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Geography
Introduction “World Regional Geography: Global Perspectives”
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Spatial Perspective | Broadly, the geographic dimension or expression of any phenomenon; more specifically, anything related to the organization of space on the Earth' surface. |
Scale | Representation of a real-word phenomenon at a certain level of reduction or generalization. In cartography, the ratio of map distance to ground distance; indicated on a map as a bar graph, representative fraction, and/or verbal statement. |
Geographic realm | The basic spatial unit in our world rationalization scheme. Each realm is defined in terms of a synthesis of its total human geography - a composite of its leading cultural, economic, historical, political, and appropriate environmental features. |
Transition zone | An area of spatial change where the peripheries of two adjacent realms or regions join; marked by a gradual shift (rather than a sharp break) in the characteristics that distinguish these neighboring geographic entities from one another. |
Absolute and relative location | AL - The position or place of a certain item on the surface of the Earth as expressed in degrees, minutes, and seconds of latitude and longitude. RL - The regional position or situation of a place relative to the position of other places. |
Formal region | A type of region marked by a certain degree of homogeneity in one or more phenomena; also called uniform region or homogeneous region. |
Functional region | A region marked less by its sameness than by its dynamic internal structure; because it usually focuses on a central node, also called nodal regions or focal region. |
Hinterland | Literally "country behind," a term that applies to a surrounding area served by an urban center. That center is the focus of goods and services produced for its hinterland and is its dominant urban influence as well. |
Global climate change | The shift in the characteristics and spatial distribution of Earth's climates in response to a long-term trend in atmospheric warming. |
Population distribution | The way people have arranged themselves in geographic space. One of human geography's most essential expressions because it represents the sum total of the adjustments that a population has made to its natural, cultural, and economic environments. |
Urbanization | A term with a variety of connotations. The proportion of a country's population living in urban places is its level of urbanization. |
Cultural landscape | The forms and artifacts sequentially placed on the natural landscape by the activities of various human occupants. |
Natural landscape | The array of landforms that constitutes the Earth's surface (mountain, hills, plains, and plateaus) and the physical features that mark them (such as water bodies, soils ,and vegetation. |
Continental drift | The slow movement of continents controlled by the processes associated with plate tectonics. |
State | A politically organized territory that is administered by a sovereign government and is recognized by a significant portion of the international community. A state must also contain a permanent resident population, an organized economy, and a functioning |
Sovereignty | Controlling power and influence over a territory, especially by the government of an autonomous state over the people it rules. |
European state model | A state consisting of a legally defined territory inhabited by a population governed from a capital city by a representative government. |
Core area | In geography, a term with several connotations. Core refers to the center, heart, or focus. |
Periphery | All of the countries that lie outside the global core. Economically, these countries are subordinate to those of global core in terms of development and international influence. |
Globalization | The gradual reduction of regional differences at the world scale, resulting from increasing international cultural, economic, and political interaction. |