Major Geographical Terminology - AP Human Geography

Mt. Everest is the tallest mountain on Earth. Its summit, more than 29,000 feet high, is located at the border of Nepal and China.

The "torrid zone" is another name for the tropics, which describes the areas between the Northern Hemisphere's Tropic of Cancer and the Southern Hemisphere's Tropic of Capricorn. These lines of latitude mark the points furthest from the Equator where the sun can still be directly overhead at any point during the year. The areas within the "torrid zone" are the warmest places on earth, featuring rainforests and other tropical environments.

Places on earth are given a "toponym," which is another word for name, but is specific to locations. "Toponym" can be considered a baseline name for a "place," it is the most general term listed. All the other options have more specific connotations.

The term “idiographic” is used to describe or refer to a feature that is unique to a particular geographic region. It is distinct from “nomothetic” which means a feature or theory that is universally applicable across a multitude of regions.

The term “nomothetic” means a feature that is universally applicable across a multitude of regions. It is distinct from “idiographic” which describes a particular feature that is unique to a certain geographic region. The idiographic is usually the concern of local or regional geographers who are concerned with a narrow, but deep, understanding of a relatively small geographic region. Whereas nomothetic is usually the concern of systematic geographers who are concerned with universal features and aspects of Earth’s geography.

A “perceptual region” is a region that exists only in the minds of people. It is not a formal boundary, nor is it perceived uniformly by each person. For example whilst we can all agree on the region that encompasses the United States we might not all agree on the region that encompasses the “fly over states.” "The Deep South" is a perceptual region of the United States with no defined boundary. What someone from one area of the country would call "the Deep South" may be hotly disputed by a person from another part of the country. The difference between the southern states (south of the Mason Dixon Line) and "the Deep South" is purely perceptual. All the other answer options have clearly delineated physical boundaries or features.

“The Friction of Distance” is part of Tobler’s First Law of Geography. Tobler’s First Law of Geography states “Everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things.” This essentially means that as the distance between two places increases the interaction between those two places decreases. To provide a personal example, imagine you are a fan of a football team from New York, but you live in Texas. You might not go to New York to watch your team play, but if they were playing in Dallas you would be more likely to make the trip. This theory can be applied to all sorts of cultural, physical, and economic interactions; however, it has many significant exceptions, particularly with the advent of modern technology.

Quantitative data, as distinct from qualitative data, relies on numbers and mathematical models. “Quantitative” means measures using numerical facts. Quantitative data has become more and more important in geographic inquiry because it leads to more objective, less personally motivated, conclusions.

The concept of “placelessness” refers to the homogenizing effect of cultural diffusion, particularly in the modern world. It was developed by the cultural geographer Edward Relph in the 1970s. According to Relph, the spread of pop culture and globalization was leading to an inevitable breakdown of the individual identity of communities, causing one place to closely resemble another place, and, eventually all other places.

Climate change and global warming are environmental changes caused by human actions. The term used to describe this phenomenon is “anthropogenic.”

Possibilism is a cultural-geography theory that evolved from the racially informed theory of environmental determinism. Environmental determinism argues that environmental conditions provide constraints on the growth of culture in many parts of the world. On the other hand, possibilism concedes that environmental conditions provide a broad range of cultural limitations and advantages for various regions of the world; however, it contends that culture is otherwise determined by the environment's social conditions.

Waldo Tobler is a famous American geographer of the twentieth century. He is most famous for his so-called “First Law of Geography” which states that “everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than far things.”

Cartography is the science of making maps. While historically this involved exploring the land to map and then drawing maps by hand, technology has greatly improved this process. Today, cartographers are trained in GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and produce maps through computer programs. Data is collected mostly by satellite imaging but also some by field research.

The etymology of the term Cartography comes from French and Greek. The first half of the word, "carto" comes from the French word for map, "carte". Graph comes from the Greek word "graphein" meaning to write or to draw. Combining these two words thus signifies the writing or drawing of maps. The "y" at the end of the word signifies that it is the scientific study or skill of this specialty.

Relative location is how we describe any give location. This can be done in a nearly infinite number of ways. Texas, for example, is south of Oklahoma and North of Mexico. It is also west of the UK and north of South Africa. Relative location is one of the two types of location which is one of the Five Themes of Geography.

Human-environment interaction is how we modify and adapt our environment and is one of the Five Themes of Geography.

Absolute location is the method we use to designate a specific place using map coordinates. Absolute location is one of the two types of location, which is one of the Five Themes of Geography.

Region is the term we use to indicate an area that has certain similar similar characteristics. These characteristics can be human, natural, physical or cultural. Region is one of the Five Themes of Geography.

Movement is the term used to indicate how people, products, information and ideas move from one place to another. Movement is one of the Five Themes of Geography.

A formal region is an area with measurable characteristics in common. These could include political boundaries, such as nations or states, resources such coal or water, or production such corn or avocados grown.