Human Geography

Physical Geography 

Studies where and why natural forces occur as

they do.

(Examples: Climates, landforms, and types of vegetation)

Place

Specific point on Earth distinguished by a particular

characteristic.

Region

Area of Earth distinguished by a distinctive combination

of cultural and physical features.

Scale

Relationship between the portion of Earth being

studied and Earth as a whole.

Space

Physical gap or interval between two

objects.

Connections

Relationships among people and object 

across the barrier of space.

Maps

Scale model of the real world, made small enough

to work with on a desk or computer.

A map can be used as both a Referance Tool or 

as a Communication Tool.

Maps

(Referance tool)

Maps help us to find the shortest route between

two places and to avoid getting lost along the way.

We use maps to try and learn where a place is located in relation to another place.

Maps 

(Communication tool)

A map  is often the best means for depicting the distribution of human activities or physical features.

Projection

The scientific method of transfering locations on Earth's surface to a flat map.

Land Ordinance of 1785

Divided much of the country into a system of

townships and ranges to facilitate the sale of land to settlers in the West.

Townships

A square 6 miles on each side, divided in 36 sections.

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Principal Meridians

(township)

Some of the north-south lines seperating townships.

Base Lines

(Townships) 

Some east-west lines.

Sections

(Townships)

A township is divided into 36 sections, each is 1 mile by mile.

GPS.

(Global Postioning System)

System that accurately determines the precise

position of something on Earth.

Remote Sensing

Aquisition of data about Earth's surface from a satellite orbitin Earth or from long-distance methods.

GIS

(Geographic Information System)

A computer system that can capture, query, analyze, 

and display geographical data.

Location

Postion that something occupies on

Earth's surface.

4 ways to identify location:

• Place name
• Site
• Situation
• Mathematical Location

Toponym

(Place Name)

Name give to a place on Earth.

Site

The physical character of a plcae.

Situation

Location of a place relative to other places.

Meridian

(Mathematical Location)

Arc drawn between the North and South poles.

Longitude

(Mathematical Location)

Numbering system used to indicate the location

of meridians drawn on a globe and measuring distances east and westt of the prime meridian.

Prime Meridian

(Mathematical Location)

The meridian that passes through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England.

Parallel

(Mathematical Location)

Circle drawn around the globe parallel to the

equator and at right angles to the meridians.

Latitude

(Mathematical Location)

The numbering system used to indicate the location

of parrallels drawn on a globe and measuring distance

north and south of the equator.

Cultural Landscape

Combination of cultural features such as language, and religion, economic features such as agriculture and industry, and physical features such as climate and vegetation.

3 Types of Regions

1. Formal Region
2. Functional Region
3. Vernacular Region

Formal Region

(Region)

Also called a uniform region or homogeneous region.

An area within which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive charateristics.

Functional Region

(Region)

Also called a nodal region.

An area organized around a node or focal point.

Vernacular Region

(Region)

Also named the perceptual region.

A place that people belive exists as part of their cultural identity.

Mental Map

(Vernacular Region)

A good way to identify a perceptual region is to get someone to draw a mental map; an internal representation of a portion of Earth's surface.

Culture

The body of customary beliefs, material traits, and social forms that toghether constitute the distinct  tradition of a group of people.

Culture

(Cultus in Latin)

Culture is a complex concept because "to care for" something has two very different meanings:

To care about-to adore or worship something' as in hte modern word cult.

To take care of-to nurse or look after something, as in the modern word cultivate.

Cultural Ecology

The geographic study of human-environment relationships.

Environmental Determinism

Humboldt and Ritter concentrated on how the physical

environment caused social development.

Possibilism

The physical environment may limit some humen actions, but people have the abilty to adjust to their environment.

Resources

Substances that are useful to people, economically and

technologically feasible to access, and socially acceptable to use.

Climate

(Physical Processes)

 The long-term weather condition at a particular location.

The modified Köppen system divides the main climate regions that are identified by the letters A through E:

• A Tropical Climates
• B Dry Climates
• C Warm Climates
• D Cold Mid-Latitude Climates
• E Polar Climates

Vegetation

(Physical Processes)

Earth's land vegetation includes four major forms of plant communities, called biomes.

Vegetation and soil, in turn, influence the types of agriculture that people practice in a particular region. The four main biomes are forest, savanna, grassland, and desert.

Forest Biome

(Vegetation)

Trees form a continuous canopy over the ground; grasses and shrubs may grow beneath the cover. 

Covers much of North America, Europe, and Asia.

Tropical areas of South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Savanna Biome

(Vegetation)

Trees don't form a continuous canopy, and the resultant lack of shade allows grass to grow.

Covers large areas of Africa, South Asia, South America, and Australia.

Grassland Biome

(Vegetation)

Land is covered by grass rather than trees; few trees grow in the region because of low precipitation.

Desert Biome

(Vegetation)

  Although many desert areas have essentially no vegetation, the region contains dispersed patches of plants adapted to dry conditions.

Soil

(Physical Processes)

Material that forms on Earth's surface, is the thin interface between the air and the rocks.

More than 12,000 soil types.

Two factors detroy the soil-erosion and nutrients.

Landforms

(Physical Processes)

Earth's surface features vary from relatively flat to mountainous.

Geographers find that the study of Earth's landforms-a science known as geomorphology-helps to explain the distribution of people and the choice of economic activities at different locations.

Polder 

(Modifying the Environment)

Peice of land that is creathed by draining water from an area.

Example: Netherlands creating polders for agriculture to reduce the country's dependance on imported food.

Globalization

A force or process that involves the entire world and results in making something worldwide in scope.

The scale of the world is shrinking.

Transational Corporation

Conducts research, operates factories, and sells products in many countries, not just where its headquarters and principal shareholders are located.

Distribution

Arrangement of a feature in space.

Geographers identify three main properties of distribution across Earth-density, concentration, and pattern.

Density

(Distribution)

The frequency with which something occurs in space.

Density is divided into 3 catagories-arithmetic, physiological, and agricultural density.

Arithmetic Density

(Density)

Total number of objects in an area, is commonly used to compare the distribution of population in different countries.