World Regional Geography Chapter 1

Front 1

Physical geography

Back 1

The study of earth’s physical processes: how they work and interact, how they affect humans, and how they are affected by humans.

Front 2

Human geography

Back 2

The study of patterns and processes that shaped human understanding, use, and alteration of earth’s surface

Front 3

Cultural landscape

Back 3

The combination of human and natural features in the landscape, including aspects designed intentionally by people and parts evolved unintentionally out of human interactions with nature

Front 4

Scale

Back 4

The proportion that relates the dimensions of the map to the dimensions of the area that represents; also, variable-sized units of geographical analysis from the local to the regional to the global

Front 5

Longitude

Back 5

The distance in degrees east and west of Greenwich, England; lines of longitude, also called meridians, runs from pole to pole (the line of longitude at Greenwich is 0° and is known as the primary meridian)

Front 6

Latitude

Back 6

The distance in degrees north or south of the equator; lines of latitude run parallel to the equator, and are also called parallels

Front 7

Map projections

Back 7

The various ways of showing the spherical earth on a flat surface

Front 8

Geographic information science (GISc)

Back 8

The body of science that supports multiple spatial analysis technologies and keeps them at the cutting edge

Front 9

Region

Back 9

A unit of Earth’s surface that contains distinct patterns of physical features and/or distinct patterns of human development

Front 10

Rain shadow

Back 10

An area of low rainfall on the dryer side of a mountain range affected by orographic rainfall

Front 11

Biosphere

Back 11

The entirety of earths integrated physical spheres, with humans and other impacts included as part of nature

Front 12

Climate change

Back 12

A slow shifting of climate patterns caused by the general cooling or warming of the atmosphere

Front 13

Global warming

Back 13

The warming of earths climate as atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases increase

Front 14

Plate tectonics

Back 14

The theory that earth’s surface is composed of large plates that float on top of the underlined layers of molten rock; the movement and interaction of the plates create many of the large features of earth surface, particularly mountains

Front 15

Industrial revolution

Back 15

A series of innovations and ideas that occurred broadly between 1750 and 1850, which changed the way goods were manufactured

Front 16

Green revolution

Back 16

Increases in food production brought about through the use of new seeds, mechanized equipment, fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides

Front 17

Development

Back 17

A complex transition in how people make a living, characterized in part by a shift from economies based on extractive resources to those based on Human Resources

Front 18

Primary sector

Back 18

Extractive economic activity such as mining, forestry, and agriculture

Front 19

Formal region

Back 19

An area defined by a single specific trait that has been mapped and described, such as the area in which Spanish is the primary language of government

Front 20

Functional region

Back 20

An area defined by an activity organized around a single place, such as the area served by a single post office

Front 21

Vernacular region

Back 21

An area defined by perceptions of shared characteristics

Front 22

Landforms

Back 22

Physical features of earth’s surface such as mountain ranges, river valleys, basins, and cliffs

Front 23

Plate tectonics

Back 23

The theory that earth’s surface is composed of large plates that float on top of the underlined layers of molten rock; the movement and interaction of the plates create many of the large features of earth surface, particularly mountains

Front 24

Floodplain

Back 24

The flat land along a river where sediment is deposited during flooding

Front 25

Climate

Back 25

The long-term balance of temperature and precipitation that characteristically prevails in a particular region

Front 26

Weather

Back 26

The short term and spatially limited expression of climate that can change in a matter of minutes

Front 27

Orographic precipitation

Back 27

Precipitation produced when a moving moist air mass encounters a mountain range, rises, cools, and releases condensed moisture that falls as rain

Front 28

Secondary sector

Back 28

Industrial economic activity such as processing, manufacturing, and construction

Front 29

Tertiary sector

Back 29

Service-based economic activity such as transportation, education, healthcare, tourism, and financial services

Front 30

Quaternary sector

Back 30

Knowledge-based economic activities such as information technology and research and development

Front 31

Countries that have labor-intensive and low wage often agricultural

Back 31

Countries that have labor-intensive and low-wage, often agricultural, economies

Front 32

Countries that have labor-intensive and low wage often agricultural

Back 32

Countries that have labor-intensive and low-wage, often agricultural, economies

Front 33

Middle income countries (MICs)

Back 33

Countries that have shifted to more employment in the secondary sector (industry) and higher wage tertiary sector (services)

Front 34

More developed countries (MDCs)

Back 34

Countries that have economies often generated by tertiary and quaternary sectors and that generally provide adequate education, healthcare, and other social services to help their people contribute to the economic development

Front 35

More developed countries (MDCs)

Back 35

Countries that have economies often generated by tertiary and quaternary sectors and that generally provide adequate education, healthcare, and other social services to help their people contribute to the economic development

Front 36

gross domestic product (GDP) per capita

Back 36

The total market value of all goods and services produced within a particular country‘s borders and within a given year, divided by the number of people in the country

Front 37

More developed countries (MDCs)

Back 37

Countries that have economies often generated by tertiary and quaternary sectors and that generally provide adequate education, healthcare, and other social services to help their people contribute to the economic development

Front 38

gross domestic product (GDP) per capita

Back 38

The total market value of all goods and services produced within a particular country‘s borders and within a given year, divided by the number of people in the country

Front 39

Gross national incomes (GNI) per capita

Back 39

The sum of a country’s gross domestic product plus all net income received from overseas, divided by the midyear population

Front 40

purchasing party parity (PPP)

Back 40

The amount that the local currency equivalent of US $1 purchases in a given country