World Geo

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Physiogeography-

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literally means landscape description, but commonly refers to the total physical geography of a place; includes all of the natural features on the Earth’s surface, including landforms, climate, soils vegetation and water bodies.

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Infrastructure-

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the foundations of a society: urban centers, transport networks, communications, energy distribution systems, farms, factories, mines, and such facilities as schools, hospitals, postal services, and police and armed forces.

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Local Functional Specialization-

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a hallmark of Europe’s economic geography that later spread to many other parts of the world, whereby particular people in particular places concentrate on the production of particular foods and services

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Nation-State/Nation-

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a country whose population possesses a substantional degree of cultural homogeneity and unity. The ideal form to which most nations and states aspire– a political unity wherein the territorial state coincides with the area settled by a certain national group or people

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Centrifugal Forces-

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a term employed to designate forces that tend to divide a country– such as internal religious, linguistic, ethnic, or ideological differences.

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Centripetal Forces-

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forces that unite and bind a country together– such as a strong national culture, shared ideological objectives, and a common faith

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Supranationalism-

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a venture involving three or more states– political, economic, and or cultural cooperation to promote shared objectives. The European Union is one such organization.

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Devolution-

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the process whereby regions within a state demand and gain political strength and growing autonomy at the expense of the central government.

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Conurbanation-

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general term used to identify a large multimetropolitan complex formed by the coalescence of two or more major unban areas. The Atlantic Seaboard Megalopolis, extending along the northeastern U.S. coast from southern Maine to Virginia, is a classic example.

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Oligarch-

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opportunities in post-Soviet Russia who used their ties to government to enrich themselves

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Tundra-

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the treeless plain that lies along the Arctic shore in northernmost Russian and Canada, whose vegetation consists of mosses, lichens, and certain hardy grasses

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Taiga-

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the subarctic, mostly coniferous snow forest that blankets northern Russia and Canada south of the tundra that lines the Arctic shore

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Permafrost-

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permanently frozen water in the near surface soul and bedrock of cold environments, producing the effect of completely frozen ground. Surface can thaw during brief warm season

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Forward capital-

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capital city positioned in actually or potentially contested territory, usually near an international border; it confirms the state’s determination to maintain its presence in the region in contention

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Russian Colonialism/Imperialism-

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the drive forwards the creation and expansion of a colonial empire and once established its perpetuation

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Russification-

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demographic resettlement policies perused by the central planners of the Soviet Empire, whereby ethnic Russians were encouraged to emigrate from the Russia Republic to the 14 non-Russian republics of the USSR

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Collectivization-

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the reorganization of a country’s agriculture under communism that involves the expropriation of private holdings and their incorporation into relatively large scale units, which are farmed and administered cooperatively by those who live there

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Distance Decay-

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the various degenerative effects of distance on human spatial structures and interactions

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Pacific Rim-

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a far flung group of countries and parts of countries (extending clockwise on the map from New Zealand to Chile) sharing the following criteria: they face the Pacific Ocean; they evince relatively high levels of economic development, industrialization, and urbanization; their imports and exports mainly move across Pacific waters

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Confucius-

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a philosophy of ethics, education, and public service based on the writing of Confucius; traditionally regarded as one of the cornerstones of Chinese culture

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Sinizisation-

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giving a Chinese cultural imprint; Chinese acculturation

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Restrictive Population Policies-

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government policy designed to reduce the rate of natural population increase. China’s one child policy, instituted in 1979 after Mao’s death, is a classic example

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Special Economic Zones-

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manufacturing and export center within China, created since 1980 to attract foreign investment and technology transfers. Seven SEZs – all located on China’s Pacific coast– currently Hainan Island, in the far south; Pudong, across the river from Shanghai; and Binhai New Area, next to the port of Tianjin

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Economic Tiger-

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the savings that accrue from large– scale production wherein the unit cost of manufacturing decreases as the level of operation enlarges. Supermarkets operate on this principle and are able to charge lower prices than small grocery stores

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Modernization-

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in the eyes of the Western world, the Westernization process that involves the establishment of urbanization a market (money) economy, improved circulation, formal schooling, adoption of foreign innovations, and the breakdown of traditional society. Non-Westerners mostly see “modernization” as an outgrowth of colonialism and often argue that traditional societies can be modernized without being Westernized

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State Capitalism-

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government controlled corporations competing under free–market conditions, usually in a tightly regimented society. South Korea is a leading example

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Wet Monsoon-

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occurs in the hot summer months, which produce onshore winds that bring large amounts of rainfall. The air pressure differential over land and sea is triggering mechanism, with windflows always moving from areas of relatively higher pressure towards areas of relatively coastal and near coastal zones of South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia.

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Social Structure-

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in a layered or stratified society, the population is divided into hierarchal of social classes. In an industrialized society, the working class is at the lower end; elites that possess capital and control the means of production are at the lower upper level. In the traditional caste system of Hindu India, the untouchables form the lowest class or caste, whereas the still wealthy remnants of the princely class are at the top

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Population geography-

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the field of geography that focuses on the spatial aspects of demography and the influences of demographic change in particular places

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Demographic transition-

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multi-stage model, based on Western Europe’s experience, of changes in population growth exhibited by countries undergoing industrialization. High birth rates and death rates are followed by plunging death rates, are followed y plunging death rates, producing a huge net population gain; this is followed by the convergence of birth and death rates at a low overall level

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Population explosion-

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the rapid growth of the world’s human population during the past century attended by accelerating rates of increase

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Caste system-

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the strict social stratification and segregation of people– specifically in India’s Hindu society– on the basis of ancestry and occupation

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Failed state-

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a country whose institutions have collapsed and in which anarchy prevails. Somalia is a current example

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Insurgent state-

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territorial embodiment of a successful guerilla movement. The establishment by antigovernment insurgents of a territorial base n which they exercise full control; thus a state within a state.

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Cultural hearth-

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heartland, source area, innovation center; place of origin of a major culture

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Cultural diffusion-

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the process of spreading and adopting a cultural element, from its place of origin across a wider area

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Hydraulic civilization-

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the theory that cities able to control irrigated farming over large hinterlands held political power over other cities. Particularly applies to early Asian civilizations based in such river valleys as the Chang, the Indus, and those of Mesopotamia.

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Relocation diffusion-

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sequential diffusion process in which the items s being diffused are transmitted by their carrier agents as they relocate to new areas. The most common form of relocation diffusion involves the spreading of innovations by a migrating population

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Contagious diffusion-

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the distance–controlled spreading of an idea, innovation, or some other item through a local population by contact from person to person– analogous to the communication of a contagious illness

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Hierarchical diffusion-

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a form of diffusion in which an idea or innovation spreads by trickling down from larger to smaller adoption units. An urban hierarchy is usually involved, encouraging the leapfrogging of innovations over wide areas, with geographic distance a less important influence.

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Islamization-

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introduction and establishment of the Muslim religion. A process still under way, most notably along the Islamic Front, that marks the southern border of the African Transition Zone

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Apartheid-

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A policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race.

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Religious Revivalism

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religious movement whose objectives are to return to the foundations of that faith and to influence state policy. Often called religious fundamentalism; but in the case of Islam, Muslims prefer the term revivalism

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Periodic Market-

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village market that opens every third day or at some other regular interval. Part of a regional network of similar markets in a preindustrial, rural setting where goods are brought to market on foot and barter remains a major mode of exchange.

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Islamic Front-

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the southern border of the African Transition Zone that marks the religious frontier of the Muslim faith in its southward penetration of Sub-Saharan Africa

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Land Tenure-

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the way people own, occupy, and use land

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Land Alienation-

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one society or culture group taking land from anther. In Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, European colonialist took land from indigenous Africans and put it to new use.

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Stateless Nation (Kurds)-

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a national group that aspires to become a nation-state but lacks the territorial men’s to do so; the Palestinians and Kurds of South

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Rift valley-

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the trough or trench that forms when a thinning strip of the Earth’s crust sinks between two parallel faults

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Medical geography-

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the study of health and disease within a geographic context and from a spatial perspective. Among other things, this geographic field examines the sources, diffusion routes, and distributions of disease

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Endemic-

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referring to a disease in a host population that affects many people in a kind of equilibrium without causing rapid and widespread deaths

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Epidemic-

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a local or regional outbreak of a disease

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Pandemic-

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an outbreak of a disease that spreads worldwide

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State formation-

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the creation of a state based on traditions of human territoriality that go back thousands of years

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Colonialism-

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rule by an autonomous power over a subordinate and an alien people and place. Though often established and maintained through political structures, colonialism also creates unequal cultural and economic relations. Because of the magnitude and impact of the European colonial thrust of the last few centuries, the term is generally understood to refer ideology that the principles of economic geography