1Cartography
The science of making maps
2Cultural ecology
A geographic approach that emphasizes human-environment relationships
3Cultural landscape
Anything built/altered by humans (synonomous with 'built environment')
4Density
The number of something within a given unit of area
5Distribution
The arrangement of something across Earth's surface
6Environmental determinism
A 19th & 20th century approach to the study of geography that argued that the geography is the study of how the physical environment causes human activities
7Formal region
Uniform/homogenous region; an area in which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristic
8Functional region
Nodal region; an area organized around a node or focal point
9GIS
Geographic information system; a computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data
10GPS
Global positioning system; a system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations, and receivers
11Latitude/Parallels
The numbering system used to indicate the location of parallels drawn on a globe and measuring distance north and south of the Equator (0 degrees)
12Longitude/Meridians
The numbering system used to indicate the location of meridians drawn on a globe and measuring distance east and west of the prime meridian (0 degrees)
13Map
A two-dimensional, flat representation of Earth's surface or a portion of it
14Map/Geographic Scale
The relationship between the size of an object on a map and the size of the actual feature on Earth's surface; global, regional, national, local
15Place
A specific point on Earth distinguished by particular human and physical characteristics
16Possibilism
Theory that the physical environment may set limits on human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to the physical environment and choose an alternative course of action
17Projection
A system used to transfer locations from Earth's surface to a flat map; from a 3D globe to a 2D map
18Region
An area distinguished by a unique combination of trends or features
19Remote sensing
The acquisition of data about Earth's surface from a satellite orbiting the planet or from other long-distance methods
20Site
The physical or human character of place
21Situation
The location of a place relative to another place
22Sustainability
The use of Earth's renewable and nonrenewable natural resources in ways that do not constrain resource use in the future
23Toponym
The names of places
24Vernacular region
Perceptual region; an area that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity
25Reference Map
A map that works well for locating and navigating between places
26Thematic Map
A map that shows data
27Absolute location
Exact location of a place on the earth described by global coordinates (latitude, longitude)
28Relative location
The position of a place in relation to another place
29Clustered
Concentration pattern where things are close together
30Dispersed
Concentration pattern where things are far apart
31High Density
Lots of something in a defined area
32Low Density
Less of something in a defined area
33Elevation
height above sea level
34Distortion
A change in the shape, size, or position of a place when it is shown on a map
35Census data
Geospatial data collected through the counting the population; occurs every 10 years in the US
36Mercator Projection
a projection of a map used especially for navigation; distorts size as you move towards the poles
37Robinson Projection
Projection that attempts to balance several possible projection errors. It does not maintain completely accurate area, shape, distance, or direction, but it minimizes errors in each.
38Choropleth thematic map
uses color to show data
39Dot Distribution Map
A map where dots are used to demonstrate the frequency or intensity of a particular phenomena
40Graduated symbol map
A map with symbols that change in size according to the value of the attribute they represent.
41Cartogram
A special kind of map that distorts the shapes and sizes of countries or other political regions to present data for comparison