definition
Housing owned by the government; in the US its rented to residents with low incomes, rent is set at 30% the families' incomes
Term
Public servies
Definition
Services offered by the government to provide security and protection for citizens and businesses
Term
Pull factor
Definition
Factor that induces people to move to a new location
Term
Push factor
Definition
Factor that induces people to leave old residences
Term
Quotas
Definition
migration- laws that place maximum limits on the # of people who can immigrate to a country each year
Term
Race
Definition
Identity with a group of people decended from a common ancestor
Term
Racism
Definition
Belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race
Term
Racist
Definition
A person who subscribes to the beliefs of racism
Term
Radioactive waste
Definition
Particles from a nuclear reaction that emit radiation; contact with such particles may be harmful/lethal to people; therefore they must be safely stored for thousands of years
Term
Ranching
Definition
A form of commercial agriculture in which livestock graze over an extensive area
Term
Range (of a service)
Definition
The maximum distance people are willing to travel to use a service
Term
Rank-size rule
Definition
A pattern of settlements in a country, such that the nth largest settlement is 1/n the population of the largest settlement
Term
Reaper
Definition
A machine that cuts grain standing in the field
Term
Recycling
Definition
The sereration, collection, processing, marketing, and reuse of unwanted material
Term
Redlining
Definition
A process by which banks draw lines on a map and refuse to lend money to purchase or improve property within the boundaries
Term
Refugees
Definition
People who are forced to migrate from their home country and cannot raturn for fear of persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group, or political opinion
Term
Region
Definition
An area distinguished by a unique combination of trends or features
Term
Regional studies
Definition
An approach to geography that emphasises the relationships among social & physical phenomena in a particular study area
Term
Relocation Diffusion
Definition
The spread of a feature or trend through bodily movement of people from one place to another
Term
Remote sensing
Definition
The aquisition of data about Earth's surface from a satellite orbiting the planet or other long-distance methods
Term
Renewable energy
Definition
A resource that has a theoretically unlimited supply and is not depleted when used by humans
Term
Resource
Definition
A substance in the environment that is useful to people, is economically & technologically feasible to access, and is socially acceptable to use
Term
Ridge tillage
Definition
System of planting crops on ridge tops in order to reduce farm production costs and promote greater soil conservation
Term
Right-to-work state
Definition
A US state that has passed a law preventing a union and company from negotiating a contract that requires workers to join a union as a condition of employment
Term
Rush hour / peak hour
Definition
The four consecutive 15-minute periods in the morning and evening with the heaviest volumes of traffic
Term
Sanitary landfill
Definition
A place to deposit solid waste, where a layer if earth is bulldozed over garbage each day to reduce emissions of gases and odors from the decaying trash, to minimize fires, and to discourage vermin
Term
Sawah
Definition
A flooded field for growing rice
Term
Scale
Definition
Generally, the relationship between the portion of Earth being studied and Earth as a whole, specifically the relationship between the size of an object on a map and the size of the actual feature on Earth's surface
Term
Secondary sector
Definition
The portion of the economy concerned with manufacturing useful products through processing, transforming, and assembling raw materials
Term
Sect
Definition
A relatively small group that has broken away from an established denomination
Term
Section
Definition
A square normally 1 mile on a side. The land Ordinance of 1785 divided townships in the US into 36 sections
Term
Sector model
Definition
A model of the internal structure of cities in which social groups are arranged around a series of sectore, or wedges, radiating out from the central business district (CBD)
Term
Seed agriculture
Definition
Reproduction of plants through annual introdution of seeds, which result from sexual fertilization
Term
Self-determination
Definition
Concept that ethnicities have the right to govern themselves
Term
Service
Definition
Any activity that fufills a human want or need and returns money to those who provide it
Term
Settlement
Definition
A permanent collection of buildings and inhabitants
Term
Sex ratio
Definition
The number of males per 100 females in the population
Term
Sharecropper
Definition
A person who works fields rented from a landowner and pays the rent & repays loans by turning over to the landowner a share of the crops
Term
Shifting cultivation
Definition
A form of subsistence agriculture in which people shift from one field to another; each field is used for crops for a relativelyfew years and left fallow for a relatively long period
Term
Site
Definition
The physical character of a place
Term
Site factors
Definition
Location factors related to the transportation of materials into and from a factory
Term
Situation
Definition
The location of a place relative to other places
Term
Situation factors
Definition
Location factors related to the transportation of materials into and from a factory
Term
Slash-and-burn agriculture
Definition
Another name for shifting cultivation, so named because fields are cleared by slashing the vegetation and burning the debris
Term
Smart growth
Definition
Legislation and regulations to limit suburban sprawl and preserve farmland
Term
Solstice
Definition
Time when sun is farthest from the equator
Term
Sovereignty
Definition
Ability of a state to govern its territory from from control of its internal affairs by other states
Term
Space
Definition
The physical gap or interval between two objects
Term
Space-time compression
Definition
The reduction in the time it takes to diffuse something to a distant place, as a result of improved communications and transportation systems
Term
Spanglish
Definition
Combination of Spanish and English, spoken by Hispanic Americans
Term
Sprawl
Definition
Development of new housing sites at relatively low density and at locations that are not contiguous to the existing built-up area
Term
Spring wheat
Definition
Wheat planted in the spring and harvested in the late summer
Term
Squatter settlement
Definition
An area within a city in a LDC in which people illegally establish residences on land they do not own or rent & erect homemade structures
Term
Standard language
Definition
The form of a language used for official government business, education, and mass communications
Term
State
Definition
An area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government with control over its internal and foreign affairs
Term
Stimulus diffusion
Definition
The spread of an underlying principle, even though a specific characteristic is rejected
Term
Structural adjustment program
Definition
Economic policies imposed on LDC's by international agencies to create conditions encouraging international trade, such as raising taxes, reducing gov spending, controllin inflation, selling publicly owned utilites to private corporations, and charging citizens more for services
Term
Subsistence agriculture
Definition
Agriculture designed primarily to provide for for direct consumption by the farmer and their family
Term
Sustainable agriculture
Definition
Farming methods that preserve long-term productivity of land and minimize pollution, typically by rotating soil-restoring crops with cash crops & reducing inputs of fertilizer and pesticides
Term
Sustainable development
Definition
The level of development that can be maintained in a country without depleting resources to the extent that future generations will be unable to achieve a comparable level of development
Term
Swidden
Definition
A patch of land cleared for planting through slashing and burning
Term
Taboo
Definition
A restriction on behavior imposed by social custom
Term
Terroir
Definition
The contribution of a location's distinctive physical features to a way food tastes
Term
Tertiary sector
Definition
The portion of the economy concerned with transportation, communications, and utilities, sometimes extended to the provision of all goods and services to people in exchange for payment
Term
Textile
Definition
A fabric made by weaving, used an making clothing
Term
Threshing
Definition
The beat out grain from stalks by trampling it
Term
Threshold
Definition
The minimum number of people needed to support a service
Term
Toponym
Definition
The name given to a portion of Earth's surface
Term
Total fertility rate (TFR)
Definition
The average number of children a woman will have throughout her child bearing years
Term
Township
Definition
A square normally 6 miles on a side. The Land Ordinance of 1785 divided much of the US into a series of townships
Term
Trading bloc
Definition
A group of neighboring countries that promote trade wiht eash other and erect barriers to limit trade with other blocs
Term
Transhumance
Definition
The seasonal migration of livestock between mountains and lowland pastures
Term
Transnational corporation
Definition
A company that conducts research, operates factories, and sells products in many countries, not just where its headquarters or shareholders are located
Term
Triangular slave trade
Definition
A practice, primarily through the eighteenth century, in which European ships transported slaves from Africa to Caribbean islands, molasses from the Caribbean to Europe, and trade goods from Europe to Africa
Term
Truck farming
Definition
Commercial gardening and fruit farming
Term
Underclass
Definition
A group in society prevented from participating in the material benefits of a more developed society because of a variety of social and economic charateristics
Term
Undocumented immigrants
Definition
People who enter a country without proper documents
Term
Uneven development
Definition
The increasing gap in economic conditions between core and peripheral regions as a result of the globalization of the economy
Term
Unitary state
Definition
An internal oranizationof a state that places the most power in the hands of the central government officials
Term
Universalizing religion
Definition
A religion that attempts to appeal to all people, not just those living in a particular location
Term
Urban renewal
Definition
Program in which cities identify blighted inner-city neighborhoods, acquire the properties from private owners, relocate the residents adn business, clear the site, build new roads & utilities, and turn the land over to private developers
Term
Urbanization
Definition
An increase in the % and in the # of people living in urban settlements
Term
Urbanized area
Definition
In the US, a central city plus its contiguous built-up suburbs
Term
Value added
Definition
The gross value of the product minus the costs of raw materials and energy
Term
Vegetative planting
Definition
Reproduction of plants by direct cloning from existing plants (ex:stems)
Term
Vernacular region / perceptual region
Definition
An area that peopel believe exists as part of their cultural identity
Term
Voluntary migration
Definition
Permanent movement undertaken by choice
Term
Vulgar Latin
Definition
A form of Latin used in daily convercation by ancient Romans, as opposed to the standard dialect, which was used for official documents
Term
Wet rice
Definition
Rice planted in dryland in a nursery and then moved to a deliberately flooded field to promote growth
Term
Winnow
Definition
To remove chaff by allowing it to be blown awya by the wind
Term
Winter wheat
Definition
Wheat planted in the fall and harvested in the early summer
Term
Zero population growth (ZPG)
Definition
A decline in the total fertility rate to the point where the natural increase rate equals zero
Term
Economic land use model
Definition
Looks at the present and addresses land use for development now by developing & building on the land for profit now
Term
Topocide
Definition
Killing off of a landscape deliberately to build a new one
Term
Sustainability land use model
Definition
Taking something from the land and replacing it with something else
Term
Environmental land use model
Definition
Suggests we can build on teh ladn but must leave it in its natural state; structures must not overwhelm or alter natural landscape
Term
Preservationist land use model
Definition
See the landscape as sacred and should not be touched by humans
Term
Ecotourism
Definition
Using the natural beauty of an area as a selling point to promote tourism and generate funds to preserve the ecological community
Term
Debt-for-nature swap
Definition
Forgiveness of debts in exchnage for the psetting aside of land for conservation or preservation
Term
Tragedy of the commons
Definition
Theory that suggests humans will inevitably do what is best for them despite what is best for the public good (William Foster Lloyd- Garrett Hardin)
Term
Fossil fuels
Definition

Come from the breakdown of carbon-bases sediment over long periods of time under great presure

(ex: coal, oil, natural gas)

Term
Reserves
Definition
Amount of the resource left in the groud yet to be used
Term
Production
Definition
Removal of the resource
Term
Resource crisis
Definition
Eventual depletion of fossil fuels and a resulting colllapse of energy-dependent societies
Term
Open pit mine
Definition
Where the land is removed and the resources are exstracted in the open air
Term
Shaft mine
Definition
Where tunnels are dug deep into the earth and extend for miles horizontaly
Term
Wind farms
Definition
Windmill parks-where wind turbines are located
Term
Wind energy
Definition
The movement of wind to create power
Term
Geothermal power
Definition
Uses heat fomr the interior of the Earth to heat buildings on teh surface
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